Historically, people referred to the language asfabla ('talk' or 'speech'). Native Aragonese people usually refer to it by the names of itslocal dialects such ascheso (fromValle de Hecho) orpatués (from theBenasque Valley).
The gradual retreat of Aragonese under the pressure of Castilian (Spanish)
Aragonese, which developed in portions of theEbro basin, can be traced back to theHigh Middle Ages. It spread throughout thePyrenees to areas where languages similar to modernBasque might have been previously spoken. TheKingdom of Aragon (formed by the counties ofAragon,Sobrarbe andRibagorza) expanded southward from the mountains, pushing theMoors farther south in theReconquista and spreading the Aragonese language.
The best-known proponent of the Aragonese language wasJohan Ferrandez d'Heredia, theGrand Master of the Knights Hospitaller inRhodes at the end of the 14th century. He wrote an extensive catalog of works in Aragonese and translated several works from Greek into Aragonese (the first in medieval Europe).
The spread of Castilian (Spanish), theCastilian origin of theTrastámara dynasty, and the similarity between Castilian (Spanish) and Aragonese facilitated the recession of the latter. A turning point was the 15th-century coronation of the CastilianFerdinand I of Aragon, also known as Ferdinand of Antequera.
In the early 18th century, after the defeat of theallies of Aragon in theWar of the Spanish Succession,Philip V ordered the prohibition of the Aragonese language in schools and the establishment of Castilian (Spanish) as the only official language in Aragon. This was ordered in the AragoneseNueva Planta decrees of 1707.
In recent times, Aragonese was mostly regarded as a group of rural dialects of Spanish. Compulsory education undermined its already weak position; for example, pupils were punished for using it. However, the 1978Spanish transition to democracy heralded literary works and studies of the language.
It is spoken as a second language by inhabitants ofZaragoza,Huesca,Ejea de los Caballeros, orTeruel. According to recent polls, there are about 25,500 speakers (2011)[2] including speakers living outside the native area. In 2017, the Dirección General de Política Lingüística de Aragón estimated there were 10,000 to 12,000 active speakers of Aragonese.[1]
In 2009, the Languages Act of Aragon (Law 10/2009) recognized the "native language, original and historic" ofAragon. The language received severallinguistic rights, including its use in public administration.[3][4] Some of the legislation was repealed by a new law in 2013 (Law 3/2013).[5] [SeeLanguages Acts of Aragon for more information on the subject]
Aragonese expanded into the territories of the Kingdom of Aragon from the 12th to the 16th centuries.
Aragonese has many historical traits in common with Catalan. Some are conservative features that are also shared with theAsturleonese languages andGalician–Portuguese, where Spanish innovated in ways that did not spread to nearby languages.
Romance initialf- is preserved, e.g.filium >fillo ('son', Sp.hijo, Cat.fill, Pt.filho).
Romance groups cl-, fl- and pl- are preserved and in most dialects do not undergo any change, e.g. clavis > clau ('key', Sp.llave, Cat.clau, Pt.chave). However, in some transitional dialects from both sides (Ribagorzano in Aragonese andRibagorçà and Pallarès in Catalan) it becomes cll-, fll- and pll-, e.g. clavis > cllau.
Romancepalatal approximant (ge-,gi-,i-) consistently became medieval[dʒ], as in medieval Catalan and Portuguese. This becomes modernch[tʃ], as a result of thedevoicing of sibilants (see below). In Spanish, the medieval result was either[dʒ]/[ʒ], (modern[x]),[ʝ], or nothing, depending on the context. e.g.iuvenem >choven ('young man', Sp.joven/ˈxoβen/, Cat.jove/ˈʒoβə/),gelare >chelar ('to freeze', Sp.helar/eˈlaɾ/, Cat.gelar/ʒəˈla/).
Openo,e from Romance result systematically in diphthongs[we],[je], e.g.vet'la >viella ('old woman', Sp.vieja, Cat.vella, Pt.velha). This includes before a palatal approximant, e.g.octō >ueito ('eight', Sp.ocho, Cat.vuit, Pt.oito). Spanish diphthongizes except before yod, whereas Catalanonly diphthongizes before yod.
