Linguistic borders of the Western Peninsula
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Ramón De Andrés-Díaz
Abstract
In the western part of the Iberian Peninsula, there are a variety of borders and transitional areas between three linguistic domains: a diffuse isogloss border between Castilian Spanish and Asturian-Leonese, a compressed iso-gloss border between Asturian-Leonese and Galician-Portuguese (in its Galician variety), and a clear border between Castilian Spanish and Galician- Portuguese (in its Portuguese variety). These limits do not coincide exactly with Spanish and Portuguese political borders.
The present article is an attempt to review the sociolinguistic situation of certain areas along these linguistic borders: a) Asturian-Galician, spoken in the westernmost part of Asturias, a speech form that can be described as a transitional dialect from Galician to Asturian, b) Leonese-Galician, spoken in the western part of Leon and Zamora, with characteristics similar to those of Asturian-Galician, c) Mirandese, spoken on the northeastern side of Portugal, an Asturian-Leonese speech gradually changing to Galician-Portuguese, d) Jálama speech, spoken in the western part of Cáceres, a kind of Galician-Portuguese influenced by Castilian Spanish an Asturian-Leonese language, and e) Oliventino speech from Olivenza (Badajoz) and Barranquenho speech from Barrancos (Alentejo), Portuguese speech forms influenced by Spanish. In each of these instances, a brief description of demography, glottology, linguistic awareness, legal status, schooling, publishing, mass media, institutions, associative networks, and linguistic standardization will be offered.
© Walter de Gruyter
Articles in the same Issue
- Introduction: Spanish in Spain — an illustrious stranger
- Social remarks on the history of Spanish
- Sociolinguistics of Spanish in Galicia
- Sociolinguistics of Spanish in the Basque Country and Navarre
- Sociolinguistics of Spanish in Catalonia
- Spanish and Catalan in the Balearic Islands
- Spanish and Catalan in the Community of Valencia
- Sociolinguistics on the Aragon-Catalonia border
- Linguistic borders of the Western Peninsula
- Speaker statistics in Spain
- Book reviews
- Language Endangerment in Nigeria: Perspectives on Akoko Languages of the Southwest
Articles in the same Issue
- Introduction: Spanish in Spain — an illustrious stranger
- Social remarks on the history of Spanish
- Sociolinguistics of Spanish in Galicia
- Sociolinguistics of Spanish in the Basque Country and Navarre
- Sociolinguistics of Spanish in Catalonia
- Spanish and Catalan in the Balearic Islands
- Spanish and Catalan in the Community of Valencia
- Sociolinguistics on the Aragon-Catalonia border
- Linguistic borders of the Western Peninsula
- Speaker statistics in Spain
- Book reviews
- Language Endangerment in Nigeria: Perspectives on Akoko Languages of the Southwest
