Leonese language
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Leonese Llïonés |
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|---|---|---|
| Spoken in: |  Spain Portugal |
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| Region: | León, Zamora and Salamanca provinces of Spain, and northeast Portugal[citation needed] | |
| Total speakers: | 40,000[citation needed] | |
| Language family: | Indo-European Italic Romance Italo-Western Gallo-Iberian Ibero-Romance West Iberian Astur-Leonese Leonese |
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| Official status | ||
| Official language in: | special protection status in Castile and Leon, Spain | |
| Regulated by: | none | |
| Language codes | ||
| ISO 639-1: | none | |
| ISO 639-2: | roa | |
| ISO 639-3: | – | |
| Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. | ||
The Leonese language (Llïonés in Leonese) was developed from Vulgar Latin with contributions from the pre-Roman languages which were spoken in the territory of the Spanish provinces of León, Zamora, and Salamanca and in some villages in the District of Bragança, Portugal. Close to Mirandese and Asturian, it belongs to Leonese or Astur-Leonese subgroup of Iberian languages. In fact, most authors speak of Leonese language or historic dialect of Latin and of Asturian and Mirandese like co-dialects of Leonese [1].
Leonese was the official language of the Leonese Kingdom in the Middle Ages, and achieved a high codification grade [2]. First written text in Astur-Leonese is Nodicia de Kesos (10th Century), and so others like Fueru de Llión, Fueru de Salamanca, Fueru Xulgu, Códice d'Alfonsu XI, ou Disputa d'Elena y María or "llibru d'Alixandre" were written in Leonese[citation needed].
The situation of Leonese as minorized language has driven Leonese to near extinction and is considered a seriously endangered language by the UNESCO [3]. There are some efforts to gain acceptance among the urban population (the Leonese Council and other municipalities such as Zamora, Coyanza, Mansilla de las Mulas or La Bañeza made campaigns in and for teaching Leonese).
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[edit] Education
At the end of the 1990s, several associations unofficially promoted Leonese Language courses. In 2001, the Universidad de León (University of León) created a course for Teachers of Leonese, and Local and Provincial Governments developed Leonese language courses for adults. Nowadays, Leonese can be studied in the most important villages of Leon, Zamora and Salamanca provinces in El Fueyu Courses, after the signing of an agreement between the Leonese Provincial Government and this organization.
Leonese Language is taught in two schools of León's city.
[edit] Legal Status
Leonese was recognised as a seriously endangered language by UNESCO, in 2006. The only legal reference to this language is in the Autonomy Statute of Castile and Leon[4].
The Province of León government supports the knowledge of this language through courses, by celebrating "Leonese Language Day" and by sponsoring literary efforts in the Leonese Language, such as "Cuentos del Sil", where nine writers from teenagers to people in their eighties develop several stories in Leonese.
Leonese Local Government uses Leonese Language in some of their bureaus, organize courses for adult people and in 2007 organized Leonese Language Day.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Marcos, Ángel/Serra, Pedro (1999): Historia de la literatura portuguesa. Salamanca: Luso-Española. Pag. 9; Menéndez Pidal, Ramón (2006): El dialecto leonés. León: El Buho viajero. Original from 1906; Krüger, Fritz (2006): Estudio fonético-histórico de los dialectos españles occidentales. Zamora: CSIC/Diputación de Zamora. Pag. 13
- ^ Morala, R. (2004): Norma y usos gráficos en la documentacion leonesa. In: Aemilianese I, S. 405-429.
- ^ UNESCO Red Book on Endangered Languages: Europe
- ^ New Autonomy Stature for Castilla an León, Art. 5/2.
[www.puntulli.org] Top Level Domain for Leonese Language
