Asturian language
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Asturian (; ,Art. 1 de l
Ley 1/1998, de 23 de marzo, de uso y promoción del bable/asturiano [Law 1/93, of March 23, on the Use and Promotion of the Asturian Language
/nowiki>]
formerly also known as ) is a West Iberian languages, West Iberian Romance languages, Romance language spoken in the Principality of Asturias, Spain. Asturian is part of a wider linguistic group, the Asturleonese languages. The number of speakers is estimated at 100,000 (native) and 450,000 (second language). The
dialect The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of linguistic phenomena: One usage refers to a variety of a language that ...
s of the Astur-Leonese language family are traditionally classified in three groups: Western, Central, and Eastern. For historical and demographic reasons, the standard is based on Central Asturian. Asturian has a distinct grammar,
dictionary A dictionary is a listing of lexemes from the lexicon of one or more specific languages, often arranged alphabetically (or by radical and stroke for ideographic languages), which may include information on definitions, usage, etymologies ...
, and orthography. It is regulated by the Academy of the Asturian Language. Although it is not an official language of Spain it is protected under the
Statute of Autonomy Nominally, a Statute of Autonomy ( es, Estatuto de Autonomía, ca, Estatut d'Autonomia, gl, Estatuto de Autonomía, ast, Estatutu d'Autonomía, eu, Autonomia Estatutua) is a law hierarchically located under the constitution of a country and, u ...
of Asturias and is an elective language in schools. For much of its history, the language has been ignored or "subjected to repeated challenges to its status as a language variety" due to its lack of official status.


History

Asturian is the historical language of Asturias, portions of the Spanish provinces of León and
Zamora Zamora may refer to: Places and jurisdictions Europe Spain * Zamora, Spain, a city in the autonomous community of Castilla y León * Province of Zamora, a province in the autonomous community of Castilla y León * Associated with the city and ...
and the area surrounding Miranda do Douro in northeastern Portugal. Like the other Romance languages of the Iberian peninsula, it evolved from
Vulgar Latin Vulgar Latin, also known as Popular or Colloquial Latin, is the range of non-formal Register (sociolinguistics), registers of Latin spoken from the Crisis of the Roman Republic, Late Roman Republic onward. Through time, Vulgar Latin would evolve ...
during the early Middle Ages. Asturian was closely linked with the Kingdom of Asturias (718–910) and the ensuing Leonese kingdom. The language had contributions from pre-Roman languages spoken by the Astures, an Iberian Celtic tribe, and the post-Roman Germanic languages of the Visigoths and
Suevi The Suebi (or Suebians, also spelled Suevi, Suavi) were a large group of Germanic peoples originally from the Elbe river region in what is now Germany and the Czech Republic. In the early Roman era they included many peoples with their own names ...
. The transition from Latin to Asturian was slow and gradual; for a long time they co-existed in a
diglossic In linguistics, diglossia () is a situation in which two dialects or languages are used (in fairly strict compartmentalization) by a single language community. In addition to the community's everyday or vernacular language variety (labeled "L ...
relationship, first in the Kingdom of Asturias and later in that of Asturias and Leon. During the 12th, 13th and part of the 14th centuries Astur-Leonese was used in the kingdom's official documents, with many examples of agreements, donations, wills and commercial contracts from that period onwards. Although there are no extant literary works written in Asturian from this period, some books (such as the and the 1155 ) had Asturian sources. Castilian Spanish arrived in the area during the 14th century, when the central administration sent emissaries and functionaries to political and ecclesiastical offices. Asturian codification of the Astur-Leonese spoken in the Asturian Autonomous Community became a modern language with the founding of the Academy of the Asturian Language () in 1980. The Leonese dialects and
Mirandese The Mirandese language ( mwl, mirandés, links=no or ''lhéngua mirandesa''; pt, mirandês or ) is an Astur-Leonese language or language variety that is sparsely spoken in a small area of northeastern Portugal in Terra de Miranda (made up of th ...
are linguistically close to Asturian.


