Josep Maria Nadal i Farreras

Josep Maria Nadal i Farreras (born 1949, in Girona, Catalonia, Spain) is Professor of History of Language at the University of Girona.

He graduated in Romance Philology at the University of Barcelona and is Ph.D. in Hispanic Studies at the Autonomous University of Barcelona since 1975. He worked at this university for sixteen years, where he became Professor in 1987 and he held several management positions. From this position he promoted the creation of the University of Girona, which happened in December 1991. He was Chancellor of this new university from 1993 to early 2002. He has also been Chair of the Department of Language and Communication from 2009 to 2012. He is a member of the Institute of Catalan Language and Culture and Director of the Observatory of European and the Mediterranean Languages (ODELLEUM). He has promoted various forums for scientific and interdisciplinary discussion. Since 2009 is member of the Philological Section of the Institute for Catalan Studies. That same year he received the Jaume Vicens Vives Price for University Quality awarded by the Government of Catalonia.

His early research focused on generative linguistics and in 1975 defended his doctoral thesis Aspectes de la subordinació en català actual: per una sintaxi abstracta (On Aspects of the Current Catalan Subordination: Towards an Abstract Syntax). Soon, however, and beside Modest Prats he became interested in the History of the Catalan Language from a new approach: the study of the linguistic aspects in relation to those social and within the historical context. Both experts set themselves to write a History of the Catalan language from this perspective. In 1982 they published the first volume of the Història de la llengua catalana: dels inicis al segle XV (History of Catalan language: from the beginning until the 15th century) and in 1986 the second, Història de la llengua catalana: el segle XV (History of the Catalan language: the 15th century). Other three volumes are still in progress and researchers from the Group of History of the Language at the University of Girona, as August Rafanell, Narcís Iglésias, Joan Ferrer Costa or Francesc Feliu, have been incorporated to the project.

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