Answer: satellite

Question: Dalkom Somalia provided internet over what?


Answer: internet cafes

Context: As of 2009, Internet via satellite had a steady growth rate of 10% to 15% per year. It was particularly in demand in remote areas that did not have either dialup or wireless online services. The local telecommunications company Dalkom Somalia provided internet over satellite, as well as premium routes for media operators and content providers, and international voice gateway services for global carriers. It also offered inexpensive bandwidth through its internet backbone, whereas bandwidth ordinarily cost customers from $2,500 to $3,000 per month through the major international bandwidth providers. The main clients of these local satellite services were internet cafes, money transfer firms and other companies, as well as international community representatives. In total, there were over 300 local satellite terminals available aross the nation, which were linked to teleports in Europe and Asia. Demand for the satellite services gradually began to fall as broadband wireless access rose. However, it increased in rural areas, as the main client base for the satellite services extended their operations into more remote locales.

Question: Who were one of the main clients of the local satellite service providers?


Answer: gradually began to fall

Question: As broadband access rose, what happened to the demand for satellite services?


Answer: Tri-Band 3G

Context: In December 2012, Hormuud Telecom launched its Tri-Band 3G service for internet and mobile clients. The first of its kind in the country, this third generation mobile telecommunications technology offers users a faster and more secure connection.

Question: Hormuud Telecom launched what service in 2012?


Answer: internet and mobile clients

Question: Who was the 3G service for?


Answer: Tri-Band 3G

Question: what type of connection was the first of its kind in Somalia?


Answer: faster and more secure

Question: What type of connection does Tri-Band 3G offer its customers?


Answer: third generation

Question: what does 3G stand for?


Answer: 2013

Context: In November 2013, Somalia received its first fiber optic connection. The country previously had to rely on expensive satellite links due to the civil conflict, which limited internet usage. However, residents now have access to broadband internet cable for the first time after an agreement reached between Hormuud Telecom and Liquid Telecom. The deal will see Liquid Telecom link Hormuud to its 17,000 km (10,500 mile) network of terrestrial cables, which will deliver faster internet capacity. The fiber optic connection will also make online access more affordable to the average user. This in turn is expected to further increase the number of internet users. Dalkom Somalia reached a similar agreement with the West Indian Ocean Cable Company (WIOCC) Ltd, which it holds shares in. Effective the first quarter of 2014, the deal will establish fiber optic connectivity to and from Somalia via the EASSy cable. The new services are expected to reduce the cost of international bandwidth and to better optimize performance, thereby further broadening internet access. Dalkom Somalia is concurrently constructing a 1,000 square mile state-of-the-art data center in Mogadishu. The site will facilitate direct connection into the international fiber optic network by hosting equipment for all of the capital's ISPs and telecommunication companies.

Question: What year did Somalia receive its first fiber optic connection?


Answer: broadband

Question: in 2013, an agreement between Hormuud Telecom and Liquid Telecom provided residents access to what type of cable provider?


Answer: 10,500 mile

Question: How many miles long is Liquid Telecoms Network?


Answer: more affordable

Question: How will the fiber optic connection impact the price for online access for the average user?


Answer: Mogadishu

Question: Where is Dalcom Somalia currently building a 1000 square mile data center?


Answer: Catalonia

Context: Catalan (/ˈkætəlæn/; autonym: català [kətəˈla] or [kataˈla]) is a Romance language named for its origins in Catalonia, in what is northeastern Spain and adjoining parts of France. It is the national and only official language of Andorra, and a co-official language of the Spanish autonomous communities of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands, and Valencia (where the language is known as Valencian, and there exist regional standards). It also has semi-official status in the city of Alghero on the Italian island of Sardinia. It is also spoken with no official recognition in parts of the Spanish autonomous communities of Aragon (La Franja) and Murcia (Carche), and in the historic French region of Roussillon/Northern Catalonia, roughly equivalent to the department of Pyrénées-Orientales.

Question: What place is Catalan named for?


Answer: Romance language

Question: What type of language is Catalan?


Answer: Valencian

Question: What is Catalan called in Valencia?


Answer: Andorra

Question: Where is Catalan the only official language?


Answer: Catalan

Context: According to the Statistical Institute of Catalonia in 2008 the Catalan language is the second most commonly used in Catalonia, after Spanish, as a native or self-defining language. The Generalitat of Catalunya spends part of its annual budget on the promotion of the use of Catalan in Catalonia and in other territories.

Question: What is the second most often spoken language is Catalonia?


Answer: Spanish

Question: What is the most used language in Catalonia?


Answer: native

Question: What is the type designation of Catalan in Catalonia?


Answer: The Generalitat of Catalunya

Question: What group spends money to promote the language?


Answer: Catalan

Question: What language is promoted in Catalonia?


Answer: Vulgar Latin

Context: Catalan evolved from Vulgar Latin around the eastern Pyrenees in the 9th century. During the Low Middle Ages it saw a golden age as the literary and dominant language of the Crown of Aragon, and was widely used all over the Mediterranean. The union of Aragon with the other territories of Spain in 1479 marked the start of the decline of the language. In 1659 Spain ceded Northern Catalonia to France, and Catalan was banned in both states in the early 18th century. 19th-century Spain saw a Catalan literary revival, which culminated in the 1913 orthographic standardization, and the officialization of the language during the Second Spanish Republic (1931–39). However, the Francoist dictatorship (1939–75) banned the language again.

Question: From what language did Catalan come?


Answer: eastern Pyrenees

Question: In what area did Catalan develop?


Answer: 9th century

Question: When did Catalan develop in the Eastern Pyrenees?


Answer: Low Middle Ages

Question: When was Catalan's Golden Age as a dominant language?


Answer: 1479

Question: What year started the decline of Catalan as a main language?


Answer: Spanish transition to democracy

Context: Since the Spanish transition to democracy (1975–1982), Catalan has been recognized as an official language, language of education, and language of mass media, all of which have contributed to its increased prestige. There is no parallel in Europe of such a large, bilingual, non-state speech community.

Question: What happened in 1975-1982?


Answer: increased prestige

Question: What has this official language state done for Catalan?


Answer: Europe

Question: Where is there nothing like this non-state speech community?


Answer: mass media

Question: Besides being the official language and language of education, what other group uses Catalan?


Answer: Eastern and Western

Context: Catalan dialects are relatively uniform, and are mutually intelligible. They are divided into two blocks, Eastern and Western, differing mostly in pronunciation. The terms "Catalan" and "Valencian" (respectively used in Catalonia and the Valencian Community) are two different varieties of the same language. There are two institutions regulating the two standard varieties, the Institute of Catalan Studies in Catalonia and the Valencian Academy of the Language in Valencia.

Question: What is the division of Catalan dialects?


Answer: pronunciation

Question: What is the basic difference between the dialects?


Answer: different varieties

Question: What is the differenctiation between Catalan and Valencian?


Answer: the same language

Question: What are Catalan and Valencian assumed to be?


Answer: two standard varieties

Question: What are Catalan and Valencian considered to be in the language?


Answer: many traits

Context: Catalan shares many traits with its neighboring Romance languages. However, despite being mostly situated in the Iberian Peninsula, Catalan differs more from Iberian Romance (such as Spanish and Portuguese) in terms of vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammar than from Gallo-Romance (Occitan, French, Gallo-Italic languages, etc.). These similarities are most notable with Occitan.

Question: What does Catalan have in common with other Romance languages in the same area?


Answer: Iberian Peninsula

Question: Where is Catalonia located?


Answer: Spanish and Portuguese

Question: What other Iberian Romance languages are found in this area?


Answer: pronunciation

Question: Besides vocabulary and grammar, what other diffinence is there from other similar area languages?


Answer: Gallo-Romance

Question: What are these similar Latin derived languages called?


Answer: two

Context: Catalan has an inflectional grammar, with two genders (masculine, feminine), and two numbers (singular, plural). Pronouns are also inflected for case, animacy[citation needed] and politeness, and can be combined in very complex ways. Verbs are split in several paradigms and are inflected for person, number, tense, aspect, mood, and gender. In terms of pronunciation, Catalan has many words ending in a wide variety of consonants and some consonant clusters, in contrast with many other Romance languages.

Question: How many genders does Catalan have?


Answer: singular, plural

Question: What numbers does Catalan have?


Answer: inflectional

Question: What style of grammar does Catalan have?


Answer: consonants

Question: What is used in Catalan as word endings that is different from other similar Romance languages?


Answer: Catalonia

Context: The word Catalan derives from the territory of Catalonia, itself of disputed etymology. The main theory suggests that Catalunya (Latin Gathia Launia) derives from the name Gothia or Gauthia ("Land of the Goths"), since the origins of the Catalan counts, lords and people were found in the March of Gothia, whence Gothland > Gothlandia > Gothalania > Catalonia theoretically derived.

Question: What is Catalan the derivitive of?


Answer: Gathia Launia

Question: What is the Latin for Calalunya?


Answer: March of Gothia

Question: Where did the Catalan people originate?


Answer: Gothia

Question: What is the root word from which Catalonia comes?


Answer: mid 14th century

Context: In English, the term referring to a person first appears in the mid 14th century as Catelaner, followed in the 15th century as Catellain (from French). It is attested a language name since at least 1652. Catalan can be pronounced as /ˈkætəlæn/, /kætəˈlæn/ or /ˈkætələn/.

Question: When did the reference Catelaner first appear?


Answer: Catellain

Question: What is a Catalan person called in the 15th century?


Answer: French

Question: What language is the source of the term Catellain?


Answer: English

Question: What is the language source of the term Catelaner?


Answer: 1652

Question: Since what year has this term been used?


Answer: Valencian Community

Context: The endonym is pronounced /kə.təˈɫa/ in the Eastern Catalan dialects, and /ka.taˈɫa/ in the Western dialects. In the Valencian Community, the term valencià (/va.len.siˈa/) is frequently used instead. The names "Catalan" and "Valencian" are two names for the same language. See also status of Valencian below.

Question: Where is Valencia used instead of Catalan?


Answer: the same language

Question: What are Catalan and Valencian the names for?


Answer: dialects

Question: What affect does different pronunciations in the two areas of Catalan speakers produce?


Answer: Vulgar Latin

Context: By the 9th century, Catalan had evolved from Vulgar Latin on both sides of the eastern end of the Pyrenees, as well as the territories of the Roman province of Hispania Tarraconensis to the south. From the 8th century onwards the Catalan counts extended their territory southwards and westwards at the expense of the Muslims, bringing their language with them. This process was given definitive impetus with the separation of the County of Barcelona from the Carolingian Empire in 988.