Status and legislation

Efforts have been made since the end of the Francoist period in 1975 to protect and promote Asturian. In 1994 there were 100,000 native speakers and 450,000 second-language speakers able to speak (or understand) Asturian. However, the language is endangered: there has been a steep decline in the number of speakers over the last century. Law 1/93 of 23 March 1993 on the Use and Promotion of the Asturian Language addressed the issue, and according to article four of the Asturias Statute of Autonomy: "The Asturian language will enjoy protection. Its use, teaching and diffusion in the media will be furthered, whilst its local dialects and voluntary apprenticeship will always be respected.” However, Asturian is in a legally hazy position. The Spanish Constitution has not been fully applied regarding the official recognition of languages in the autonomous communities. The ambiguity of the Statute of Autonomy, which recognises the existence of Asturian but does not give it the same status as Spanish, leaves the door open to benign neglect. However, since 1 August 2001 Asturian has been covered under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages' "safeguard and promote" clause. A 1983 survey indicated 100,000 native Asturian speakers (12 percent of the Asturian population) and 250,000 who could speak or understand Asturian as a second language. A similar survey in 1991 found that 44 percent of the population (about 450,000 people) could speak Asturian, with from 60,000 to 80,000 able to read and write it. An additional 24 percent of the Asturian population said that they understood the language, making a total of about 68 percent of the Asturian population. At the end of the 20th century the Academia de la Llingua Asturiana (Academy of the Asturian Language) attempted to provide the language with tools needed to promote its survival: a grammar, a
dictionary A dictionary is a listing of lexemes from the lexicon of one or more specific languages, often arranged alphabetically (or by radical and stroke for ideographic languages), which may include information on definitions, usage, etymologies ...
and periodicals. In addition a new generation of Asturian writers has championed the language. In 2021 the first complete translation of the Bible into Asturian was published.


