Bacaves, or bacavès, is a proposed term for the common language of the Balearic Islands, Catalonia, Valencia, and other Catalan-speaking regions.[1] Coined by Nicolau Primitiu Gómez Serrano [es] in 1925, "bacaves" is an acronym comprised of the first letters of the Balearics, of Catalonia, and of Valencia; it became more widely used in the mid-twentieth century, following greater interest in (and liberalisation regarding the discussion of provincial languages in Spain.

Gomez Serrano conceived of Bacaves as capturing the languages spoken in the territories known as the Països Catalans, rather than subsuming all of these languages within the overarching category of Catalan. As such, the appropriateness of Bacaves as a categorisation forms part of the linguistic debate around the status of Valencian, and the wider discussions regarding the political relationship between Valencia and the other Catalan countries.

Bacaves has gained little currency as a concept in any of the Catalan countries. The language spoken in Catalonia and the Balearic Islands is known as Catalan; in Valencia it is known as Valencian. The Institut d'Estudis Catalans issued a declaration in 2005 rejecting the use of any term other than "Catalan" to describe the language known in Catalonia in Catalan (aside from the term "Valencian" which the IEC indicated could be usd to refer to to the language used in the Valencian Community)[2]; this contrasts with the position taken by the Academia Valenciana de la Lengua, which has advocated for the use of "syncretic" linguistic concepts such as Bacaves.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Acord de l'Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua (AVL), adoptat en la reunió plenària del 9 de febrer del 2005, pel qual s'aprova el dictamen sobre els principis i criteris per a la defensa de la denominació i l'entitat del valencià" (PDF). Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua (in Valencian). Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 September 2015.
  2. ^ "Institut d'Estudis Catalans: l'Institut de les Ciències i les Humanitats - Acadèmia de la Llengua Catalana". www.iec.cat.