The Origins of Catalan, the Valencian: Dialect of Catalan or Autonomous Language?

When we talk about the spread of western Catalan beyond the Principality, we consider Valencian as a dialect of Catalan. This question has been one of the most discussed and controversial has aroused. That is why, we will treat the issue individually.

To solve this dilemma, the first thing that we will consider is to define the concepts of language and dialect, to later consider the origins of the Valencian and from them to see if they really coincide with the characteristics that we have defined for the terms language and dialect. 

Keywords: Catalan; Valencian; language; dialect; autonomy; (in) dependence.