Loss of final unstressed-e but not-o, e.g.grande >gran ('big'),factum >feito ('done'). Catalan loses both-e and-o (Cat.gran,fet); Spanish preserves-o and sometimes-e (Sp.hecho,gran ~grande).
Former voiced sibilants become voiceless ([z]>[s],[dʒ]>[tʃ]).
The palatal/j/ is most often realized as a fricative[ʝ].[7]
Latin-b- is maintained in past imperfect endings of verbs of the second and third conjugations:teneba, teniba ('he had', Sp.tenía, Cat.tenia),dormiba ('he was sleeping', Sp.dormía, Cat.dormia).
High Aragonese dialects (alto aragonés) and some dialects ofGascon have preserved the voicelessness of many intervocalic stop consonants, e.g.cletam >cleta ('sheep hurdle', Cat.cleda, Fr.claie),cuculliatam >cocullata ('crested lark', Sp.cogujada, Cat.cogullada).
Several Aragonese dialects maintain Latin-ll- asgeminate/ll/.
The mid vowels/e,o/ can be as open as[ɛ,ɔ], mainly in the Benasque dialect.[8]
This section needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(October 2023)
Before 2023, Aragonese had three orthographic standards:
Thegrafía de Uesca, codified in 1987 by the Consello d'a Fabla Aragonesa (CFA) at a convention inHuesca, is used by most Aragonese writers. It has a more uniform system of assigning letters to phonemes, with less regard for etymology; words traditionally written with⟨v⟩ and⟨b⟩ are uniformly written with⟨b⟩ in the Uesca system. Similarly,⟨ch⟩,⟨j⟩, and⟨g⟩ before⟨e⟩ and⟨i⟩ are all written⟨ch⟩. It uses letters associated with Spanish, such as⟨ñ⟩.[9]
Thegrafia SLA, devised in 2004 by theSociedat de Lingüistica Aragonesa (SLA), is used by some Aragonese writers. It uses etymological forms which are closer to Catalan, Occitan, and medieval Aragonese sources; trying to come closer to the original Aragonese and the other Occitano-Romance languages. In the SLA system⟨v⟩,⟨b⟩,⟨ch⟩,⟨j⟩, and⟨g⟩ before⟨e⟩ and⟨i⟩ are distinct, and thedigraph⟨ny⟩ replaces⟨ñ⟩.
In 2010, theAcademia de l'Aragonés (founded in 2006) established an orthographic standard to modernize medievalorthography and to make it more etymological.[10]
During the 16th century, AragoneseMoriscos wrotealjamiado texts (Romance texts in Arabic script), possibly because of their inability to write inArabic. The language in these texts has a mixture of Aragonese and Castilian traits, and they are among the last known written examples of the Aragonese formerly spoken in central and southern Aragon.[11]
z in international formations (learned Greek words and loans that havez in their etyma) Ex:zona, Provença, fez, centro, servício, realizar, verdaz
z Ex:zona, Probenza, fez, zentro, serbizio, realizar, berdaz
/d/
d
d
d
/e/
e
e
e
/f/
f
f
f
/ɡ/
g
gu beforee, i
g
gu beforee, i
g
gu beforee, i
/ɡw/
gu beforea, o
gü beforee, i
gu beforea, o
gü beforee, i
gu beforea, o
gü beforee, i
/tʃ/
ch Ex:chaminera, minchar, chusticia, cheografía
ch
j (g beforee, i) according to etymology, as in Catalan and Occitan Ex:chaminera, minjar, justícia, geografia
ch Ex:chaminera, minchar, chustizia, cheografía
Etymologicalh (rendered silent after Latin)
Written according to Latin etymology Ex:historia,hibierno
Written as in Medieval Aragonese and Catalan Ex:história,hivierno
Not written Ex:istoria,ibierno
/i/
i
y as a copulative conjunction
i
y as a copulative conjunction
i
y as a copulative conjunction
/l/
l
l
l
/ʎ/
ll
ll
ll
/m/
m
m
m
/n/
n
n
n
/ɲ/
ny as in Medieval Aragonese and Catalan Ex:anyada
ny as in Medieval Aragonese and Catalan Ex:anyada
ñ as in Spanish Ex:añada
/o/
o
o
o
/p/
p
p
p
/ɾ/
r
r
r
/r/
rr
r- (word-initially)
