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 is a ...
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
In linguistics, the grammar of a natural language is its set of structural constraints on speakers' or writers' composition of clauses, phrases, and words. The term can also refer to the study of such constraints, a field that includes domain ...
,
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
An orthography is a set of conventions for writing a language, including norms of spelling, hyphenation, capitalization, word breaks, emphasis, and punctuation.
Most transnational languages in the modern period have a writing system, and mos ...
. It is regulated by the
Academy of the Asturian Language
The Academia de la Llingua Asturiana or Academy of the Asturian Language (ALLA) is an Official Institution of the Government of the Principality of Asturias that promotes and regulates the Asturian language, a language of the Spanish autonomous ...
. Although it is not an
official language
An official language is a language given supreme status in a particular country, state, or other jurisdiction. Typically the term "official language" does not refer to the language used by a people or country, but by its government (e.g. judiciary, ...
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, ...
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 and the area surrounding
Miranda do Douro
Miranda do Douro () or Miranda de l Douro in Mirandese () is a city and a municipality in the district of Bragança, northeastern Portugal. The population in 2011 was 7,482, in an area of 487.18 km². The town proper had a population of 1, ...
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 registers of Latin spoken from the Late Roman Republic onward. Through time, Vulgar Latin would evolve into numerous Romance languages. Its literary counterpa ...
during the
early Middle Ages
The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th or early 6th century to the 10th century. They marked the start of the Mi ...
. 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
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
** Celts (modern)
* Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
*Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports F ...
tribe, and the post-Roman
Germanic languages
The Germanic languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family spoken natively by a population of about 515 million people mainly in Europe, North America, Oceania and Southern Africa. The most widely spoken Germanic language, En ...
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 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 dialect
Leonese ( ast-leo, Llionés, ast, Lleonés) is a set of vernacular Romance language varieties currently spoken in northern and western portions of the historical region of León in Spain (the modern provinces of León, Zamora, and Sala ...
s and
Mirandese 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
The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (ECRML) is a European treaty (CETS 148) adopted in 1992 under the auspices of the Council of Europe to protect and promote historical regional and minority languages in Europe. However, the ...
' "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
In linguistics, the grammar of a natural language is its set of structural constraints on speakers' or writers' composition of clauses, phrases, and words. The term can also refer to the study of such constraints, a field that includes domain ...
, 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,
contract
A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tr ...
s 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 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 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. Notable writers included
Francisco Bernaldo de Quirós Benavides (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 (1849),
Pin de Pría (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 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 ''(Les hores)'',
Xandru Fernández ''(Les ruines)'',
Lourdes Álvarez,
Martín López-Vega,
Miguel Rojo 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 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
León (, , ; ; ) is a province of northwestern Spain in the northern part of the Region of León and in the northwestern part of the autonomous community of Castile and León.
About one quarter of its population of 463,746 (2018) lives in the ca ...
, 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 was ...
(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 eas ...
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
Galician–Asturian or Eonavian ( autonym: ; ast, eonaviegu, gallego-asturianu; gl, eonaviego, galego-asturiano) is a set of Romance dialects or ''falas'' whose linguistic dominion extends into the zone of Asturias between the Eo River and ...
is spoken). The dialect spoken in the adjoining area of
Castile and León 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 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 linguistics, grammatical gender system is a specific form of noun class system, where nouns are assigned with gender categories that are often not related to their real-world qualities. In languages with grammatical gender, most or all nouns ...
in adjectives modifying uncountable nouns (''lleche frío'', ''carne tienro'').
Eastern Asturian is spoken between the River Sella,
Llanes
Llanes (the ''Concejo de Llanes'', ''Conceyu de Llanes'' in Asturian language) is a municipality of the province of Asturias, in northern Spain. Stretching for about 30 km along the coast at the extreme east of the province, Llanes is bound ...
and
Cabrales. The dialect is characterized by the
debuccalization
Debuccalization or deoralization is a sound change or alternation in which an oral consonant loses its original place of articulation and moves it to the glottis (usually , , or ). The pronunciation of a consonant as is sometimes called aspir ...