Historical, social and cultural aspects


Literary history

Although some 10th-century documents have the linguistic features of Asturian, numerous examples (such as writings by notaries, contracts and wills) begin in the 13th century. Early examples are the 1085 ''Fuero de Avilés'' (the oldest parchment preserved in Asturias) and the 13th-century ''Fuero de Oviedo'' and the Leonese version of the ''Fueru Xulgu''. The 13th-century documents were the laws for towns, cities and the general population. By the second half of the 16th century, documents were written in Castilian, backed by the Trastámara dynasty and making the civil and ecclesiastical arms of the principality Castilian. Although the Asturian language disappeared from written texts during the ''sieglos escuros'' (dark centuries), it survived orally. The only written mention during this time is from a 1555 work by
Hernán Núñez Hernán Núñez de Toledo y Guzmán ( Valladolid, 1475 - Salamanca, 1553) was a Spanish humanist, classicist, philologist, and paremiographer. He was called ''el Comendador Griego'', ''el Pinciano'' (from Pintia, the Latin name of Valladolid) ...
about proverbs and
adages An adage (; Latin: adagium) is a memorable and usually philosophical aphorism that communicates an important truth derived from experience, custom, or both, and that many people consider true and credible because of its longeval tradition, i.e. ...
: " ... in a large copy of rare languages, as Portuguese, Galician, Asturian, Catalan, Valencian, French, Tuscan ... ". Modern Asturian literature began in 1605 with the clergyman
Antón González Reguera Antón is a corregimiento in Antón District, Coclé Province, Panama. It is located near the north-western shore of the Gulf of Panama The Gulf of Panama ( es, Golfo de Panamá) is a gulf of the Pacific Ocean off the southern coast of Pana ...
and continued until the 18th century (when it produced, according to Ruiz de la Peña in 1981, a literature comparable to that in Asturias in Castilian). In 1744,
Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos (born Gaspar Melchor de Jove y Llanos, 5 January 1744 – 27 November 1811) was a Spanish neoclassical statesman, author, philosopher and a major figure of the Age of Enlightenment in Spain. Life and influence of ...
wrote about the historic and cultural value of Asturian, urging the compilation of a dictionary and a grammar and the creation of a
language academy This is a list of bodies that consider themselves to be authorities on standard languages, often called language academies. Language academies are motivated by, or closely associated with, linguistic purism and prestige, and typically publish p ...
. Notable writers included
Francisco Bernaldo de Quirós Benavides Francisco is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the masculine given name ''Franciscus''. Nicknames In Spanish, people with the name Francisco are sometimes nicknamed "Paco". San Francisco de Asís was known as ''Pater Comunitatis'' (father of ...
(1675), Xosefa Xovellanos (1745), Xuan González Villar y Fuertes (1746), Xosé Caveda y Nava (1796), Xuan María Acebal (1815), Teodoro Cuesta (1829), Xosé Benigno García González, Marcos del Torniello (1853),
Bernardo Acevedo y Huelves Bernardo is a given name and less frequently an Italian, Portuguese and Spanish surname. Possibly from the Germanic "Bernhard". Given name People * Bernardo the Japanese (died 1557), early Japanese Christian convert and disciple of Saint Franc ...
(1849),
Pin de Pría A pin is a device used for fastening objects or material together. Pin or PIN may also refer to: Computers and technology * Personal identification number (PIN), to access a secured system ** PIN pad, a PIN entry device * PIN, a former Dutch d ...
(1864), Galo Fernández and Fernán Coronas (1884). In 1974, a movement for the language's acceptance and use began in Asturias. Based on ideas of the Asturian association
Conceyu Bable Conceyu Bable (in Asturian Language, ''Bable Council'' ) was an Asturias, Asturian association legalized in 1976, which objective was the recovery and dignification of Asturian Language. Origin In the final years of Francoist Spain, arose a new g ...
about Asturian language and culture, a plan was developed for the acceptance and modernization of the language that led to the 1980 creation of the Academy of the Asturian Language with the approval of the Asturias regional council. ''El Surdimientu'' (the Awakening) authors such as Manuel Asur ''(Cancios y poemes pa un riscar)'', Xuan Bello ''(El llibru vieyu)'', Adolfo Camilo Díaz ''(Añada pa un güeyu muertu)'',
Pablo Antón Marín Estrada Pablo Antón Marín Estrada (born 1966 in Sama, Langreo) is a Spanish writer in Asturian. He studied philology and he is member of several organisations to promote the Asturian language. He founded the literary association '' El sombreru de Virxi ...
''(Les hores)'', Xandru Fernández ''(Les ruines)'',
Lourdes Álvarez Lourdes (, also , ; oc, Lorda ) is a market town situated in the Pyrenees. It is part of the Hautes-Pyrénées department in the Occitanie region in southwestern France. Prior to the mid-19th century, the town was best known for the Château ...
,
Martín López-Vega Martín López-Vega (born 1975 in Poo, Llanes, Asturias) is a Spanish and Asturian poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the cre ...
,
Miguel Rojo --> Miguel is a given name and surname, the Portuguese and Spanish form of the Hebrew name Michael. It may refer to: Places *Pedro Miguel, a parish in the municipality of Horta and the island of Faial in the Azores Islands *São Miguel (disambi ...
and Lluis Antón González broke from the Asturian-Leonese tradition of rural themes, moral messages and dialogue-style writing. Currently, the Asturian language has about 150 annual publications. The Bible into the Asturian language was completed in 2021 after over 30 years of translation work, beginning in September 1988.


Use and distribution

Astur-Leonese's geographic area exceeds Asturias, and that the language known as Leonese in the autonomous community of
Castile and León Castile and León ( es, Castilla y León ; ast-leo, Castiella y Llión ; gl, Castela e León ) is an autonomous community in northwestern Spain. It was created in 1983, eight years after the end of the Francoist regime, by the merging of the ...
is basically the same as the Asturian spoken in Asturias. The Asturian-Leonese linguistic domain covers most of the principality of Asturias, the northern and western province of León, the northeastern
province of Zamora Zamora () is a province of western Spain, in the western part of the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is bordered by the provinces of Ourense, León, Valladolid, and Salamanca, and by Portugal. The present-day province of Zamora w ...
(both in Castile and León), western
Cantabria Cantabria (, also , , Cantabrian: ) is an autonomous community in northern Spain with Santander as its capital city. It is called a ''comunidad histórica'', a historic community, in its current Statute of Autonomy. It is bordered on the ea ...
and the Miranda do Douro region in the eastern Bragança District of Portugal.


