Reintegrationism (reintegracionismo,, ), or Lusism, is a linguistic movement in Galicia that advocates for the recognition of Galician and varieties of the Portuguese language as a single language. Reintegrationists argue that the different dialects of Galician and Portuguese should be classified as part of the Galician-Portuguese language, rather than two languages within a common branch. The largest reintegrationist association is the Galician Language Association (AGAL).

Background

The reintegrationists also believe that the official orthography of the Galician language, regulated by the Royal Galician Academy, is too Castilianized and artificially separates it from the northern varieties of Portuguese. However, the Spanish influence on Galician dates back to centuries prior to standardization, namely the Dark Centuries, when Galician lost its official recognition and stopped being a written language, thus becoming the spoken language of the lower classes in the region. During the Rexurdimento, many Galician authors initially found that they didn't know how to write Galician, since it didn't have a standard form yet. The current Galician grammar is thought to have been influenced by the Spanish one since it could've been seen as a crucial step for recognition within the Spanish state. The Galician Language Association (Reintegrationist Galician: Associaçom Galega da Língua) was founded in 1981 under the name "Estudo crítica das normativas ortográficos e morfolóxicas do idioma galego" and officially published its own standard grammar in 1983, which closely resembles the grammar of Old Galician-Portuguese and thus the modern varieties of Portuguese. The main goal of the association is to reinsert Galician, especially in its written form, in a Galician-Portuguese-Brazilian diasystem.

Practicalities

In writing, the most obvious differences from the official norm (NOMIGa) are (according to AGAL): Galician members of the European Parliament (such as José Posada, Camilo Nogueira and Xosé Manuel Beiras) have used spoken Galician when addressing the chamber and have used standard Portuguese orthography to encode their Galician speech. In all cases, these interventions and encodings have been accepted by the Parliament as a valid form of Portuguese, that is, an official language of the European Union. Furthermore, members of Galician reintegrationist associations have been regularly present at meetings of the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries. In 2008, Galician delegates were invited as speakers to the Portuguese Parliament when discussing the new spelling norms for the Portuguese language.

Controversy

The majority of the Galician population was educated in Spanish only (as official use of Galician was rare or even absent for centuries, especially in Francoist Spain ). In this fashion, it is argued that Galician would be faithful to its history and etymology and subsequently its written norm would be more scientific and precise. Thus, it would allow Galician speakers to have direct access to a world culture and it would also clarify some spelling problems of the isolationist norm (for example in terms of stress). A number of Portuguese linguists and authors such as Luís Lindley Cintra, Manuel Rodrigues Lapa, Fernando Venâncio, Carlos Reis or Malaca Casteleiro have expressed their agreement with the reintegrationist views.

Genesis of the debate

Authors such as Castelao, among others, stated that Galician should gradually merge with Portuguese, namely in its written form. "The Lusitanian and Galician languages are the same."

• Padre Feijóo, Theatro Critico Universal, 1726 "There are two opinions on the orthographic norms of our native language: the phonetic ... influenced by the domination of Spanish, and another one ... where etymology is its main and most logical attribute ... because (Portuguese orthography) is the natural orthography of the Galician language, and I cannot understand how there still are not only doubts about this, but even opinions against it ... with no scientific basis."
• Roberto Blanco Torres, La unificación ortográfica del idioma gallego, 1930 "There is a reason why our language is the same as in Portugal ... Our languages must become the same one again."
• Otero Pedrayo, Discursos Parlamentarios, 1933 "Galician is a wide-spread and useful language which—with small variations—is spoken in Brazil, Portugal and in the Portuguese colonies."
• Castelao, Sempre en Galiza, 1944 However, political issues forced the resignation of Carvalho Calero and, consequently, the 1979 pro-reintegrationist norms were revoked. The new official norms and reforms passed from 1982 onwards would be strongly pro-isolationist.