Question: What language did Catalan descend from?


Answer: 9th century

Question: When had Catalan covered the eastern end of the Pyrenees?


Answer: Hispania Tarraconensis

Question: Besides the Pyrenees, what area had Catalan covered by the 9th century?


Answer: Catalan counts

Question: Who broadened their territory and the use of Catalan in the 8th century?


Answer: 988

Question: When did the County of Barcelona separate from the Carolengian Empire?


Answer: 11th century

Context: In the 11th century, documents written in macaronic Latin begin to show Catalan elements, with texts written almost completely in Romance appearing by 1080. Old Catalan shared many features with Gallo-Romance, diverging from Old Occitan between the 11th and 14th centuries.

Question: When did macaronic Latin start showing signs of Catalan?


Answer: by 1080

Question: When did texts begin to appear solely in Romance?


Answer: Gallo-Romance

Question: To what language did Catalan display similarities?


Answer: Old Occitan

Question: What Gallo-Romance language did Old Catalan separate from?


Answer: 11th and 12th centuries

Context: During the 11th and 12th centuries the Catalan rulers expanded up to north of the Ebro river, and in the 13th century they conquered the Land of Valencia and the Balearic Islands. The city of Alghero in Sardinia was repopulated with Catalan speakers in the 14th century. The language also reached Murcia, which became Spanish-speaking in the 15th century.

Question: When did Catalan rulers broaden their territory to north of the Ebro River?


Answer: 13th century

Question: When did the Catalan rulers take over Valencia and the Balearic Islands?


Answer: 14th century

Question: When Catalan reach Sardinia?


Answer: Murcia

Question: Where did the Catalan language reach in the 15th century?


Answer: 15th century

Question: When did Murcia become Spanish speaking?


Answer: Low Middle Ages

Context: In the Low Middle Ages, Catalan went through a golden age, reaching a peak of maturity and cultural richness. Examples include the work of Majorcan polymath Ramon Llull (1232–1315), the Four Great Chronicles (13th–14th centuries), and the Valencian school of poetry culminating in Ausiàs March (1397–1459). By the 15th century, the city of Valencia had become the sociocultural center of the Crown of Aragon, and Catalan was present all over the Mediterranean world. During this period, the Royal Chancery propagated a highly standardized language. Catalan was widely used as an official language in Sicily until the 15th century, and in Sardinia until the 17th. During this period, the language was what Costa Carreras terms "one of the 'great languages' of medieval Europe".

Question: When was the golden age of Catalan?


Answer: city of Valencia

Question: Where was the center of the Crown of Aragon?


Answer: Catalan

Question: What was the official language of Sicily until the 15th century?


Answer: 17th

Question: Until what century was Catalan used as the official language in Sardinia?


Answer: Costa Carreras

Question: Who called Catalan one of the great languages?


Answer: Martorell

Context: Martorell's outstanding novel of chivalry Tirant lo Blanc (1490) shows a transition from Medieval to Renaissance values, something that can also be seen in Metge's work. The first book produced with movable type in the Iberian Peninsula was printed in Catalan.

Question: Who wrote Tirant lo Blanc?


Answer: chivalry

Question: What kind of tale was Tirant lo Blanc?


Answer: Renaissance values

Question: To what does Matorell's work show a transition?


Answer: Metge

Question: What other writer showed a transition to the Renaissance?


Answer: movable type

Question: In what was the first Catalan book printed on the Iberian Peninsula?


Answer: 1479

Context: With the union of the crowns of Castille and Aragon (1479), the use of Spanish gradually became more prestigious. Starting in the 16th century, Catalan literature experienced a decline, the language came under the influence of Spanish, and the urban and literary classes became bilingual.

Question: When were Castille and Aragon united?


Answer: Spanish

Question: After 1479, what language became more valued?


Answer: 16th century

Question: When did Catalan literature begin a downward trend?


Answer: Spanish

Question: What language began to supersede Catalan?


Answer: urban and literary

Question: At this time what classes became bilingual?


Answer: 1659

Context: With the Treaty of the Pyrenees (1659), Spain ceded the northern part of Catalonia to France, and soon thereafter the local Catalan varieties came under the influence of French, which in 1700 became the sole official language of the region.

Question: When was the Treaty of the Pyrenees?


Answer: northern part

Question: What part of Catalonia did Spain give to France?


Answer: Treaty of the Pyrenees

Question: Why did Spain give part of Catalonia to France?


Answer: French

Question: What language began to influence Catalan?


Answer: 1700

Question: When did French become the official language of that part of Catalonia?


Answer: 1789

Context: Shortly after the French Revolution (1789), the French First Republic prohibited official use of, and enacted discriminating policies against, the nonstandard languages of France (patois), such as Catalan, Alsatian, Breton, Occitan, Flemish, and Basque.

Question: When did France outlaw Catalan?


Answer: French Revolution

Question: What upheaval had occurred in France just before the prohibition of patois?


Answer: Occitan, Flemish, and Basque

Question: Besides Catalan, Alsatian, and Breton, what other patois were banned?


Answer: patois

Question: What are French non standard languages called?


Answer: 1833

Context: Following the French capture of Algeria (1833), that region saw several waves of Catalan-speaking settlers. People from the Spanish Alacant province settled around Oran, whereas Algiers received immigration from Northern Catalonia and Minorca. Their speech was known as patuet. By 1911, the number of Catalan speakers was around 100,000. After the declaration of independence of Algeria in 1962, almost all the Catalan speakers fled to Northern Catalonia (as Pieds-Noirs) or Alacant.

Question: When did the French obtain Algeria?


Answer: Northern Catalonia and Minorca

Question: Where did the Algiers immigrants come from?


Answer: patuet

Question: What was the Catalan immigrant's speech called?


Answer: around 100,000

Question: How many Catalan speakers lived in Algiers by 1911?


Answer: 1962

Question: When did most Catalan speakers leave northern Catalonia?


Answer: French

Context: Nowadays, France only recognizes French as an official language. Nevertheless, on 10 December 2007, the General Council of the Pyrénées-Orientales officially recognized Catalan as one of the languages of the department and seeks to further promote it in public life and education.

Question: What is the official language of France?


Answer: in public life and education

Question: Where does the General Council want to promote Catalan?


Answer: General Council of the Pyrénées-Orientales

Question: Who recognized Catalan as a departmental language?


Answer: Catalan

Question: What language does the General Council want to promote?


Answer: Catalan

Context: The decline of Catalan continued in the 16th and 17th centuries. The Catalan defeat in the War of Spanish Succession (1714) initiated a series of measures imposing the use of Spanish in legal documentation.

Question: What declined in the 16th and 17th centuries?


Answer: War of Spanish Succession

Question: Where did Catalan experience defeat?


Answer: 1714

Question: When was the war of Spanish Succession?


Answer: Spanish

Question: What did the war in 1714 mandate as the proper language in documentation?


Answer: Catalan

Question: Who was defeated in the War of Spanish Succession?


Answer: revival

Context: In parallel, however, the 19th century saw a Catalan literary revival (Renaixença), which has continued up to the present day. This period starts with Aribau's Ode to the Homeland (1833); followed in the second half of the 19th century, and the early 20th by the work of Verdaguer (poetry), Oller (realist novel), and Guimerà (drama).

Question: What did the 19th century produce in Catalan literature?


Answer: Catalan literary revival

Question: What is Renaixenca?


Answer: 1833

Question: When did Aribau write Ode to the Homeland?


Answer: 1833

Question: When did this revival period begin?


Answer: early 20th

Question: In what century did Vedaguer, Oller, and Guimera wrte?


Answer: Catalan

Context: Since the Spanish transition to democracy (1975–1982), Catalan has been institutionalizated as an official language, language of education, and language of mass media; all of which have contributed to its increased prestige. In Catalonia, there is no parallel of a large, bilingual, European, non-state speech community. The teaching of Catalan is mandatory in all schools, but it is possible to use Spanish for studying in the public education system of Catalonia in two situations, if the teacher assigned to a class chooses to use Spanish, or during the learning process of one or some recently arrived students. There is also some intergenerational shift towards Catalan.

Question: Since the transition what language has been proclaimed mandatory in schools?


Answer: in all schools

Question: Where is the teaching of Catalan mandatory?


Answer: Catalan

Question: Since the transition, what is the official language?


Answer: mass media

Question: Besides as an official and an educational language, where else is Catalan the prefered language?


Answer: Andorra

Context: In Andorra, Catalan has always been the sole official language. Since the promulgation of the 1993 constitution, several Andorranization policies have been enforced, like Catalan medium education.

Question: Where has Catalan always been the only language?


Answer: 1993

Question: When was the Andorran constitution produced?


Answer: Andorranization policies

Question: What policies are the Andorrans enforcing?


Answer: Catalan medium education

Question: What is an Andorran school policy?


Answer: Catalan

Question: What is the only language of Andorra?


Answer: language shift processes

Context: On the other hand, there are several language shift processes currently taking place. In Northern Catalonia, Catalan has followed the same trend as the other minority languages of France, with most of its native speakers being 60 or older (as of 2004). Catalan is studied as a foreign language by 30% of the primary education students, and by 15% of the secondary. The cultural association La Bressola promotes a network of community-run schools engaged in Catalan language immersion programs.

Question: What kind of shifts are taking place in Catalan speaking areas?


Answer: 60 or older

Question: How old are most of the native language speakers in northern Catalonia?


Answer: 2004

Question: When was it determined that most native speakers in France are 60 or older?


Answer: 30%

Question: What percentage of primary students study Catalan as a foreign language?


Answer: Catalan

Question: What do 15% of secondary school students study as a foreign language?


Answer: Spanish

Context: In the Alicante province Catalan is being replaced by Spanish, and in Alghero by Italian. There are also well ingrained diglossic attitudes against Catalan in the Valencian Community, Ibiza, and to a lesser extent, in the rest of the Balearic islands.

Question: What is Catalan being supplanted by in Alicante?


Answer: Italian

Question: What is Catalan being replaced by in Alghero?


Answer: ingrained diglossic attitudes

Question: What are the anti-Catalan attitudes in Valencia and Ibiza?


Answer: diglossic attitudes

Question: What is another expression for bilingual attitudes?


Answer: Catalan

Question: What is Spanish replacing in Alicante province?


Answer: Occitano-Romance

Context: The ascription of Catalan to the Occitano-Romance branch of Gallo-Romance languages is not shared by all linguists and philologists, particularly among Spanish ones, such as Ramón Menéndez Pidal.

Question: To what branch of Gallo-Romance languages is Catalan attributed?