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
A dialect continuum or dialect chain is a series of language varieties spoken across some geographical area such that neighboring varieties are mutually intelligible, but the differences accumulate over distance so that widely separated varie ...
with
Cantabrian in the east and
Eonavian
Galician–Asturian or Eonavian (autonym: ; ast, eonaviegu, gallego-asturianu; gl, eonaviego, galego-asturiano) is a set of Romance dialects or ''falas'' whose linguistic dominion extends into the zone of Asturias between the Eo River and N ...
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
Llanes (the ''Concejo de Llanes'', ''Conceyu de Llanes'' in Asturian language) is a municipality of the province of Asturias, in northern Spain. Stretching for about 30 km along the coast at the extreme east of the province, Llanes is bound ...
,
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
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
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
Asturleonese ( ast, Asturlleonés; es, Asturleonés; pt, Asturo-leonês; mwl, Asturlhionés) is a Romance language spoken primarily in northwestern Spain, namely in the historical regions and Spain's modern-day autonomous communities of Asturi ...
. 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 languages Iberian 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
Galician-Portuguese ( gl, galego-portugués or ', pt, galego-português or ), also known as Old Portuguese or as Medieval Galician when referring to the history of each modern language, was a West Iberian Romance language spoken in the Middle ...
and Castilian and further removed from
Navarro-Aragonese. It is an
inflecting,
fusional,
head-initial
In linguistics, head directionality is a proposed parameter that classifies languages according to whether they are head-initial (the head of a phrase precedes its complements) or head-final (the head follows its complements). The head is t ...
and
dependent-marking language. Its word order is
subject–verb–object (in declarative sentences without
topicalization
Topicalization is a mechanism of syntax that establishes an expression as the sentence or clause topic by having it appear at the front of the sentence or clause (as opposed to in a canonical position further to the right). This involves a phras ...
).
Phonology
Vowels
Asturian distinguishes five vowel phonemes (these same ones are found in
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
,
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
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of ...
alphabet. Although the Academia de la Llingua Asturiana published orthographic rules in 1981,
different spelling rules are used in
Terra de Miranda (
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of t ...
).
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 ''
ḥ'' aspiration (also represented as "''h.''" and corresponding to ''ll'' and ''f'') are absent from this model. Asturian has triple gender distinction in the
adjective
In linguistics, an adjective (abbreviated ) is a word that generally modifies a noun or noun phrase or describes its referent. Its semantic role is to change information given by the noun.
Traditionally, adjectives were considered one of the m ...
, feminine plurals with ''-es'', verb endings with ''-es, -en, -íes, íen'' and lacks
compound tenses (or
periphrasis
In linguistics, periphrasis () is the use of one or more function words to express meaning that otherwise may be expressed by attaching an affix or clitic to a word. The resulting phrase includes two or more collocated words instead of one inf ...
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 ''
ḥ'' 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 (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 (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,
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''.
* ''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 frí
u'' (the glass is cold), ''tengo la mano frí
a'' (my hand is cold), ''l’agua ta frí
o'' (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: ''l
es agü
es tán frí
es'' (Waters are cold). ''Tien el pel
o rox
o'' (He has red hair) is neuter, but ''Tien un pel
u rox
u'' (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
The Academia de la Llingua Asturiana or Academy of the Asturian Language (ALLA) is an Official Institution of the Government of the Principality of Asturias that promotes and regulates the Asturian language, a language of the Spanish autonomous ...
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
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of ...
: ''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 su ...
), 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
The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the overwhelming majority of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and the northern Indian subcontinent. Some European languages of this family, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, Du ...
:
Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
** Celts (modern)
* Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
*Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports F ...
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
Al-Andalus translit. ; an, al-Andalus; ast, al-Ándalus; eu, al-Andalus; ber, ⴰⵏⴷⴰⵍⵓⵙ, label= Berber, translit=Andalus; ca, al-Àndalus; gl, al-Andalus; oc, Al Andalús; pt, al-Ândalus; es, al-Ándalus () was the Mu ...
