Aranese phrasebook

Aranese (aranés) is a Romance language. It is the official language of the county of the Aran Valley in Catalonia, and a co-official language in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Despite being a very small language (it is spoken only by around 5.100 people) it has also dialects, which differ in pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary. There are three main dialects:

• High Aranese (spoken in the terçons of Pujòlo and Arties e Garòs)
• Middle Aranese (spoken in the terçons of Marcatosa, Castièro and Irissa and in the municipalities of Bossòst and Les)
• Low Aranese (spoken in the municipalities of Canejan and Bausen), the one that differs the most from the others.

This phrasebook is about Middle Aranese, spoken in Vielha (the capital of the valley), which serves as standard. Aranese is a relatively easy language, and it is similar to Catalan, French, Lengadocian Occitan, Spanish and Portuguese. Aranese pronunciation is very similar to Catalan, but not identical, and there are some characteristics that are even "tricky" for Catalan speakers.

Aranese pronunciation is more regular than that of Catalan, but trickier for English- or Catalan-speakers, as there are letters which don't sound like they would expect.

Some Aranese sounds don't correspond to any sound in English, so this guide simplifies those sounds.

Aranese has 7 vowel sounds:

a, à - as the 'a' in "father" [ah]

e, é - as the 'é' in French "été" [ay]

è - as the 'e' in "bed" [eh]

i, í, ï - as the 'ee' in "bee" [ee] or as the 'y' on "yell" [y]

o, ó - as the 'oo' in "cook" [oo]

ò - as the 'o' in "pot" [aw]

u, ú, ü - as the 'ew' in British English "new" [ew] or as the 'w' in "wing" [w]

b - as the 'b' in "elbow" [b]

c - before a, o, u it is pronounced as the 'c' in "cut" [k]; before e, i it is pronounced as the 's' in "soap" [s]

ç - as the 's' in "soap" [s]

ch - as the 'ch' in "touch" [ch]

d - as the 'd' in "dog" [d]

f - as the 'f' in "foot" [f]

g - before a, o, u it is pronounced as the 'g' in "goat" [g]; before e, i it is pronounced as the 'j' in French "jour" [zh]

gu - before a, o, u it is pronounced as a 'gw'; before e, i it is pronounced as the 'g' in "goat" [g]

gü - as a 'gw' [gw]

h - mute

j - as the 'j' in French "jour" [zh]

l - as the 'l' in "light" [l]

lh - similar to a 'l' followed by a 'y' [ly]

m - as the 'm' in "mouse" [m]

n - in most cases, it is pronounced as the 'n' in "night" [n]; at the end of a word it is pronounced as the 'ng' in "thing" [ng]

nh - as the 'ñ' in Spanish "niño" [ny]

p - as the 'p' in "pot" [p]

qu - before a, o, u it is pronounced as a 'kw' [kw]; before e, i it is pronounced as the 'c' in "cat"

qü - as a 'kw' [kw]

r - at the starting of a word, as a rolled 'r' [rr]; in other contexts, as the 'tt' in American English "kitty". [ɾ]

rr - as a rolled 'r' [rr]

s - between vowels, as the 'z' in "zone" [z]; at the beginning of a word and in other contexts as the 's' in "soap" [s]

ss - as the 's' in "soap" [s]

sh - as the 'sh' in "shell" [sh]; if preceded by vowel+'i', the 'i' is not pronounced.

t - as the 't' in "tower" [t]

th - identical to letter 't' [t]

v - identical to letter 'b' [b]

x - between vowels, it is pronouned as a 'd' followed by a 'z' [dz]; in other contexts as a 't' followed by a 's' [ts]

z - as the 'z' in "zone" [z]

An accent marks the stressed vowel: aranés [ah-rah-NAYS]. If there is not any accent, stress is positioned:

• In the last syllable - if the word does not end with -a, -e, -i, -o, -u, -as, -es, -is, -os, -us: Canejan [kah-nay-ZHAHNG] (a name of a village in the Valley of Aran)
• In the second last syllable - if the word does end with -a, -e, -i, -o, -u, -as, -es, -is, -os, -us: gesses [ZHAYS-says] (you get out)

If a prase can be polite or informal, the informal form is written before the polite, with the sign (inf./pol.) at the end.

Hello. - Òla. [AW-lah.]

How are you? - Com va? [koom-BAH?]

Fine, thank you. - Ben, gràcies. [BAYNG, GRAH-syays.]

What is your name? - Com te dides? [KOOM tay DEE-days?] / Com vos didetz? [KOOM boos dee-DAYTS?] (inf./pol.)

My name is ____. - Me digui ____. [may DEE-gee ___.]

Pleased to meet you. - Encantat (masc.) / Encantada (fem.) [ayn-kahn-TAHT / ayn-kahn-TAH-dah]

Please. - Se vos platz. [say-boos-PLAHTS]

Thank you. - Gràcies. [GRAH-syays.]

You're welcome. - De res [day-RRAYS]

Yes. - Òc [AW] / Si [SEE]*

No. - Non [NOO]

Excuse me. (getting attention) - Desencusatz. [day-zayn-kew-ZAHTS.]

Sorry. / Excuse me. (begging pardon) - Perdon. [payr-DOONG] / Perdonatz [payr-doo-NAHTS] (inf./pol.)

Goodbye - Adiu [ah-DEE-oo] / Adishatz [ah-dee-SHAHTS]

I can't speak Aranese well. - Non parli ben aranés. [NOO PAHR-lee BAYNG ah-rah-NAYS.]

Do you speak English? - Parles anglés? [PAHR-lays ahn-GLAYS?] / Parlatz anglés? [pahr-LAHTS ahn-GLAYS?]

Is there someone here who speaks English? - I a quauquarrés aciu que parle anglés? [YAH kah-oo-kah-RRAYS ah-SEE-oo kay PAHR-lay ahn GLAYS?]

I (only) speak English. - (Sonque) parli anglés. [SOON-kay PAHR-lee ahn-GLAYS.]

Help! - Ajuda! [ah-ZHEW-dah!]

Help me! - Ajudatz-me! [ah-zhew-DAHTS-may!]

Look out! - Atencion! [ah-tayn-SYOONG!]

Good morning - Bon dia [BOONG DEE-ah]