An Extremaduran speaker, recorded in theNetherlands.
Extremaduran (Extremaduran:estremeñu[ehtːɾeˈmeɲʊ],Spanish:extremeño) is a Western Romance language of theAsturleonese language, spoken primarily in northwesternExtremadura and adjacent villages in theprovince of Salamanca.[1][2]Its northern varieties are generally considered a distinct language, while central and southern varieties are regarded as transitional dialects toward standardSpanish.
The linguistic varieties of Extremadura are usually classified in three main branches: Northern or "High" (artu estremeñu), Central or "Middle" (meyu estremeñu), and Southern or "Low" (baju estremeñu).[2] The northern branch is usually considered to be the language proper,[3] and is spoken in the north-west of the autonomous region of Extremadura, and the south-west of Salamanca, a province of the autonomous region ofCastile and León. The central and southern branches are spoken in the rest of Extremadura, and are not different enough from standardSpanish to be considered anything but dialects of the language, since at least the 18th century.
Northern Extremaduran is also spoken in a few villages of southern Salamanca, being known there as the "palra d'El Rebollal", which is now almost extinct.
The late 19th century saw the first serious attempt to write in Extremaduran, until then an oral language,[4] with the poetJosé María Gabriel y Galán. Born in Salamanca, he lived most of his life in the north ofCáceres, Extremadura. He wrote in a local variant of Extremaduran, full of dialectal remnants, but always with an eye on Spanish usage.
Throughout the 20th century, revival efforts focused on documenting local vernacular forms. By the early 21st century, only a small community of activists advocated for co-official status of Northern Extremaduran, while regional authorities have not implemented legal protections beyond recognizing Extremaduran as part of the broader Spanish linguistic heritage.[5][6]
There are also attempts to transform the southern Castilian dialects ("castúo", as some people named them, using the word which appeared inLuis Chamizo Trigueros's poems) into a language. Advocacy for codifying southern Castilian dialects under the label ‘Extremaduran’ has heightened tensions over linguistic identity, contributing to regional government decisions against granting co-official status to Northern Extremaduran.[7]It is in serious danger of extinction, with only the oldest people speaking it at present, while most of the Extremaduran population cannot speak the language, since the majority of Extremadurans, and even its own speakers, regard it as poorly spoken Spanish.[8]
Latin word-finale, chiefly afterd, is not lost, e.g.redi[ˈreði] 'net'.
Some cases ofpalatalization of word-initialn, e.g.ñíu[ˈɲiu] 'nest'.
Conservation of the consonantic groupmb in intermediate position, e.g.lambel[lamˈbel] 'to lick'.
Frequent conservation of word-initial[h] derived from a Latinf-. This consonant is lost in mostSpanish varieties, but is common with much of Andalusia, e.g.higu[ˈhiɣu] 'fig'.
Occasional conservation of word-initialf, e.g.fogal[foˈɣal] 'home, hearth'.
Metathesis of the consonant clusterrl intolr, e.g.chalral[tʃalˈral] 'to talk'.
Occasional interchange of theliquid consonantsl/r, e.g.craru[ˈkɾaɾu] 'clear'.[10]
Preservation of some oldvoiced fricatives, such as some instances of[ð] corresponding to[z] in Portuguese or[θ] corresponding to[s] in Portuguese (both corresponding to /θ/ in Spanish). This feature is anarchaism preserved fromOld Spanish or OldAstur-Leonese, as it happens only when it isetymologically justified. When a voiced fricative appears, one also does in languages such asCatalan orPortuguese: Extremadurantristeza[tɾihtˈteða] 'sadness' (still voiced in Portuguesetristeza[tɾiʃˈtezɐ], voice lost inSpanishtristeza[tɾisˈteθa]), but Extremadurancabeça[kaˈβeθa] 'head' (voiceless also in Portuguesecabeça[kɐˈβesɐ], Spanishcabeza[kaˈβeθa]). The feature is dying out quite fast but is found all over the High Extremaduran speaking area.
