Leonese language

Leonese language (llionés in Leonese) is the language of León and Zamora, both in Spain, and Bragança, in Portugal. A Romance language, Leonese was the language of the Kingdom of León in the Middle Ages.

Leonese
Native to	Spain, Portugal
Region	Provinces of León (north and west), Zamora (north-west) in Spain,[1][2][3] and the towns of Rionor and Guadramil in northeastern Portugal;[4][5] Mirandese dialect in Portugal.
Native speakers	20,000–50,000 (2008)[6][7]
Language family	Indo-European Italic Romance Western Ibero-Romance West Iberian Asturian-Leonese Leonese
Official status
Official language in	As of 2010, has special status in the Spanish autonomous community of Castile and León
Language codes
ISO 639-3	–
Glottolog	leon1250
Linguasphere	51-AAA-cc
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Leonese is recognised by the UN as "seriously endangered" and is officially recognised by Castile and León.

Education

Leonese is taught in sixteen schools in the cirt of León, and there are lessons for adults in several villages in the provinces of León and Zamora.^[8]

For approximately fifteen years, some cultural associations have offered courses in Leonese, sometimes with the support or collaboration of local administrations in the provinces of Leon and Zamora. There was never collaboration by Castile and León. The courses have taken place mostly with difficulty, without continuity or by unqualified teachers and very often, far from where Leonese is spoken.

Pronunciation

The language has five vowels in a stressed position, represented by a, e, i, o and u, and three (two archiphonemes /I/, /U/ and one phoneme /a/) in a nonstressed position, represented by e, u, and a at the end of word.^[9]

Endangered language

UNESCO, in its Atlas of Languages in Danger in the World,^[10] places Leonese among languages in danger.

Leonese is classified in the worst of the possible situations whose characteristics are:

• Non-official language.
• No presence in the means of communication.
• Low level of knowledge and use.
• Low social consideration of the language.
• Absence of the language in the school.
• Toponymy without normalizing.

Leonese and other Romance languages

Leonese	Portuguese	French	Italian	Venetian	Spanish	Latin	English
facere	fazer	faire	fare	fare	hacer	facere	make
fiyu	filho	fils	figlio	fiolo	hijo	filius	son
fame	fome	faim	fame	fame	hambre	fames	hunger
gochu	porco	cochon	maiale	porselo	cerdo	sus	pig
vieyu	velho	vieux	vecchio	vecio	viejo	vetus	old
chovere	chover	pleuvoir	piovere	piòvare	llover	pluere	rain

English and Leonese words

English	Leonese
Numbers	Númberos
one	unu
two	dous (m), duas (f)
three	tres
four	cuatru
five	cincu
six	seis
seven	siete
eight	ochu
nine	nueve
ten	diez

Literature

Literature written in Leonese started in the Middle Ages and is still written today. The first written text in Leonese is the Nodicia of Kesos (959 or 974), found in Ardón. Other works in Leonese include the Fueru de Llión, Fueru de Salamanca, Fueru Xulgu, Códice d'Alfonsu XI, Disputa d'Elena y María and Llibru d'Alixandre.

Important writers are Torres Naharro, Juan del Encina, and Lucas Fernández. Some writers like Caitano Bardón (Cuentos en Dialecto Leonés), Luis Maldonado or Aragón Escacena (Entre brumas) restarted the Leonese literature in the early 20th century. Today, important writers include Eva González in the last 20th century or Abel Pardo, Xuasús González, Adrianu Martín or Félix Llópez.