Referències lingüístiques en la legislació andorrana

Resum

This paper presents a selection of texts with the intention of offering an accurate vision of the linguistic treatment given to Catalan, Andorra's autochthonous language, in the local legislation. The regulations under study concern matters such as administration, posters, advertising and commercial names, education, culture, study grants, justice, media, nationality, taxi service, driving tests, and international agreements. In the first part of the article, and according to these different subjects, both the preconstitutional legislation and the regulations following the first written Constitution of Andorra (passed in 1993) are analyzed. The transcription of the texts appears in the second part of the paper. The scant volume of language legislation found in this small country is the result of its history and character. With a population that for many years was almost exclusively Catalan-speaking, and with a language of its own which has been naturally implemented and used for all kinds of documentation, it seemed superfluous to pass a law to defend its use. When, following the demographic changes that have taken place since the late sixties, the intervention of Andorran law makers to protect their own language has been intensified, it has always affected, in a peaceful way, only those areas that were necessary to regulate. In such actions, the attitude of defense of the Catalan language has not been as active as has been the case in Catalonia. However, the decrease in the use of Catalan that has resulted from the assimilation by Andorra of the language diversity of its visitors and new inhabitants, is prompting the present need for broadening up future legislation on language matters.