Leonese language

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Leonese Llïonés
Spoken in:	Spain (León, Zamora and Salamanca Provinces) and Northeast of Portugal
Total speakers:	80,000
Language family:	Indo-European Italic Romance Italo-Western Gallo-Iberian Ibero-Romance West Iberian Astur-Leonese Leonese
Official status
Official language of:	special protection status in Castile and Leon, Spain
Regulated by:	none
Language codes
ISO 639-1:	none
ISO 639-2:	`roa`
ISO 639-3:	`roa`
Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. See IPA chart for English for an English-based pronunciation key.

The Leonese language (Llïonés in Leonese) was developed from Vulgar Latin with contributions from the pre-Roman languages which were spoken in the territory of the Spanish provincies of León, Zamora, and Salamanca and in some villages in the District of Bragança, Portugal. Close to Mirandese and Asturian, belongs to Astur-Leonese Subgroup of Iberian Languages.

Leonese was the official language of the Leonese Kingdom in the Middle Ages. First written text in Leonese is Nodicia de Kesos (10th Century), and so others like Fueru de Llión, Fueru de Salamanca, Fueru Xulgu, Códice d'Alfonsu XI, ou Disputa d'Elena y María or "llibru d'Alixandre" were written in Leonese.

The situation of Leonese as minorized language has driven Leonese to near extinction, being considerated as a seriously endangered language by the UNESCO. There are some efforts to gain acceptance among the urban population (the Leonese Council and other municipalities as Zamora, Coyaza, Mansiella de las Mulas or La Bañeza made campaigns in and for teaching Leonese).

In spite of all the difficulties, the number of young people learning and using it (mainly as a written language) has substantially increased in recent years, mainly among intellectual groups and politically active Leoneses proud of their regional/national identity, like Asociación Cultural de la Llingua Llïonesa El Fueyu in León, Asociación Berciana en Defensa de la Llingua Llionesa El Toralin in El Bierzo region, or La Barda in Salamanca province.

1 Education
2 Legal Status
3 Internet
4 External Links

[edit] Education

In the last 90's several associations promoted unofficially Leonese Language courses. In 2001 the Universidad de León (University of León) created a course for Leonese Teachers, and Local and Provincial Governments developed Leonese language courses for adult people. Nowadays Leonese can be studied in the most important villages of Leon, Zamora and Salamanca provincies in El Fueyu Courses, after being signed an agreement between the Leonese Provincial Government and this organization.

[edit] Legal Status

Recognised as a seriously endangered language by the UNESCO, in 2006, Castile and Leon Autonomous Community officially recognised the Leonese language in the Proposal of Autonomy Statute, promoting its knowlege and use. The Province of León government supports the knowledge of this language through courses, celebrating "Leonese Language Day" and sponsoring literature in Leonese Language, such as "Cuentos del Sil", where nine writers from teenagers to people in their eighties develop several stories in Leonese Language.

[edit] Internet

The Leonese cultural and linguistic community has shown an important development in recent years. The push for creation, publication and use of Leonese through the TICs, and the need for a clear, reliable site, with a mark that identifies to the Internet community Leonese language and culture were the motivations behind the creation of the puntuLLI Association. PuntuLLI is defined as a "common space for associations, groups, institutions and individuals, that channels the proposal to create a domain unique to our culture and language: .LLI". Fifty associations and more than 500 individuals support this group.