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               The art of expressing oneself properly, using the most accurate terms and expressions, and the ability to maintain the appropriate language register are important in any given field; however, they are of paramount consequence to any competent, professional linguist; we are, after all, wordsmiths. We live in an increasingly fast-paced world, where communication flows unhindered between nations and continents, and languages evolve unceasingly in order to adapt to social changes and encompass terminology reflecting progresses in science and other fields; to incorporate neologisms, while discarding anachronistic terms and expressions.  After all, language is a living organism and as such, it needs to be nurtured, developed and supported throughout its unceasing growth and transformation.  Language is an invaluable treasure, an important part of our cultural heritage.  

This being said, is there anyone or anything out there entrusted with ensuring that language rules exist, for the sake of their survival?  Indeed. For many languages, though not all, institutions exist that, for centuries now, have preserved the purity of a language, and have set standards intended to preserve its integrity and update it to include neologisms. After all, a language is a living organism and as such, it needs to be nurtured, developed, and supported throughout its never-ending growth and transformation.  This blog will cover Part I of the chapter titled “The Language Academies and the Art of Expression”.

Catalan

Let us first take a look at Catalan.  For decades, this beautiful Romance language, closer to Italian and French than it is to Spanish, was banned from schools, government and public life.  Despite this, it managed not only to survive, but to thrive like never before (once political and social conditions were favorable to this reemergence, that is).  Catalan is the official language of Catalonia, still a province of Spain that is currently seeking to become independent and expects to achieve this goal by September 2017. The territory of Catalonia also extends into neighboring France. Catalan is spoken by more than 8 million individuals in Catalonia, by over 70,000 residents of the Principality of Andorra, of which it is also the official language along with French, and by almost 195,000 Catalans living overseas, including the city of Alghero, in Sardinia.  The Institut d’Estudis Catalans (Institute of Catalan Studies), founded in 1907, also known by its acronym, IEC, is an academic establishment devoted to the scientific research of all elements related to Catalan culture, science and technology. The general public, however, is mostly acquainted with the IEC’s Philology Section, which is devoted to the study of language. This Section functions as an Academy of the Catalan language and the dictionary it publishes has the final word on any linguistic doubt in Catalan. Its mission is encapsulated in three guiding principles, pursuant to Article 3 of the IEC’s bylaws: Setting language standards; researching and conducting a scientific study of the language, and following-up on the standardization process throughout the territories where Catalan is spoken. The Institut publishes the Diccionari de la Lengua Catalana, which has the last word in all matters pertaining to the Catalan language.  For more information on the IEC and its mission, please visit www.iec.cat.

The Casa de Convalescència, headquarters of the Institut d’Estudis Catalans, in Barcelona.

French

The Académie française (or French Academy) is the official custodian of the French language. This institution was established in 1635 by the Cardinal de Richelieu with the mission of defining the French language and ensure its purity, both syntactically and grammatically. The Académie consists of forty members, including a “Permanent Secretary”, and it constitutes the official authority on the French language. As such, this institution pays particular attention to the correctness of a number of linguistic aspects, while assimilating neologisms and ensuring they are properly suited to the cultural context in which they belong.

The Académie française publishes a dictionary of the French language, the Dictionnaire de l’Académie française, considered official in France.  Three hundred years after the first edition of the dictionary, it has remained alive because it illustrates the bond that unites people speaking the same language, with all the variations thereof, in different francophone nations.  For more information on the Académie française and its mission, please visit visit www.académie-française.fr.

The Académie française, often called simply l’Académie, is an organization which moderates the French language. The primary role of the Académie française is to regulate the French language by determining standards of acceptable grammar and vocabulary, as well as adapting to linguistic change by adding new words and updating the meanings of existing ones. Due to the status of English in the world, the Académie’s task tends to be focused on lessening the influx of English terms into French by choosing or inventing French equivalents.

Officially, “The primary function of the Académie will be to work, with all possible care and diligence, to give our language definite rules and to make it pure, eloquent, and capable of dealing with art and science.” – Article 24
(La principale fonction de l’Académie sera de travailler, avec tout le soin et toute la diligence possibles, à donner des règles certaines à notre langue et à la rendre pure, éloquente et capable de traiter les arts et les sciences.)

The Académie fulfills this mission by publishing an official dictionary and by working with French terminological committees and other specialized organizations.

 

 

Spanish

The protection, preservation, proper use and authenticity of Spanish, the one of the most spoken languages in the world, is the main focus of the Real Academia de la Lengua Española, commonly referred to as Real Academia. Established on February 13, 1713, by the Marquis of Villena, its purpose is to “set the precepts of the Spanish language, in its highest properties, elegance and purity”.  The Real Academia was created based on the models of the first of language academies, the Accademia della Crusca, in Italy, and the Académie Française.

Following the independence of Spanish colonies in Latin America and the Philippines, the Real Academia sponsored the creation of the “academies” of the new republics and in time, the Association of Royal Academies was founded, with the purpose of encompassing neologisms and terminology that is specific to each Spanish-speaking region, pursuant to the so-called “pan-hispanic language policy”. The guidelines proposed by the Real Academia are enclosed in the different works that are published regularly, including the Diccionario de la Real Academia. For additional information, visit www.rae.es.

 

Real Academia de la Lengua Española, Madrid, Spain