changes could not have been without their effect upon the language. The court of Provence introduced into Spain the fascinating poetry of the Troubadours. Kings and princes became its admirers and imitators. Among these were Alfonso II., king of Arragon, and his son Peter II., who died fighting for the Albigenses, many of whom, and amongst them a great multitude of Troubadours,-took refuge at his court. During the next century, the same patronage was afforded by the court of Arragon under Peter III. and his son James I., who is spoken of as a great admirer of the poesia Catalana, and himself no mean poet. It will be readily understood, why circumstances of this kind should have established and perpetuated the language of the Troubadours in Spain.

The Lengua Lemosina exhibits itself in Spain under the form of three separate dialects.* These are, 1. the Catalan ; 2. the Valencian; and 3. the Majorcan, or dialect of the Islas Baleares. Of these we shall present examples, in the order in which we have named them.

1. The Catalan. This dialect, which is now confined to the province of Catalonia, formerly extended also through the neighboring province of Arragon, though at the present day the language of that province is the Castilian, with some slight traces of the elder dialect. The following is the Lord's prayer in Catalan, taken from Aldrete.†

'Pare nostro, que estan en lo cel. Sanctificat sea el vostre sant nom; Vinga en nos altres el vostre sant reine;

Fassas la vostra voluntat, axi en la terra como se fa enl o

cel;

El pa nostre de cada dia da nous lo gui;

I perdonan nos nostres culpes;

Axi com nos altres perdonam a nostres deudores;

I no permetan, que nos altres caigam

En la tentacio, ans desllibra nos de qual se vol mal. Amen.'

It will not be necessary to go more minutely into the history of this dialect. Those who are curious to see wherein it differs from the language of the Troubadours of Provence, and to notice more particularly some other of its peculiarities, are

* Mayans i Siscar. T. I. p. 58.

Del Origen y Principie de la Lengua Castellana. Lib. II.

cap. 18.

referred to Raynouard.* We pass on to the next division of the Lengua Lemosina.

2. The Valencian. This dialect seems formerly to have. been identically the same as the Catalan; and even at the present day so slight is the difference between them, that the inhabitants of the two provinces understand each other with perfect facility. In the Notas al Canto de Turia in the Diana Enamorada of Gaspar Gil Polo, we find the following passage, which bears upon this point. As Maestro Rodriguez has well observed in his Bibl. Valent., pages 26 and 27, under the name of Catalanes are included both Catalonians and Valencians, for both spake the same language from the commencement of the conquest, and for more than two hundred years afterwards; and even at the present day the two languages cannot be distinguished from each other, save in some particular forms and idioms; and this is the reason why many authors have been confounded together, and some who were in reality Valencians have been considered as natives of Catalonia.†

The following specimen is from the pen of Onofre Almudevar, a Valencian author of the sixteenth century.

'En lo temps que mes apartat estava de conversar ables muses, amantissims lectors, lo Enteniment, que tots temps está en vetla, sentí que tocaven a les portes del descuit lo zel y amor de la nostra materna llengua, que acompanyats de la Rahó venien, y entránt en lo pati de la voluntat, prengué la Rahó la mar del áir, y a mí en personá de tots los altres Valencians ab paraules de gran sentiment per un modo imperatiu me comenzá arguhint de parlar en esta forma: "Suio fosseu ingrats a la llet que aveu mamat, y a la patria hon sou nats, no dormirieu ab tant gran descuit ans uberts los ulls de la consideració veurieu com seus

*Choix des Poesies de Troubadours. T. VI. Discours Prélim. p. xxxviii.

The original passage runs thus: 'Como advirtió muy bien el Maestro Rodriguez en sa Bibl. Valent. pag. 26. y 27. bajo el nombre de Catalanes se entendian estos y los Valencianos, por ser todos de una misma lingua desde los principios de la conquista y por mas de 200 anos; y aun hoy no se distinguen ambas lenguas, sino en el dialecto y ciertos idiotismos: y esta ha sido la causa de confundir a algunos Autores, que se tiener por Catalanes de nacimiento, y son Valencianos.

La Diana Enamorada. Notas al Canto de Turia. Adicion vii. p. 490.

van perdént les perles e margarites que ab continues vigilies los vostres passats adquiriren, y aprés les vos dexaren; perque de aquelles y ab aquelles vos adornasseu y enriques seu en les conversacions y ajusts de persones avisades; majorment que par que azó redunde en deshonra vostra, vist que los estranys les amen, estimen, y tenen, y encara les sapliquen, que tacitament es mostrar que aquells tals millor ho gusten y entenen que vosaltres y que azó sia veritat próvas entre les altres ab les obres d'aquell vostre excelentissim Poeta y estrénu cavaller MoSSEN AUSIAS MARCH, que essént natural Valenciá, los cathalans lo san volgut aplicar, y los Castellaus han treballat de entréndrel, fentlo en achademies publiques llegi. Y com a estos, que dit tinch, nols sia natural axi per la carencia de la forza de la llengua, com per la varietat dels enteniments, ajudant hi lo gran discurs del temps, en les obres dites, y en estes que aci narraré, sens moltes altres dignes de ser portades a la noticia dels hòmens, y ser tengudes en la estima que ells merexien, de cada dia se van corrompent los vocables. Y algunes vegades pensant millorarlos, com lo vers sia una cosa tan delicada, muden la sentencia, o alteren los versos de tal manera, que si huy tornassen algunes delles davant sos propis Autors, no les conexerien. Per hon vos exhorte, y tan quant puch encarregue, que torneu sobre vosaltres, y respongau per la vostra honra en no dexar perdre les obres de tants celebres Autors, sino que renovantles, mostreu a les nacions estranyes la capacitat de les persones, la facundia de la llengue, y les coses altes que en ella están escrites."'

