Linguistic diversity and toponymic standardization. Some notes on the process of normalization of the toponymy of Catalonia

This article examines the difficulties (historical and prevailing) in establishing a policy for the standardization and officialization of toponymy in Catalonia, in accordance with the intrinsic diversity of the Catalan language. The analysis of this policy is, we believe, scientifically significant – at the scale of both the Spanish state and of the countries of Romance Europe – for at least three reasons: the historical and geographical relevance of the process of differentiation of the Catalan language; the singularity, in time and space, that the modern standardization process of this language and its toponymy has come to represent; and, the dilemmas that arise from the virtually impossible task of fully reconciling linguistic diversity and toponymic standardization within the Catalan language domain. These questions are examined by undertaking an empirical case study of the microtoponymy of the municipality of La Mussara (province of Tarragona) in southern Catalonia. The article seeks to summarize the specific facets of the situation addressed and identifies possible approaches and lines of work (that might be extrapolated to other territories and other language areas) for improving the management of the standardization processes.