Toponymy

Traditional, popular place names of the principality's towns are supported by the law on usage of Asturian, the principality's 2003–07 plan for establishing the language and the work of the ''Xunta Asesora de Toponimia'', which researches and confirms the Asturian names of requesting villages, towns, ''conceyos'' and cities (50 of 78 ''conceyos'' as of 2012).


Dialects

Asturian has several dialects. They are regulated by the Academia de la Llingua Asturiana and mainly spoken in Asturias (except in the west, where Galician-Asturian is spoken). The dialect spoken in the adjoining area of
Castile and León Castile and León ( es, Castilla y León ; ast-leo, Castiella y Llión ; gl, Castela e León ) is an autonomous community in northwestern Spain. It was created in 1983, eight years after the end of the Francoist regime, by the merging of the ...
is known as Leonese. Asturian is traditionally divided into three dialectal areas, sharing traits with the dialect spoken in León: western, central and eastern. The dialects are mutually intelligible. Central Asturian, with the most speakers (more than 80 percent), is the basis for standard Asturian. The first Asturian grammar was published in 1998 and the first dictionary in 2000. Western Asturian is spoken between the rivers Navia and Nalón, in the west of the province of León (where it is known as Leonese) and in the provinces of Zamora and Salamanca. Feminine plurals end in ''-as'' and the falling diphthongs and are maintained. Central Asturian is spoken between the
Sella River The Sella is a river located in northwest Spain. It flows through the region of Asturias from the Picos de Europa to the Bay of Biscay of the Atlantic Ocean at Ribadesella. It hosts an annual canoe competition called the International De ...
and the mouth of the River Nalón in Asturias and north of León. The model for the written language, it is characterized by feminine plurals ending in ''-es'', the monophthongization of and into and and the neuter gender in adjectives modifying uncountable nouns (''lleche frío'', ''carne tienro''). Eastern Asturian is spoken between the River Sella, Llanes and Cabrales. The dialect is characterized by the debuccalization of word-initial to , written (''ḥoguera'', ''ḥacer'', ''ḥigos'' and ''ḥornu'' instead of ''foguera'', ''facer'', ''figos'' and ''fornu''; feminine plurals ending in ''-as'' (''ḥabas'', ''ḥormigas'', ''ḥiyas'', except in eastern towns, where ''-es'' is kept: ''ḥabes'', ''ḥormigues'', ''ḥiyes''); the shifting of word-final ''-e'' to ''-i'' (''xenti'', ''tardi'', ''ḥuenti''); retention of the neutral gender in some areas, with the ending ''-u'' instead of ''-o'' (''agua friu'', ''xenti güenu'', ''ropa tendíu'', ''carne guisáu''), and a distinction between direct and indirect objects in first- and second-person singular pronouns (direct ''me'' and ''te'' v. indirect ''mi'' and ''ti'') in some municipalities bordering the Sella: ''busquéte (a ti) y alcontréte/busquéti les llaves y alcontrétiles'', ''llévame (a mi) la fesoria en carru''. Asturian forms a dialect continuum with Cantabrian in the east and Eonavian in the west. While this dialect continuum is for the most part smooth, a number of isoglosses cluster together parallel to the River Purón, linking the dialects of eastern Llanes, Ribadedeva, Peñamellera Alta, and Peñamellera Baja with those of Cantabria and separating them from the rest of Asturias. Cantabrian was listed in the 2009 UNESCO
Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger The UNESCO ''Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger'' is an online publication containing a comprehensive list of the world's endangered languages. It originally replaced the ''Red Book of Endangered Languages'' as a title in print after a ...
., where Cantabrian is listed in the Astur-Leonese linguistic group. The inclusion of Eonavian (spoken in western Asturias, bordering Galicia) in the Galician language is controversial, since it has traits in common with western Asturian.