Most gentle reader !—At that season when the mind, which never sleeps, was most withdrawn from the conversation of the Muses, I heard the Zeal and Love of our maternal tongue, who came accompanied by Reason, knocking at the gates of Oblivion ; and, entering into the corn-yard of the Will, Reason lifted up her voice, and addressing herself to me as the representative of all other Valencians, with words of great sorrow, and a tone of authority, she began to reason with me after this manner; 'Were you not ungrateful to the bosom that suckled you, and to the country where you were born, you would not sleep on in so great forgetfulness; on the contrary you would have aroused others by the consideration, that they are losing the pearls and jewels, which your fathers with continual vigils gained, and bequeathed to you; that from these and with these you might adorn and enrich yourselves in the conversation and counsel of learned men; the more so, in as much as it thus redounds to your discredit, seeing that strangers love, and esteem, and keep, and even appropriate them to themselves, which is tacitly showing that they

have a better taste and understanding than you; and that this is the truth, we have proofs, amongst others, in the works of that excellent poet and renowned cavalier, Mossen (Mr.) Ausias March, whom, being a native of Valencia, the Catalonians have wished to claim as their own, and the Castilians have labored to understand, having him read in their public Academies. And as this is unnatural to those, whom I have mentioned, both on account of the difficulty of understanding the full force of the language, and moreover on account of the variety of opinions, and the long course of time which has elapsed since his day,—in the abovementioned works, and in these which I here present,—(not to mention many others worthy of being offered to the notice of men, and held in well-merited esteem,)—the language is becoming daily corrupted. And some times thinking to improve it, as poetry is a delicate matter, they change the expressions and alter the verses in such a manner, that if, at the present day, some of them should again reach the hands of their authors, they would not recognize them. Hence I exhort you, and charge you as strongly as I am able that you should return to yourselves, and vindicate your honor, by not suffering the works of so many celebrated authors to be lost, but by renovating them again, show to foreign nations the capacity of your writers, the richness of your language, and the noble things, which are written therein.

3. The Majorcan. This is the name generally given to the dialect spoken in the three islands of Majorca, Minorca, and Iviza. Even this patois is not uniform in these three islands but seems to have some local peculiarities, as we shall have occasion to observe in presenting our extracts. The first exhibits the language as spoken in the island of Majorca. It is extracted from a little catechism of Christian doctrine, printed in the city of Palma in 1817.*

Tot bon Christiá

es molt obligat

á tanir devoció

á la Santo Creu

de Jesu-Christ nostron Deu.

Puis en ella volgué morir

para nos redimir

de la captividat

de nostron pecat.

*Doctrina Christiana a manera de Dialogo entre el mestre y lo dexeble. Composta pu lo R. P. Diego de Compañia de Jesus.

Y

per tant devem usar de señar, y persignar fent tres creus.

La primeza en lo front, perque ens deslliuz Deu dels mals pensemens.

La segona en la boca, perque ons deslliuz Deu de las malas palauras.

La tercera en los pits, (pechos)

perque en deslliuz Deu

de las malas obras, dient axi :

Per lo señal, de la Santa Creu de nostros inimichs deslliuzaunos Señor, Deu nostro.'

This is so very simple, that we shall not take up the room with a translation. We pass to the dialect spoken in Minorca. Dr. Ramis y Ramis, speaking of this dialect, says; 'It is evident, that although our language is derived from the ancient Lemosin, which is spoken alike by Catalonians, Valencians, and Majorcans, this does not excuse us from the necessity of having some elementary reading-book in our own peculiar dialect; since there is a difference between it and that spoken by them, both in the pronunciation and the orthography.' *To show the difference which exists between these two forms of the same dialect, we subjoin the Pater-noster and the Ave-Maria in both, marking those words wherein they differ.

MAJORCAN.

'Lo Pare nostro.

Pare nostro qui estan en lo cel, sia santificat lo vostro Sant Nom. Vinga á nosaltres lo vostro Sant Reyne. Fassas la vostre voluntat, axí en la terra, com se fà en lo Cel. Lo nos

* "

MINORCAN.

'El Pare nostro.

Pare nostro qui estan en el cel, sie santificat el vostro Sant Nom; venguie anosaltres el vostro Sant Reine; fassies la vostra voluntat axi en la terra com se fá en el Cel. Nostro pá

Aparex qu' encare qu'el nostre (idiome) sie trét de l'antig llemosi del qual usan igualment los Cataláns, Valencians y Mallorquins, açó no nos escusa d' haver de tenir principis de lectura própis d'el nostro dialéctic; assent axi qu' aquest se diferencia d' el d'aquells lant en la pronúncia, cóm en l' ortografia.-Principis de la Lectura Menorquina. Per un Mahones. Mahò. 1804. Prefaci.