Aquest matí la meva neboda ha abraçat la seva tieta perquè feia dies que no la veia.

Catalan normally uses the definite article together with possessives:

• la meva neboda = my niece
• la seva tieta = her aunt

So this is standard Catalan grammar, not extra emphasis.
Unlike English, Catalan usually says the + possessive + noun.

Examples:

• el meu germà = my brother
• la nostra casa = our house

Ha abraçat is the present perfect: has hugged / hugged.

In Catalan, especially in central varieties, the present perfect is very common for completed actions in a time period still connected to the present, such as today, this morning, this week, etc.

So:

• Aquest matí ... ha abraçat ... sounds very natural if the speaker still sees this morning as part of today.

A learner should know that Catalan also has other past forms, and usage can vary by region, but here ha abraçat is perfectly normal.

Yes, in some contexts or varieties, va abraçar can also appear.

Very roughly:

• ha abraçat often feels connected to today / the present time frame
• va abraçar places the action more clearly in a completed past event

So both can exist in Catalan, but with Aquest matí, ha abraçat is especially easy to understand as this morning, today.

Feia dies que is a very common Catalan expression meaning something like:

• it had been days since...
• for days...
• she hadn’t ... for days

So:

• feia dies que no la veia

means:

• she hadn’t seen her for days
• literally, something like it had been days that she hadn’t seen her

This is an idiomatic time expression, so it is best learned as a chunk.

The imperfect is used here because the sentence is describing a background situation that was ongoing before the hug.

• ha abraçat = the main completed action
• feia dies que no la veia = the situation leading up to that action

So the imperfect fits because it expresses:

• duration
• background
• an ongoing state in the past

In other words, the sentence means that the niece hugged her aunt because, up to that moment, she had not seen her for several days.

The la means her and refers to la seva tieta.

So:

• no la veia = she wasn’t seeing her / she hadn’t seen her

Catalan often uses object pronouns like this:

• el = him / it
• la = her / it
• els / les = them

Here, la is the direct object pronoun.

In Catalan, object pronouns usually come before a conjugated verb.

So:

• la veia = she saw her
• no la veia = she didn’t see her

The negative no comes before the verb phrase, and the object pronoun sits between no and the verb:

• no + la + veia

That order is completely normal in Catalan.

The understood subject is still la meva neboda.

Catalan often leaves out subject pronouns when they are clear from context. This is very common.

So the structure is basically:

• La meva neboda ha abraçat la seva tieta perquè [ella] feia dies que no la veia.

Catalan does not need to say ella here unless there is special emphasis or contrast.

Seva can mean several things depending on context:

• his
• her
• its
• sometimes their
• sometimes formal your

Catalan seu / seva / seus / seves agrees with the noun possessed, not with the possessor’s gender.

So in:

• la seva tieta

seva is feminine singular because tieta is feminine singular.

By context, the meaning here is her aunt, but grammatically seva itself does not tell you whether the owner is male or female.

Yes, it can be.

Out of context, la seva tieta could mean:

• his aunt
• her aunt
• their aunt
• your aunt (formal)

Usually context makes it clear. If Catalan speakers want to remove ambiguity, they can use other wording, such as:

• la tieta d’ella = her aunt
• la tieta d’ell = his aunt

But in normal speech and writing, la seva tieta is very common.

Tia is the basic word for aunt.

Tieta is a very common affectionate or familiar form. It looks like a diminutive, and historically it is, but in everyday Catalan it is often just a warm, natural way to say aunt.

So:

• tia = aunt
• tieta = aunt, often with a more affectionate or familiar tone

Both are possible, but tieta can sound especially natural in family contexts.

These are different forms:

• perquè = because, so that
• per què = why, or sometimes for which

In this sentence the meaning is because, so it must be:

• perquè feia dies que no la veia

If it were a question like Why didn’t she see her?, then you would use per què.

Yes. Catalan word order is fairly flexible.

You could also say:

• La meva neboda ha abraçat la seva tieta aquest matí perquè feia dies que no la veia.

Putting Aquest matí first is very natural because it sets the scene right away. It gives the time frame before the main information.

Not necessarily. It usually means several days or a number of days, without being exact.

So feia dies que no la veia suggests:

• it had been a while
• they had not seen each other for some days

If you want to be exact, Catalan would usually say the number:

• feia tres dies que no la veia = she hadn’t seen her for three days

Formally, veia is an imperfect form, and imperfect forms often overlap with English was seeing / used to see / saw depending on context.

But in this sentence, you should not translate it too literally as was seeing. The natural sense is:

• she hadn’t seen her for days

So the Catalan imperfect here expresses a past ongoing situation, while natural English often uses hadn’t seen.