Linguistic description

Asturian is one of the Astur-Leonese languages which form part of the
Iberian Romance languages The Iberian Romance, Ibero-Romance or sometimes Iberian languagesIberian languages is also used as a more inclusive term for all languages spoken on the Iberian Peninsula, which in antiquity included the non-Indo-European Iberian language. are a ...
, close to Galician-Portuguese and Castilian and further removed from
Navarro-Aragonese Navarro-Aragonese is a Romance language once spoken in a large part of the Ebro River basin, south of the middle Pyrenees, although it is only currently spoken in a small portion of its original territory. The areas where it was spoken might have ...
. It is an inflecting, fusional, head-initial and dependent-marking language. Its word order is subject–verb–object (in declarative sentences without topicalization).


Phonology


Vowels

Asturian distinguishes five vowel phonemes (these same ones are found in Spanish, Aragonese, Sardinian and Basque), according to three degrees of vowel openness (close, mid and open) and backness (front, central and back). Many Asturian dialects have a system of metaphony. * When occurring as unstressed, close vowels can become glides as in the pre-nuclear position. In the post-nuclear syllable margin, they are traditionally heard and transcribed as non-syllabic vowels .


Consonants

* may be lenited or sonorized as in certain environments, or word-initially. * is pronounced in coda position. * can have different pronunciations, as a voiced plosive , affricate , or as a voiced fricative .


Writing

Asturian has always been written in the Latin alphabet. Although the Academia de la Llingua Asturiana published orthographic rules in 1981, different spelling rules are used in Terra de Miranda ( Portugal). Asturian orthography is based on a five-vowel system (), with three aperture degrees. It has the following consonants: . The phenomenon of ''-u'' metaphony is uncommon, as are decrescent diphthongs (, usually in the west). Although they can be written, ''ḷḷ'' ('' che vaqueira'', formerly represented as "''ts''") and the eastern '' '' aspiration (also represented as "''h.''" and corresponding to ''ll'' and ''f'') are absent from this model. Asturian has triple gender distinction in the adjective, feminine plurals with ''-es'', verb endings with ''-es, -en, -íes, íen'' and lacks compound tenses (or periphrasis constructed with "''tener''").


Alphabet

(*) also ''zeda'', ''ceda''


Digraphs

Asturian has several digraphs, some of which have their own names.


Dialectal spellings

The letter ''h'' and the digraph ''ll'' can have their sound changed to represent dialectal pronunciation by under-dotting the letters, resulting in '' '' and '' digraph ḷḷ'' * The "''ḥ''" is common in eastern Asturian place names and in words beginning with ''f''; workarounds such as ''h.'' and ''l.l'' were used in the past for printing. * Besides dialectal words, the "''ḥ''" is also used in some loanwords: ''ḥoquei'' (hockey).


Grammar

Asturian grammar is similar to that of other Romance languages. Nouns have three
genders Gender is the range of characteristics pertaining to femininity and masculinity and differentiating between them. Depending on the context, this may include sex-based social structures (i.e. gender roles) and gender identity. Most cultures u ...
(masculine, feminine and neuter), two numbers (singular and plural) and no cases. Adjectives may have a third, neuter gender, a phenomenon known as matter-neutrality. Verbs agree with their subjects in person (first, second, or third) and number, and are conjugated to indicate
mood Mood may refer to: *Mood (psychology), a relatively long lasting emotional state Music *The Mood, a British pop band from 1981 to 1984 * Mood (band), hip hop artists * ''Mood'' (Jacquees album), 2016 * ''Moods'' (Barbara Mandrell album), 1978 ...
(indicative, subjunctive, conditional or imperative; some others include "potential" in place of future and conditional), tense (often present or past; different moods allow different tenses), and aspect (perfective or imperfective).


