The Valencian nationalists insist that it isn't, and I've never felt like challenging their assertions in this respect (as in my experience they tend to be made while brandishing a wine bottle).
I thought Wyatt was just being obstreperous. Now I see that a few days in the countryside has turned him into a fierce linguistic partisan of a dialect that may only exist in the minds of bottle-wielding Iberians.
I don't think there's a serious linguist in the world who thinks Valencià is a separate language from Catalan, but as ua says, that doesn't stop certain Valencian nationalists from saying so. In accent, it does sound a good deal less French and (whisper it) closer to Castilian.
I once withdrew cash from a machine in somewhere like Gata de Gorgos that offered transactions in Français, English, Deutsch, Castellano, Euskara, Galego, Català, Valencià and Balear. Which I think you have to say is a bit mental.
In a mood of very drunken nationalism, I changed my ATM language to Welsh.
Upon sobering up and returning to a Welsh ATM a month later, I was absolutely fucked. Of course, it being Cardiff, I couldn't find anyone to translate for me.
Three weeks ago, I stopped at a gas station in backwoods Ohio (south of Cleveland) on the way to watch a farce of a TFC match against Columbus. For reasons I cannot even begin to explain, the ATM was offering services in English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Italian, Polish, and two other languages. I went with Polish - because, what the hell, how often do you get an ATM like this in the rural midwest? - didn't understand a word, but the button seuqence works the same, so I got my money.
"Gallego" in Castilian: the language of Galicia in the Northwest. A bit like Portuguese. "Rias Baixas" is about the only phrase I know in it, off of the wine bottles.
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