General History

Galician is part of the Indo-European language family, the Romance branch, and the Iberian group. This means it is closely related to languages like Portuguese and Spanish. Galician is also related to other Romance languages like French and Catalan. Galician is distantly related to languages like English and Irish as well. 

Currently, Galican is the official language in an autonomous region of Spain called Galicia. It is recognized as a minority language in other regions of Spain like El Bierzo. Notably, it is also spoken within Portugal mainly in the region Trás-os-Montes. Galician is also spoken by diaspora in countries like the United States, mainly Puerto Rico, and Switzerland. Interestingly, Galician was not always considered its own language. Instead it was considered a dialect of Portuguese, both coming from an extinct language fittingly called Galician-Portuguese. However, now it is considered its own language with a strong influence from Castilian Spanish. This is still debated though as the official society that regulates all things Galican, the Royal Galician Academy, believes the languages are separate. But other smaller organizations like the Galician Association of Language and the Galician Academy of the Portuguese Language believe Galician and Portuguese are two forms of Galician-Portuguese or Galician is a dialect of Portuguese.     

The Phonology (Sounds) of Slovak

Terms

Galician has 21 consonant sounds, 19 of which are shared with English. Every sound has three criteria: voiceless or voiced, placement, and manner. Voiceless refers to when one makes a sound without the use of the vocal cords. For example, “s,” as in snake. Voiced refers to when one makes a sound with the use of the vocal cords. For example, “z,” as in zoo. Placement is where in the mouth and throat the sound is being made. This can range from the lips to the larynx. In Georgian, there are six placements. Finally, manner is how a sound is made. For example, the sound /p/ is called a voiceless bilabial plosive. In layman’s terms, it is a sound made without vocal cords, using only the lips, and a burst of air.   

Plosives

Plosives are sounds made when one stops airflow and then releases it in a burst of air. In Slovak, there are eight plosives. First are the voiceless and voiced bilabial plosives /p/ and /b/ which are just like they look. /p/ as in pack or carpa, and /b/ as in aback or alba. Next are the voiceless and voiced alveolar plosives /t/ and /d/ which again sound just like they look. /t/ as in tin or trato, and /d/ as in dash or vida. Then, is the voiced palatal plosive /ɟ/. /ɟ/ sounds like a “g” but higher in the mouth like in the English word geese. /ɟ/ can be found in words like geese or mollado. Lastly, there are the voiceless and voiced velar plosives /k/ and /g/ which sound how they look. /k/ as in kiss or casa, and /g/ as in good or fungo.

Fricatives

Fricatives are defined by closing the mouth to the point where only a small airstream can be pushed out, creating friction and therefore a sound. The first sound is the voiceless labiodental fricative /f. It can be seen in words like fun or faísca. Then is the voiceless dental fricative /θ/ which can be seen in words like thin or cero. The next sound is the voiceless alveolar fricative /s/. /s/ can be seen in words like sit or saúde. Lastly, is the voiceless postalveolar fricative /ʃ/ which makes the “sh” sound. It can be seen in words like sheep or viaxe.

Affricates 

The next sound is an affricate, meaning one must make a plosive sound immediately followed by a fricative. Galician has one affricate, the voiceless postalveolar affricate /tʃ/. This makes the “ch” sound like in beach or cheo.    

Nasals

Next are the nasal sounds, which are defined as air stream passing through the nose in order to make the sound. The first two nasal sounds are the voiced bilabial nasal sound /m/ and the voiced alveolar nasal sound /n/. Both sound like how they look in English. /m/ can be seen in words like him or memoria. /n/ can be found in words like nice or niño. There is also the voiced palatal nasal /ɲ/. This is in words like canyon or viño. Lastly, is the voiced velar nasal /ŋ/ which makes the “ng” sound. This can be found in words like sing or unha. 

Approximants 

The next group is the approximants. This is more of a catch-all term for anything that does not nicely fit into the other categories. The first sound is the voiced palatal approximant /j/. This makes the English “y” sound. /j/ can be found in words like you or macio. Then is the voiced alveolar lateral approximant /l/. /l/ can be found in words like let or lúa. Lastly is the voiced labial-velar approximant, /w/. /w/ can be found in words like weep or pingüín.   

Galician Sounds

There are two last sounds that do not exist in English and could be hard for English speakers to pronounce. First is the voiced alveolar tap /ɾ/ has in the Catalan word truc, the Spanish word caro, the portuguese word prato, or the Galician word hora. There is also the voiced alveolar trill /r/ which makes the “r” sound in the Catalan word ruc, the Spanish word perro, the Portuguese word rato, or the Galician word serra.       