Morphology


Gender

Asturian is the only western Romance language with three genders: ''
masculine Masculinity (also called manhood or manliness) is a set of attributes, behaviors, and roles associated with men and boys. Masculinity can be theoretically understood as socially constructed, and there is also evidence that some behaviors con ...
,
feminine Femininity (also called womanliness) is a set of attributes, behaviors, and roles generally associated with women and girls. Femininity can be understood as socially constructed, and there is also some evidence that some behaviors considered fe ...
and
neuter Neuter is a Latin adjective meaning "neither", and can refer to: * Neuter gender, a grammatical gender, a linguistic class of nouns triggering specific types of inflections in associated words *Neuter pronoun *Neutering, the sterilization of an ...
''. * ''Masculine nouns'' usually end in ''-u'', sometimes in ''-e'' or a consonant: ''el tiempu'' (time, weather), ''l’home'' (man), ''el pantalón'' (trousers), ''el xeitu'' (way, mode). * ''Feminine nouns'' usually end in ''-a'', sometimes ''-e'': ''la casa'' (house), ''la xente'' (people), ''la nueche'' (night). * ''Neuter nouns'' may have any ending. Asturian has three types of neuters: ** ''Masculine neuters'' have a masculine form and take a masculine article: ''el fierro vieyo'' (old iron). ** ''Feminine neuters'' have a feminine form and take a feminine article: ''la lleche frío'' (cold milk). ** ''Pure neuters'' are nominal groups with an adjective and neuter pronoun: ''lo guapo d’esti asuntu ye...'' (the interesting hingabout this issue is ...). Adjectives are modified by gender. Most adjectives have three endings: ''-u'' (masculine), ''-a'' (feminine) and ''-o'' (neuter): ''El vasu ta fríu'' (the glass is cold), ''tengo la mano fría'' (my hand is cold), ''l’agua ta frío'' (the water is cold) Neuter nouns are abstract, collective and uncountable nouns. They have no plural, except when they are used metaphorically or concretised and lose this gender: ''les agües tán fríes'' (Waters are cold). ''Tien el pelo roxo'' (He has red hair) is neuter, but ''Tien un pelu roxu'' (He has ''a'' red hair) is masculine; note the noun's change in ending.


Number

Plural formation is complex: * Masculine nouns ending in ''-u'' → ''-os'': ''texu'' (yew) → ''texos''. * Feminine nouns ending in ''-a'' → ''-es'': ''vaca'' (cow) → ''vaques''. * Masculine or feminine nouns ending in a consonant take ''-es'': ''animal'' (animal) → ''animales; xabón'' (soap) → ''xabones''. * Words ending in ''-z'' may take a masculine ''-os'' to distinguish them from the feminine plural: ''rapaz'' (boy) → ''rapazos''; ''rapaza'' (girl) → ''rapaces''. * Masculine nouns ending in ''-ín'' → ''-inos'': ''camín'' (way, path) → ''caminos'', re-establishing the etymological vowel. * Feminine nouns ending in ''-á'', ''-ada'', ''-ú'' → ''-aes'' or ''-úes'', also re-establishing the etymological vowel: ''ciudá'' (city) → ''ciudaes; cansada'' (tired eminine → ''cansaes; virtú'' (virtue) → ''virtúes''.


Determiners

Their forms are: *Only before words beginning with ''a-'': ''l’aigla'' (the eagle), ''l’alma'' (the soul). Compare ''la entrada'' (the entry) and ''la islla'' (the island).


Resources

The Academy of the Asturian Language has published a grammar describing the Asturian language. It is a comprehensive manual that can be used in schools to facilitate learning. Additionally, a translator that can translate English, French, Portuguese and Italian, among a few other languages, into Asturian and vice versa is offered online.see https://eslema.it.uniovi.es/comun/traductor.php This software is funded and maintained by members of the University of Oviedo.


