Asturian language

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Asturian

Spoken in

Asturias ( Spain )
speaker 560,000 (2007)

110,000 native speakers

Linguistic
classification
Language codes
ISO 639 -1

-

ISO 639 -2

ast

ISO 639-3

ast

The Asturian language or Asturian language (astur. Asturianu or bable , span. Asturiano or bable ) is a language that belongs to the Asturleonesian subgroup of the Ibero-Romance languages and is spoken in most of the Asturias region of northern Spain .

Language names

In Asturias , the language is generally referred to as Asturian (astur. Asturianu , span. Asturiano ) or bable , the latter term being widely used in colloquial language, but perceived by some as pejorative and therefore rejected. In circles calling for the official recognition of the language in Asturias, the name Asturian is used almost exclusively .

The term Asturleonesisch or Asturischleonesisch (astur. Asturllionés , span. Asturleonés ) comes from the Roman linguistics and as a comprehensive term for all of the related varieties of the Asturian, in scientific publications Leonesic and Mirandesischen needed is not in use as a self-designation.

classification

Asturian-Leonese is part of a dialect continuum that encompasses all the Ibero-Romance varieties in the north of the Iberian Peninsula . The Asturleonese varieties pass into the Castilian (Spanish) ones in the east and south-east and the Galician and Portuguese ones in the west . Overall, the similarities with Spanish are greater than those with Galician-Portuguese.

Due to these numerous similarities with Spanish on the one hand and the fact that for a long time there was no standardized Asturian-Leonese written language, but instead Spanish was used in this function, Asturian-Leonese was generally regarded as a dialect of the Spanish language in older Romance studies . The classification as a Spanish dialect also corresponded to the earlier widespread self-perception of the speakers of their language as somehow "corrupted" Spanish.

The finding of historical-comparative Romance linguistics that Asturischleonesian, like the other varieties in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, arose directly from the local Vulgar Latin - in contrast to the varieties spoken in the south of the peninsula, from the forms brought there by the Reconquista of Spanish, Portuguese and Catalan - led to the fact that Asturian-Leonese is now regarded in comparative Romance linguistics as one of the five Romance languages ​​of the Iberian Peninsula (alongside Galician-Portuguese, Castilian, Aragonese and Catalan ) and thus in this context is placed on the same level as Spanish / Castilian.

Representatives of Asturian regionalism, who are working on the codification of the written language norms of Asturian and who are demanding its official recognition, emphasize the independence of the Asturian language and classify it as a "Spanish dialect" - also referring to this knowledge of Romance linguistics. regarded as a consequence of the marginalization of the language by the long-standing political and cultural centralism of the Spanish state.

distribution

Asturian is spoken in most of the Asturias region; The exception is the area on the border with Galicia , where transitional dialects between Asturian and Galician are spoken. However, especially in the larger cities, Castilian (Spanish) has recently spread not only as a second but also as a first language, so that part of the population there no longer speaks Asturian. In total, around 450,000 people (44.4% of the total population) speak Asturian in Asturias. In the Franco era in particular, the use of Asturian fell sharply, but the mining families in Turón in particular cultivated Asturian (with many local peculiarities) as a sign of identity. In August 1976 the Conceyu Babie published a Gramática Babie with initial approaches to standardization, followed two years later by the Normes Orthográfiques dei Babie . In 1980 the Academia de la Llingua Asturiana (ALLA) was founded, the official language academy for the Asturian language.

Headquarters of the Academia de la Llingua Asturiana in Oviedo

Dialects

There are three main dialects with numerous subdivisions. Western Asturian (asturiano occidental) shares traits with Galician-Portuguese and is the most conservative. Central Asturian ( asturiano central ; spoken in the area of ​​Oviedo and Gijón in Asturias) has the most speakers and is the basis for the current attempt at standardization in Asturias. Ostasturian (asturiano oriental) has many features in common with Castilian and, through gradual assimilation in many places, is on the point of becoming a Castilian dialect in the narrower sense.

Varieties

For some varieties in the west of Asturias it is disputed whether they can be assigned to the Asturian or the Galician. In the "Terra Eo-Navia" between the rivers Eo and Navia, around 40,000 people speak Galician, which is considered a transitional dialect because of some similarities with Asturian. The majority of linguists and institutions, such as the Instituto da Lingua Galega , the RAG ( Real Academia Gallega ) and the Regional Government of Asturias, call the language gallego de Asturias (Asturian Galician) or gallegu-asturianu , while the ALLA calls this language Eonaviegu and as views an independent language which is neither Asturian nor Galician but which is nevertheless intended to be regulated by the ALLA.

Sociolinguistics

The native speakers of Asturian generally speak their local variety.

Since the 1970s and 1980s, a written language standard for Asturian based on the dialects of Central Asturias has been developed in the Asturias region. The requirement for official recognition of the language has so far only been met to a limited extent (in the school system and at the local level in some municipalities). Community names are often used in the Asturian form (e.g. Gijón - Asturian: Xixón). However, the official language of the Asturias region is only Spanish. Some preschool and elementary schools use the language as a medium of instruction. In the primary and secondary levels, Asturian is offered as an elective.

