Provinces ofLeón (north and west),Zamora (north-west) inCastilla y León, inSpain,[1][2][3] and the parishes of Riudenor (Rio de Onor) and Deilon (Deilão) in northeastern Portugal.[4][5]
Leonese (llionés, ḷḷionés, lionés) is a set of vernacularRomance language varieties spoken in northern and western portions of thehistorical region ofLeón inSpain (the modern provinces ofLeón,Zamora, andSalamanca), the village of Riudenore (in bothSpain andPortugal) and Guadramil inPortugal, sometimes considered another language. In the past, it was spoken in a wider area, including most of the historical region of Leon. The current number of Leonese speakers is estimated at 20,000 to 50,000.[6][7][8]Spanish is now the predominant language in the area.
Leonese forms part of theAsturleonese linguistic group along with dialects ofAsturian. The division between Asturian and Leonese is extra-linguistic, as the main divisions within the Asturleonese complex are between eastern and western varieties, rather than between varieties spoken inAsturias and Leon.
Menéndez Pidal used "Leonese" for the entire linguistic area, including Asturias. This designation has been replaced by Ibero-Romance scholars with "Asturian-Leonese", but "Leonese" is still often used to denote Asturian-Leonese by non-speakers of Asturian or Mirandese.[4][9] Sometimes the language as a whole is simply called "Asturian" for several reasons, such as the Leonese dialects being on the brink of extinction, or the widespread ignorance of its very existence (even in León), as well as their lack of recognition and institutional support (as opposed to their Asturias counterparts).
In a narrow geographical sense, Leonese is distinct from the dialects grouped under theAsturian language.[10] However, the division between Leonese and Asturian is due to the distinctly different identities of both areas, separated by a mighty mountain range, while the dialects have enough common traits to consider them part of a single language,Astur-Leonese or Asturian-Leonese.[11] The principleisoglosses in this region do not divide Asturias and Leon, dialectal areas (western, central, eastern) are in fact shaped along a north-south axis (thus encompassing lands both north and south of themountains, both inAsturias and inCastile and León).[11] In the west of Asturias and Leon, dialects of Asturo-Leonese begin totransition into the closely relatedGalician language, with the westernmost variants effectively constituting dialects of Galician.[11]
On the other hand,Menéndez Pidal and fellow scholars[12] discussed a "Leonese language" descending fromLatin and encompassing two groups: the Asturian dialects on one hand, and dialects spoken in the provinces of León and Zamora in Spain and a related dialect inTrás-os-Montes (Portugal), on the other hand.[10][13][4]
The Asturleonese dialect (considered part of the Leonese dialects) ofMiranda do Douro (Portugal),Mirandese, is most certainly a dialect on its own, considering the numerous differences it has when compared to dialects in the Spanish side. In fact, it is often considered as a separate language, especially inPortugal, where it has been granted official recognition,[14] and is regulated by theInstitute of the Mirandese Language. Thus, Asturleonese is sometimes considered a group of two languages,Asturian orAsturleoneseproper, andMirandese.
In Leonese, any of fivevowel phonemes,/a,e,i,o,u/, may occur in stressed position. In the unstressed positions, the distinction between close and mid vowels is neutralized in favor of thearchiphonemes/ɪ/ and/ʊ/.[15]
Leonese has twogenders (masculine and feminine) and twonumbers (singular andplural). The main masculine noun and adjective endings are-u for singular and-os for plural. Typical feminine endings are-a for singular and-as for plural. Masculine and feminine nouns ending in-e in the singular take-es for the plural.
Conventus Asturum in the first century BCThe Leonese Romance language expanded into new territories of the Kingdom of León.Atlas of 20th-century European Romance languages
The native languages of Leon, Zamora, Asturias, and the Terra de Miranda in Portugal are the result of the evolution of Latin introduced byRoman conquerors in the region. Their colonization and organization led to theConventus Asturum, with its capital atAsturica Augusta (present-dayAstorga, Spain, the centre ofRomanization for the indigenous tribes).[16]
The city of Astorga was sacked by theVisigoths in the 5th century, and never regained its former prominence. The region remained unified until the eighth-century Islamic invasion. Around the 11th century, it began to be defined as Leonese territory roughly corresponding to the southernconventus. In medieval León, the RomanceGalician,Asturian-Leonese, andCastilian languages evolved and spread south.
