Francesc Ferrer Pastor

Francesc Ferrer Pastor

Francesc Ferrer Pastor (La Font d'en Carròs, Valencia; 1918 – Valencia; 2000) was a Spanish lexicographer devoted to the diffusion and standardization of Valencian in his homeland.

Biography

Childhood and youth

Although he was born in Font d'en Carròs, he lived in València from the age of six after his mother was widowed with six children. Due to economic difficulties, he spent part of his childhood as a boarding student at the San Juan Baptista hospice, located on Guillem de Castro Street in Valencia. At the age of 11 he began working at the Melià printing house as an assistant and later attended classes at the School of Arts and Crafts where he learned the trade of typesetter and machinist. During the war he fought in the Republican army on the front of Castelló where, as he explains, "I experienced the contempt of those who do not admit the linguistic difference" of speaking Valencian. His interest in Valencian continued to increase, which led him to collect cards with words he heard and did not know. After the Civil War, in October 1941, he began to work as a machinist in the Movimiento, Jornada and Levante newspapers until January 22, 1942, when he suffered a work accident and lost his left hand. From that moment on, he dedicated himself to the tasks of corrector, first in these newspapers and, later, in the printing house of Federico Doménech and in Las Provincias newspaper.

Valencian language courses at Lo Rat Penat

After the collapse of the Second Spanish Republic and the consolidation of Franco’s Regime, a group of Valencians sheltering at Lo Rat Penat sought to instill the proper use of Valencian in new generations. At the end of the decade of the forties, in 1949, the first Valencian language course was organized in Lo Rat Penat, promoted by Carles Salvador, and taught by Enric Valor with the support of Josep Giner. Ferrer Pastor was one of the students who obtained the title of teacher and went on to teach the new spelling course organized by Lo Rat Penat From 1949 to 1963 he worked as a teacher, which allowed him to establish contact with Josep Giner, who became a good collaborator of his philological training, and to whom he entrusted his greatest hobby, the collection of words in Valencian, with the remote idea of making a Valencian dictionary. In addition to the classes, Ferrer Pastor collaborated in the edition of the Gramática Valenciana by Carles Salvador, a work that was used as a manual for language courses in its first edition but was especially useful in its third edition, which was edited after the passing of its author. Years later, in 1994, Ferrer Pastor also published a Gramática Valenciana, in the publishing house of his property, Denes.

Lexicographic labor

At Lo Rat Penat, while Carles Salvador edited a grammar, Ferrer Pastor was in charge of the confection of lexicographic works with several methodological approaches, attending to the political and social circumstances of each period. Given that the sole literary genre permitted in the first years of Franco’s regime was jocflorista and religious poetry, he soon figured that one of the best ways to incite the cultivation of Valencian was to write a rhyming dictionary. The Diccionari valencià ordenat alfabèticament per a servir de Diccionari de la Rima per Francesc Ferrer Pastor, with collaboration from Josep Giner, appeared in installments in 1955 and as a single volume in 1956, with a print run of 1,000 copies. It included more than 42,000 words and its publication was made possible through subscriptions, mostly from within Valencia, and the generous support of Nicolau Primitiu Gómez Serrano. After the first edition sold out, Ferrer Pastor, now without the collaboration of Giner, released a second edition in two volumes of 2,000 copies, adding more than 24,000 new words. The first Diccionari de la Rima was aimed at a minority audience and, thus, was not very useful to safeguard the memory of the language during those times. In 1960, the Vocabulario valenciano-castellano was published by Sicània; it was a double vocabulary, of reduced dimensions, suitable for a habitual consultation and directed to a majority public who needed to solve lexical or orthographic doubts regarding Valencian writing. Later, in 1966, the Vocabulario castellano-valenciano and then the Vocabulario castellano-valenciano y valenciano-castellano in 1967 were published by Sicània, with identical approaches to the previous one. This vocabulary was then published by the publishing house La Estrella (1972), and since 1990 by Editorial Denes, up to the present time. After the Estatut d'Autonomia, which cemented the presence of Valencian in schools, Ferrer Pastor adapted to the new circumstances and published the ambitious Diccionari General (1985) and the useful Vocabulari Valencià Escolar (1987). The Diccionari General, the most important lexicographic work in Valencian to this day, was his immediate response to one of the challenges presented by the official incorporation of the Catalan language to the Valencian education system, which needed a respectable general dictionary that would fulfill the needs of an increasingly numerous and demanding audience.

