Barranquenho (;

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

: Barranquian) is a Romance linguistic variety spoken in the

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

town of

Barrancos Barrancos ( Barranquenho: ''Barrancu'') is a town and a municipality in Portugal. With a population of 1,834 in 2011, it is the least populated municipality in mainland Portugal. Its area is 168.42 km2. The municipality is composed of one pa ...

, near the

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, Cana ...

border. It is a

mixed language A mixed language is a language that arises among a bilingual group combining aspects of two or more languages but not clearly deriving primarily from any single language. It differs from a creole language, creole or pidgin, pidgin language in that ...

, and can be considered either a variety of

(Alentejan Portuguese) heavily influenced by the Spanish dialects of neighbouring areas in Spain in

Extremadura Extremadura (; ext, Estremaúra; pt, Estremadura; Fala: ''Extremaúra'') is an autonomous community of Spain. Its capital city is Mérida, and its largest city is Badajoz. Located in the central-western part of the Iberian Peninsula, it ...

and

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a ...

(especially those from

Encinasola Encinasola is a village and municipality of Spain belonging to the province of Huelva, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. According to the 2005 census, the municipality has a population of 1,686 inhabitants. The municipality shares a border ...

and

Rosal de la Frontera Rosal de la Frontera is a municipality of Spain located in the province of Huelva, Andalusia. According to the 2008 census, the municipality had a population of 1846 inhabitants. Geography Location Located in the south-west of the Iberian Peni ...

), or a Spanish dialect (Extremaduran / Andalusian) heavily influenced by Portuguese. Barranquenho speakers maintain that they speak neither Spanish nor Portuguese but a third language altogether different.

Ethnologue ''Ethnologue: Languages of the World'' (stylized as ''Ethnoloɠue'') is an annual reference publication in print and online that provides statistics and other information on the living languages of the world. It is the world's most comprehensiv ...

lists Barranquenho (as Barranquian) as a dialect of Extremaduran, perhaps because Barrancos was populated by settlers from

Badajoz Badajoz (; formerly written ''Badajos'' in English) is the capital of the Province of Badajoz in the autonomous community of Extremadura, Spain. It is situated close to the Portuguese border, on the left bank of the river Guadiana. The population ...

, a city in

, though not in an

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 t ...

speaking area. The development of Barranquenho seems to be relatively recent (in the past 200 years), unlike other minority linguistic varieties in the Iberian Peninsula, which have medieval roots.

Characteristics

The Portuguese base of this dialect is extremely hidden behind the Spanish dialects that mold it. The most characteristic aspect of this dialect is the aspiration of the and in the end of the words, as in the Extremaduran and Andalusian dialects: (Portuguese/Spanish: ; English: cross), (Portuguese/Spanish: ; English: search). Sometimes these letters can be completely muted: (Portuguese: ; English: once). The Portuguese , and , usually pronounced as , are pronounced as . The and in the end of the words are not pronounced: (''Manuel''), (Spanish: ). But they appear again in the plural form: (). If the is at the end of a syllable it turns into : (Portuguese/Spanish: ). This is due to the influence of Andalusian and Extremaduran Spanish. Like in Spanish, there is no differentiation between and , both are pronounced as either or . Just as in Extremaduran and some southern dialects of Portuguese, the -e suffix at the end of a word (for example ) is pronounced , as opposed to in standard European Portuguese or in Spanish. The Portuguese form of the first person of the plural, , is replaced by - a variation of the Spanish . The placing of the pronouns is closer to the Spanish norm than to the Portuguese: (Portuguese: ; Spanish: ; English: was washed). It also contains many verbal forms of clearly Spanish conjugation: (Portuguese: , Spanish: ); (Portuguese: ; Spanish: ). Barranquenho uses Portuguese definite and indefinite articles, ie . It prefers the Spanish diminutive to the Portuguese , and it typically uses the present subjunctive for future reference, as in 'when he comes'.

Recognition

On 26 November 2021, the

Parliament of Portugal The Assembly of the Republic (Portuguese: ''Assembleia da República'', ), commonly referred to as simply Parliament (Portuguese: ''Parlamento''), is the unicameral parliament of Portugal. According to the Constitution of Portugal, the parliament ...

unanimously voted for the approval of a resolution through which Barranquenho was recognized and protected in the municipality.

References

Languages of Portugal {{Portugal-stub

Characteristics

Recognition

See also

References