It may seem like a storm in a teacup, but the argument over a single ’tilde’ (accent) on Valencia’s name – and which way it faces – is more about politics and regional identity than it is about linguistics.
The Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua (AVL) has rejected a proposed name change in the Mediterranean city, with the issue of which way an accent faces revealing political divides.
The name of Spain’s third city is, officially speaking, València, as it is written in the Valencian language. The issue of which way the accent faces has become a political point in the city with the right-wing council seeking to overturn a 2016 change to better reflect the Valencian language.
It was changed in 2016 after the then left-wing Compromís government voted to change the name to its Valencian version as part of broader moves to promote the Valenciano language in the region.
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However, the proposal to change this back to a bilingual version (‘Valéncia/Valencia) has sparked fierce political and linguistic debate in the city that anchors on a single accent – or a tildeas it is known in Spanish – and which direction it should be facing.
@cabrafotuda Valencia is pronounced with é closed but written with è open 🙆🏼♀️ Get over it, Catalá, or if not, open your last name 💅🏼 #Valencia #Valencian #estiktokat #paísvalencia #comunitatvalenciana #paellavalenciana #Valencian #valentokers #language #alicante #valencia #catalunyatiktok #catalonia #Catalan language ♬ original sound – Cabrafotuda
The AVL rejected the subtle change but did open the door to the double name use (València/Valencia), declining the council proposal to close or reverse the accent, thus maintaining the current name of the city in Valencian and with an open accent.
In a statement sent to the media on Monday, the linguistic body stated that for reasons of “orthographic and etymological consistency and established written tradition”, the proposed spelling of the place name is with an open accent, “although the usual pronunciation in Valencian is with a closed “e”’.
The academy explained that the ruling sent to the Generalitat on Monday was approved with 16 votes in favour, two against and two abstentions, meaning it was not unanimous. The AVL also said it thoroughly analysed “the set of etymological, phonetic, documentary and normative data on the place name, as well as the specific new information provided in the technical study”.
The local council, for its part, has lamented the decision, arguing that the institution has missed an opportunity to better reflect the city.
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The spokesperson for Valencia council, Juan Carlos Caballero, expressed his “surprise and disappointment” at the decision, which he criticised for not being communicated to them and for having found out about it through the media.
“The AVL has missed a historic opportunity to get closer to the linguistic and social feelings of Valencians, which we have always defended at the city council, such as the dual naming in Valencian and Spanish as used in many towns in the Valencian Community. When we see the report, we will do whatever is necessary,” he said.
As for the dual naming (Spanish/Valencian), Caballero points out that it is up to the local councils to decide whether to propose adopting the dual naming, adding that the Spanish name has been the official one until the arrival, in 2015, of the Compromís and PSPV government.
In a statement, the council also criticised “the AVL’s lack of institutional loyalty” for not having made this report public, which affects “a matter of such importance to the city”.
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In Valencian, the word ‘València’ is considered to have four syllables as the -ia ending does not form diphthong as it does in Spanish.
That makes it an esdrújula word (the emphasis is on the antepenultimate syllable and it always has an accent on its vowel). In Castilian Spanish, ‘Valencia’ is a three-syllable wool word (emphasis on the last but one syllable, in this case ‘len’) and therefore it doesn’t have an accent.
Spanish doesn’t have open and closed tildes, they always go forward.
This forward or closed accent – as in Valéncia – would follow the Norms of El Puig, the linguistic rules developed by the Royal Academy of Valencian Culture developed to ensure Valencian is treated as an independent language, not a variety of Catalan.
Preserving the Valencian language has become a point of pride in the city and wider region, with right-wing parties more sceptical of the inclusion and preferring Castilian Spanish versions.
READ ALSO: Do I need to learn Valencian if I live in Spain’s Valencia region?
