Catalan is a Romance language spoken by approximately 10 million speakers, with roughly 4 million being native speakers. It is the only official language of Andorra, and a co-official language of the Spanish autonomous communities of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Valencia (where the language is known as Valencian). It also has semi-official status in the Italian comune of Alghero. It is also spoken in the eastern strip of Aragon, in some villages of Region of Murcia called Carche and in the Pyrénées-Orientales department of France. These territories are often called Països Catalans or "Catalan Countries".

History

Historian Jaume Villanueva stated that the first sample of Catalan was a sentence in a now-lost manuscript from Ripoll. It was a whimsical note in 10th- or early 11th-century calligraphy: Magister m[eu]s no vol que em miras novel ("my master does not want you to watch me, newbie"). Around the 9th century, however, certain texts written in macaronic Latin start to show Catalan traits. However, it was not until the 11th century that texts written wholly in Catalan started to appear. Some of these texts are Oath of Radulf Oriol (ca. 1028-1047) Complaints of Guitard Isarn, Lord of Caboet (ca. 1080–1095), or The Oath of Peace and Truce of Count Pere Ramon (1098). However, it was often difficult at this time to determine if the language of some texts was Catalan or Occitan, as the two languages were extremely similar at the time.
Catalan lived a golden age during the Late Middle Ages, reaching a peak of maturity and cultural plenitude. Examples of this can be seen in the works of Majorcan polymath Ramon Llull (1232–1315), the Four Great Chronicles (13th-14th centuries), and the Valencian school of poetry which culminated in Ausiàs March (1397–1459).
By the 15th century, the city of Valencia had become the center of social and cultural dynamism, and Catalan was present all over the Mediterranean world.The belief that political splendor was correlated with linguistic consolidation was voiced through the Royal Chancery, which promoted a highly standardized language
After the Nueva Planta Decrees, the use of Catalan in administration and education was banned in the Kingdom of Spain. It was not until the Renaixença that use of the Catalan language saw a resurgence.
In Francoist Spain (1939–1975), the use of Spanish in place of Catalan was promoted, and public use of Catalan was initially repressed and discouraged by official propaganda campaigns. The use of Catalan in government-run institutions and in public events was banned. During later stages of the Francoist regime, certain folkloric or religious celebrations in Catalan were allowed to resume and were tolerated. Use of Catalan in the mass media was initially forbidden, but beginning in the early 1950s, it was permitted in the theater. Publishing in Catalan continued throughout the dictatorship. There were attempts at prohibiting the use of spoken Catalan in public and in commerce, and all advertising and signage had to be in Spanish, as did all written communication in business.
Following the death of Franco in 1975 and the restoration of democracy under a constitutional monarchy, the use of Catalan increased significantly because of new affirmative action and subsidy policies. The Catalan language is now used in politics, education and the media, including the newspapers Avui ("Today"), El Punt ("The Point"), Ara ("Now"), La Vanguardia and El Periódico de Catalunya (sharing content with El Periòdic d'Andorra, printed in Andorra); and the television channels of Televisió de Catalunya (TVC): TV3, and Canal 33 (culture channel), Super3/3XL (cartoons channel) as well as a 24-hour news channel 3/24 and the sports channel Esport 3; in Valencia à punt; in the Balearic islands IB3; in Catalonia there are also some private channels such as 8TV and Barça TV.

Linguistics

As a Romance language, Catalan is related to other well-known languages such as Spanish and French, as well as to lesser-known Romance languages such as Aromanian and Sardinian. It is more distantly related to other Indo-European languages such as English, Hindi and ancient Hittite.
Classification
Catalan's full classification is as follows:
Indo-European > Italic > Romance > Western Romance > Gallo-Romance > Occitano-Romance > Catalan
Morphophonemics
Catalan contains seven stressed vowel phonemes, which, depending on the dialect, often reduce down to three distinct phonemes when they are unstressed. There are 25 or 26 consonant phonemes, depending on the dialect. Stress most often occurs on any of the last three syllables of a word.
Syntax
As in most Romance languages, Catalan nouns, adjectives, pronouns and articles are inflected for two genders (masculine and feminine) and two numbers (singular and plural). Apart from the pronouns, Catalan retains no case inflection.
Catalan exhibits more personal pronouns than either Spanish or Italian, with a total of 13, the subject forms are listed in the table below. Like most European languages, there is a T-V distinction in the language based on formality, so a different (more formal) pronoun would be used. There is also an additional, more respectful form of the second person singular pronoun that is archaic except in a few dialects and administrative texts, also included in the table below. Like many Romance language, pronomial objects (both direct and indirect) are represented as either clitics before the verb or as suffixes to the verb.