Language Activism

In addition to the studies and lexicographical works, Ferrer Pastor participated in numerous initiatives to promote Valencian language. In 1973 he was part of the Comissió Interdiocesana Valentina, directed by father Pere Riutort. He wanted to develop liturgical texts in Valencian and collaborated in the revision of the Llibre del Poble de Déu. In addition, he belonged to and collaborated with several falleras commissions, either writing for the “marra” book or writing explanations of the theme, especially in Ballesteros-Poeta Querol, where he was secretary. On the other hand, in 1976 he wrote a report, at the request of the mayor Jesús Puig i Noguera, to normalize the name of his town La Font d'en Carròs, which was approved in November 1977 by the Council of Ministers in Madrid.

Prizes and acknowledgements

• 1988, Premi Sanchis Guarner de la Diputació de València
• 1991, Premi Cavaller Tirant del Gremi de llibrers
• 1994, Miquelet d’honor de la Societat Coral el Micalet
• 1994, Premi de les Lletres Valencianes de la Generalitat Valenciana
• 1995, Porrot d’honor de l’ajuntament de Silla
• 1995, Fill predilecte de la Font d'en Carròs
• 1998, Valencià de l’any de la Fundació Huguet
• 2000, Medalla de la Universitat de València-Estudi General

Bibliography

Dictionaries

• Diccionari de la Rima, València, Federico Doménech, 1956.
• Vocabulari Valencià-Castellà, València, Sicània, 1960.
• Vocabulari Castellà-Valencià, València, Sicània, 1966.
• Vocabulari Castellà-Valencià. Valencià-Castellà, València, Sicània, 1968.
• Diccionari de la Rima. Diccionari General, València, Denes, 1985.
• Diccionari Valencià Escolar, València, Denes, 1989.
• Diccionari Escolar Valencià-Castellà i Castellà-Valencià, Paiporta, Denes, 1994.
• Diccionari de Refranys, Paiporta, Denes, 2002.

Grammars and lexicography texts

• Lliçons d'ortografia, València, Fermar, 1973.
• Gramàtica valenciana, Paiporta, Denes, 1994.
• Normes de correcció d'originals i proves d'impremta, Paiporta, Denes, 1994.

Children’s Literature

• I a eixe, samaruc!, València, Denes, 1990.
• Per què el rei Gaspar té els cabells blancs?, Valencia, Denes, 1993.
• Els gossos i la prevenció d'accidents, Paiporta, Denes, 1994.
• “Sòcrates”. Una de burros, Paiporta, Denes, 1994.
• El suc de cervell i la dona, Paiporta, Denes, 1994.
• L'abella baralladissa, Paiporta, Denes, 1994.
• Car all, car all, carall, Paiporta, Denes, 1995.

Bibliography about Francesc Ferrer Pastor

• Ferrer Pastor, Francesc (2019): “Remembrances de l'avi”. Paiporta. Editorial Denes.
• Giménez, Leo; Giménez Ferrer, Jordi (2019): “Aportacions de Ferrer Pastor al model lingüístic valencià.” Valencia: Editorial Denes.
• Ferrer Escrivà, Francesc; Ferrer Rubio, Francesc; Taronger i Assensi, Josep (2019): “Francesc Ferrer Pastor, de prop.” Paiporta: Editorial Denes.
• « Francesc Ferrer Pastor.» “Saó”, 445. València: Saó edicions, 2019
• Ferrer Pastor, Francesc (2009): “L'estima per la cultura d'un poble. A cura de Francesc Ferrer Escrivà.” Paiporta: Editorial Denes.
• «Francesc Ferrer i Pastor, home de paraula». “Saó”, 214. València: Saó edicions, 2009.
• Francesc Ferrer Pastor: les paraules d’un poble. València: Universitat de València, 2002.
• Alberola, Miquel (2000): «Hi ha un complot contra la llengua en l'església», Entrevista a Ferrer Pastor, El Temps, núm. 840, July 18, 2000, pp. 60-63.
• Estrela, Josep Enric (1998): «Entrevista a Francesc Ferrer Pastor», Saó 214, Jan. 1998, València, pp. 29-31.
• Martí Mestre, Joaquim (1998): «El Diccionari General de Ferrer Pastor», Saó 214, Jan 1998, València, pp. 25-28.
• Adell, Marc Vicent (1994): «Entrevista a Francesc Ferrer Pastor», Saó 170, València, pp. 25-27.
• Sanchis Guarner, Manuel. «Pròleg». A: Francesc Ferrer Pastor, Diccionari de la Rima, València, 1980.

References

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