Vocabulary

As with other Romance languages, most Asturian words come from Latin: ''ablana, agua, falar, güeyu, home, llibru, muyer, pesllar, pexe, prau, suañar''. In addition to this Latin basis are words which entered Asturian from languages spoken before the arrival of Latin (its
substratum In linguistics, a stratum (Latin for "layer") or strate is a language that influences or is influenced by another through contact. A substratum or substrate is a language that has lower power or prestige than another, while a superstratum or sup ...
), afterwards (its superstratum) and loanwords from other languages.


Substratum

Although little is known about the language of the ancient Astures, it may have been related to two Indo-European languages: Celtic and Lusitanian. Words from this language and the pre–Indo-European languages spoken in the region are known as the prelatinian substratum; examples include ''bedul, boroña, brincar, bruxa, cándanu, cantu, carrascu, comba, cuetu, güelga, llamuerga, llastra, llócara, matu, peñera, riega, tapín'' and ''zucar''. Many Celtic words (such as ''bragues, camisa, carru, cerveza'' and ''sayu'') were integrated into Latin and, later, into Asturian.


Superstratum

Asturian's superstratum consists primarily of Germanisms and Arabisms. The Germanic peoples in the Iberian Peninsula, especially the Visigoths and the
Suevi The Suebi (or Suebians, also spelled Suevi, Suavi) were a large group of Germanic peoples originally from the Elbe river region in what is now Germany and the Czech Republic. In the early Roman era they included many peoples with their own names ...
, added words such as ''blancu, esquila, estaca, mofu, serón, espetar, gadañu'' and ''tosquilar''. Arabisms could reach Asturian directly, through contacts with Arabs or al-Andalus, or through the Castilian language. Examples include ''acebache, alfaya, altafarra, bañal, ferre, galbana, mandil, safase, xabalín, zuna'' and ''zucre''.


Loanwords

Asturian has also received much of its lexicon from other languages, such as Spanish,
French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
, Occitan and Galician. In number of loanwords, Spanish leads the list. However, due to the close relationship between Castilian and Asturian, it is often unclear if a word is borrowed from Castilian, common to both languages from Latin, or a loanword from Asturian to Castilian. Some Castilian forms in Asturian are: ::


Lexical comparison


Lord's Prayer The Lord's Prayer, also called the Our Father or Pater Noster, is a central Christian prayer which Jesus taught as the way to pray. Two versions of this prayer are recorded in the gospels: a longer form within the Sermon on the Mount in the Gosp ...


Education


Primary and secondary

Although Spanish is the official language of all schools in Asturias, in many schools children are allowed to take Asturian-language classes from age 6 to 16. Elective classes are also offered from 16 to 19. Central Asturias ( Nalón and
Caudal Caudal may refer to: Anatomy * Caudal (anatomical term) (from Latin ''cauda''; tail), used to describe how close something is to the trailing end of an organism * Caudal artery, the portion of the dorsal aorta of a vertebrate that passes into the ...
comarcas) has the largest percentage of Asturian-language students, with almost 80 percent of primary-school students and 30 percent of secondary-school students in Asturian classes. Xixón,
Uviéu Oviedo (; ast, Uviéu ) is the capital city of the Principality of Asturias in northern Spain and the administrative and commercial centre of the region. It is also the name of the municipality that contains the city. Oviedo is located ap ...
, Eo-Navia and Oriente also have an increased number of students.


University

According to article six of the University of Oviedo charter, "The Asturian language will be the object of study, teaching and research in the corresponding fields. Likewise, its use will have the treatment established by the Statute of Autonomy and complementary legislation, guaranteeing non-discrimination of those who use it." Asturian can be used at the university in accordance with the Use of Asturian Act. University records indicate an increased number of courses and amount of scientific work using Asturian, with courses in the Department of Philology and Educational Sciences. In accordance with the Bologna Process, Asturian philology will be available for study and teachers will be able to specialise in the Asturian language at the University of Oviedo.


