The Valencian Academy of Language, AVL, has issued a statement in which it criticizes the statements made yesterday by the Minister of Education, José Antonio Rovira, in which he assessed that “the AVL does not have the absolute truth for Valencian” and in which accepted that “everyone should use the Valencian they deem appropriate. The institution chaired by Verónica Cantó points out that” the fact of projecting the idea that there may be more than one linguistic regulation is completely inappropriate and far from the objectives that a government”.
In the text, the institution points out that these statements endanger “the entire cultural and educational sector and, in general, all areas of language use, which, with the projection of new technologies, needs an agreed standard language ; a consensus recognized, thanks to the work of thousands and thousands of users, by the majority of Valencian society and which has a long spelling tradition (Castelló Rules of 1932)”.
The institution recalls that the Statute of Autonomy of the Valencian Community establishes that “the Valencian Academy of Language is the normative institution of the Valencian language” (art. 6.8). “Any attempt to deviate from what the Statute prescribes would entail irresponsibility and great damage to Valencian society and to the normalization of its own language.” The same Statute of Autonomy, it adds, states that “the linguistic regulations of the Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua are of obligatory application to all public administrations of the Valencian Community” (art. 41). “To question the obligatory nature of the pronouncements of our institution is to question the basic institutional norm of the Valencians: the Statute of Autonomy of the Valencian Community”.
The Law for the Creation of the AVL, continues the statement, further specifies what is provided for in the Statute of Autonomy regarding the obligatory nature of the pronouncements of the institution: “The decisions of the AVL in the exercise of the corresponding functions, will have to be observed by all the Institutions of the Generalitat, by the Public Powers, by the rest of the Public Administrations, the educational system, and the media, entities, organizations and companies, publicly owned or that have public financing ” (art. 5).
Regarding the minister’s statements, the AVL insists that calling into question the AVL itself and its linguistic regulations, “as well as trying to revive a conflict that has been shown to be socially sterile and artificial, has a negative impact on the linguistic, cultural and social backbone of our town”. “Dialogue and consensus presided over the creation of the Academy, as evidenced by the preamble of the AVL Creation Law that reproduces the opinion of the Valencian Council of Culture. Dialogue and consensus are also the instruments used by the AVL in their day-to-day performance as demonstrated over the years”.
Finally, the institution points out that “Valencian, our language, the own and historical language of the Valencians, needs to be used in all areas in a homogeneous way and to be dignified. Any fragmentation or diversification of the linguistic norm is out of the question common, out of a vision of the future and out of the institutional sense that we expect from our rulers”.