After the 1230 union of Leon and Castile, Leonese had greater written and institutional use,[citation needed] although at the end of the 13th century Castilian began to replace it as a written language.[21][full citation needed] Leonese became an oral, rural language with little literary development.
At the beginning of the 20th century, it survived in oral form only in mid-westernLeón and westernZamora provinces. Its scientific study and a nascent cultural movement began in the province of Leon in 1906. During the 1950s and 60s, the number of Leonese speakers and the area in which it was spoken decreased.
Although the Astur-Leonese linguistic domain covers most of the principality of Asturias, the north and west of the province of Leon, the northeast of Zamora, both provinces in Castile and León, and the region of Miranda do Douro in the east of the Portuguese district ofBragança, this article focuses on the autonomous community of Castile and León.Borrego Nieto wrote that the area in where Leonese is best preserved, defined as "area 1", consists of the regions ofBabia andLaciana, part of LosArgüellos, easternBierzo andLa Cabrera; in Zamora, non-GalicianSanabria.[3]
Borrego Nieto describes another geographical circle, which he calls "area 2", where Leonese is fading: " ... It is extended to the regions between the interior area and the Ribera delÓrbigo (Maragatería,Cepeda,Omaña ... ). In Zamora, the region ofLa Carballeda – with the subregionLa Requejada – andAliste, with at least a part of its adjacent lands (Alba [es] andTábara). This area is characterized by a blur and progressive disappearance, greater as we move to the East, of the features still clearly seen in the previous area. The gradual and negative character of this characteristic explains how vague the limits are".[full citation needed]
Percentage of Asturleonese speakers, according to Iniciativa pol Asturianu
A "speaker of Leonese" is defined here as a person who knows (and can speak) a variety of Leonese. There is no linguistic census of the number of Leonese speakers in the provinces of León and Zamora, and estimates vary from 5,000 to 50,000.
Number of speakers, according to studies
Sociolinguistic study
Number of speakers
II Estudiu sociollingüísticu de Lleón: Identidá, conciencia d'usu y actitúes llingüístiques de la población lleonesa[6]
Two sociolinguistic studies, in northern Leon and the entire province[25][6] analysed the prevalence of Leonese and the linguistic attitudes of its speakers. According to the latter, maintenance of the language is the primary wish but opinions differ about how to do so. Almost 37 per cent think that the language should be kept for nonofficial uses, and about 30 per cent believe it should be on a par with Spanish. Twenty-two per cent favour its disappearance. Nearly the population supports granting official status to Leonese by amending the Statute of Autonomy. About 70 per cent favour linguistic coordination between León and Asturias, with 20 per cent opposing. Leonese in education is favoured by more than 63 per cent of the population, and opposed by about 34 per cent. Institutional promotion of the dialect, especially by town councils, was favoured by more than 83 per cent of respondents.
The Statute of Autonomy of Castile and León, amended 30 November 2007, addresses the status of Spanish, Leonese, and Galician. According to Section 5.2, "Leonese will be specifically protected by the institutions for its particular value within the linguistic patrimony of the Community. Its protection, usage and promotion will be regulated".
On 24 February 2010, a parliamentary group from theSpanish Socialist Workers' Party presented a proposition to the Cortes of Castile and León to recognize the value of Leonese and implement a plan to protect and promote it. Although the proposition was approved unanimously by the plenary session of the parliament of Castile and León on 26 May, the government's position has not changed.