Vowels 

Vowels in Galician are slightly complicated. The language works on a seven-vowel system using a, e, ε, i, o, ɔ, and u. All of which are in English. The first sound is the open-front unrounded vowel /a/. It sounds like the English “a” in hat or nada. Then is the close-mid front unrounded vowel /e/. It is seen in words like may or tres The next sound is the open-mid front unrounded vowel /ε/. It is found in words like bed and ferro. Then there is the close front unrounded vowel /i/. It sounds like the English “e” in free or min. Next is the close-mid back rounded vowel /o/. This makes the “o” sound in R.P. pronunciation of yawn or bonito. Furthermore, there is the open-mid back rounded vowel /ɔ/. This makes the English “ough” sound like in thought or home. Last is the close back rounded vowel /u/ makes the English “oo” sound like in boot or rúa.

Diphthongs

There are nine diphthongs in the Galician language. The first one is /aj/. This makes the “i” sound in words like bite or caixa. Then is the diphthong /εj/ which makes the “a” sound like in ate or papeis. The diphthong /ej/ makes the “a” sound like in ate or queixo. Next is /ɔj/ which makes the “oy” sound like in boy or bocoi. /oj/ again makes the “oy” as in boy or loita. /aw/ makes the “ow” sound as in bow or autor. Next is /εw/ which makes the sound found in the Portuguese word eu or the Galician word deu. Then is /ew/ which makes the same sound as /εw/. Lastly, is /ow/ which makes the “dark”  “o” as in poe or pouco.     

The Orthography (Writing) of Georgian

Alphabet – Afabeto

Slovak, just like English, is written from left to right. This article will have a combination of all three. The Galician script consists of 23 letters. Galician, unlike Hebrew, uses an alphabet. This means that there are letters for the vowels and consonants. Now let’s get into the alfabeto

The first letter of the alphabet is a. A it looks like this Aa. It makes the “a” sound. The next letter is Be. It looks like this Bb and it makes the “b” sound. The next letter is Ce and it looks like this Cc, it makes the “k” or “th” sound depending on the following letter. Then is De which looks like this Dd and makes the “d” sound. Furthermore, E which looks like this Ee and makes the “e” sound. Next is Efe which looks like this Ff and makes the “f” sound. Gue looks like this Gg and makes the “g” sound. Then is Hache which looks like this Hh and is silent. Then is I which looks like this Ii and makes the “i” sound. Then there is Ele which looks like this Ll and makes the “l” sound. Then is Ene which looks like this Nn and makes the “n” sound. Eñe looks like this Ññ, it makes the “ny” sound. Next is O which looks like this Oo and makes the “o” sound. Then is Pe which looks like this Pp and makes the “p” sound. Next is Que which looks like this Qq and makes the “k” sound. The next letter is Erre. It looks like this Rr and makes the “r” sound. There is also Dlhé Er which looks like this Ŕŕ and makes the long “r” sound. Then is the letter Ese which looks like this Ss and makes the “s” sound. Next is Te and it looks like this Tt and it makes the “t” sound. Then is U which makes the “u” sound and looks like this Uu. Next is Uve which looks like this Vv and makes the “b’” sound. Additionally, the letter Xe looks like this Xx and makes the “sh” sound. Zeta looks like this Zz and makes the “th” sound. 

Positives

Galician is not the hardest language to learn but by no means is it the easiest. From its sometimes confusing letter sounds to its hard-to-find learning resources. However, Galician has a thriving culture and has centuries of history behind the language. Galician has two cases like English and uses a modified Latin script. Galician is also spelled phonetically meaning it is spoken how it is written. Another amazing thing about Galician is if you know Spanish, Portuguese, or both you already know a large portion of the language.     

Useful Phrases

1. What’s up? –  ¿Que hai? 

2. Hello/Good-bye –  Ola/Adeus
3. I’m Sorry –   Síntoo
4. My name is _____ –   Chámome  ______
5. How much is this? –   Canto é?
6. I don’t speak Galician –   Eu non falo galego
7. Do you speak English? –  ¿Ti falas inglés?
8. What time is it? –  ¿Que hora é?
9. Yes –   Si
10. No –  Non
11. Good morning–   Bos días
12. Good evening –   Boas noites
13. One –  Un/Unha
14. Two –  Dous/Dúas
15. Three –  Tres
16. Four –  Catro
17. Five –  Cinco
18. Six –  Seis
19. Seven –  Sete
20. Eight –  Oito
21. Nine –  Nove
22. Ten –  Dez

Conclusion

In all, Galician has many close relations with languages like Portuguese or Spanish. The language also has distant relations with languages like English. Galician is a thriving language with it being used in many pop songs and showing up on the international stage. The Slovak language contains 21 consonant sounds and seven vowels, combining for 28 sounds: /p, b, t, d,  ɟ, k, g, f, θ, ʃ, tʃ, m, n, ɲ, ŋ, j, l, w, r, ɾ, a, e, ε, i, o, ɔ, u/. The Galician language has nine diphthongs: aj, ej, εj, oj, ɔj, aw, ew, εw, and ow. The Galician language uses a modified Latin script with a total of  23 characters. Galician is a very interesting language as it brings up many unique challenges; however, the language has so much history and culture behind it. You cannot lose if you choose to learn it.