Answer: linguists

Question: Who disagrees with putting Catalan in the Occitano-Romance branch?


Answer: Spanish ones

Question: What kind of linguists do not like placing Catalan in the Occitano-Romance category?


Answer: Occitan language

Context: Catalan bears varying degrees of similarity to the linguistic varieties subsumed under the cover term Occitan language (see also differences between Occitan and Catalan and Gallo-Romance languages). Thus, as it should be expected from closely related languages, Catalan today shares many traits with other Romance languages.

Question: What is Catalan a variety of?


Answer: varying degrees

Question: What are the degrees of similarity with Occitan and Gallo-Romance languages?


Answer: differences

Question: What are there besides degrees of similarity with Occitan?


Answer: many traits

Question: What does Catalan share with other Romance languages?


Answer: closely related

Question: Why does Catalan share many traits with other Romance languages?


Answer: many traits

Context: Catalan shares many traits with the other neighboring Romance languages (Italian, Sardinian, Occitan, and Spanish). However, despite being mostly situated in the Iberian Peninsula, Catalan has marked differences with the Ibero-Romance group (Spanish and Portuguese) in terms of pronunciation, grammar, and especially vocabulary; showing instead its closest affinity with Occitan and to a lesser extent Gallo-Romance (French, Franco-Provençal, Gallo-Italian).

Question: What does Catalan share with nearby Romance languages?


Answer: Iberian Peninsula

Question: Where is the Catalan language mostly located?


Answer: Ibero-Romance group

Question: In pronunciation what is Catalan different from?


Answer: Spanish and Portuguese

Question: What are examples of Ibero-Romance languages?


Answer: Occitan

Question: To what group is Catalan most closely related?


Answer: 87%

Context: According to Ethnologue, the lexical similarity between Catalan and other Romance languages is: 87% with Italian; 85% with Portuguese; 80% with Spanish; 76% with Ladin; 75% with Sardinian; and 73% with Romanian.

Question: What is the similarity between Catalan and Italian?


Answer: 85%

Question: Hoe similar is Catalan to Portuguese?


Answer: 80%

Question: What is the percent relationship of Catalan to Spanish?


Answer: 76%

Question: What is the relationship similarity to Ladin?


Answer: 75%

Question: How related is Sardinian to Catalan?


Answer: dialect of Spanish

Context: During much of its history, and especially during the Francoist dictatorship (1939–1975), the Catalan language has often been degraded as a mere dialect of Spanish. This view, based on political and ideological considerations, has no linguistic validity. Spanish and Catalan have important differences in their sound systems, lexicon, and grammatical features, placing the language in a number of respects closer to Occitan (and French).

Question: What has Catalan often been considered?


Answer: Francoist

Question: During what dictatorship was Catalan considered a dialect?


Answer: rest of Roman Hispania

Context: There is evidence that, at least from the a.d. 2nd century, the vocabulary and phonology of Roman Tarraconensis was different from the rest of Roman Hispania. Differentiation has arisen generally because Spanish, Asturian, and Galician-Portuguese share certain peripheral archaisms (Spanish hervir, Asturian/Portuguese ferver vs. Catalan bullir, Occitan bolir "to boil") and innovatory regionalisms (Sp novillo, Ast nuviellu vs. Cat torell, Oc taurèl "bullock"), while Catalan has a shared history with the Western Romance innovative core, especially Occitan.

Question: What area was Roman Tarraconensis language different from?


Answer: Occitan

Question: What language branch did Catalan share a history with?


Answer: Western Romance

Question: What is Occitan a branch of?


Answer: Germanic

Context: The Germanic superstrate has had different outcomes in Spanish and Catalan. For example, Catalan fang "mud" and rostir "to roast", of Germanic origin, contrast with Spanish lodo and asar, of Latin origin; whereas Catalan filosa "spinning wheel" and pols "temple", of Latin origin, contrast with Spanish rueca and sien, of Germanic origin.

Question: What is the origin of language elements found in Catalan and not in Spanish?


Answer: Latin origin

Question: What is the origin of some Spanish words?


Answer: Germanic superstrate

Question: What has different results in Spanish and Catalan?


Answer: Arabic element

Context: The same happens with Arabic loanwords. Thus, Catalan alfàbia "large earthenware jar" and rajola "tile", of Arabic origin, contrast with Spanish tinaja and teja, of Latin origin; whereas Catalan oli "oil" and oliva "olive", of Latin origin, contrast with Spanish aceite and aceituna. However, the Arabic element in Spanish is generally much more prevalent.

Question: What element in Spanish is more prominent than in Catalan?


Answer: Arabic loanwords

Question: What language loanwords are found in both Spanish and Catalan?


Answer: Spanish

Question: In which language is the Arabic element stand out more?


Answer: of Arabic origin

Question: Where does the Catalan word alfabia come from?


Answer: Latin origin

Question: What is the origin of the Spanish word teja?


Answer: Ibero-Romance and Gallo-Romance

Context: Situated between two large linguistic blocks (Ibero-Romance and Gallo-Romance), Catalan has many unique lexical choices, such as enyorar "to miss somebody", apaivagar "to calm down somebody", or rebutjar "reject".

Question: What are the linguistic blocks Catalan lies between?


Answer: unique

Question: What kind of linguistic choices does Catalan have?


Answer: lexical

Question: What type of unique choices does Catalan have?


Answer: enyorar

Question: What is the Catalan to miss somebody?


Answer: Catalan Countries

Context: These territories are sometimes referred to as the Països Catalans (Catalan Countries), a denomination based on cultural affinity and common heritage, that has also had a subsequent political interpretation but no official status. Various interpretations of the term may include some or all of these regions.

Question: What are the Paisos Catalans


Answer: cultural affinity and common heritage

Question: What is that determination based on?


Answer: no official status

Question: What status does Catalan Countries have?


Answer: Various interpretations

Question: What is the interpretation of the term?


Answer: Països Catalans

Question: What is the term for Catalan Countries?


Answer: many monosyllabic words

Context: In contrast with other Romance languages, Catalan has many monosyllabic words; and those ending in a wide variety of consonants and some consonant clusters. Also, Catalan has final obstruent devoicing, thus featuring many couplets like amic "(male friend") vs. amiga ("female friend").

Question: How is Catalan different from other Romance languages?


Answer: consonant clusters

Question: What other type of endings do Catalan words have?


Answer: obstruent

Question: What kind of final devoicing does the language have?


Answer: couplets

Question: What do many words feature?


Answer: Central Catalan

Context: Central Catalan is considered the standard pronunciation of the language. The descriptions below are mostly for this variety. For the differences in pronunciation of the different dialects, see the section pronunciation of dialects in this article.

Question: What is the standard pronunciation of Catalan?


Answer: standard pronunciation

Question: What is Central Catalan?


Answer: standard pronunciation

Question: What are the descriptions for?


Answer: section pronunciation

Question: Where do you look for the pronunciation of different dialects?


Answer: Vulgar Latin

Context: Catalan has inherited the typical vowel system of Vulgar Latin, with seven stressed phonemes: /a ɛ e i ɔ o u/, a common feature in Western Romance, except Spanish. Balearic has also instances of stressed /ə/. Dialects differ in the different degrees of vowel reduction, and the incidence of the pair /ɛ e/.

Question: Where does Catalan get its vowel system?


Answer: seven

Question: How many stressed phenoms are there?


Answer: Western Romance

Question: Where is this a common feature?


Answer: Spanish

Question: What is the exception to this common characteristic?


Answer: Dialects

Question: What differs in vowel reduction?


Answer: three

Context: In Central Catalan, unstressed vowels reduce to three: /a e ɛ/ > [ə]; /o ɔ u/ > [u]; /i/ remains distinct. The other dialects have different vowel reduction processes (see the section pronunciation of dialects in this article).

Question: How many reduced unstressed are vowels are there in Central Catalan?


Answer: /i/

Question: What vowel stays distinct?


Answer: different

Question: What kind of vowel processes do other dialects have?


Answer: In Central Catalan

Question: Where do unstressed vowels reduce to three?


Answer: section pronunciation

Question: Where do you find dialectic vowel reductions?


Answer: Catalan sociolinguistics

Context: Catalan sociolinguistics studies the situation of Catalan in the world and the different varieties that this language presents. It is a subdiscipline of Catalan philology and other affine studies and has as an objective to analyse the relation between the Catalan language, the speakers and the close reality (including the one of other languages in contact).

Question: What field studies the placement of Catalan in the world?


Answer: Catalan sociolinguistics

Question: What is the study of the differenet varieties of Catalan?


Answer: Catalan philology

Question: What is this a subdiscipline of?


Answer: analyse the relation

Question: What does it want to do with the language, the speakers, and reality?


Answer: other languages in contact

Question: What outside affects does this study include?


Answer: uniformity

Context: The dialects of the Catalan language feature a relative uniformity, especially when compared to other Romance languages; both in terms of vocabulary, semantics, syntax, morphology, and phonology. Mutual intelligibility between dialects is very high, estimates ranging from 90% to 95%. The only exception is the isolated idiosyncratic Alguerese dialect.

Question: What do the dialects of Catalan feature?


Answer: other Romance languages

Question: In comparison to what are the dialects uniform?


Answer: intelligibility

Question: What is high among dialects?


Answer: 90% to 95%

Question: What is the percentage of intelligibility between dialects?


Answer: Alguerese

Question: What dialect is the exception to intelligibility?


Answer: treatment of unstressed a and e

Context: Catalan is split in two major dialectal blocks: Eastern Catalan, and Western Catalan. The main difference lies in the treatment of unstressed a and e; which have merged to /ə/ in Eastern dialects, but which remain distinct as /a/ and /e/ in Western dialects. There are a few other differences in pronunciation, verbal morphology, and vocabulary.

Question: What is the major difference between the two blocks?


Answer: distinct

Question: How are a and e in western dialects?


Answer: merged

Question: What have a and e done in eastern dialects?


Answer: Northwestern Catalan and Valencian

Context: Western Catalan comprises the two dialects of Northwestern Catalan and Valencian; the Eastern block comprises four dialects: Central Catalan, Balearic, Rossellonese, and Alguerese. Each dialect can be further subdivided in several subdialects.

Question: What two dialects does Western Catalan include?


Answer: four

Question: How many dialects are in the eastern group?


Answer: Eastern block

Question: To what division does Central Catalan belong?


Answer: subdialects

Question: What other divisions can be made of dialects?


Answer: Western Catalan

Question: What block does Northwestern Catalan and Valencian belong to?