The Autonomous Community of Castile and León lacks a government agency to promote minority languages and a nongovernmental agency in an advisory capacity in matters pertaining to minority languages. The Academy of the Asturian Language has sponsored linguistic and sociolinguistic research, which encompasses the non-Asturian dialects of Asturian-Leonese.Two congresses about Leonese have been held, at which the following measures were proposed to move towards language standardization:
Based on articles 5.2 and 5.3 of the Statute of Autonomy,[26] raise the legal status of Leonese to equal that of Galician.
Create an autonomous administrative organ under the Department of Culture and Tourism responsible for protecting and promoting Leonese and Galician.
Introduce Leonese into adult and childhood education.
Recover native toponymy with bilingual signage.
Support cultural and literary Leonese and its publications and collaborate with associations which base their work on the recovery of Leonese, encourage Leonese in social media, and promote literary contests in the dialect.
Promote study of Leonese through the universities and centres of study and investigation such as the Institute of Studies in Zamora, the Cultural Institute in Leon, the Institute of Studies of El Bierzo and the Marcelo Macías Institute of Studies in Astorga.
Coordinate and cooperate with linguistic institutions, study centres, and administrations in the rest of the Asturialeonese linguistic area.
Require local governments to assume responsibility for the recovery of Leonese.
For about 15 years cultural associations have offered Leonese-language courses, sometimes with the support of local administrations in the provinces of Leon and Zamora. In 2001, theUniversidad de León (University of León) created a course for teachers of Leonese. The dialect can be studied in the larger villages ofLeón,Zamora andSalamanca provinces asEl Fueyu courses, following an agreement between the Leonese provincial government and the organization. The Leonese Language Teachers and Monitors Association (Asociación de Profesores y Monitores de Llingua Llïonesa) was created in 2008 to promote Leonese-language activities.
^Herrero Ingelmo, José Luis (March 2006)."El leonés en Salamanca cien años después" [Ramón Menéndez Pidal andThe Leonese dialect](PDF). In Morala Rodríguez, José Ramón (ed.).Ramón Menéndez Pidal yEl dialecto leonés (1906–2006). Ramón Menéndez Pidal yEl dialecto leonés. Beltenebros (in Spanish). León, Spain: Instituto Castellano y Leonés de la Lengua. pp. 207–235.ISBN978-84-935774-5-2.
^Llorente Maldonado de Guevara, Antonio (1986). "Las hablas vivas de Zamora y Salamanca en la actualidad". InAlvar López, Manuel (ed.).Lenguas peninsulares y proyección hispánica (in Spanish). Madrid:Fundación Friedrich Ebert; Instituto de Cooperación Iberoamericana. pp. 107–131.ISBN9788439872092.
^abBorrego Nieto, Julio (1996). "Leonés". In Alvar López, Manuel (ed.).Manual de dialectología hispánica: el español de España. Barcelona, Spain: Editorial Ariel. pp. 139–158.ISBN978-84-344-8217-3.
^Segura da Cruz, Luísa; Saramago, João; Vitorino, Gabriela (September 1993). "Os dialectos leoneses em território português: coesão e diversidade".Variação Linguística no Espaço, no Tempo e na Sociedade. Encontro Regional da Associação Portuguesa de Linguística. Miranda do Douro: Associação Portuguesa de Linguística. pp. 281–293.
^abKrüger, Fritz (2006) [1914]. González Ferrero, Juan Carlos (ed.).Estudio fonético-histórico de los dialectos españoles occidentales (in Spanish). Translated by Sánchez Nieto, M.ª Teresa; González Martínez, María. Zamora, Spain: Instituto de Estudios Zamoranos "Florián de Ocampo". p. 13.ISBN84-96100-13-8.
^abcAgard, Frederick B. (1990). "The Place Of Aragonese And Asturo-leonese In Iberian Romance". In Garza Cuarón, Beatriz; Levy Podolsky, Paulette (eds.).Homenaje a Jorge A. Suárez: lingüística indoamericana e hispánica. El Colegio de México. pp. 69–84. Retrieved10 May 2024.