There are more and more television programs in Asturian. Radio programs are more common. There is a weekly newspaper in Asturian, “Les Noticies”. Other newspapers publish extracts in Asturian. A few magazines are published in Asturian.

Characteristics

General characteristics

  • Diphthongization of the Latin short e and o in ie and ue / uo / ua ; Latin ferrum (German iron) → ast. fierro , Latin ovum (German egg) → ast. güevu .
  • Final -as and -an in the verb conjugation become -es and -en; lat. amant (dt. they love) → ast. amen , lat. amas (dt. you love) → ast. ames .
  • Latin final -e in nouns of the third declension is omitted; Latin amorem >> amore (German love) → ast. amor , Latin amare (dt. to love) → ast. amar . This does not apply to the words with the -e after a -d; lat. sedem ( Eng . thirst) → ast. sede , Latin retem (German network) → ast. talk . In some Leonese dialects the -e is kept at the end of the infinitive; ast. amar , leo. amare .
  • Latin final -m not applicable; lat. fornum (dt. furnace) → ast. fornu , Latin sum (German I am) → ast. so >> soi .
  • The final Latin -t is omitted; lat. amat (dt. he / she / it loves) → ast. ama , Latin amant → ast. amen .
  • Latin voiceless occlusions become voiced between vowels; lat. rotam (German wheel) → ast. rueda , Latin urtica (German nettle) → ast. ortiga , Latin populum (German people) → ast. pueblu (dt. people or village).
  • Voiced occlusions can be omitted between vowels; lat. cogitare (dt. to think, to watch) → ast. cuidar ( Eng . to assume, to watch out).
  • Latin groups -c'l-, -lj- and -t'l- become <y> (/ j /); Latin oculum (German eye) → ast. güeyu , Latin mulierem (German woman) → ast. muyer , Latin vetulum (German old) → ast. vieyu .
  • The initial l- is palatalized in <ll> (/ ʎ /) with some allomorphs in some dialects; lat. luna (dt. moon) → ast. lluna .
  • The Latin group -ct- becomes -it- and then -ch- (/ tʃ /), apart from Western Asturian, which holds -it-; lat. factum (German made) → ast. fechu , westast. feitu .
  • Latin final -arium / -aria become -eiru / -eira initially everywhere and later only in Western Asturian. In the other dialects it becomes -eru / -era: Latin calidarium → westast. caldeiru , ast. calderu (English bucket).
  • The groups consisting of two voiced occlusive consonants change. The first occlusive becomes -l-; lat. administrare → ast. alministrar (German to manage).
  • Initial pl-, cl- and fl- become ll- (/ ʎ /) and ch- (/ tʃ /) in some Western dialects; lat. plorare (dt. to cry) → ast. llorar / chorar , Latin clavem (English key) → ast. llave / chave , lat. flammam (dt. flame) → ast. llama / chama .
  • The group -nn- is palatalized and written <ñ> (/ ɲ /); lat. cabanna (dt. hut) → ast. cabaña . This is an exception in some western dialects, where there is only one <n>; ast. cabaña , some dialects cabana .
  • The initial f- is aspirated in Ostasturian. It is the most important feature of this dialect. So it is written <ḥ> (/ h / or / x /); Latin ferrum (German iron) → ostast. ḥierru .
  • The final -inum becomes -ín and not -inu as expected; Latin caminum (German way) → ast. camín .
  • A final -i is added to words that only consist of a mora; Latin sum (German I am) → ast. so >> soi , lat. legem (German law) → ast. lle >> llei .