Occasional formation ofgerund, derived from a form of the verb inpast tense.
Usage of avocative-exclamative case. When nouns are in thevocative, the closing of post-tonic vowels (e intoi ando intou) disappears and those vowels open.El Ramiru quíi venil (Ramiro wants to come), butRamiro, ven pacá (Ramiro, come here!).Sé quién lo vidu, Pepi (I know who saw it,Pepe did), butSé quién lo vidu, Pepe (I know who saw it,Pepe). This is a characteristic shared with theFala language. Extremaduran and the Fala language are actually the only western Romance languages with a distinct form of vocative case for nouns formed with a change in the ending.
Usage of the prepositiona with the verbsandal andestal indicating static temporal location, contrasting with the usage ofen.Está a Caçris "He's atCáceres (for a few days)",Está en Caçris "He's in Cáceres",Está pa Caçris "He's around Cáceres".
A very frequent usage of deictic forms to which enclitic pronouns can be added at the end. They can be used in the middle of a sentence:Velaquí la mi casa (Here is my house),velallilu (there he is),Paquí se curtivanvelaquí lechugas, millu... (Look, lettuce, corn and so on is grown here).
Usage of reduplicated forms of plural pronouns with a reciprocal sense (ellus y ellus,vujotrus y vujotrus...):Estaban brucheandu ellus y ellus: They were wrestling with each other.
The language of Extremadura began to appear in documentation from the 13th century. In the 17th century, texts in the Talaveran subdialect appeared (1638). Extremaduran began to have more presence in literature with Vicente Barrantes and hisDías sin sol of 1875.
In 1984, José María Alcón Olivera publishedRequilorios, the first novel written in Extremaduran. It was not until the 2000s that new publications in Extremaduran were seen, in this case, in the El Rebollar variant, withEl corral los mis agüelus, by José Benito Mateos Pascual. This was followed by thePrimera Antología de Poesía Extremeña in 2005. In 2011,La nueva literatura en estremeñu was published, followed in 2012 by a second part.
In 2012, Ismael Carmona García published the poetry collectionPan i verea. The siblings Miguel Herrero Uceda and Elisa Herrero Uceda published two books of short stories in Extremaduran: one in 2012, entitledCeborrincho, relatos extremeños, and another in 2015, entitledMamaeña, relatos extremeños. Other books in subsequent years includeLa huélliga by Marcos Cruz Díaz andEl sol del lobu by Aníbal Martín. In 2025, Vicente Costalago publishedEuris estremeñus i sotras poemas, divided into three parts: the first with epic poems about various Extremaduran heroes; the second with religious poems; and the last with individual poems.
There is a regional organization in Extremadura, OSCEC Estremaúra,[11] that tries to defend the language, one journal (Belsana) and one cultural newspaper, Iventia,[12] written in the new unified Extremaduran and the old dialect "palra d'El Rebollal".[citation needed]
^Gutierro Rodriguez, Bienvenido (17 March 2008)."En defensa del habla extremeña" [In defense of the Extremaduran speech].Hoy (in European Spanish). Archived fromthe original on 21 August 2018. Retrieved28 December 2019.
^Viudas Camarasa, Antonio (2008)."Agenda de APLEX" [APLEX Agenda] (Interview) (in Spanish). Interviewed by Concha Llamazares. APLEX.Archived from the original on 6 March 2010. Retrieved4 September 2009.
^González Salgado, José Antonio (2003)."La conciencia lingüística de los hablantes extremeños" [The linguistic awareness of Extremadura speakers]. In C. Alemany Bay (ed.).Actas del Congreso Internacional "La lengua, la Academia, lo popular, los clásicos, los contemporáneos..." (in Spanish). Vol. 2. pp. 725–735.ISBN84-7908-731-5 – via Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes.
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