User:Matthewbarsalona/sandbox

Classification
This starter article will serve as introduction to the origins of the Algherese dialect, the regional popularity of the language, as well as its use and sustainability in modern culture. Though the dialects origins date back to the 14th century, its widespread use remains to be seen, as it often acts as a supplementary language to the more prominent Italian and Catalan. As aforementioned, the following work will primarily discuss the use of the language, in regards to quantitative representation, as well as how efforts are being made to preserve the dialect despite its shrinking influence.

History
Algherese is a regional dialect spoken by anywhere from 20,000 to 30,000 individuals, most of which reside in the town of Alghero, located in the northwest of Sardinia. The language, though secular, is initially derived from, and thus considered a variant of, the Catalan language. The origins of the language can be traced back to 1372, when Catalan invaders repopulated the city of Alghero after exiling the indigenous populations in Sardinia. The language has roots in several Romance languages, including Eastern Romance, Italo-Western Romance, and Italo Western.

Geographic Distribution
In the northwest region of Sardinia, it is estimated that Italian is the first language of close to 60% of individuals, while Algherese is approximately 22%. For this reason, the use of the dialect in schools and media, to name a few, is sparse. Prior to 1997, teaching of the dialect in school was rare, as it was often seen as secondary to Catalan. However, in an attempt to reverse this trend, the Regional Council of Sardinia has officially recognized "Algherese Catalan" as a separate language in order to promote its use and circulation. As of a 2008 study, Algherese is only used in by approximately 14% of the population for daily interactions. The dialect mostly serves as a local language, often used to supplement Catalan or Sardinian, but only in small circles.

Official status
In the northwest region of Sardinia, where this language is spoken, Catalan is the primary language, as aforementioned. Algherese acts as a secondary language or dialect in the region.

Dialects/Varieties
There are currently no known dialects or varieties of this dialect.

Drived languges
Algherese can be derived from a set of varying, though similar regional dialects. Initially, the Occitano-Romance dialect is divided into three sub-units; they are labeled as Catalan, Gascon, and Occitan. The first two, Catalan and Gascon, represent single spoken languages In regards to the aforementioned, Algherese Catalan is an outlying dialect because it is in an isolated group. In a sense, Algherese is a sub-division of its own within the previous sub-division.

Usage
The following table represents a study conducted in the town of Alghero that show the general use of the Algherese dialect in several mediums.

Figures were gathered from the EULA in 2004:

Vocabulary/Lexis
The following phrases were gathered from a Catalan translation set, though the common phrasings used in the Algherese Dialect are identical.

These phrases were gathered from Omniglot: The online encyclopedia of writing systems and languages. In this table, the following shorthand is used: m(masculine), f(feminine), pl(plural), pl/f(plural feminine), inf(informal), frm(formal).

= References = Ballone, Francesc(2008). L'Alguer and Alguerese Catalan. Corpus Oral de l'Algueres

Various Sources(2017). Algherese Catalan. The Endangered Languages Project

Moseley, Christopher(2016). Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

Hammarstrom, Harald & Forkel, Robert & Haspelmath, Martin & Bank, Sebastian(2017). Dialect: Algherese. Glottolog

Argenter, Joan A and Dorlan, Nancy C(2008). L'Alguer(Alghero), a Catalan linguistic enclave in Sardinia. International Journal of the Sociology of Language, Vol. 2008 Issue 193/194

Cabrera-Callis, Maria(2015). Morphologically Conditioned Intervocalic Rhotacism in Algherese Catalan. Variations within and Across Romance Languages

Perea, Maria-Pilar and Sifre, Manel(2013). Dialectal Variation in a Nineteenth-Century Catalan Grammar Corpus. In Corpus Resources for Descriptive and Applied Studies.

Tufi, Stefania(2013). Language Ideology and Language Maintenance: The case of Sardinia. International Journal of the Sociology of Language.

Margongui, Antonietta Maria(1990). Language Maintenance and Shift in Sardinia: A Case Study of Sardinia and Italian in Cagliari. Dissertation Abstracts International, Section A: The Humanities and Social Sciences

Perea, Maria-Pilar(2008). The Dialect of Alghero: continuity and change. The University of Aberdeen

Ager, Simon(1998-2017). Useful Catalan Phrases. Omniglot.