Internet

Asturian government websites, council webpages, blogs, and entertainment webpages exist. Free software is offered in Asturian, and Ubuntu offers Asturian as an operating-system language. Free software in the language is available from
Debian Debian (), also known as Debian GNU/Linux, is a Linux distribution composed of free and open-source software, developed by the community-supported Debian Project, which was established by Ian Murdock on August 16, 1993. The first version of D ...
,
Fedora A fedora () is a hat with a soft brim and indented crown.Kilgour, Ruth Edwards (1958). ''A Pageant of Hats Ancient and Modern''. R. M. McBride Company. It is typically creased lengthwise down the crown and "pinched" near the front on both sides ...
, Firefox, Thunderbird, LibreOffice, VLC,
GNOME A gnome is a mythological creature and diminutive spirit in Renaissance magic and alchemy, first introduced by Paracelsus in the 16th century and later adopted by more recent authors including those of modern fantasy literature. Its characte ...
,
Chromium Chromium is a chemical element with the symbol Cr and atomic number 24. It is the first element in group 6. It is a steely-grey, lustrous, hard, and brittle transition metal. Chromium metal is valued for its high corrosion resistance and hardne ...
and KDE. Minecraft also has an Asturian translation. Wikipedia offers an Asturian version of itself, with 100,000+ pages as of December 2018.


See also

* Leonese language *
Mirandese language The Mirandese language ( mwl, mirandés, links=no or ''lhéngua mirandesa''; pt, mirandês or ) is an Astur-Leonese language or language variety that is sparsely spoken in a small area of northeastern Portugal in Terra de Miranda (made up of t ...
*
List of Asturian language authors It is supposed that oral literature (and even written literature) in the Asturian language is older, but the first writer known is Antón de Marirreguera in the 17th century. This is a list of the most important known writers in the Asturian lang ...
* Extremaduran language * Ramón Menéndez Pidal * Asturian-language software in the Asturian Wikipedia


References


Bibliography

* * * * Wurm, Stephen A. (ed) (2001) ''Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger of Disappearing''. Unesco . * M.Teresa Turell (2001). Multilingualism in Spain: ''Sociolinguistic and Psycholinguistic Aspects of Linguistic Minority Groups''. * Mercator-Education (2002): European Network for Regional or Minority Languages and Education. "The Asturian language in education in Spain" ISSN 1570-1239


External links


Academia de la Llingua Asturiana
nbsp;– the official Asturian language academy
Dirección Xeneral de Política Llingüística del Gobiernu del Principáu d'Asturies
nbsp;– Bureau of Asturian Linguistic Policy (Government of the Principality of Asturias)
Asturian grammar in English

Asturian–English dictionary

Xunta pola Defensa de la Llingua Asturiana


nbsp;–
Royal Institute of Asturian Studies The Royal Institute of Asturian Studies (Asturian: Real Institutu d'Estudios Asturianos or RIDEA) is a public cultural institution of the autonomous community of Asturias. It aims include "research, development and direction of work and studies w ...
(RIDEA or IDEA), founded 1945.
A short Asturian–English–Japanese phrasebook
incl. sound file
Aconceyamientu de Xuristes pol Asturianu
The Advisory Council of Lawyers for Asturian
II Estudiu Sociollingüísticu d'Asturies (2002)

Diccionariu de la Academia de la Llingua Asturiana / Dictionary of the Royal Academy of the Asturian Language

Diccionario General de la lengua asturiana (Asturian — Spanish)

Eslema, Asturian online translator



Dirección Xeneral de Política Llingüística del Gobiernu del Principáu d'Asturies

Proyecto Eslema
"Eslema" Project for the creation of corpus Asturian language domain


Dictionaries and translators

* ttp://www.academiadelallingua.com/diccionariu/index.php Diccionariu de la Academia de la Llingua Asturiana / Dictionary of the Royal Academy of the Asturian Language
Diccionario General de la lengua asturiana (Asturian — Spanish)

Eslema, Asturian online translator
{{DEFAULTSORT:Asturian Language