Pronoun	Meaning
jo, mi	1st singular
nosaltres	1st plural
tu	2nd singular informal
vosaltres	2nd plural informal
vostè	2nd singular formal
vostès	2nd plural formal
vós	2nd person respectful
ell	3rd person singular masculine
ells	3rd person plural masculine
ella	3rd person singular feminine
elles	3rd person plural feminine
si	3rd person reflexive
hom	3rd person impersonal

Catalan verbs can inflect for a wide variety of tenses, aspects and moods, and is typologically a fusional paradigm. Overall, there are 11 total verbal forms, though one of them is archaic. The non-finite forms are the infinitive, the root form of the verb, the gerund, the past participial; the finite forms include indicative present, imperfect, preterite (archaic), future and conditional; subjunctive present and imperfect; and the imperative. Within each finite paradigm, there are six different forms, representing each of the three persons and two numbers; like many other Romance languages, the formal second person forms conjugate in the manner of the third person.
Catalan word order is generally subject-verb-object, but can also be fairly free to allow for slight semantic differences and topic focuses.
Orthography
Catalan uses the Latin script, with some added symbols and digraphs. The Catalan orthography is systematic and largely phonologically based.Standardization of Catalan was among the topics discussed during the First International Congress of the Catalan Language, held in Barcelona October 1906. Subsequently, the Philological Section of the Institut d'Estudis Catalans (IEC, founded in 1911) published the Normes ortogràfiques in 1913 under the direction of Antoni Maria Alcover and Pompeu Fabra. In 1932, Valencian writers and intellectuals gathered in Castelló de la Plana to make a formal adoption of the so-called Normes de Castelló, a set of guidelines following Pompeu Fabra's Catalan language norms
Text sample:
Tenia prop de divuit anys quan vaig conèixer en Raül, a l'estació de Manresa. El meu pare havia mort, inesperadament i encara jove, un parell d'anys abans, i d'aquells temps conservo un record de punyent solitud. Les meves relacions amb la mare no havien pas millorat, tot el contrari, potser fins i tot empitjoraven a mesura que em feia gran. No existia, no existí mai entre nosaltres, una comunitat d'interessos, d'afeccions. Cal creure que cercava... una persona en qui centrar la meva vida afectiva.
Spoken sample:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nN4fDhAcGTM (Wikitongues video)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diITZkQlcxs&list=PLjDCKlXHQBGYSpTwIy3MSfs7qmn0Artz- (Playlist of Catalan folksongs)
Sources & Further reading
Wikipedia on Catalan
/catalan
What now?
This thread is foremost a place for discussion. Are you a native speaker? Share your culture with us. Learning the language? Tell us why you chose it and what you like about it. Thinking of learning? Ask a native a question. Interested in linguistics? Tell us what's interesting about it, or ask other people. Discussion is week-long, so don't worry about post age, as long as it's this week's language.

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Real talk for a second. My heart has been hurting these days with all thats going on in the US, I nearly decided to do an entire post on it and how we need to be praying for people to see a clear picture of the Gospel through our clear loving actions in the US. At this moment the Gospel being presented through actions of Christians is super confused and not a clear picture of Christ. And so we need to do be better and help present a better picture of the Gospel by coming alongside our brothers and sisters who are hurting but we cannot and should not forget people that have no picture of the Gospel at all. So today, I will include a prayer request for the US but we will still focus on a people group that doesn't even know of Jesus, even if its mixed signals of Jesus.
So meet the Sri Lankan Moor people of Sri Lanka.
How Unreached Are They?
The Sri Lankan Moor people are 0% Christian. That means at best there are maybe a handful of believers in all of their population, which is around 600,000 people.
There is a complete bible translation in their language!
What are they like?

