Gallaica lingua: Quo vadis?

Abstract

The first part reviews the adverse circumstances that are affecting the Galician language at the present moment, both in relation to its status and to its corpus. I analyse, among others, questions such as the less active role of the family in the transmission of the language and the noticeable increase of Spanish monolinguism. I also study how the Galician language is being negatively influenced by the process of urbanization, by the role of the school, and by the new circumstances in the mass media and in the business context. Finally, I also take into consideration the deficient Galician language employed by some sections of the population that have been traditionally considered as social referents. In contrast with these adverse circumstances that are affecting the language, I point out some recently projected linguistic standarising initiatives that, despite their undoubtedly positive aspects, are not by any means sufficient to counteract the progressive decrease in the use of the Galician language in our contemporary society.