Asturian language
Encyclopedia
Asturian is a Romance language of the West Iberian group
, Astur-Leonese Subgroup, spoken in the Spanish
Region of Asturias by the Asturian people
. In Asturias
, even though it is not an official language
, it is protected under the Autonomous Statute legislation and is an optional language at schools.
with contributions from the pre-Roman languages, which were spoken in the territory of the Astures, an ancient tribe of the Iberian peninsula. Castilian
Spanish came to the area later, in the 14th century, when the central administration sent emissaries and functionaries to occupy political and ecclesiastical offices. Nowadays, Asturian codification of Astur-Leonese spoken in the Asturian Autonomous Community has become a modern language, after the birth of "Academy of the Asturian Language
" in 1980. Mirandese is very close to Asturian.
At the end of the 20th century, the Academia de la Llingua Asturiana made efforts to provide the language with most of the tools needed by a language to ensure its survival: a grammar
, a dictionary
, and periodicals. A new generation of Asturian writers have also championed the language. These developments give the Asturian language a greater hope of survival.
has the Asturian language as a normal language in their programs for computers.
(Castellano) is the official language used in all schools in Asturias, children are required to take Asturian Language classes from age 6 to 16. Optional classes are offered from age 16 to 19. Also, with the new Bologna process
people will be able to study Asturian Philology in the same way as Spanish Philology http://www.suatea.org/Junta_de_personal/Resoluciones/091029_Pleno_ordinario/08%20Minor.pdf, and school-teachers will be able to do a speciality in the Asturian language. But these two possibilities can only be studied in the University of Oviedo (Asturias).
(masculine and feminine), two numbers
(singular and plural), and no cases
. Adjectives can have a third gender
(neuter), a grammatical phenomenon widely studied in the Asturian continuum and known as "matter-neutrality". Verbs agree with their subjects in person
(first, second, or third) and number, and additionally are conjugated to indicate mood
(indicative, subjunctive, conditional, or imperative), tense
(often present or past; different moods allow different possible tenses), and aspect
(perfective or imperfective).
Asturian also has several digraphs, some of which have their own names.
Furthermore, the letter h and the digraph ll can have their sound changed to represent dialectal pronunciation by underdotting the letters:
West Iberian languages
West Iberian is a branch of the Romance languages which includes Castilian, Ladino, the Astur-Leonese group , and the modern descendants of Galician-Portuguese...
, Astur-Leonese Subgroup, spoken in the Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
Region of Asturias by the Asturian people
Asturian people
The Asturians are one of the nationalisms of Spain, issuing from the historical country of the Principality of Asturias. They have Celtiberian heritage, related to its historical and cultural links with neighbouring Galicia, as well as Visigothic cultural influences most notably found in the...
. In Asturias
Asturias
The Principality of Asturias is an autonomous community of the Kingdom of Spain, coextensive with the former Kingdom of Asturias in the Middle Ages...
, even though it is not an official language
Official language
An official language is a language that is given a special legal status in a particular country, state, or other jurisdiction. Typically a nation's official language will be the one used in that nation's courts, parliament and administration. However, official status can also be used to give a...
, it is protected under the Autonomous Statute legislation and is an optional language at schools.
History
The language developed from Vulgar LatinVulgar Latin
Vulgar Latin is any of the nonstandard forms of Latin from which the Romance languages developed. Because of its nonstandard nature, it had no official orthography. All written works used Classical Latin, with very few exceptions...
with contributions from the pre-Roman languages, which were spoken in the territory of the Astures, an ancient tribe of the Iberian peninsula. Castilian
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
Spanish came to the area later, in the 14th century, when the central administration sent emissaries and functionaries to occupy political and ecclesiastical offices. Nowadays, Asturian codification of Astur-Leonese spoken in the Asturian Autonomous Community has become a modern language, after the birth of "Academy of the Asturian Language
Academy of the Asturian Language
The Academia de la Llingua Asturiana or Academy of the Asturian Language is an organization that promotes and regulates the Asturian language, a language of the Spanish autonomous community of Asturias. Among its principal objectives are investigating and normalizing the Asturian Language,...
" in 1980. Mirandese is very close to Asturian.
Status
Much effort has been made since 1974 to protect and promote Asturian. In 1994, there were 100,000 first-language speakers, and 450,000 second-language speakers able to speak or understand Asturian. However, the situation of Asturian is critical, with a large decline in the number of speakers in the last 100 years.At the end of the 20th century, the Academia de la Llingua Asturiana made efforts to provide the language with most of the tools needed by a language to ensure its survival: a grammar
Grammar
In linguistics, grammar is the set of structural rules that govern the composition of clauses, phrases, and words in any given natural language. The term refers also to the study of such rules, and this field includes morphology, syntax, and phonology, often complemented by phonetics, semantics,...
, a dictionary
Dictionary
A dictionary is a collection of words in one or more specific languages, often listed alphabetically, with usage information, definitions, etymologies, phonetics, pronunciations, and other information; or a book of words in one language with their equivalents in another, also known as a lexicon...
, and periodicals. A new generation of Asturian writers have also championed the language. These developments give the Asturian language a greater hope of survival.
Internet
Many internet pages use the Asturian language; the councils pages, the music groups pages and more. In this area, UbuntuUbuntu (operating system)
Ubuntu is a computer operating system based on the Debian Linux distribution and distributed as free and open source software. It is named after the Southern African philosophy of Ubuntu...
has the Asturian language as a normal language in their programs for computers.