rr
r- (word-initially)
rr
r- (word-initially)
/s/
s (also between two vowels, never *ss)
s (also between two vowels, never *ss)
s (also between two vowels, never *ss)
/t/
t
t
t
Etymological final-t (silent in Modern Aragonese)
Written as in Medieval Aragonese, Catalan and Occitan Ex:sociedat, debant, chent
Written as in Medieval Aragonese, Catalan and Occitan Ex:sociedat, devant, gent
Not written Ex:soziedá, debán, chen
/u,w/
u
u
u
/ʃ/ and/iʃ/
ix as unifying grapheme for all dialects Ex:baixo
x as inxoriguer andxilófono
x in most words andix in some words (for Eastern dialects)
x in most words (for Western dialects) Ex:baixo (Eastern) =baxo (Western)
x Ex:baxo
/j/
y initial and between vowels
i in other cases
y initial and between vowels
i in other cases
y initial and between vowels
i in other cases
Learned Greco-Roman words
Assimilatory tendencies not written Ex:dialecto, extension, andlexico
Not all assimilatory tendencies written Ex:dialecto, extension, andlexico
Assimilatory tendencies written Ex:dialeuto, estensión, butlecsico
Accent mark for stress (accented vowelin bold)
Spanish model, but with the possibility foroxytones to not be accented Ex:
historia, gracia, servicio
mitolochía, cheografía, María, río
atención
choven, cantaban
Portuguese, Catalan and Occitan model Ex:
história, grácia, servício
mitologia, geografia, Maria, rio
atencion
joven, cantavan
Spanish model Ex:
istoria, grazia, serbizio
mitolochía, cheografía, María, río
atenzión
choben, cantaban
In 2023, a new orthographic standard has been published by theAcademia Aragonesa de la Lengua.[13] This version is close to the Academia de l'Aragonés orthography, but with the following differences:/kw/ is always spelled ⟨cu⟩, e. g.cuan, cuestión (exception is made for some loanwords:quad, quadrívium, quark, quásar, quáter, quórum);/ɲ/ is spelled ⟨ny⟩ or ⟨ñ⟩ by personal preference; final ⟨z⟩ is not written as ⟨tz⟩.
The marginal phoneme/x/ (only in loanwords, e. g.jabugo) is spelledj in the Uesca, Academia de l'Aragonés and Academia Aragonesa de la Lengua standards (not mentioned in the SLA standard). Additionally, the Academia de l'Aragonés and Academia Aragonesa de la Lengua orthographies allow the letterj in some loanwords internationally known with it (e. g.jazz, jacuzzi, which normally have/tʃ/ in the Aragonese pronunciation) and also mention the lettersk andw, also used only in loanwords (w may represent/b/ or/w/).
The definite article in Aragonese has undergone dialect-related changes,[clarification needed] with definite articles in Old Aragonese similar to their present Spanish equivalents. There are two main forms:
Masculine
Feminine
Singular
el
la
Plural
els/es
las/les
These forms are used in the eastern and some central dialects.
Masculine
Feminine
Singular
lo/ro/o
la/ra/a
Plural
los/ros/os
las/ras/as
These forms are used in the western and some central dialects.[15]
Neighboring Romance languages have influenced Aragonese.[16] Catalan and Occitan influenced Aragonese for many years. Since the 15th century, Spanish has most influenced Aragonese; it was adopted throughout Aragon as the first language, limiting Aragonese to the northern region surrounding thePyrenees.French has also influenced Aragonese; Italian loanwords have entered through other languages (such as Catalan), and Portuguese words have entered through Spanish. Germanic words came with the conquest of the region by Germanic peoples during the fifth century, andEnglish has introduced a number of new words into the language.