, 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
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
,
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 Fran ...
,
Occitan Occitan may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Occitania territory in parts of France, Italy, Monaco and Spain.
* Something of, from, or related to the Occitania administrative region of France.
* Occitan language, spoken in parts o ...
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 Gos ...
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,
Eo-Navia and
Oriente also have an increased number of students.
University
According to article six of the
University of Oviedo
The University of Oviedo ( es, Universidad de Oviedo, Asturian: ''Universidá d'Uviéu'') is a public university in Asturias (Spain). It is the only university in the region. It has three campus and research centres, located in Oviedo, Gijón ...
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
Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as t ...
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
Free software or libre software is computer software distributed under terms that allow users to run the software for any purpose as well as to study, change, and distribute it and any adapted versions. Free software is a matter of liberty, n ...
is offered in Asturian, and
Ubuntu
Ubuntu ( ) is a Linux distribution based on Debian and composed mostly of free and open-source software. Ubuntu is officially released in three editions: '' Desktop'', '' Server'', and ''Core'' for Internet of things devices and robots. All t ...
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 De ...
,
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 side ...
,
Firefox
Mozilla Firefox, or simply Firefox, is a free and open-source web browser developed by the Mozilla Foundation and its subsidiary, the Mozilla Corporation. It uses the Gecko rendering engine to display web pages, which implements current a ...
,
Thunderbird,
LibreOffice
LibreOffice () is a free and open-source office productivity software suite, a project of The Document Foundation (TDF). It was forked in 2010 from OpenOffice.org, an open-sourced version of the earlier StarOffice. The LibreOffice suite con ...
,
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 charact ...
,
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 h ...
and
KDE
KDE is an international free software community that develops free and open-source software. As a central development hub, it provides tools and resources that allow collaborative work on this kind of software. Well-known products include the ...
.
Minecraft
''Minecraft'' is a sandbox game developed by Mojang Studios. The game was created by Markus "Notch" Persson in the Java (programming language), Java programming language. Following several early private testing versions, it was first made pub ...
also has an Asturian translation.
Wikipedia
Wikipedia is a Multilingualism, multilingual free online encyclopedia written and maintained by a community of online volunteering, volunteers, known as Wikipedians, through open collaboration and using a wiki-based editing system. Wikipedia ...
offers an
Asturian version of itself, with 100,000+ pages as of December 2018.
See also
*
Leonese language
Leonese ( ast-leo, Llionés, ast, Lleonés) is a set of vernacular Romance language varieties currently spoken in northern and western portions of the historical region of León in Spain (the modern provinces of León, Zamora, and Sa ...
*
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 ...
*
List of Asturian language authors
*
Extremaduran language
Extremaduran ( ext, estremeñu, link=no , es, extremeño) is a group of vernacular Romance dialects, related to the Asturleonese language, spoken in Extremadura and adjoining areas in the province of Salamanca. It is difficult to establish ...
*
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 Asturiananbsp;– the official Asturian language academy
Dirección Xeneral de Política Llingüística del Gobiernu del Principáu d'Asturiesnbsp;– Bureau of Asturian Linguistic Policy (Government of the
Principality of Asturias
Asturias (, ; ast, Asturies ), officially the Principality of Asturias ( es, Principado de Asturias; ast, Principáu d'Asturies; Galician-Asturian: ''Principao d'Asturias''), is an autonomous community in northwest Spain.
It is coextensive ...
)
Asturian grammar in English
Asturian–English dictionaryXunta pola Defensa de la Llingua Asturiananbsp;–
Royal Institute of Asturian Studies (RIDEA or IDEA), founded 1945.
A short Asturian–English–Japanese phrasebook incl. sound file
Aconceyamientu de Xuristes pol AsturianuThe 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 LanguageDiccionario General de la lengua asturiana (Asturian — Spanish)Eslema, Asturian online translatorDirección 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 LanguageDiccionario General de la lengua asturiana (Asturian — Spanish)Eslema, Asturian online translator
{{DEFAULTSORT:Asturian Language