Education
Although SpanishSpanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
(Castellano) is the official language used in all schools in Asturias, children are required to take Asturian Language classes from age 6 to 16. Optional classes are offered from age 16 to 19. Also, with the new Bologna process
Bologna process
The purpose of the Bologna Process is the creation of the European Higher Education Area by making academic degree standards and quality assurance standards more comparable and compatible throughout Europe, in particular under the Lisbon Recognition Convention...
people will be able to study Asturian Philology in the same way as Spanish Philology http://www.suatea.org/Junta_de_personal/Resoluciones/091029_Pleno_ordinario/08%20Minor.pdf, and school-teachers will be able to do a speciality in the Asturian language. But these two possibilities can only be studied in the University of Oviedo (Asturias).
Grammar
The grammar of Asturian resembles that of other Romance languages. Nouns have two gendersGrammatical gender
Grammatical gender is defined linguistically as a system of classes of nouns which trigger specific types of inflections in associated words, such as adjectives, verbs and others. For a system of noun classes to be a gender system, every noun must belong to one of the classes and there should be...
(masculine and feminine), two numbers
Grammatical number
In linguistics, grammatical number is a grammatical category of nouns, pronouns, and adjective and verb agreement that expresses count distinctions ....
(singular and plural), and no cases
Grammatical case
In grammar, the case of a noun or pronoun is an inflectional form that indicates its grammatical function in a phrase, clause, or sentence. For example, a pronoun may play the role of subject , of direct object , or of possessor...
. Adjectives can have a third gender
Grammatical gender
Grammatical gender is defined linguistically as a system of classes of nouns which trigger specific types of inflections in associated words, such as adjectives, verbs and others. For a system of noun classes to be a gender system, every noun must belong to one of the classes and there should be...
(neuter), a grammatical phenomenon widely studied in the Asturian continuum and known as "matter-neutrality". Verbs agree with their subjects in person
Grammatical person
Grammatical person, in linguistics, is deictic reference to a participant in an event; such as the speaker, the addressee, or others. Grammatical person typically defines a language's set of personal pronouns...
(first, second, or third) and number, and additionally are conjugated to indicate mood
Grammatical mood
In linguistics, grammatical mood is a grammatical feature of verbs, used to signal modality. That is, it is the use of verbal inflections that allow speakers to express their attitude toward what they are saying...
(indicative, subjunctive, conditional, or imperative), tense
Grammatical tense
A tense is a grammatical category that locates a situation in time, to indicate when the situation takes place.Bernard Comrie, Aspect, 1976:6:...
(often present or past; different moods allow different possible tenses), and aspect
Grammatical aspect
In linguistics, the grammatical aspect of a verb is a grammatical category that defines the temporal flow in a given action, event, or state, from the point of view of the speaker...
(perfective or imperfective).
Orthography
| Letter | Name | Phoneme |
|---|---|---|
| A, a | a | /a/ |
| B, b | be | /b/ |
| C, c | ce | /θ/, /k/ |
| D, d | de | /d/ |
| E, e | e | /e/ |
| F, f | efe | /f/ |
| G, g | gue | /ɡ/ |
| H, h | hache | -- |
| I, i | i | /i/ |
| L, l | ele | /l/ |
| M, m | eme | /m/ |
| N, n | ene | /n/ |
| Ñ, ñ | eñe | /ɲ/ |
| O, o | o | /o/ |
| P, p | pe | /p/ |
| R, r | erre | /r/, /ɾ/ |
| S, s | ese | /s/ |
| T, t | te | /t/ |
| U, u | u | /u/ |
| V | uve | /b/ |
| X | xe | /ʃ/ |
| Y | ye, y griega | /i/, /ʝ/ |
| Z | zeta, zeda, ceda | /θ/ |
Asturian also has several digraphs, some of which have their own names.
| Diagraph | Name | Phoneme |
|---|---|---|
| ch | che | /t͡ʃ/ |
| gu + e, i | -- | /ɡ/ |
| ll | elle | /ʎ/ |
| qu + e, i | cu | /k/ |
| rr | erre doble | /r/ |
| ts | (te ese) | /t͡s/ (dialectal) |
| yy | (ye doble) | /kʸ/ (dialectal) |
Furthermore, the letter h and the digraph ll can have their sound changed to represent dialectal pronunciation by underdotting the letters:
| Normal | Pronunciation | Dotted | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|---|
| ll | /ʎ/ | ḷḷ | /t͡s/, /ɖʐ/, /ɖ/ and /ʈʂ/ |
| h | -- | ḥ | /h/, /x/ |
See also
- Astur Leonese
- List of Asturian language authors
- Cantabrian dialect
- Extremaduran languageExtremaduran languageExtremaduran is a Romance language, spoken by several hundred thousand people in Spain, in an area covering the north-western part of the autonomous community of Extremadura and adjoining areas in the province of Salamanca....
- Mirandese languageMirandese languageThe Mirandese language is a Romance language belonging to the Astur-Leonese linguistic group, sparsely spoken in a small area of northeastern Portugal, in the municipalities of Miranda do Douro, Mogadouro and Vimioso...
- Ramón Menéndez PidalRamón Menéndez PidalRamón Menéndez Pidal was a Spanish philologist and historian. He worked extensively on the history of the Spanish language and Spanish folklore and folk poetry. One of his main topics was the history and legend of The Cid....
External links
- Academia de la Llingua Asturiana – the official Asturian language academy
- Dirección Xeneral de Política Llingüística del Gobiernu del Principáu d'Asturies – Bureau of Asturian Linguistic Politics (Government of the Principality of Asturias)
- Ethnologue report for Asturian
- Asturian grammar in English
- Asturian–English dictionary
- Xunta pola Defensa de la Llingua Asturiana
- Real Instituto de Estudios Asturianos – Royal Institute of Asturian Studies (RIDEA or IDEA), founded 1945.
- A short Asturian–English–Japanese phrasebook incl. sound file