Characteristics compared to Spanish

  • The final -e and -o are (often) closed to -i and -u (este >> esti, mundo >> mundiu)
  • The initial <f> remains where the Castilian has lost it:
    • Latin ferrum, German iron
      • Asturian: fierro
      • Castilian: hierro
  • The initial <l> is further palatalized and (in Western Asturian) further affected
    • lat. luna, German moon
      • Ostasturian: lluna
      • Central Asturian: lluna
      • Western Asturian and part of Central Asturian: ḷḷuna
  • In some central dialects of Asturian metaphony : Final -i and -u influence the tone vowel, so that e> i and o> u. (llechi >> llichi; pelu >> pilu; negru >> nigru; fresnu >> frisnu)
  • The final -e is omitted after r, n, l, s (quiere >> quier; sale >> sal; cose >> cues / cos; conoce >> conoz)
  • In central and most of the east-eastern dialects: final -as, -ais, -an change to -es, -eis, -en (factual elimination of the subjuntivo )
  • Final -ino, -ito change to -ín (Juanito >> Xuanín; camino >> camín)
  • The intervocal -d- (Oviedo >> Uviéu; todo >> too) is omitted for the final -ado / -edo / -ido
  • Intervowel -g- can be omitted (fuego >> fueu / fou)
  • Latin l- and intervowel -ll- can be realized in different ways
    1. lluna, castiellu
    2. ḷḷuna, castieḷḷu
  • Latin initial n- and intervowel -nn- can be used in different ways
    1. ñavaya (cast. navaja), cabaña (cast. cabaña) (from Latin novaculum and capannam)
    2. navaya, cabana (Western Asturian)
  • In the case of a secondary consonant sequence, the first consonant changes to <l> (Latin dubitam >> dubda >> dulda; Latin cubitum >> cobdo >> coldu / culdu; Latin septimana >> setmana >> selmana)
  • lat. ge, ie- becomes <x> (/ ʃ /)
    • Latin gelum (acc.), German ice
      • Asturian: xelu
      • Spanish: hielo
  • neutru de materia : Adjectives can take a neutral form (-o) in neutrals or collectives. The nouns remain in their masculine or feminine gender
    • el mozu ricu, la moza rica, la xente / xenti rico
    • but el vasu fríu, la cara fría, el maíz guapo or la fueya seca
  • Diphthongization and monophthongization : Starting from spoken Latin, diphthongization and monophthongization take place. Diphthongization and monophthongization are typical of all Asturian.
    • Latin ferrum (acc.), German iron
      • Asturian: fierro or ḥierru
      • Spanish: hierro
    • Latin ovum (acc.), German egg
      • Asturian: güevu
      • Spanish: huevo
      • Remarks:
        1. The orthographic rule applies to the Asturian: <ue> at the beginning of the word is replaced by the prosthesis <güe>
        2. The orthographic rule applies to Castilian: <ue> is prefixed with <h> at the beginning of the word
    • lat. hodie, German today
      • Asturian: güei
      • Spanish: hoy
        1. For the Asturian, diphthongization is more common:
    • Asturian: fueya (German leaf)
    • Spanish: hoja
      • Remarks:
        1. Castilian usually diphthongs the accented Latin. <e> makes an exception here. The Asturian diphthong consistently (orthographic rule: the diphthong <ie> at the beginning of a word is orthographically expressed as <ye>).
    • lat. est, dt. he / she / it is
      • Asturian: yes or it

Language examples

As a language comparison, the Our Father in the three varieties and Spanish:

Asturian (western dialect) :

Pai nuesu que tas en cielu, santificáu seya'l tou nome. Amiye'l tou reinu, fáigase la tua voluntá lu mesmu na tierra qu'en cielu. El nuesu pan de todolos días dánoslu güei ya perdónanos las nuesas ofensas lu mesmu que nós facemos conos que nos faltanon. Ya nun nos deixes cayer na tentación ya líbranos del mal. Amen.

Leonese (Western Asturian of León) : Pai nuesu qu'estás en cielu, santificáu seya'l tou nome. Amiye'l tou reinu, fáigase la tua voluntá lu mesmu na tierra qu'en cielu. El nuesu pan de todolos días dánoslu güei ya perdónanos las nuesas ofensas lu mesmu que nós facemos conos que nos faltanon. Ya nun nos deixes cayere na tentación ya llíbranos del mal. Amen.

Asturian (central dialect) :

Padre nuesu que tas en cielu, santificáu seya'l to nome. Amiye'l to reinu, fáigase la to voluntá lo mesmo na tierra qu'en cielu. El nuesu pan de tolos díes dánoslo güe y perdónamos les nueses ofenses lo mesmo que nós facemos colos que nos faltaren. Y now mos dexes cayer na tentación, y llíbramos del mal. Amen.

Asturian (Eastern dialect) :

Padre nuestru que tas en cielu, santificáu seya'l to nome. Amiye'l tu reinu, h.ágase la to voluntá lu mesmu ena tierra qu'en cielu. El nuestru pan de tolos días dánoslu güe y perdónanos las nuesas tentaciones lu mesmu que nós h.acemos colos que nos faltaren. Y now nos dexes cayer ena tentación, y llíbranos del mal. Amen.

Spanish:

Padre nuestro que estás en los cielos, santificado sea tu nombre. Venga do Reino. Hágase tu voluntad, así en la tierra como en el cielo. El pan nuestro de cada día, dánoslo hoy y perdónanos nuestras deudas, así como nosotros perdonamos a nuestros deudores. Y no nos dejes caer en la tentación, mas líbranos del mal. Amen.

Portuguese:

Pai Nosso que estais nos céus, santificado seja o vosso Nome. Venha a nós o vosso Reino, seja feita a vossa vontade assim na terra como no céu. O pão nosso de cada dia nos dai hoje, perdoai-nos as nossas ofensas assim como nós perdoamos a quem nos tem ofendido. E haben nos deixeis cair em tentação, mas livrai-nos do Mal. Amen.

literature

  • Bernd Bauske: Linguistic planning of Asturian: the standardization and normalization of a Romance small language in the field of tension between linguistics, literature and politics (=  Wissenschaftliche Schriftenreihe Romansistik. Volume 1). Dissertation. University of Mainz, 1994. Köster, Berlin 1995, ISBN 3-89574-057-8 .
  • Günter Holtus, Michael Metzeltin , Christian Schmitt (eds.): Lexicon of Romance Linguistics (12 volumes). Niemeyer, Tübingen 1988-2005; Volume VI, 1: Aragonese / Navarre, Spanish, Asturian / Leonese. 1992.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Asturian in Ethnologue

Web links