The Iberian Romance are the languages that evolved from latin after the Roman occupation. As usual I'll ignore the ones which are not threatned, portuguese and spanish/castillian.
In the last post I mentioned catalan, which is descended from the Oc languages (unlike the other Iberian languages). Like occitan, catalan also had a tradition of trobadores in the middle ages. But unlike occitan, it can be discussed if it is really threatned. Catalan was the main language of the Crown of Aragon, untill it was extinguished after the Thirty Years War. Allthough it suffered some repression in the Franco dictatorship, it has since recovered and is now co-official with castillian in Catalonia, Valencia and the Balearic Islands with a strong presence in daily life. It is also known as valencià and mallorquì.
The other languages that evolved from Latin in Iberia are known as West Iberic Romance.
Aragonese is spoken in Aragon, Spain, and was influenced by catalan. It has no official-status and is thought to be extinguished in a couple of generations.
Most of these languages are original from the north of the peninsula, but they gradually spread south with the Reconquista, at the cost of Mozarabic Romance.
Astur-Leonese/Mirandese is one of those cases. Spreading as far as the Spanish Extremadura, it was since substituted by castillian, leaving a few enclaves in that region. It is also (and mainly) spoken in western Castilla y Leon and Asturias in Spain and in Miranda do Douro, Portugal. It shares co-officiality with portuguese in Miranda do Douro but it is not recognized in Spain.
Galician is spoken mainly in Galicia, Spain, allthough it has several immigrant communities around the world. It has several similarities with portuguese, specially the northern dialects. In the middle ages both languages where considered the same, but they where split by political borders. Adopted from occitan, trobadores also composed songs in old galician-portuguese on both sides of the border. Nowadays it shares co-official status with castillian in Galicia, and is widely used in public life.
Euskera, also known as basque is not a Romance language. Well, before the romans, there were celts...no, it's not a Celtic language either. Well, before the celts there where the iberians...is it Iberian? It is possible. But maybe that's just because we don't know barely anything about iberian (if there ever was such thing). It's a language isolate, a language for which no relation with any other language was proved. We do know from historic records that the predecessor of modern euskera was already spoken in a vast area in the Bay of Biscay and both sides of the Pyrenees, neighboured by iberian languages in the west, when the Romans arrived. Unlike anywhere in southwestern Europe, euskera remained, after the collapse of the Roman Empire, surrounded by vulgar latin. Allthough it's use started declining since then, it was a slow decline. Nowadays it is spoken in the Basque Country, Navarra and La Rioja in Spain and in a smaller mass in souther Aquitania and Bearn in France. It is co-official with spanish in the Basque Country, and parts of Navarra and La Rioja, where it threatned but not very seriously (comparing with Gascon, for example). In France it has no official status (the usual) and it's decline has been much greater than in Spain.
segunda-feira, 11 de janeiro de 2010
Oc Languages (Occitan)
The Oc languages are spoken mainly in southern France, but also in Italy and Spain. They are called that way because "oc" is the word used for "yes". Catalan, in Spain, despite being very similar, uses "si", but "oc" was still used in the middle ages. But I'll talk about catalan later.
Since virtually all Oc languages are endagered and also relatively similar, they are currently called Occitan, as a single language composed by several dialects. It used to be known as lemosin or provençal before the adoption of the broader term "Occitan".
The most known dialects are lemosin, gascon, languedocien, and provenzal. It was in this languages that the first trobadores made they work, before being adopted by galician-portuguese. Richard the Lion Heart was known to be a native speaker of lemosin and wrote poetry in this language along with french (no english though).
Occitan has no official status in France, with only a few steps taken towards recognition. It has co-officiality in some small areas in Italy, along with italian, and in the Aran Valley in Catalonia, Spain, as "aranese" (a dialect of gascon) along with catalan and spanish.
Since virtually all Oc languages are endagered and also relatively similar, they are currently called Occitan, as a single language composed by several dialects. It used to be known as lemosin or provençal before the adoption of the broader term "Occitan".
The most known dialects are lemosin, gascon, languedocien, and provenzal. It was in this languages that the first trobadores made they work, before being adopted by galician-portuguese. Richard the Lion Heart was known to be a native speaker of lemosin and wrote poetry in this language along with french (no english though).
Occitan has no official status in France, with only a few steps taken towards recognition. It has co-officiality in some small areas in Italy, along with italian, and in the Aran Valley in Catalonia, Spain, as "aranese" (a dialect of gascon) along with catalan and spanish.
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