Many ending in-a are feminine:a Cinca/a Cinga,a Cinqueta,a Garona,L'Arba,a Noguera,a Isuela,La Uecha,La Uerva, etc. The last was known asrío de la Uerba during the 16th century.
Many from the second and the third declension are masculine:L'Ebro,OGalligo,O Flumen,L'Alcanadre.
Just like most other Occitano-Romance languages, Aragonese haspartitive andlocativeclitic pronouns derived from the Latininde andibi:en/ne andbi/i/ie; unlike Ibero-Romance.
Such pronouns are present in most major Romance languages (Catalanen andhi,Occitanne andi, Frenchen andy, and Italianne andci/vi).
En/ne is used for:
Partitive objects:No n'he visto como aquello ("I haven't seen anything like that", literally 'Not (of it) I have seen like that').
Partitive subjects:En fa tanto de mal ("It hurts so much", literally '(of it) it causes so much of pain')
Ablatives, places from which movements originate:Se'n va ra memoria ("Memory goes away", literally '(away from [the mind]) memory goes')
Bi/hi/ie is used for:
Locatives, where something takes place:N'hi heba uno ("There was one of them"), literally '(Of them) there was one')
Allatives, places that movements go towards or end:Vés-be ('Go there (imperative)')
Aragonese was not written until the 12th and 13th centuries; the historyLiber Regum [an],[17]Razón feita d'amor,[17]Libre dels tres reys d'orient,[17] andVida de Santa María Egipcíaca date from this period;[17][18] an Aragonese version of theChronicle of the Morea also exists, differing also in its content and written in the late 14th century calledLibro de los fechos et conquistas del principado de la Morea.
Since 1500, Spanish has been the cultural language of Aragon; many Aragonese wrote in Spanish, and during the 17th century the Argensola brothers went to Castile to teach Spanish.[19]Aragonese became a popular village language.[11] During the 17th century, popular literature in the language began to appear. In a 1650 Huesca literary contest, Aragonese poems were submitted by Matías Pradas, Isabel de Rodas and "Fileno, montañés".[20]
The 19th and 20th centuries have seen a renaissance of Aragonese literature in several dialects. In 1844, Braulio Foz's novelVida de Pedro Saputo was published in the Almudévar (southern) dialect.[21] The 20th century featured Domingo Miral'scostumbrist comedies and Veremundo Méndez Coarasa's poetry, both in Hecho (western) Aragonese; Cleto Torrodellas' poetry and Tonón de Baldomera's popular writings in the Graus (eastern) dialect and Arnal Cavero's costumbrist stories and Juana Coscujuela's novelA Lueca, historia d'una moceta d'o Semontano, also in thesouthern dialect.
The 1997 Aragonese law of languages stipulated that Aragonese (and Catalan) speakers had a right to the teaching of and in their own language.[22] Following this, Aragonese lessons started in schools in the 1997–1998 academic year.[22] It was originally taught as an extra-curricular, non-evaluable voluntary subject in four schools.[23] However, whilst legally schools can choose to use Aragonese as the language of instruction, as of the 2013–2014 academic year, there are no recorded instances of this option being taken in primary or secondary education.[23] In fact, the only current scenario in which Aragonese is used as the language of instruction is in the Aragonese philology university course, which is optional, taught over the summer and in which only some of the lectures are in Aragonese.[23]
In pre-school education, students whose parents wish them to be taught Aragonese receive between thirty minutes to one hour of Aragonese lessons a week.[23] In the 2014–2015 academic year there were 262 students recorded in pre-school Aragonese lessons.[23]
The subject of Aragonese now has a fully developed curriculum in primary education in Aragon.[23] Despite this, in the 2014–2015 academic year there were only seven Aragonese teachers in the region across both pre-primary and primary education and none hold permanent positions, whilst the number of primary education students receiving Aragonese lessons was 320.[23]
As of 2017 there were 1068 reported Aragonese language students and 12 Aragonese language instructors in Aragon.[24]
There is no officially approved program or teaching materials for the Aragonese language at the secondary level, and though two non-official textbooks are available (Pos ixo... Materials ta aprender aragonés (Benítez, 2007) andAragonés ta Secundaria (Campos, 2014)) many instructors create their own learning materials. Further, most schools with Aragonese programs that have the possibility of being offered as an examinative subject have elected not to do so.
