K jazykové situaci ve Valencii : The Language Situation in Valencia

The article focuses on the language situation in Valencia, an important autonomous community of Spain. There are two official languages: Castilian as a language of the whole of Spain (i.e. Spanish) and Valencian as the Valencian people’s language proper. The paper describes the relations between Spanish and Valencian both from a linguistic and a socio-political point of view and offers a statistical summary of the use of both languages in the territory of the Valencian Community. Two tendencies important for the future of Valencia are discussed, a tendency to use “countrywide” Spanish and a tendency to preserve Valencian (the latter tendency is frequently based on respect for tradition as well as on personal decisions). In addition, the article considers relations between Valencian and Catalan.