Answer: Central Catalan

Context: Central Catalan is considered the standard pronunciation of the language and has the highest number of speakers. It is spoken in the densely populated regions of the Barcelona province, the eastern half of the province of Tarragona, and most of the province of Girona.

Question: What comprises the standard pronunciation of Catalan?


Answer: Central Catalan

Question: Where are the most speakers found?


Answer: Barcelona province

Question: In what densely populated area is it spoken?


Answer: eastern half

Question: What part of the province of Tarragona is Central Catalan spoken?


Answer: Vulgar Latin

Question: What is the vowel system of Catalan?


Answer: seven

Question: How many stressed phonemes are there in Catalan?


Answer: Western Romance

Question: Where is this system common?


Answer: Spanish

Question: What language is the exception?


Answer: Dialects

Question: What language form differs in the amount of vowel reduction?


Answer: Eastern Catalan

Context: In Eastern Catalan (except Majorcan), unstressed vowels reduce to three: /a e ɛ/ > [ə]; /o ɔ u/ > [u]; /i/ remains distinct. There are a few instances of unreduced [e], [o] in some words. Alguerese has lowered [ə] to [a].

Question: Where do unstressed vowels reduce to three?


Answer: Majorcan

Question: What is the exception to this reduction?


Answer: /i/

Question: Which vowel remains distinct?


Answer: Majorcan

Context: In Majorcan, unstressed vowels reduce to four: /a e ɛ/ follow the Eastern Catalan reduction pattern; however /o ɔ/ reduce to [o], with /u/ remaining distinct, as in Western Catalan.

Question: In what language do unstressed vowels reduce to four?


Answer: Eastern Catalan

Question: What reduction pattern do some vowels follow?


Answer: Western Catalan

Question: What other pattern do other vowels follow?


Answer: /u/

Question: What letter remains distinct?


Answer: Western Catalan

Question: /u/ remaining distinct is like what form of Catalan?


Answer: five

Context: In Western Catalan, unstressed vowels reduce to five: /e ɛ/ > [e]; /o ɔ/ > [o]; /a u i/ remain distinct. This reduction pattern, inherited from Proto-Romance, is also found in Italian and Portuguese. Some Western dialects present further reduction or vowel harmony in some cases.

Question: What do unstressed vowels reduce to in Western Catalan?


Answer: /a u i/

Question: Which letters remain distinct?


Answer: Proto-Romance

Question: Where did this pattern come from?


Answer: Italian and Portuguese

Question: In what other languages is this pattern found?


Answer: further reduction

Question: What do other Western dialects sometimes offer?


Answer: Balearic

Context: Central, Western, and Balearic differ in the lexical incidence of stressed /e/ and /ɛ/. Usually, words with /ɛ/ in Central Catalan correspond to /ə/ in Balearic and /e/ in Western Catalan. Words with /e/ in Balearic almost always have /e/ in Central and Western Catalan as well.[vague] As a result, Central Catalan has a much higher incidence of /e/.

Question: What form has the same /e/ as Central and Western?


Answer: /e/

Question: What vowel does Central have a larger occurrence of?


Answer: higher incidence

Question: What is the result of /e/ being the same in Central, Western and Belearic?


Answer: Valencian

Context: In verbs, 1st person present indicative desinence is -e (∅ in verbs of the 2nd and 3rd conjugation), or -o. E.g. parle, tem, sent (Valencian); parlo, temo, sento (Northwestern). In verbs, 1st person present indicative desinence is -o, -i or ∅ in all conjugations. E.g. parlo (Central), parl (Balearic), parli (Northern), ('I speak').

Question: What language is parle or tem ?


Answer: Northwestern

Question: What language is parlo or temo ?


Answer: Balearic

Question: What language is parl?


Answer: Northern

Question: What language form is parli?


Answer: nouns and adjectives

Context: In nouns and adjectives, maintenance of /n/ of medieval plurals in proparoxytone words. E.g. hòmens 'men', jóvens 'youth'. In nouns and adjectives, loss of /n/ of medieval plurals in proparoxytone words. E.g. homes 'men', joves 'youth'.

Question: Where do you find medieval plurals?


Answer: /n/

Question: What letter is lost in some words?


Answer: homes

Question: When homens loses /n/, it becomes what word?


Answer: joves

Question: The medieval jovens becomes what what word?


Answer: proparoxytone

Question: What kind of plural words lose /n/?


Answer: word choices

Context: Despite its relative lexical unity, the two dialectal blocks of Catalan (Eastern and Western) show some differences in word choices. Any lexical divergence within any of the two groups can be explained as an archaism. Also, usually Central Catalan acts as an innovative element.

Question: What do the two blocks of Catalan display differences in?


Answer: as an archaism

Question: How can you explain differences in the language groups?


Answer: Central Catalan

Question: What form is innovative?


Answer: Eastern and Western

Question: What are the two blocks of Catalan?


Answer: lexical divergence

Question: What does an archaism explain?


Answer: Eastern Catalan

Context: Standard Catalan, virtually accepted by all speakers, is mostly based on Eastern Catalan, which is the most widely used dialect. Nevertheless, the standards of Valencia and the Balearics admit alternative forms, mostly traditional ones, which are not current in eastern Catalonia.

Question: What is Standard based on?


Answer: Standard Catalan

Question: What form is excepted by most speakers?


Answer: traditional ones

Question: What language forms are not now used in eastern Catalonia?


Answer: jo compre

Context: The most notable difference between both standards is some tonic ⟨e⟩ accentuation, for instance: francès, anglès (IEC) – francés, anglés (AVL). Nevertheless, AVL's standard keeps the grave accent ⟨è⟩, without pronouncing this ⟨e⟩ as /ɛ/, in some words like: què ('what'), or València. Other divergences include the use of ⟨tl⟩ (AVL) in some words instead of ⟨tll⟩ like in ametla/ametlla ('almond'), espatla/espatlla ('back'), the use of elided demonstratives (este 'this', eixe 'that') in the same level as reinforced ones (aquest, aqueix) or the use of many verbal forms common in Valencian, and some of these common in the rest of Western Catalan too, like subjunctive mood or inchoative conjugation in -ix- at the same level as -eix- or the priority use of -e morpheme in 1st person singular in present indicative (-ar verbs): jo compre instead of jo compro ('I buy').

Question: What is jo compro changed to ?


Answer: many verbal forms

Question: What common Valencian forms are used?


Answer: verbal forms

Question: What forms are also common in the rest of Western Catalan?


Answer: the Balearic Islands

Context: In the Balearic Islands, IEC's standard is used but adapted for the Balearic dialect by the University of the Balearic Islands's philological section. In this way, for instance, IEC says it is correct writing cantam as much as cantem ('we sing') but the University says that the priority form in the Balearic Islands must be "cantam" in all fields. Another feature of the Balearic standard is the non-ending in the 1st person singular present indicative: jo compr ('I buy'), jo tem ('I fear'), jo dorm ('I sleep').

Question: Where is IEC's standard used?


Answer: adapted for the Balearic dialect

Question: How is the standard used there?


Answer: non-ending

Question: What is a first person singular feature of the Balearic standard?


Answer: Alghero

Context: In Alghero, the IEC has adapted its standard to the Alguerese dialect. In this standard one can find, among other features: the definite article lo instead of el, special possessive pronouns and determinants la mia ('mine'), lo sou/la sua ('his/her'), lo tou/la tua ('yours'), and so on, the use of -v- /v/ in the imperfect tense in all conjugations: cantava, creixiva, llegiva; the use of many archaic words, usual words in Alguerese: manco instead of menys ('less'), calqui u instead of algú ('someone'), qual/quala instead of quin/quina ('which'), and so on; and the adaptation of weak pronouns.

Question: Where has the IEC adapted its standard to the Alguerese dialect?


Answer: lo

Question: What definite article is found rather than el?


Answer: imperfect tense

Question: What is -v- used for?


Answer: Alguerese

Question: What dialect employs many archaic words?


Answer: weak pronouns

Question: What type of pronouns has Alguerese adapted?


Answer: La Franja

Context: In 2011, the Aragonese government passed a decree for the establishment of a new language regulator of Catalan in La Franja (the so-called Catalan-speaking areas of Aragon). The new entity, designated as Acadèmia Aragonesa del Català, shall allow a facultative education in Catalan and a standardization of the Catalan language in La Franja.

Question: Where is the Catalan speaking part of Aragon?


Answer: 2011

Question: When did the government of Aragon degree the establishment of a language regulator?


Answer: Catalan

Question: What language is the regulator meant to standardize?


Answer: La Franja

Question: Where is the language to be regulated located?


Answer: Western dialect

Context: Valencian is classified as a Western dialect, along with the northwestern varieties spoken in Western Catalonia (provinces of Lleida and the western half of Tarragona). The various forms of Catalan and Valencian are mutually intelligible (ranging from 90% to 95%)

Question: How is Valencian classified?


Answer: northwestern varieties

Question: What kind of Valencan is spoken in Western Catalonia?


Answer: Western Catalonia

Question: Where are the provinces of Lleida and Tarragona?


Answer: Catalan and Valencian

Question: What forms are mutually intelligible?


Answer: 90% to 95%

Question: What is the percentage of intelligibility between Catalan and Valencian?


Answer: as the same language

Context: Linguists, including Valencian scholars, deal with Catalan and Valencian as the same language. The official regulating body of the language of the Valencian Community, the Valencian Academy of Language (Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua, AVL) declares the linguistic unity between Valencian and Catalan varieties.

Question: How do linguists view Catalan and Valencian?


Answer: as the same language

Question: How do Valencian scholars view Catalan and Valencian?


Answer: the Valencian Academy of Language

Question: What is the official regulating body of Valencian?


Answer: Valencian Academy of Language

Question: Who says that there is linguistic unity between Catalan and Valencian?


Answer: Valencian parliament

Context: The AVL, created by the Valencian parliament, is in charge of dictating the official rules governing the use of Valencian, and its standard is based on the Norms of Castelló (Normes de Castelló). Currently, everyone who writes in Valencian uses this standard, except the Royal Academy of Valencian Culture (Acadèmia de Cultura Valenciana, RACV), which uses for Valencian an independent standard.

Question: Who established the AVL?


Answer: use of Valencian

Question: Over what does the AVL make rules governing?


Answer: Norms of Castelló

Question: What is the AVL standard based on?


Answer: everyone who writes

Question: Who uses this standard?


Answer: Royal Academy of Valencian Culture

Question: Who is exempt from the standard and uses their own?


