| Old Riojan | |
|---|---|
| romanz | |
| Native to | Spain |
| Region | Northeastern medievalLa Rioja |
| Era | 10th–13th centuries |
Early forms | Old Latin
|
| Latin | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | None (mis) |
| Glottolog | None |
 Old Riojan | |
Old Riojan is an extinct variety ofNavarro-Aragonese which was spoken in northeastern medievalLa Rioja. This variety went extinct due to a rapid mixture with Castilian following La Rioja falling into the control ofCrown of Castile.
Latin had been spoken in La Rioja after 218 BC, following theSecond Punic War. These varieties eventually evolved into Old Riojan, and were first documented in theGlosas Emilianenses. In the modern day, the modern Riojan varieties of Castilian contain several characteristics which belonged to Old Riojan.
The term "Old Riojan" refers to varieties of Navarro-Aragonese spoken in La Rioja.
Varieties ofIbero-Romance were referred as "romanz" before the reign ofAlfonso X of Castile in the 13th century. Terms such ascastellano,leonés, andriojano only existed as adjectives relating as to the region it referred to, but not as names of languages or dialects.[1] As aRomance language, it formed part of a linguistic continuum, where it and Navarrese were both in-betweenAragonese andCastilian.
Before Roman times, theVascones inhabited northeastern La Rioja. They presumably spoke a precursor to modernBasque. It is believed by experts that theHand of Irulegi is written in this Vasconic language, referred as "proto-Basque".[2] Upon the arrival ofRomans in 218 BC following theSecond Punic War,Latin was brought theIberian Peninsula, initially to the southern and eastern coasts.[3] These Latin varieties eventually evolved into multipleVulgar Latin dialects, La Riojan being one of them.
In 711 AD, the Iberian Peninsulafell into Muslim control, and La Rioja became a part of the Muslim domains ofAl-Andalus. This resulted in an influx ofArabic vocabulary being added to everyday Ibero-Romance speech, most words starting with "al-" or "a".[4]
The first features in Ibero-Romance arise in the 10th century as fragments appear from that time in Vulgar Latin varieties, identifiable asOld Leonese and Navarro-Aragonese.[5] In the 10th or 11th century, glosses known as the "Glosas Emilianenses" were written, presumably by a monk at the monastery of San Millán de Suso (in La Rioja). These glosses were originally believed to be written in Castilian, though it several authors now believe they are the first written texts in Navarro-Aragonese.[6]
Starting from the 12th century, La Rioja started to be moreCastilianized following the region's annexation by theCrown of Castile.[7] By the 13th century, all characteristics which marked the Riojan dialect disappeared in the west, while in the east, these characteristics mingled with Burgalese Castilian. Currently, several characteristics are conserved in the modern Riojan dialect.[8]