Problems of the periodization in the history of the language

Abstract

The work analyses how of suitable are the periodizations of the history of the Catalan language with the aim to propose one that could be compatible with the social nature of what at present pretend to encase most of the histories of the language. Like this, it considers out of place the treatment of some previous period at the existence of the Catalan language, as that of the Romanization, and rebuffs some tag that is a tradition invented, as that of the Reconquest. The proposal of a periodization summarises at four stages based at sociolinguistic factors: emergence, conscience, plenitude and linguistic conflict.