Answer: different

Context: Despite the position of the official organizations, an opinion poll carried out between 2001 and 2004 showed that the majority of the Valencian people consider Valencian different from Catalan. This position is promoted by people who do not use Valencian regularly. Furthermore, the data indicates that younger generations educated in Valencian are much less likely to hold these views. A minority of Valencian scholars active in fields other than linguistics defends the position of the Royal Academy of Valencian Culture (Acadèmia de Cultura Valenciana, RACV), which uses for Valencian a standard independent from Catalan.

Question: What do most Valencian people think Valencian is in regards to Catalan?


Answer: between 2001 and 2004

Question: When was an opinion poll done concerning Valencian?


Answer: younger generations

Question: Who is less likely to believe that Catalan and Valencian are different?


Answer: Royal Academy of Valencian Culture

Question: Who uses a Valencian standard separate from Catalan?


Answer: A minority

Question: How many scholars outside of linguistics agree with the Royal Academy?


Answer: clash of opinions

Context: This clash of opinions has sparked much controversy. For example, during the drafting of the European Constitution in 2004, the Spanish government supplied the EU with translations of the text into Basque, Galician, Catalan, and Valencian, but the latter two were identical.

Question: What has produced a great deal of controversy?


Answer: 2004

Question: When did the EU create the European Constitution?


Answer: Spanish government

Question: Who gave the EU translations of the European Constitution?


Answer: as an archaism

Question: As what can divergence in the groups be shown?


Answer: as an innovative element

Question: How does central Catalan behave with the groups?


Answer: Eastern and Western

Question: What are the two dialectical groups of Catalan?


Answer: Catalan

Question: What language has a lexical unity?


Answer: Literary Catalan

Context: Literary Catalan allows the use of words from different dialects, except those of very restricted use. However, from the 19th century onwards, there is a tendency of favoring words of Northern dialects in detriment of others, even though nowadays there is a greater freedom of choice.

Question: What can use words from different dialects?


Answer: restricted use

Question: What kind of words are excepted from literary use?


Answer: 19th century

Question: When did the preference of use of words from northern dialects begin?


Answer: detriment of others

Question: What affect did this favoring of northern dialects have on other dialects?


Answer: greater freedom of choice

Question: What kind of choice is now available in word choice?


Answer: Greek and Latin

Context: Like other languages, Catalan has a large list of learned words from Greek and Latin. This process started very early, and one can find such examples in Ramon Llull's work. On the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries Catalan had a number of Greco-Latin learned words much superior to other Romance languages, as it can be attested for example in Roís de Corella's writings.

Question: Where does Catalan get a lot of its learned words?


Answer: very early

Question: When did the process of acquiring words from Latin and Greek begin?


Answer: Ramon Llull

Question: In whose work can you find examples of acquired words?


Answer: fourteenth and fifteenth centuries

Question: When did Catalan have a greater number of Greco-Latin words than other Romance languages?


Answer: Roís de Corella

Question: Whose writings are a good example of learned words in Catalan?


Answer: agglutination

Context: The process of morphological derivation in Catalan follows the same principles as the other Romance languages, where agglutination is common. Many times, several affixes are appended to a preexisting lexeme, and some sound alternations can occur, for example elèctric [əˈlɛktrik] ("electrical") vs. electricitat [ələktrisiˈtat]. Prefixes are usually appended to verbs, for as in preveure ("foresee").

Question: What is common in Romance languages?


Answer: morphological

Question: What kind of derivation in Catalan is similar to other languages?


Answer: Prefixes

Question: What word additive is usually added to verbs?


Answer: sound alternations

Question: What other word changes can occur in derivations?


Answer: affixes

Question: What word supplement can be put on an already existing word base?


Answer: -o

Context: In gender inflection, the most notable feature is (compared to Portuguese, Spanish or Italian), the loss of the typical masculine suffix -o. Thus, the alternance of -o/-a, has been replaced by ø/-a. There are only a few exceptions, like minso/minsa ("scarce"). Many not completely predictable morphological alternations may occur, such as:

Question: What is the usual masculine suffix?


Answer: suppletive couplets

Context: Catalan has few suppletive couplets, like Italian and Spanish, and unlike French. Thus, Catalan has noi/noia ("boy"/"girl") and gall/gallina ("cock"/"hen"), whereas French has garçon/fille and coq/poule.

Question: What kind of words does Catalan have few of?


Answer: French

Question: What languages have more couplets than Catalan?


Answer: Italian and Spanish

Question: What languages are similar to Catalan in numbers of couplets?


Answer: French

Question: What language is not like Catalan in suppletive couplets?


Answer: Occitan and French

Context: There is a tendency to abandon traditionally gender-invariable adjectives in favour of marked ones, something prevalent in Occitan and French. Thus, one can find bullent/bullenta ("boiling") in contrast with traditional bullent/bullent.

Question: What languages have a tendency to lose gender-invariable adjectives?


Answer: bullent/bullenta

Question: What is ab example of a gender marked adjective?


Answer: bullent/bullenta

Question: What would be the traditional form of a gender-invariable adjective?


Answer: suffix -s

Context: As in the other Western Romance languages, the main plural expression is the suffix -s, which may create morphological alternations similar to the ones found in gender inflection, albeit more rarely. The most important one is the addition of -o- before certain consonant groups, a phonetic phenomenon that does not affect feminine forms: el pols/els polsos ("the pulse"/"the pulses") vs. la pols/les pols ("the dust"/"the dusts").

Question: What is the usual way to make a plural?


Answer: morphological alternations

Question: What can the addition of the suffix -s produce?


Answer: gender inflection

Question: To what are these morphological changes similar?


Answer: addition of -o-

Question: What is an important plural alternation?


Answer: complex

Context: The inflection of determinatives is complex, specially because of the high number of elisions, but is similar to the neighboring languages. Catalan has more contractions of preposition + article than Spanish, like dels ("of + the [plural]"), but not as many as Italian (which has sul, col, nel, etc.).

Question: What does the large number of omissions make the determinatives?


Answer: inflection of determinatives

Question: What is much like the neighboring languages?


Answer: Spanish

Question: What language does Catalan have more contractions than?


Answer: Italian

Question: Catalan has less contractions than what language?


Answer: article

Question: What type of word is added to the contraction of the preposition?


Answer: unstressed possessives

Context: Central Catalan has abandoned almost completely unstressed possessives (mon, etc.) in favour of constructions of article + stressed forms (el meu, etc.), a feature shared with Italian.

Question: What has Central Catalan mostly abandoned?


Answer: Italian

Question: What other language shares this type of construction?


Answer: el meu

Question: What is an example of an article +stressed forms?


Answer: mon

Question: What is an example of an unstressed possessive?


Answer: 13 distinct forms

Context: The morphology of Catalan personal pronouns is complex, specially in unstressed forms, which are numerous (13 distinct forms, compared to 11 in Spanish or 9 in Italian). Features include the gender-neutral ho and the great degree of freedom when combining different unstressed pronouns (65 combinations).

Question: How many forms of personal pronouns are there in Catalan?


Answer: 11

Question: How many personal pronouns are there is Spanish?


Answer: 9

Question: What is the number of personal pronouns in Italian?


Answer: 65

Question: How many different combinations of unstressed pronouns are there?


Answer: all other Romance languages

Context: Catalan pronouns exhibit T–V distinction, like all other Romance languages (and most European languages, but not Modern English). This feature implies the use of a different set of second person pronouns for formality.

Question: What is this distinction similar to?


Answer: English

Question: What modern language does not have a T-Y distinction?


Answer: formality

Question: What does this imply the use an extra group of pronouns for?


Answer: French or Spanish

Context: This flexibility allows Catalan to use extraposition extensively, much more than French or Spanish. Thus, Catalan can have m'hi recomanaren ("they recommended me to him"), whereas in French one must say ils m'ont recommandé à lui, and Spanish me recomendaron a él. This allows the placement of almost any nominal term as a sentence topic, without having to use so often the passive voice (as in French or English), or identifying the direct object with a preposition (as in Spanish).

Question: What languages use extrapositioning in sentences less than Catalan?


Answer: passive voice

Question: What do you not need to use in Catalan?


Answer: French or English

Question: What languages use the passive voice more than Catalan?


Answer: preposition

Question: What method does Spanish use to identify the object?


Answer: more complex

Context: Like all the Romance languages, Catalan verbal inflection is more complex than the nominal. Suffixation is omnipresent, whereas morphological alternations play a secondary role. Vowel alternances are active, as well as infixation and suppletion. However, these are not as productive as in Spanish, and are mostly restricted to irregular verbs.

Question: What is Catalan verbal inflection ?


Answer: Suffixation

Question: What plays a primary part in Catalan?


Answer: morphological alternations

Question: What plays a secondary part in Catalan?


Answer: active

Question: How are vowel alternances in Catalan?


Answer: Catalan verbal system

Context: The Catalan verbal system is basically common to all Western Romance, except that most dialects have replaced the synthetic indicative perfect with a periphrastic form of anar ("to go") + infinitive.

Question: What system is common to Western Romance?


Answer: synthetic indicative perfect

Question: What have many dialects replaced?


Answer: all Western Romance

Question: What is the Catalan verbal system common to?


Answer: into three conjugations

Context: Catalan verbs are traditionally divided into three conjugations, with vowel themes -a-, -e-, -i-, the last two being split into two subtypes. However, this division is mostly theoretical. Only the first conjugation is nowadays productive (with about 3500 common verbs), whereas the third (the subtype of servir, with about 700 common verbs) is semiproductive. The verbs of the second conjugation are fewer than 100, and it is not possible to create new ones, except by compounding.

Question: How are Catalan verbs grouped?


Answer: first conjugation

Question: Which conjugation has about 3500 verbs?


Answer: 700

Question: How many verbs are in the third conjugation?


Answer: second

Question: Which conjugation has less than 100 verbs?


Answer: two

Context: In Spain, every person officially has two surnames, one of which is the father's first surname and the other is the mother's first surname. The law contemplates the possibility of joining both surnames with the Catalan conjunction i ("and").

Question: How many surnames does everyone in Spain have?


Answer: first

Question: Which one of one's father's surnames is used?


Answer: joining both surnames

Question: What is Spain thinking of doing to the two surnames?


Answer: in

Question: What conjunction would be used to join a person's surnames?


Answer: Estonian

Context: Estonian (eesti keel [ˈeːsti ˈkeːl] ( listen)) is the official language of Estonia, spoken natively by about 1.1 million people in Estonia and tens of thousands in various migrant communities. It belongs to the Finnic branch of the Uralic language family.

Question: What is the official language of Estonia?


Answer: about 1.1 million

Question: How many people in Estonia speak Estonian?


Answer: tens of thousands

Question: How many people in different migrant communities speak Estonian?