As of 2007 it is possible to use Aragonese as a language of instruction for multiple courses; however, no program is yet to instruct any curricular or examinative courses in Aragonese.As of the 2014–2015 academic year there were 14 Aragonese language students at the secondary level.[25]
Aragonese is not currently a possible field of study for a bachelor's or postgraduate degree in any official capacity, nor is Aragonese used as a medium of instruction. A bachelor's or master's degree may be obtained in Magisterio (teaching) at the University of Zaragoza; however, no specialization in Aragonese language is currently available. As such those who wish to teach Aragonese at the pre-school, primary, or secondary level must already be competent in the language by being a native speaker or by other means. Further, prospective instructors must pass an ad hoc exam curated by the individual schools at which they wish to teach in order to prove their competence, as there are no recognized standard competency exams for the Aragonese language.
Since the 1994–1995 academic year, Aragonese has been an elective subject within the bachelor's degree for primary school education at the University of Zaragoza's Huesca campus.[25]
The University of Zaragoza's Huesca campus also offers aDiploma de Especialización (These are studies that require a previous university degree and have a duration of between 30 and 59 ECTS credits.) in Aragonese Philology with 37 ECTS credits.[26]
^Estudio de Filología Aragonesa (2017).Gramatica basica de l'Aragonés (Texto Provisional). Zaragoza: Edicions Dichitals de l'Academia de l'Aragonés.
^Simón, Javier (2016).Fonética y fonología del aragonés: una asignatura pendiente. Universidad de Zaragoza.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^Tomás Arias, Javier (2016).Elementos de lingüística contrastiva en aragonés: estudio de algunas afinidades con gascón, catalán y otros romances [Elements of Contrastive Linguistics in Aragonese: A Study of Certain Affinities with Gascon, Catalan and Other Romance Languages] (Doctoral thesis) (in Spanish). Universitat de Barcelona.hdl:2445/108282.
^Nagore, Francho (1989).Gramática de la Lengua Aragonesa [Grammar of the Aragonese Language] (in Spanish). Zaragoza: Mira Editores.
^seePaul the Deacon (1977).La Vida de Santa María Egipiciaqua (in Spanish). University of Exeter.ISBN9780859890670., a fourteenth-century translation into Old Castilian from Latin of a work by Paul the Deacon
^Carrasquer Launed, Francisco (1993)."Cinco oscenses: Samblancat, Alaiz, Acín, Maurín y Sender, en la punta de lanza de la prerrevolución española" [Five Oscenses: Samblancat, Alaiz, Acín, Maurín and Sender, at the Spearhead of the Spanish Pre-revolution].Alazet: Revista de filología (in Spanish).5:16–17.... aragoneses eran los hermanos Argensola, que según el dicho clásico subieron a Castilla desde Barbastro a enseñar castellano a los castellanos ...
^abHuguet, Ángel; Lapresta, Cecilio; Madariaga, José M. (2008). "A Study on Language Attitudes Towards Regional and Foreign Languages by School Children in Aragon, Spain".International Journal of Multilingualism.5 (4):275–293.doi:10.1080/14790710802152412.S2CID144326159.
^" Torres-Oliva, M., Petreñas, C., Huguet, Á., & Lapresta, C. (2019). The legal rights of Aragonese-speaking schoolchildren: The current state of Aragonese language teaching in Aragon (Spain). Language Problems & Language Planning, 43(3), 262–285.https://doi.org/10.1075/lplp.00045.tor
^abvan Dongera, R., Krol-Hage, R. (Ed.), Sterk, R. (Ed.), Terlaak Poot, M. (Ed.), Martínez Cortés, J. P., & Paricio Martín, J. (2016). Aragonese: The Aragonese language in education in Spain. (Regional dossiers series). Mercator European Research Centre on Multilingualism and Language Learning.
