Ribagorçan dialect
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Ribagorçan (
autonym Autonym may refer to: * Autonym, the name used by a person to refer to themselves or their language; see Exonym and endonym * Autonym (botany), an automatically created infrageneric or infraspecific name See also * Nominotypical subspecies, in zo ...
: ''ribagorsano'' or ''ribagorzano'') ; ca, label=
Standard Catalan Catalan (; autonym: , ), known in the Valencian Community and Carche as ''Valencian'' (autonym: ), is a Western Romance language. It is the official language of Andorra, and an official language of three autonomous communities in eastern Spa ...
, ribagorçà is a number of
Romance Romance (from Vulgar Latin , "in the Roman language", i.e., "Latin") may refer to: Common meanings * Romance (love), emotional attraction towards another person and the courtship behaviors undertaken to express the feelings * Romance languages, ...
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 Linguistics, linguistic phenomena: One usage refers to a variety (linguisti ...
s spoken in the modern territories of the medieval
County of Ribagorza The County of Ribagorza or Ribagorça ( an, Condato de Ribagorza, ca, Comtat de Ribagorça, la, Comitatus Ripacurtiae) was a medieval county on the southern side of the Pyrenees, including the northeast of modern Aragón and part of the northwes ...
, in northern
Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...
. The area corresponds to the modern administrative units of Ribagorza/Ribagorça and
La Litera La Litera () or La Llitera () ( an, A Litera) is an Aragonese comarca in the south-east of the province of Huesca. Its cultural capital is Tamarite de Litera, its administrative capital is Binefar and it borders the comarques of Ribagorza, Somo ...
/La Llitera, in the
province of Huesca Huesca ( an, Uesca, ca, Osca), officially Huesca/Uesca, is a province of northeastern Spain, in northern Aragon. The capital is Huesca. Positioned just south of the central Pyrenees, Huesca borders France and the French Departments of Haute-Ga ...
,
Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and an, Aragón ; ca, Aragó ) is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces (from north to sou ...
, and
Alta Ribagorça Alta Ribagorça () is one of the comarques of Catalonia, Spain. Its capital is Pont de Suert. The highest peak is the Comaloformo (3030 metres above sea level) in the massif of Bessiberri. Northeast of the region is the western part of the Aigü ...
in the
province of Lleida The Province of Lleida (; Aranese Occitan: Lhèida ; es, Lérida ) is one of the four provinces of Catalonia. It lies in north-eastern Spain, in the western part of the autonomous community of Catalonia, and is bordered by the Provinces of ...
,
Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...
. Today, depending on provincial and regional perspectives, Ribagorçan may be described in
Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and an, Aragón ; ca, Aragó ) is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces (from north to sou ...
as transitional to
Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...
, or in
Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...
as transitional to Aragonese. Eastern dialects in the area tend to be classified as Catalan, and western dialects as Aragonese, with a small central area of more difficult classification. Historically, the county and its dialect was influenced by its political alliances, conquerors and rulers—ranging from the
Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
to the
Goths The Goths ( got, 𐌲𐌿𐍄𐌸𐌹𐌿𐌳𐌰, translit=''Gutþiuda''; la, Gothi, grc-gre, Γότθοι, Gótthoi) were a Germanic people who played a major role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the emergence of medieval Europe ...
,
Navarrese Navarre (; es, Navarra ; eu, Nafarroa ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre ( es, Comunidad Foral de Navarra, links=no ; eu, Nafarroako Foru Komunitatea, links=no ), is a foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, ...
, the
Franks The Franks ( la, Franci or ) were a group of Germanic peoples whose name was first mentioned in 3rd-century Roman sources, and associated with tribes between the Lower Rhine and the Ems River, on the edge of the Roman Empire.H. Schutz: Tools, ...
,
Moors The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a distinct or ...
,
Castilians Castilians (Spanish: ''castellanos'') are those people who live in certain former areas of the historical Kingdom of Castile, but the region's exact limits are disputed. A broader definition is to consider as Castilians the population belonging ...
and
Catalans Catalans (Catalan language, Catalan, French language, French and Occitan language, Occitan: ''catalans''; es, catalanes, Italian language, Italian: ''catalani'', sc, cadelanos) are a Romance languages, Romance ethnic group native to Cataloni ...
. As such, the spoken language evolved from a variant of
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 ...
and was influenced along the way by its geo-linguistic neighbors—
Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...
, Gascon (
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 Occitan (; o ...
), Castilian, French, Aragonese and Catalan.


Written language

Being predominantly a spoken language, written documents are scarce, but they do exist—most notably, the ''Pastoradas of Benabarre'' compiled by Ricardo del Arco as well the writings of Tonón de Baldomera and poetry of Cleto Torrodellas; and more recently works by Ana Tena Puy, Carmen Castán and Bienvenido Mascaray Sin. With the recognition of Aragonese as a language in 2003, intra-regional identities, among them Ribagorçan, have gained strength, and there is renewed interest in preserving, teaching and developing the local dialects commonly referred to as "'' fabla''".