^Marcos de Dios, Ángel; Serra, Pedro (1999).Historia de la literatura portuguesa (in Spanish). Salamanca, Spain: Luso-Española de Ediciones. p. 9.ISBN84-930359-4-7.
^Santos Yanguas, Juan (1985).Comunidades indígenas y administración romana en el Noroeste hispánico. Leioa, Spain: Universidad del País Vasco.ISBN978-84-7585-019-1.
^Fernández Catón, José M.ª (2004). "La "Nodicia de Kesos" y los problemas de la documentación del siglo X sobre el origen de los monasterios independientes de Rozuela y Cillanueva".Orígenes de las lenguas romances en el Reino de León: siglos IX-XII (in Spanish). Vol. 1. León, Spain: Centro de Estudios e Investigación "San Isidoro". pp. 35–86.ISBN84-87667-65-1.
^Menéndez Pidal, Ramón (1914). "Elena y María (Disputa del clérigo y el caballero): Poesía leonesa inédita del siglo XIII".Revista de Filología Española (in Spanish).ISSN0210-9174.
^Carrasco Cantos, Pilar; Carrasco Cantos, Inés (1998).Estudio léxico-semántico de los fueros leoneses de Zamora, Salamanca, Ledesma y Alba de Tormes: Concordancias lematizadas. Publicaciones de la Cátedra de Historia de la Lengua Española. Universidad de Granada.ISBN978-84-338-2315-1.
^Lomax, Derek W. (April 1968). "La lengua oficial de Castilla". In Rosetti, Alexandru; Reinheimer-Rîpeanu, Sanda (eds.).Actele celui de-al XII-lea congres internaţional de lingvistică şi filologie romanică. International Congress of Romance Linguistics and Philology (in Spanish). Vol. 2. Academiei Republicii Socialiste România (published 1971). pp. 411–417.
^González Riaño, Xosé Antón; García Arias, Xosé Lluis (2006).Estudiu sociollingüísticu de Lleón: Identidá, conciencia d'usu y actitúes llingüístiques nes fasteres que llenden con Asturies. Estaya Sociollingüística (in Asturian). Vol. 3. Oviedo, Spain: Academia de la Llingua Asturiana.
González Riaño, Xosé Antón; García Arias, Xosé Lluis (2008).II Estudiu Sociollingüísticu De Lleón: Identidá, conciencia d'usu y actitúes llingüístiques de la población lleonesa. Estaya Sociollingüística (in Asturian). Vol. 4. Oviedo, Spain: Academia de la Llingua Asturiana.ISBN978-84-8168-448-3.
López Morales, Humberto (August 1965)."Elementos leoneses en la lengua del teatro pastoril de los siglos XV y XVI"(PDF). In Sánchez Romeralo, Jaime; Poulussen, Norbert (eds.).Actas del Segundo Congreso Internacional de Hispanistas. Congress of the International Association of Hispanists. Nijmegen, The Netherlands: Asociación Internacional de Hispanistas (published 1967). pp. 411–419.
Morala Rodríguez, José Ramón (2009).El leonés en el siglo XXI: Un romance milenario ante el reto de su normalización. Beltenebros. Vol. 23. Burgos, Spain: Instituto Castellano y Leonés de la Lengua.ISBN978-84-936383-8-2.
Pardo Fernández, Abel (2008)."El Llïonés y las TICs"(PDF). In Sánchez Prieto, Raúl; Veith, Daniel; Martínez Areta, Mikel (eds.).Mikroglottika Yearbook 2008 (in Spanish). Vol. 1. Peter Lang. pp. 55–65.ISBN978-3-631-58027-1. Archived from the original on 20 September 2009.
Krüger, Fritz (1923). "El dialecto de San Ciprián de Sanabria".Revista de Filología Española: Anejos (in Spanish).4.ISSN0210-9174. Reprinted in:Krüger, Fritz (2001).El dialecto de San Ciprián de Sanabria: monografía leonesa (3rd ed.). Madrid: Fundación Menéndez Pidal.ISBN978-84-89934-04-7.
