The introduction of the official language concept into Spanish political language (1881-1928)

Abstract

This paper tracks the origins of the ‘official language’ concept in the territory of the Spanish monarchy. The term ‘official language’ was introduced into legal-political language by the Catalanist movement as a synthetic expression of its claims for the use of the Catalan language in all social areas and particularly in governmental spheres. The chronological framework extends from the first use of the term in 1881 to the Provisional Constitution of the Catalan Republic of 1928, which was the last programmatic document of political Catalanism with specifically linguistic provisions to be drafted before any language was constitutionally declared official.

Keywords: history of linguistic law, official language, language conflict, Catalan, Spanish.