Although the caste system is not observed by the Moors such as it is in the other ethnic groups in Sri Lanka, their kudi system (matriclan system) is an extension of the Tamil tradition
The Sri Lankan Moors have been strongly shaped by Islamic culture, with many customs and practices according to Islamic law. While preserving many of their ancestral customs, the Moors have also adopted several South Asian practices.
The Moors practice several customs and beliefs, which they closely share with the Arab, Sri Lankan Tamils and Sinhalese People. Tamil and Sinhala customs such as wearing the Thaali or eating Kiribath were widely prevalent among the Moors. Arab customs such as congregational eating using a large shared plate called the 'sahn' and wearing of the North African fez during marriage ceremonies feed to the view that Moors are of mixed Sinhalese, Tamil and Arab heritage.
There have been a growing trend amongst Moors to rediscover their Arab heritage and reinstating the Arab customs that are the norm amongst Arabs in Middle East and North Africa. These include replacing the sari and other traditional clothing associated with Sinhalese and Tamil culture in favour of the abaya and hijab by the women as well as increased interest in learning Arabic and appetite for Arab food by opening restaurants and takeaways that serve Arab food such as shawarma and Arab bread.
The late 19th century saw the phase of islamization of Sri Lankan Moors, primarily under the influence of M. C. Siddi Lebbe. He was a leading figure in the Islamic revival movement, and strengthened the Muslim identity of the Sri Lankan Moors. He was responsible for the ideological framework for the Muslim ethnicity in Sri Lanka. Wikipedia

History Lesson

The Moors trace their ancestry to Arab traders who settled in Sri Lanka some time between the eighth and fifteenth centuries. Fascinated by the scenic splendor, Muslim merchants arrived in large numbers and some decided to settle in the island, encouraged by the cordial treatment they received from local rulers. Most lived along the coastal areas in peace and prosperity. The Sri Lankan Moors possess a unique culture that differentiates them from the dominant Sinhalese and Tamil ethnic groups on the island. The culture of Sri Lankan Moors has been strongly shaped by Islam, hence most customs and practices are dictated by Islamic law. While preserving many of their ancestral customs, the Moors have also adopted several South Asian practices. Joshua Project

And this

The Sri Lankan Civil War was a 26-year conflict fought on the island of Sri Lanka between government and separatist militant organization Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (the LTTE, also known as the Tamil Tigers). LTTE tried to make northern Sri Lanka into a Tamil country called Tamil Eelam.
Since 1888 under the initiative of Ponnambalam Ramanathan, the Sri Lankan Tamils launched a campaign to classify those Sri Lankan Moors who spoke Tamil as Tamils, primarily to bolster their population numbers for the impending transition to democratic rule in Sri Lanka. Their view holds that the Sri Lankan Moors were simply Tamil converts to Islam. The claim that the Moors were the progeny of the original Arab settlers might hold good for a few families, but not for the entire bulk of the community.
According to some Tamil nationalists, the concept of Arab descent among Tamil-speaking Moors was invented just to keep the community away from the Tamils, and this 'separate identity' intended to check the latter's demand for the separate state Tamil Eelam and to flare up hostilities between the two groups in the broader Tamil-Sinhalese conflict.
The expulsion of the Muslims from the Northern province was an act of ethnic cleansing carried out by the Tamil militant Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) organization in October 1990. In order to achieve their goal of creating a mono ethnic Tamil state in the North Sri Lanka, the LTTE carried out riots and forcibly expelled the Muslim population from the Northern Province and confiscated their properties and destroyed the Mosques. Wikipedia

What do they believe?
Nearly all of the Moor people follow Islam.

Islam was spread to Sri Lanka by contacts with the merchant ships operated by the Moor traders between Serendib (Old Persian / Arabic name for Sri Lanka), and various ports in the Arabian Peninsula and North Africa.

How Can We Pray for Them?