Answer: Finnic

Question: What branch of the Uralic language family does Estonian belong to?


Answer: Uralic

Question: What language family does Estonian belong to?


Answer: Estonian

Question: What country has Estonian as its official language?


Answer: 1.1 million

Question: In Estonia how many people speak Estonian as their native language


Answer: Uralic

Question: Of what language family is Estonian a part of?


Answer: Finnic

Question: On which branch of Uralic language family can Estonian be found?


Answer: tens of thousands

Question: How many estimated non native speakers of Estonian are there in Estonia?


Answer: linguists

Context: One distinctive feature that has caused a great amount of interest among linguists is what is traditionally seen as three degrees of phonemic length: short, long, and "overlong", such that /sɑdɑ/, /sɑˑdɑ/ and /sɑːdɑ/ are distinct. In actuality, the distinction is not purely in the phonemic length, and the underlying phonological mechanism is still disputed.[citation needed]

Question: Who is interested in the degrees of phonemic length?


Answer: short, long, and "overlong"

Question: What are the phonemic length's three degrees?


Answer: the underlying phonological mechanism

Question: What is a matter of dispute among linguists regarding the distinction?


Answer: Finnic

Context: Estonian belongs to the Finnic branch of the Uralic languages, along with Finnish, Karelian, and other nearby languages. The Uralic languages do not belong to the Indo-European languages. Estonian is distantly related to Hungarian and to the Sami languages.

Question: What Uralic language branch contains Estonian?


Answer: Finnish, Karelian

Question: What are two other languages in the Finnic branch?


Answer: Indo-European languages

Question: What language group is Estonian not a part of?


Answer: Hungarian and to the Sami languages

Question: What languages are related to Estonian but not closely?


Answer: Baltic Germans

Context: Estonian has been influenced by Swedish, German (initially Middle Low German, which was the lingua franca of the Hanseatic League and spoken natively in the territories of what is today known as Estonia by a sizeable burgher community of Baltic Germans, later Estonian was also influenced by standard German), and Russian, though it is not related to them genetically.

Question: Who spoke German in what came to be known as Estonia?


Answer: Middle Low German

Question: Aside from standard German what German language influenced Estonian?


Answer: vowel

Context: Like Finnish and Hungarian, Estonian is a somewhat agglutinative language, but unlike them, it has lost vowel harmony, the front vowels occurring exclusively on the first or stressed syllable, although in older texts the vowel harmony can still be recognized. Furthermore, the apocope of word-final sounds is extensive and has contributed to a shift from a purely agglutinative to a fusional language.[citation needed] The basic word order is subject–verb–object.

Question: What kind of harmony has Estonian lost?


Answer: agglutinative

Question: What language feature does Estonian, Finish and Hungarian share?


Answer: subject–verb–object

Question: In what order are words put in sentences in the Estonian language?


Answer: two

Context: The two different historical Estonian languages (sometimes considered dialects), the North and South Estonian languages, are based on the ancestors of modern Estonians' migration into the territory of Estonia in at least two different waves, both groups speaking considerably different Finnic vernaculars. Modern standard Estonian has evolved on the basis of the dialects of Northern Estonia.

Question: What was the minimum number of waves through which modern Estonians migrated into Estonia?


Answer: North and South Estonian languages

Question: What are the names of the two separate Estonian languages?


Answer: 13th century to 1918

Context: The domination of Estonia after the Northern Crusades, from the 13th century to 1918 by Denmark, Germany, Sweden, and Russia delayed indigenous literacy in Estonia.[citation needed]

Question: When did the Northern Crusades happen?


Answer: Denmark, Germany, Sweden, and Russia

Question: Which countries took part in the Northern Crusades?


Answer: Estonia

Question: Following the crusades which country was dominated?


Answer: indigenous literacy

Question: What did the aftermath of the crusades end up delaying in Estonia?


Answer: 13th century

Context: The oldest written records of the Finnic languages of Estonia date from the 13th century. Originates Livoniae in Chronicle of Henry of Livonia contains Estonian place names, words and fragments of sentences.

Question: How far back do the first written records of Estonia's Finnic languages go?


Answer: Originates Livoniae

Question: Where can records of Estonian place names be found?


Answer: Chronicle of Henry of Livonia

Question: Which Chronicle contains the Originates Livoniae?


Answer: words and fragments of sentences.

Question: Aside from place names what else from the Estonian language can be found in the Originates Livoniae in Chronicle of Henry of Livonia?


Answer: a Lutheran manuscript

Context: The earliest extant samples of connected (north) Estonian are the so-called Kullamaa prayers dating from 1524 and 1528. In 1525 the first book published in the Estonian language was printed. The book was a Lutheran manuscript, which never reached the reader and was destroyed immediately after publication.

Question: What was the first Estonian language book to be published?


Answer: 1524 and 1528

Question: When were the Kallamaa prayers written?


Answer: destroyed

Question: What was the fate of the Lutheran manuscript printed in 1525?


Answer: immediately after publication

Question: At what point in its existence was the Lutheran manuscript destroyed?


Answer: S. Wanradt and J. Koell

Context: The first extant Estonian book is a bilingual German-Estonian translation of the Lutheran catechism by S. Wanradt and J. Koell dating to 1535, during the Protestant Reformation period. An Estonian grammar book to be used by priests was printed in German in 1637. The New Testament was translated into southern Estonian in 1686 (northern Estonian, 1715). The two languages were united based on northern Estonian by Anton thor Helle.

Question: What two people are responsible for the first still in existence book in the Estonian Language?


Answer: 1535

Question: In what year was S. Wanradt and J. Koell's book written?


Answer: bilingual German-Estonian translation of the Lutheran catechism

Question: What type of book was it?


Answer: An Estonian grammar book

Question: What book specifically for the use of priests was printed in Estonian?


Answer: 1637

Question: What year was the priests' grammar book put into print?


Answer: Kristjan Jaak Peterson

Context: The birth of native Estonian literature was in 1810 to 1820 when the patriotic and philosophical poems by Kristjan Jaak Peterson were published. Peterson, who was the first student at the then German-language University of Dorpat to acknowledge his Estonian origin, is commonly regarded as a herald of Estonian national literature and considered the founder of modern Estonian poetry. His birthday on March 14 is celebrated in Estonia as the Mother Tongue Day. A fragment from Peterson's poem "Kuu" expresses the claim reestablishing the birthright of the Estonian language:

Question: Which Estonian poet's works were printed from 1810 to 1820?


Answer: patriotic and philosophical

Question: What subjects were Kristjan Jaak Peterson poems on?


Answer: March 14

Question: When was Peterson born?


Answer: Mother Tongue Day

Question: What is another name given for Peterson's birthday?


Answer: German-language University of Dorpat

Question: What university did Peterson attend?


Answer: 23,868

Context: From 1525 to 1917 14,503 titles were published in Estonian, as opposed to the 23,868 titles which were published between 1918 and 1940.[citation needed]

Question: In the years between 1918 and 1940 how many Estonian language books were printed?


Answer: 14,503

Question: In the roughly four centuries previous to 1918 how many Estonian language books were printed?


Answer: Estonian

Question: In what language were 14,503 books published prior to 1918?


Answer: Age of Enlightenment

Context: Writings in Estonian became significant only in the 19th century with the spread of the ideas of the Age of Enlightenment, during the Estophile Enlightenment Period (1750–1840). Although Baltic Germans at large regarded the future of Estonians as being a fusion with themselves, the Estophile educated class admired the ancient culture of the Estonians and their era of freedom before the conquests by Danes and Germans in the 13th century.

Question: What Age's ideas allowed Estonian writings to gain significance?


Answer: Baltic Germans

Question: Who thought their future would be fused with Estonians?


Answer: Estophile educated class

Question: Who had admiration for the ancient Estonian culture?


Answer: Danes and Germans

Question: Who conquered the ancient Estonians?


Answer: 13th century

Question: When did the ancient Estonian era of freedom come to an end?


Answer: 1919

Context: After the Estonian War of Independence in 1919, the Estonian language became the state language of the newly independent country. In 1945, 97.3% of Estonia considered itself ethnic Estonian and spoke the language.

Question: What year did Estonia's War of Independence take place?


Answer: Estonian

Question: After Estonia achieved independence what was made their state language?


Answer: 97.3%

Question: What percentage of Estonians thought of themselves as ethnic Estonian's in 1945?


Answer: Estonian

Question: What language was spoken by ethnic Estonians?


Answer: invaded and occupied

Context: When Estonia was invaded and occupied by the Soviet Union in World War II, the status of the Estonian language changed to the first of two official languages (Russian being the other one). As with Latvia many immigrants entered Estonia under Soviet encouragement. In the second half of the 1970s, the pressure of bilingualism (for Estonians) intensified, resulting in widespread knowledge of Russian throughout the country. The Russian language was termed as ‘the language of friendship of nations’ and was taught to Estonian children, sometimes as early as in kindergarten. Although teaching Estonian to non-Estonians in schools was compulsory, in practice learning the language was often considered unnecessary.

Question: What happened to Estonia during WWII?


Answer: Soviet Union

Question: Who invaded Estonia?


Answer: Russian

Question: After the Soviet invasion what other language became the second official Estonian language?


Answer: Latvia

Question: What was another country with similar immigration patterns to post Soviet Estonia?


Answer: pressure of bilingualism

Question: What became more intense in the 1970's in Estonia?


Answer: collapse of the Soviet Union

Context: During the Perestroika era, The Law on the Status of the Estonian Language was adopted in January 1989. The collapse of the Soviet Union led to the restoration of Republic of Estonia's independence. Estonian went back to being the only state language in Estonia which in practice meant that use of Estonian was promoted while the use of Russian was discouraged.

Question: What historical event once again freed Estonia?


Answer: Estonian

Question: Following the Soviet collapse what became the only official Estonian Language?


Answer: Russian

Question: What language was no longer promoted as one of Estonia's main languages?


Answer: The Law on the Status of the Estonian Language

Question: What came into being in January 1989?


Answer: above 70%

Context: The return of Soviet immigrants to their countries of origin has brought the proportion of Estonians in Estonia back above 70%. And again as in Latvia, today many of the remnant non-Estonians in Estonia have adopted the Estonian language; about 40% at the 2000 census.

Question: Following the departure of the Soviet immigrants what was the percentage of Estonians in Estonia?


Answer: two

Context: The Estonian dialects are divided into two groups – the northern and southern dialects, historically associated with the cities of Tallinn in the north and Tartu in the south, in addition to a distinct kirderanniku dialect, that of the northeastern coast of Estonia.

