Swallowing, slipping, splashing, cold or courage are some of the words that can be heard normally in the Empordà but are often not used beyond colloquial speech. Claiming their use and losing the fear of using them in other contexts is one of the aims of lHelena Borrell, PhD in Modern Languages, born in Llabià, with the edition of the book “100 words from the Empordà and part from abroad“. Beyond that, a walk through the 135 pages of this book allows the Empordà people to know anecdotes and feel identified with speaking.
Curculla. “Who has never stopped to hear the sound of the sea in a curlew? The resonance of the shell mollusk when placed at the ear is in fact the murmur of the environment that resonates inside the cavity. It is part of the explanation that accompanies one of the hundred words, and one that the writer likes. But we find many more than usual and with curious explanations. Pioc, rabassa, ventanal or xuia, if you are from the Empordà they will probably sound or use you and if not, you can discover them through these pages.
The words are grouped into five sections: on language, humanities, the Empordà, abantes (and now) and miscellany. And each word is accompanied by an explanation related to some personal or experiential anecdote.
The idea for the book arose following Teresa Tort published “100 Ebren words caught on the fly” in the same collection.
“In many writings by Víctor Català or Josep Pla you can find dialectal words, they are full of dialectalisms, and then you go to Barcelona and you come across these comic situations that had changed my speaking style because I was ashamed,” explains Borrell. . For the writer, they must be able to be used without fear and that they can be written “, that you read a novel and get closer to the origin of the narrator.
Claim speaking
With “100 words from the Empordà and part of abroad” it is not intended to rescue from oblivion the words “but to vindicate the Empordà dialect as a suitable language beyond its borders or the colloquial register » That they can be used outside the borders where they are spoken to enrich the language.
In this sense, he points out that the standard is a linguistic variety that dilutes local dialects because it has a certain prestige. It is what is used in schools and in the media that have spread it and caused dialectal features to be lost.
In the standard and also by the interference of the Spanish some aspects of the speeches that before were in the oral language but also in Literature are cornered. “I hope that readers lose their fear or have no complexes when it comes to using words and expressions from their land in other contexts and outside the Empordà,” says Borrell. And beyond the speakers, the author argues that they can be used in the media and literature, “because the speaker must be able to feel identified with the eva language, which is usually spoken.”
That is why for the Empordà people many of the words that appear are present in their daily lives.
Curculla, ratinyol or fumèrria are three of the many favorites of Helena Borrell who had to make a selection from a long list to choose from only a hundred.
Her experience and her parents from the rural world were key and part of the process. Some can be heard beyond the Empordà. “That they were still very much in force, even among young people,” says Borrell. Because the book has an informative but also entertaining will.
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