Linguistic characteristics

In Aragon, the dialect in Ribagorza can be clustered into 2 main groups: Upper and Lower Ribagorçan defined by an
isogloss An isogloss, also called a heterogloss (see Etymology below), is the geographic boundary of a certain linguistic feature, such as the pronunciation of a vowel, the meaning of a word, or the use of some morphological or syntactic feature. Major d ...
line running east–west from the Turbón mountain. However locals prefer to demarcate 3 subdialects: * Upper, or ''altorribagorzano'' (also called Benasquese in
Benasque Benasque (; in Benasquese dialect: ''Benás''; an, Benás) () is a town in the comarca of Ribagorza, province of Huesca, (Spain). It is the main town in the Benasque Valley, located in the heart of the Pyrenees and surrounded by the highest p ...
; transitional Catalan, Aragonese and Gascon dialect) * Middle, or ''meyorribagorzano'' (transitional to Upper and Lower), as exemplified by the language spoken in Campo; * Lower, or ''baxorribagorzano'', spoken in and south of
Graus Graus (, ) is a village in the Spanish province of Huesca, located in the Pyrenees at the confluence of rivers Esera and Isabena. It is the administrative capital of the region. It is one of the areas of Aragon in which is still preserved the A ...
, and more influenced by
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 ...
. In
Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...
the Ribagorçan dialect spoken in the county of
Alta Ribagorça Alta Ribagorça () is one of the comarques of Catalonia, Spain. Its capital is Pont de Suert. The highest peak is the Comaloformo (3030 metres above sea level) in the massif of Bessiberri. Northeast of the region is the western part of the Aigü ...
, is also clustered. A dialectal variant exemplified by the Ribagorçan speakers of
Pont de Suert Pont, meaning "bridge" in French, may refer to: Places France * Pont, Côte-d'Or, in the Côte-d'Or ''département'' * Pont-Bellanger, in the Calvados ''département'' * Pont-d'Ouilly, in the Calvados ''département'' * Pont-Farcy, in the Calva ...
, is Catalan dominant transitional to Aragonese with some traits of Aranese Gascon.


Phonology

Some features include: * Palatalization of in consonant clusters (i.e. ); e.g., ''pllou'' ('it rains'), ''cllau'' ('key') * General loss of Latin final unstressed vowels except for , as in Catalan, and rarely . Moving westward preserved final is more frequent. * Occasional
diphthong A diphthong ( ; , ), also known as a gliding vowel, is a combination of two adjacent vowel sounds within the same syllable. Technically, a diphthong is a vowel with two different targets: that is, the tongue (and/or other parts of the speech o ...
ization of Romance short vowels, as in Aragonese: → ; → , becoming more generalized moving westward; e.g., Latin → ''tierra'' ; Latin → ''puent'' * Occasional interdental fricative as reflex of Latin before front vowels; e.g., ''cinc'' ('five'). This feature gets more general moving westward (cf. Eastern Ribagorçan and Catalan ''cinc'' ). * Different results for 2nd person plural endings of verbs (Latin -), from west to east: -''z'' (as in some western variants of Aragonese), -''tz'' (as in
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 Occitan (; o ...
) or -''u'' (as in modern Catalan). * Different results from the Romance voiced prepalatal affricate ( from ''i''-, ''dj''- and ''gj''-), from west to east: (as in some occidental variants of Aragonese and ''apitxat''
Valencian Valencian () or Valencian language () is the official, historical and traditional name used in the Valencian Community (Spain), and unofficially in the Carche, El Carche comarca in Región de Murcia, Murcia (Spain), to refer to the Romance lan ...
), (as in medieval Catalan and most of contemporary Valencian and Occitan), (as in most of contemporary Catalan). E.g., ''óvens'' (Western Ribagorza), ''óvens'' (Eastern Ribagorçan) ('young ones'). * Loss of final of infinitives and polysyllabic words, a feature shared with most of contemporary Catalan (except Valencian variants). E.g., Latin → ''muller'' ('woman'), Vulgar Latin → ''treballar'' ('to work')


Morphology and syntax

* Preterite formed with auxiliary forms derived from Latin + infinitive, e.g., ''va fer'' ('he/she did'), a feature shared with Catalan that is characteristic of Western Aragonese dialects westward from Gistaín valley.


Notes


References


Bibliography

* Arnal Purroy, María Luisa & Naval López, Maria Ángeles. ''Lengua y literatura de unos poemas en ribagorzano'' (1861–1888). Archivo de Filología Aragonesa XLII-XLIII. 1989.


External links


Diccionari
https://web.archive.org/web/20101008230040/

*
Ribagorzano
'' en la ''Gran Enciclopedia Aragonesa online'' * Óscar Latas Alegre
''Os bocables recullitos por Jean J. Saroïhandy en Zanui''
, Revista ROLDE 114, (December 2005), pp. 44–49. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ribagorcan Aragonese dialects Catalan dialects an:Aragonés ribagorzano ca:Català ribagorçà