Question: How many groups of Estonian dialects are there?


Answer: the northern and southern dialects

Question: What are the names of the Estonian dialect groups?


Answer: Tallinn

Question: What is the northern city to which the northern dialect is associated?


Answer: the northeastern coast of Estonia

Question: Where is the kirderanniku dialect spoken?


Answer: Tartu

Question: What is the city where the southern dialect was historically spoken?


Answer: the keskmurre

Context: The northern group consists of the keskmurre or central dialect that is also the basis for the standard language, the läänemurre or western dialect, roughly corresponding to Läänemaa and Pärnumaa, the saarte murre (islands') dialect of Saaremaa and Hiiumaa and the idamurre or eastern dialect on the northwestern shore of Lake Peipsi.

Question: What dialect is also known as the central dialect?


Answer: the idamurre or eastern dialect

Question: What is the dialect from Lake Peipsi?


Answer: Saaremaa and Hiiumaa

Question: What dialects of the northern group are spoken on the saarte murre?


Answer: the läänemurre

Question: What is another name for Estonian's northern group's western dialect?


Answer: the Tartu, Mulgi, Võru (Võro) and Setu (Seto) dialects

Context: The southern group (South Estonian language) consists of the Tartu, Mulgi, Võru (Võro) and Setu (Seto) dialects. These are sometimes considered either variants of a South Estonian language, or separate languages altogether. Also, Seto and Võro distinguish themselves from each other less by language and more by their culture and their respective Christian confession.

Question: What dialects comprise the southern group?


Answer: their culture

Question: More importantly than their language aspect how do the Seto and Võro dialects set themselves apart from each other?


Answer: separate languages altogether

Question: Aside from being thought of as variants of Estonian's southern group what else are the Tartu, Mulgi, Võru (Võro) and Setu (Seto) dialects sometimes considered?


Answer: Christian

Question: What religion is associated with Seto and Võro?


Answer: Latin

Context: Like Finnish, Estonian employs the Latin script as the basis for its alphabet, which adds the letters ä, ö, ü, and õ, plus the later additions š and ž. The letters c, q, w, x and y are limited to proper names of foreign origin, and f, z, š, and ž appear in loanwords and foreign names only. Ö and ü are pronounced similarly to their equivalents in Swedish and German. Unlike in standard German but like Finnish and Swedish (when followed by 'r'), Ä is pronounced [æ], as in English mat. The vowels Ä, Ö and Ü are clearly separate phonemes and inherent in Estonian, although the letter shapes come from German. The letter õ denotes /ɤ/, unrounded /o/, or a close-mid back unrounded vowel. It is almost identical to the Bulgarian ъ /ɤ̞/ and the Vietnamese ơ, and is used to transcribe the Russian ы.

Question: From what script does the Estonian language get its alphabet?


Answer: Finnish

Question: What is another language that uses Latin for its alphabet?


Answer: [æ], as in English mat

Question: In the Estonian language how is the letter A pronounced?


Answer: phonemic principles

Context: Although the Estonian orthography is generally guided by phonemic principles, with each grapheme corresponding to one phoneme, there are some historical and morphological deviations from this: for example preservation of the morpheme in declension of the word (writing b, g, d in places where p, k, t is pronounced) and in the use of 'i' and 'j'.[clarification needed] Where it is very impractical or impossible to type š and ž, they are substituted with sh and zh in some written texts, although this is considered incorrect. Otherwise, the h in sh represents a voiceless glottal fricative, as in Pasha (pas-ha); this also applies to some foreign names.

Question: What principles usually govern the Estonian orthography?


Answer: one

Question: To how many phoneme's does each grapheme correspond?


Answer: some historical and morphological deviations

Question: What type of deviations are there from the single phoneme to each grapheme general principle?


Answer: Where it is very impractical or impossible to type š and ž

Question: On what occasions are š and ž replaced with sh and zh?


Answer: Pasha (pas-ha)

Question: What is an example of a word containing a voiceless glottal fricative?


Answer: Newer Orthography

Context: Modern Estonian orthography is based on the Newer Orthography created by Eduard Ahrens in the second half of the 19th century based on Finnish orthography. The Older Orthography it replaced was created in the 17th century by Bengt Gottfried Forselius and Johann Hornung based on standard German orthography. Earlier writing in Estonian had by and large used an ad hoc orthography based on Latin and Middle Low German orthography. Some influences of the standard German orthography — for example, writing 'W'/'w' instead of 'V'/'v' persisted well into the 1930s.

Question: In what Orthagraphy does Modern Estonian orthography have its basis?


Answer: Eduard Ahrens

Question: Who is responsible for the creation of the Newer Orthography?


Answer: 19th century

Question: In what century was the Newer Orthography created?


Answer: Older Orthography

Question: Previous to the Newer Orthography what orthography was in place?


Answer: standard German orthography

Question: From what other country's orthography did the Older Orthography get its basis?


Answer: Russian

Context: It should be noted that Estonian words and names quoted in international publications from Soviet sources are often back-transliterations from the Russian transliteration. Examples are the use of "ya" for "ä" (e.g. Pyarnu instead of Pärnu), "y" instead of "õ" (e.g., Pylva instead of Põlva) and "yu" instead of "ü" (e.g., Pyussi instead of Püssi). Even in the Encyclopædia Britannica one can find "ostrov Khiuma", where "ostrov" means "island" in Russian and "Khiuma" is back-transliteration from Russian instead of "Hiiumaa" (Hiiumaa > Хийума(а) > Khiuma).

Question: In Soviet international publications what language's transliteration are Estonian words and names often back-transliterations from?


Answer: Encyclopædia Britannica

Question: What famous encyclopedia contains a Russian back-transliteration of Estonian?


Answer: "ostrov Khiuma"

Question: What is the Russian back-transliteration from Encyclopædia Britannica?


Answer: transitional

Context: Typologically, Estonian represents a transitional form from an agglutinating language to a fusional language. The canonical word order is SVO (subject–verb–object).

Question: What is the typological form of Estonian?


Answer: an agglutinating language

Question: What is Estonian typologically transitioning from?


Answer: a fusional language

Question: What sort of form is Estonian transitioning into?


Answer: subject–verb–object

Question: How are words ordered in Estonian canonically?


Answer: Estonian

Context: In Estonian, nouns and pronouns do not have grammatical gender, but nouns and adjectives decline in fourteen cases: nominative, genitive, partitive, illative, inessive, elative, allative, adessive, ablative, translative, terminative, essive, abessive, and comitative, with the case and number of the adjective(s) always agreeing with that of the noun (except in the terminative, essive, abessive and comitative, where there is agreement only for the number, the adjective being in the genitive form). Thus the illative for kollane maja ("a yellow house") is kollasesse majja ("into a yellow house"), but the terminative is kollase majani ("as far as a yellow house"). With respect to the Proto-Finnic language, elision has occurred; thus, the actual case marker may be absent, but the stem is changed, cf. maja – majja and the Pohjanmaa dialect of Finnish maja – majahan.

Question: What language lacks gendered nouns and pronouns?


Answer: adjectives

Question: In the nominative, genitive, partitive, illative, inessive, elative, allative, adessive, ablative, translative cases what always agrees with the noun in number and case?


Answer: Finnish

Context: The direct object of the verb appears either in the accusative (for total objects) or in the partitive (for partial objects). The accusative coincides with the genitive in the singular and with nominative in the plural. Accusative vs. partitive case opposition of the object used with transitive verbs creates a telicity contrast, just as in Finnish. This is a rough equivalent of the perfective vs. imperfective aspect opposition.

Question: What other language has a telicity contrast?


Answer: partitive

Question: Aside from the accusative, where can the direct object of the verb be found?


Answer: total objects

Question: What is the accusative used for?


Answer: verbal system

Context: The verbal system lacks a distinctive future tense (the present tense serves here) and features special forms to express an action performed by an undetermined subject (the "impersonal").

Question: From what system is a distinctive future tense lacking?


Answer: present tense

Question: What is used in place of the future tense?


Answer: special forms

Question: What does Estonian use to show actions performed by an undecided subject?


Answer: Germanic languages

Context: Although the Estonian and Germanic languages are of very different origins, one can identify many similar words in Estonian and English, for example. This is primarily because the Estonian language has borrowed nearly one third of its vocabulary from Germanic languages, mainly from Low Saxon (Middle Low German) during the period of German rule, and High German (including standard German). The percentage of Low Saxon and High German loanwords can be estimated at 22–25 percent, with Low Saxon making up about 15 percent.[citation needed]

Question: Close to 33 percent of Estonian's vocabulary belong to what group of languages?


Answer: Low Saxon

Question: What is the main Germanic language from which Estonia gets the Germanic portion of its vocabulary?


Answer: during the period of German rule

Question: When did Low Saxon make its appearance as part of the Estonian language?


Answer: High German

Question: From what other Germanic language does Estonian derive its vocabulary?


Answer: High German

Question: Standard German is part of what Germanic language?


Answer: 'b' & 'p'

Context: Often 'b' & 'p' are interchangeable, for example 'baggage' becomes 'pagas', 'lob' (to throw) becomes 'loopima'. The initial letter 's' is often dropped, for example 'skool' becomes 'kool', 'stool' becomes 'tool'.

Question: What two letters can be replaced with each other a lot of the time in Estonian?


Answer: The initial letter 's' is often dropped

Question: What happens in many cases when a word starts with an 's'?


Answer: pagas

Question: In an example of replacing 'b' with 'p' how is 'baggage' pronounced?


Answer: Ado Grenzstein

Context: Estonian language planners such as Ado Grenzstein (a journalist active in Estonia in the 1870s–90s) tried to use formation ex nihilo, Urschöpfung; i.e. they created new words out of nothing.

Question: Who was the journalist who was also a language planner?


Answer: 1870s–90s

Question: In what years did Ado Grenzstein do journalism work in Estonia?


Answer: formation ex nihilo

Question: What is another term for making up words from nothing?


Answer: Ado Grenzstein

Question: Who in the course of their language planning attempted to use the formation ex nihilo technique?


Answer: Johannes Aavik

Context: The most famous reformer of Estonian, Johannes Aavik (1880–1973), used creations ex nihilo (cf. ‘free constructions’, Tauli 1977), along with other sources of lexical enrichment such as derivations, compositions and loanwords (often from Finnish; cf. Saareste and Raun 1965: 76). In Aavik’s dictionary (1921), which lists approximately 4000 words, there are many words which were (allegedly) created ex nihilo, many of which are in common use today. Examples are

Question: Of all of Estonian's language reformers who is the most well known?


