Bernard Weiss
Encyclopedia
Bernard Weiss was a fictional linguist
invented by unknown(s) in order to back the theories that differentiate between Valencian
and the Catalan language
, but it might be also possible the reversed possibility: It was created by an opposer of the Language secessionism
to ridicule it and the Blaverists
didn't realize.
At the beginning of the 1980s, a Dr. Bernard Weiss, a philologist
from the Romance languages
Department of the University of Munich
, sent papers to blaverist meetings and articles to the Valencian media on which he supported the secessionist linguistic theories regarding Valencian and Catalan. This way, the Blaverists had the scientific source they lacked from any other university. Dr. Weiss was the discoverer of manuscript
s dating from the 11th century in the Mozarabic language
by Valencian troubadours such as Bertran Desdelueg (likewise as Bertrand Ofqours), Luís Llach (freely translated as Miqel Jaqson) and Salvatore Coniglia (something like Johny Rabbity).
But, for six years, Dr. Bernard Weiss didn't appear publicly or in any picture, he was never interviewed and he didn't reply back to the telephone. So a reader of the Levante-EMV Valencian newspaper phoned to the Munichese University and he was reported that nobody under that name worked there . Anyway, this was no problem for the organizers of the First Congress of the Valencian Language held in May 1985, in Elche, who invited him as the main lecturer.
The Valencian newspaper Las Provincias, which supports Blaverism, gave two contradictory informations: Bernard Weiss went and he didn't go.
After this public (dis)apparition Bernard Weiss was never more referred to, nor were any of his papers published again. Be it because Blaverists couldn't fake any more his existence, or because its opposer laughed at them enough.
The supposed manuscripts have never been published or showed publicly. Also, the Academy of Valencian Culture is now Royal.
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
invented by unknown(s) in order to back the theories that differentiate between Valencian
Valencian
Valencian is the traditional and official name of the Catalan language in the Valencian Community. There are dialectical differences from standard Catalan, and under the Valencian Statute of Autonomy, the Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua has been established as its regulator...
and the Catalan language
Catalan language
Catalan is a Romance language, the national and only official language of Andorra and a co-official language in the Spanish autonomous communities of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Valencian Community, where it is known as Valencian , as well as in the city of Alghero, on the Italian island...
, but it might be also possible the reversed possibility: It was created by an opposer of the Language secessionism
Language secessionism
Language secessionism is an attitude supporting the separation of a language variety from the language to which it normally belongs, in order to make this variety considered as a distinct language...
to ridicule it and the Blaverists
Blaverism
Blaverism is a body of ideas in the Valencian Community, Spain that emerged with the Spanish transition to democracy after the death of Francisco Franco, and characterised by its opposition to Joan Fuster's book Nosaltres, els valencians , which revived the concept of Països Catalans which...
didn't realize.
At the beginning of the 1980s, a Dr. Bernard Weiss, a philologist
Philology
Philology is the study of language in written historical sources; it is a combination of literary studies, history and linguistics.Classical philology is the philology of Greek and Classical Latin...
from the Romance languages
Romance languages
The Romance languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family, more precisely of the Italic languages subfamily, comprising all the languages that descend from Vulgar Latin, the language of ancient Rome...
Department of the University of Munich
Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich
The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich , commonly known as the University of Munich or LMU, is a university in Munich, Germany...
, sent papers to blaverist meetings and articles to the Valencian media on which he supported the secessionist linguistic theories regarding Valencian and Catalan. This way, the Blaverists had the scientific source they lacked from any other university. Dr. Weiss was the discoverer of manuscript
Manuscript
A manuscript or handwrite is written information that has been manually created by someone or some people, such as a hand-written letter, as opposed to being printed or reproduced some other way...
s dating from the 11th century in the Mozarabic language
Mozarabic language
Mozarabic was a continuum of closely related Romance dialects spoken in Muslim-dominated areas of the Iberian Peninsula during the early stages of the Romance languages' development in Iberia. Mozarabic descends from Late Latin and early Romance dialects spoken in the Iberian Peninsula from the 5th...
by Valencian troubadours such as Bertran Desdelueg (likewise as Bertrand Ofqours), Luís Llach (freely translated as Miqel Jaqson) and Salvatore Coniglia (something like Johny Rabbity).
But, for six years, Dr. Bernard Weiss didn't appear publicly or in any picture, he was never interviewed and he didn't reply back to the telephone. So a reader of the Levante-EMV Valencian newspaper phoned to the Munichese University and he was reported that nobody under that name worked there . Anyway, this was no problem for the organizers of the First Congress of the Valencian Language held in May 1985, in Elche, who invited him as the main lecturer.
The Valencian newspaper Las Provincias, which supports Blaverism, gave two contradictory informations: Bernard Weiss went and he didn't go.
- ÉXITO DEL PRIMER CONGRÉS DE LA LLENGUA VALENCIANA
- Elche (De nuestra redacción)
- Con la lectura de conclusiones se cerrará hoy el [...]
- (...) las sesiones han alcanzado gran altura, destacando la intervención del professor de la Universidad de Münich Bernard Weiss, con un interesante trabajo sobre la lingüística valenciana.
- (Las Provincias, 19-05-85, p.2)
- CONCLUSIONES DEL PRIMER CONGRÉS DE LA LLENGUA VALENCIANA
- El idioma valenciano es autóctono
- Elche (Vicente Pastor Chillar)
- (...) El primer día o fecha inaugural resultó frío, por la escasez de asistentes, que se multiplicaron durante el sábado y, particularmente, el domingo, en que llegaron varios turismos y autocares desde Valencia.
- La primera conclusión de la asamblea es que la lengua valenciana constituye un idioma románico autóctono, en el que se da un caso único y sin precedentes (...)
- Entre los ponentes han figurado (...) el professor Herran Bernhard Weiss, de la Universidad de Munich, cuya lección fue leída por una hermana suya, al serle imposible el desplazamiento (...)
- Entre los acuerdos adoptados figura celebrar el Segundo Congreso y solicitar a S.M. El Rey que conceda de Real a la Academia de Cultura Valenciana.
- (Las Provincias, 23-05-1985, p.42)
After this public (dis)apparition Bernard Weiss was never more referred to, nor were any of his papers published again. Be it because Blaverists couldn't fake any more his existence, or because its opposer laughed at them enough.
The supposed manuscripts have never been published or showed publicly. Also, the Academy of Valencian Culture is now Royal.