Les consonants que separen el catalanovalencià de l’occità

Abstract In this paper we verify the lists of linguistic differences that multiple authors have presented to characterize Catalan-Valencian in contrast to Occitan. From all the phenomena that have been put forward, we look at the 29 oppositions of the field of sounds – which is the most discussed aspect by the authors – and we study a majority of them, namely the 17 consonantal pairs. In light of current dialectology and historical linguistics, we establish the evolutionary relationship between the opposed forms (especially if one evolved from the other) and their synchronic and diachronic geographical distribution within Catalan-Valencian and Occitan. This analysis provides results that clearly show that those lists simplify reality in excess and invisibilize the intense relationship of Catalan-Valencian with the rest of Occitano-Romance. Therefore, they are not adequate nor sufficient to characterize Catalan-Valencian in contrast to Occitan, at least in the domain of consonants.