Answer: 1880–1973

Question: What was the period of time in which Johannes Aavik was alive?


Answer: creations ex nihilo

Question: What is the technique Aavic used to create Estonian words out of nothing?


Answer: Aavik’s dictionary

Question: In what publication can examples of ex nihilo words be found?


Answer: approximately 4000

Question: How many words did Aavik put in his dictionary?


Answer: Ancient Greek, Latin and French

Context: Many of the coinages that have been considered (often by Aavik himself) as words concocted ex nihilo could well have been influenced by foreign lexical items, for example words from Russian, German, French, Finnish, English and Swedish. Aavik had a broad classical education and knew Ancient Greek, Latin and French. Consider roim ‘crime’ versus English crime or taunima ‘to condemn, disapprove’ versus Finnish tuomita ‘to condemn, to judge’ (these Aavikisms appear in Aavik’s 1921 dictionary). These words might be better regarded as a peculiar manifestation of morpho-phonemic adaptation of a foreign lexical item.

Question: What languages did Aavik know?


Answer: 1921

Question: When was Aavik's dictionary published?


Answer: Aavikisms

Question: What is another term for words created by Aavik?


Answer: foreign lexical items

Question: Instead of being created from nothing Aavik's ex nihilo terms are thought to actually possibly have been influenced by what?


Answer: wood

Context: Paper is a thin material produced by pressing together moist fibres of cellulose pulp derived from wood, rags or grasses, and drying them into flexible sheets. It is a versatile material with many uses, including writing, printing, packaging, cleaning, and a number of industrial and construction processes.

Question: What is a source for the particles in paper?


Answer: writing

Question: What is a common use for paper?


Answer: drying

Question: What is the last step in paper production?


Answer: 2nd century AD

Context: The pulp papermaking process is said to have been developed in China during the early 2nd century AD, possibly as early as the year 105 A.D., by the Han court eunuch Cai Lun, although the earliest archaeological fragments of paper derive from the 2nd century BC in China. The modern pulp and paper industry is global, with China leading its production and the United States right behind it.

Question: When was the pulp papermaking process developed?


Answer: China

Question: What country was the process developed in?


Answer: China

Question: What country is leading in production of paper?


Answer: United States

Question: What country is the second largest produced of paper?


Answer: Cai Lun

Question: Which court eunuch was associated with the papermaking process?


Answer: Cai Lun

Context: The oldest known archaeological fragments of the immediate precursor to modern paper, date to the 2nd century BC in China. The pulp papermaking process is ascribed to Cai Lun, a 2nd-century AD Han court eunuch. With paper as an effective substitute for silk in many applications, China could export silk in greater quantity, contributing to a Golden Age.

Question: Who is credited with the papermaking process?


Answer: silk

Question: What material did paper replace upon its invention?


Answer: Golden Age

Question: Which Age did the invention of the papermaking process contribute towards?


Answer: 2nd

Question: What century is the first papermaking process attributed to?


Answer: 13th

Context: Its knowledge and uses spread from China through the Middle East to medieval Europe in the 13th century, where the first water powered paper mills were built. Because of paper's introduction to the West through the city of Baghdad, it was first called bagdatikos. In the 19th century, industrial manufacture greatly lowered its cost, enabling mass exchange of information and contributing to significant cultural shifts. In 1844, the Canadian inventor Charles Fenerty and the German F. G. Keller independently developed processes for pulping wood fibres.

Question: In what century did the papermaking process spread from China to Europe?


Answer: Baghdad

Question: Which middle eastern city did the papermaking process to Europe from?


Answer: bagdatikos

Question: What name did the process take on in Baghdad?


Answer: 19th

Question: In which century did the process become much cheaper than before?


Answer: Charles Fenerty

Question: Which Canadian inventor helped F.G. Keller to develop their own process?


Answer: Papyrus

Context: The word "paper" is etymologically derived from Latin papyrus, which comes from the Greek πάπυρος (papuros), the word for the Cyperus papyrus plant. Papyrus is a thick, paper-like material produced from the pith of the Cyperus papyrus plant, which was used in ancient Egypt and other Mediterranean cultures for writing before the introduction of paper into the Middle East and Europe. Although the word paper is etymologically derived from papyrus, the two are produced very differently and the development of the first is distinct from the development of the second. Papyrus is a lamination of natural plant fibres, while paper is manufactured from fibres whose properties have been changed by maceration.

Question: What Latin word is paper derived from?


Answer: Greek

Question: What language is papyrus derived from?


Answer: maceration

Question: What process changes the properties of the fibres used in papermaking?


Answer: Cyperus

Question: What plant was used in Egypt to make papyrus?


Answer: the pith

Question: What part of the Cyperus plant was used in making papyrus?


Answer: lignin

Context: To make pulp from wood, a chemical pulping process separates lignin from cellulose fibres. This is accomplished by dissolving lignin in a cooking liquor, so that it may be washed from the cellulose; this preserves the length of the cellulose fibres. Paper made from chemical pulps are also known as wood-free papers–not to be confused with tree-free paper; this is because they do not contain lignin, which deteriorates over time. The pulp can also be bleached to produce white paper, but this consumes 5% of the fibres; chemical pulping processes are not used to make paper made from cotton, which is already 90% cellulose.

Question: What is separated from the cellulose fibres?


Answer: wood-free

Question: What type of paper is paper made from chemical pulps known as?


Answer: 5%

Question: What percentage of fibres are wasted in the bleaching process?


Answer: 90%

Question: What percentage of cotton is cellulose?


Answer: three

Context: There are three main chemical pulping processes: the sulfite process dates back to the 1840s and it was the dominant method extent before the second world war. The kraft process, invented in the 1870s and first used in the 1890s, is now the most commonly practiced strategy, one of its advantages is the chemical reaction with lignin, that produces heat, which can be used to run a generator. Most pulping operations using the kraft process are net contributors to the electricity grid or use the electricity to run an adjacent paper mill. Another advantage is that this process recovers and reuses all inorganic chemical reagents. Soda pulping is another specialty process used to pulp straws, bagasse and hardwoods with high silicate content.

Question: How many chemical pulping processes are there?


Answer: 1840s

Question: What decade does the sulfite process date to?


Answer: The kraft process

Question: What process is most commonly used?


Answer: Soda pulping

Question: What is another process used to pulp straws with high silicate content?


Answer: groundwood pulp

Context: There are two major mechanical pulps, the thermomechanical one (TMP) and groundwood pulp (GW). In the TMP process, wood is chipped and then fed into large steam heated refiners, where the chips are squeezed and converted to fibres between two steel discs. In the groundwood process, debarked logs are fed into grinders where they are pressed against rotating stones to be made into fibres. Mechanical pulping does not remove the lignin, so the yield is very high, >95%, however it causes the paper thus produced to turn yellow and become brittle over time. Mechanical pulps have rather short fibres, thus producing weak paper. Although large amounts of electrical energy are required to produce mechanical pulp, it costs less than the chemical kind.

Question: Besides the thermomechanical process, what is a process used in pulping?


Answer: debarked logs

Question: What is the main ingredient in the groundwood process?


Answer: weak

Question: What strength of paper is produced by mechanical pulps?


Answer: virgin

Context: Recycled papers can be made from 100% recycled materials or blended with virgin pulp, although they are (generally) not as strong nor as bright as papers made from the latter.

Question: Recylced papers can be made with what new type of pulp?


Answer: china clay

Context: Besides the fibres, pulps may contain fillers such as chalk or china clay, which improve its characteristics for printing or writing. Additives for sizing purposes may be mixed with it and/or applied to the paper web later in the manufacturing process; the purpose of such sizing is to establish the correct level of surface absorbency to suit ink or paint.

Question: What type of clay improves the characteristics of the pulps used in papermaking?


Answer: Additives

Question: What is added for sizing purposes?


Answer: chalk

Question: What besides china clay is used as a filler?


Answer: Pressing

Context: Pressing the sheet removes the water by force; once the water is forced from the sheet, a special kind of felt, which is not to be confused with the traditional one, is used to collect the water; whereas when making paper by hand, a blotter sheet is used instead.

Question: How is the water removed by force from a sheet of paper?


Answer: felt

Question: What is used to collect the water expelled from pressing?


Answer: blotter sheet

Question: What is used to collect water when hand-making paper?


Answer: felt

Question: Besides a blotter sheet, what can be used to collect water?


Answer: air

Context: Drying involves using air and/or heat to remove water from the paper sheets; in the earliest days of paper making this was done by hanging the sheets like laundry; in more modern times various forms of heated drying mechanisms are used. On the paper machine the most common is the steam heated can dryer. These can reach temperatures above 200 °F (93 °C) and are used in long sequences of more than 40 cans; where the heat produced by these can easily dry the paper to less than 6% moisture.

Question: What is the main component of drying the paper?


Answer: 6

Question: At what percentage moisture content is the papermaking process trying to achieve in the end?


Answer: china clay

Context: Paper at this point is uncoated. Coated paper has a thin layer of material such as calcium carbonate or china clay applied to one or both sides in order to create a surface more suitable for high-resolution halftone screens. (Uncoated papers are rarely suitable for screens above 150 lpi.) Coated or uncoated papers may have their surfaces polished by calendering. Coated papers are divided into matte, semi-matte or silk, and gloss. Gloss papers give the highest optical density in the printed image.

Question: Besides calcium, coated paper has a thin layer of what?


Answer: calendering

Question: What process is done to polish the surface of the paper?


Answer: Gloss

Question: What is the shiniest type of coated paper?


Answer: Gloss

Question: What papers give the best optical density?


Answer: reels

Context: The paper is then fed onto reels if it is to be used on web printing presses, or cut into sheets for other printing processes or other purposes. The fibres in the paper basically run in the machine direction. Sheets are usually cut "long-grain", i.e. with the grain parallel to the longer dimension of the sheet.

Question: What contraption is used to carry the paper to the web printing presses?


Answer: long-grain

Question: In what manner are sheets normally cut?


Answer: cut into sheets

Question: If the paper is not to be used in the web printing process, what is done?


Answer: wove paper

Context: All paper produced by paper machines as the Fourdrinier Machine are wove paper, i.e. the wire mesh that transports the web leaves a pattern that has the same density along the paper grain and across the grain. Textured finishes, watermarks and wire patterns imitating hand-made laid paper can be created by the use of appropriate rollers in the later stages of the machine.

Question: What type of paper is produced on a machine like the Fourdrinier?


Answer: rollers

Question: What is used to apply watermarks and other patterns?


Answer: density

Question: What is in common with the lentgh along and across the grain of paper produced by a machine such as the Fourdrinier?