• Pray that Christian workers would have unity as they reach this large unreached people group for Jesus.
• Pray that Sri Lankan men would rise up to become strong in the Lord.
• Pray that God will open the hearts of Sri Lankan government leaders to the Gospel.
• Ask God to set the Moor people free from their bondage to Islamic beliefs.
• Pray that the doors of Sri Lanka will soon open even more Christian missionaries.
• Ask God to raise up teams of intercessors who will faithfully stand in the gap for the Moor.
• Pray that Christians will have opportunities to introduce the Moor to the Prince of Peace.
• Pray that in this time of chaos and panic that the needs of the unreached are not forgotten by the church. Pray that our hearts continue to ache to see the unreached hear the Good News.
• Pray the Lord is even now preparing pastors and teachers to help those who will soon come to Christ. Pray these new believers will quickly become firmly established in the grace of Jesus Christ.
• Thank the Lord for renewed peace on the island of Sri Lanka, and pray this peace will remain. Pray for reduced tensions between the major ethnic groupings on the island.
• Pray for our nation (the United States), that we Christians can learn to come alongside our hurting brothers and sisters and learn to carry one another's burdens in a more Christlike manner than we have done historically.

Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. (Romans 10:1)
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Here are the previous weeks threads on the UPG of the Week for Reformed

People Group	Country	Date Posted	Beliefs
Moor	Sri Lanka	06/15/20	Islam
Shaikh	Bangladesh	06/08/20	Islam
Khalka Mongols	Mongolia	06/01/20	Animism
Comorian	France	05/18/20	Islam
Bedouin	Jordan	05/11/20	Islam
Muslim Thai	Thailand	05/04/20	Islam
Nubian	Uganda	04/27/20	Islam
Kraol	Cambodia	04/20/20	Animism
Tay	Vietnam	04/13/20	Animism
Yoruk	Turkey	04/06/20	Islam
Xiaoliangshn Nosu	China	03/30/20	Animism
Jat (Muslim)	Pakistan	03/23/20	Islam
Beja Bedawi	Egypt	03/16/20	Islam
Tunisian Arabs	Tunisia	03/09/20	Islam
Yemeni Arab	Yemen	03/02/20	Islam
Bosniak	Croatia	02/24/20	Islam
Azerbaijani	Georgia	02/17/20	Islam
Zaza-Dimli	Turkey	02/10/20	Islam
Huichol	Mexico	02/03/20	Animism
Kampuchea Krom	Cambodia	01/27/20	Buddhism
Lao Krang	Thailand	01/20/20	Buddhism
Gilaki	Iran	01/13/20	Islam
Uyghurs	China	01/01/20	Islam
Israeli Jews	Israel	12/18/19	Judaism
Drukpa	Bhutan	12/11/19	Buddhism
Malay	Malaysia	12/04/19	Islam
Lisu (Reached People Group)	China	11/27/19	Christian
Dhobi	India	11/20/19	Hinduism
Burmese	Myanmar	11/13/19	Buddhism
Minyak Tibetans	China	11/06/19	Buddhism
Yazidi	Iraq	10/30/19	Animism*
Turks	Turkey	10/23/19	Islam
Kurds	Syria	10/16/19	Islam
Kalmyks	Russia	10/09/19	Buddhism
Luli	Tajikistan	10/02/19	Islam
Japanese	Japan	09/25/19	Shintoism
Urak Lawoi	Thailand	09/18/19	Animism
Kim Mun	Vietnam	09/11/19	Animism
Tai Lue	Laos	09/04/19	Bhuddism
Sundanese	Indonesia	08/28/19	Islam
Central Atlas Berbers	Morocco	08/21/19	Islam
Fulani	Nigeria	08/14/19	Islam
Sonar	India	08/07/19	Hinduism
Pattani Malay	Thailand	08/02/19	Islam
Thai	Thailand	07/26/19	Buddhism
Baloch	Pakistan	07/19/19	Islam
Alawite	Syria	07/12/19	Islam*
Huasa	Cote d'Ivoire	06/28/19	Islam
Chhetri	Nepal	06/21/19	Hinduism
Beja	Sudan	06/14/19	Islam
Yinou	China	06/07/19	Animism
Kazakh	Kazakhstan	05/31/19	Islam
Hui	China	05/24/19	Islam
Masalit	Sudan	05/17/19	Islam

As always, if you have experience in this country or with this people group, feel free to comment or PM me and I will happily edit it so that we can better pray for these peoples!
Here is a list of definitions in case you wonder what exactly I mean by words like "Unreached"