Languages of Spain
Encyclopedia
The languages of Spain are the languages spoken or once spoken in Spain
. Romance languages
are the most widely spoken in Spain, of which Spanish
is the country's official language
. Various other languages have co-official or recognised status in specific territories, and a number of unofficial languages and dialects are spoken in certain localities.
In terms of number of speakers and dominance, the most prominent of the languages of Spain is Spanish
, which nearly everyone in Spain can speak as either first
(roughly over 72% of Spain's population) or second language
. But there are robust regional languages figuring prominently in a series of territories:
Spanish is official throughout the country; the rest of these have co-official status in their respective regions, and (except Aranese) are widespread enough to have daily newspapers and significant book publishing and media presence in those regions. In the cases of Catalan and Galician, they are the main languages used by the Catalan and Galician regional governments and local administrations. A number of citizens in these regions consider their regional language
as their primary language and Spanish as secondary.
In addition to these, there are a series of seriously endangered and recognised minority languages:
Spanish itself also has distinct dialects around the country; for example, the Andalusian
or Canarian
dialects, each of these with their own subvarieties, some of them being partially closer to the Spanish of the Americas, which they heavily influenced at different degrees, depending on the regions or periods, and according to different and non-homogeneous migrating or colonisation processes.
Five very localised dialects are of difficult filiation: Fala
, a nearly extinct variety of its own mostly adscribed to the Galician-Portuguese group; Cantabrian
and Extremaduran, two Astur-Leonese dialects also regarded as Spanish dialects; Eonavian
, a dialect between Asturian and Galician, closer to the latter according to several linguists; and Benasquese, a dialect between Aragonese, Catalan and even Aranese, considered either as an extreme Eastern Aragonese dialect or as a transitional dialect of its own. Asturian and Leonese are closely related to the local Mirandese
which is spoken on an adjacent territory but over the border into Portugal
. Mirandese is recognised and has some local official status.
With the exception of Basque, which appears to be a language isolate
, all of the languages present in mainland Spain are Romance languages
.
Arabic
(including Ceuta Darija
) or Berber (mainly Riffian) are spoken by the Muslim population of Ceuta
and Melilla
and by recent immigrants (mainly from Morocco and Algeria) elsewhere.
and Portuguese
has caused some controversy, since some linguists, such as Lindley Cintra, consider that they are still dialects of a common language, in spite of the differences in phonology and vocabulary (see Reintegrationism
).
Others, such as Pilar Vázquez Cuesta, argue that they have become separate languages due to major differences in phonetics and vocabulary usage, and, to a lesser extent, morphology and syntax.
In any case, the respective written standards are noticeably different one from another, partly because of the divergent phonological features and partly due to the usage of Spanish orthographic conventions over the Portuguese ones at the time of Galician standardisation
by the early 20th century.
The official (of the Galician Language Institute) and widespread position is that Galician and Portuguese should be considered independent languages.
The Galician-Portuguese
based dialect known as A Fala
is locally spoken in San Martín de Trevejo
(Sa Martin de Trevellu), Eljas
(As Elhas) and Valverde del Fresno
(Valverdi du Fresnu), in the Valley of Jálama (Val de Xálima), in Cáceres province
, Extremadura
.
Portuguese as such is spoken by some in:
Languages that have been spoken outside Spain but which have roots in Spain are:
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. Romance languages
Romance languages
The Romance languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family, more precisely of the Italic languages subfamily, comprising all the languages that descend from Vulgar Latin, the language of ancient Rome...
are the most widely spoken in Spain, of which Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
is the country's official language
Official language
An official language is a language that is given a special legal status in a particular country, state, or other jurisdiction. Typically a nation's official language will be the one used in that nation's courts, parliament and administration. However, official status can also be used to give a...
. Various other languages have co-official or recognised status in specific territories, and a number of unofficial languages and dialects are spoken in certain localities.
Modern
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
, which nearly everyone in Spain can speak as either first
First language
A first language is the language a person has learned from birth or within the critical period, or that a person speaks the best and so is often the basis for sociolinguistic identity...
(roughly over 72% of Spain's population) or second language
Second language
A second language or L2 is any language learned after the first language or mother tongue. Some languages, often called auxiliary languages, are used primarily as second languages or lingua francas ....
. But there are robust regional languages figuring prominently in a series of territories:
- BasqueBasque languageBasque is the ancestral language of the Basque people, who inhabit the Basque Country, a region spanning an area in northeastern Spain and southwestern France. It is spoken by 25.7% of Basques in all territories...
co-official in in the Basque CountryBasque Country (autonomous community)The Basque Country is an autonomous community of northern Spain. It includes the Basque provinces of Álava, Biscay and Gipuzkoa, also called Historical Territories....
and NavarreNavarreNavarre , officially the Chartered Community of Navarre is an autonomous community in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Country, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and Aquitaine in France...
(see Basque and mixed zones). Basque is the only non-Romance language in mainland Spain. - CatalanCatalan languageCatalan is a Romance language, the national and only official language of Andorra and a co-official language in the Spanish autonomous communities of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Valencian Community, where it is known as Valencian , as well as in the city of Alghero, on the Italian island...
co-official in CataloniaCataloniaCatalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
, AragonAragonAragon is a modern autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. Located in northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces : Huesca, Zaragoza, and Teruel. Its capital is Zaragoza...
(La FranjaLa FranjaLa Franja is a term that refers to the Catalan-speaking territories of Aragon bordering Catalonia, in Spain. It literally means "the strip" and can also more properly be called Franja d'Aragó or Franja de Ponent in Catalan ....
), and the Balearic IslandsBalearic IslandsThe Balearic Islands are an archipelago of Spain in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula.The four largest islands are: Majorca, Minorca, Ibiza and Formentera. The archipelago forms an autonomous community and a province of Spain with Palma as the capital...
and, as a distinct variant, ValencianValencianValencian is the traditional and official name of the Catalan language in the Valencian Community. There are dialectical differences from standard Catalan, and under the Valencian Statute of Autonomy, the Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua has been established as its regulator...
in the Valencian CommunityValencian CommunityThe Valencian Community is an autonomous community of Spain located in central and south-eastern Iberian Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Valencia...
. It is spoken without official recognition in the municipality of CarcheCarcheEl Carche is a mountainous, sparsely populated area in Region of Murcia, Spain, lying between the municipalities Jumilla and Yecla. The mountains reach an altitude of 1,371 metres at the Pico de la Madama and part of the region has the status of regional park...
, MurciaRegion of MurciaThe Region of Murcia is an autonomous community of Spain located in the southeast of the country, between Andalusia and Valencian Community, on the Mediterranean coast....
. - GalicianGalician languageGalician is a language of the Western Ibero-Romance branch, spoken in Galicia, an autonomous community located in northwestern Spain, where it is co-official with Castilian Spanish, as well as in border zones of the neighbouring territories of Asturias and Castile and León.Modern Galician and...
co-official in Galicia. It is also spoken without official recognition in the adjacent western parts of AsturiasAsturiasThe Principality of Asturias is an autonomous community of the Kingdom of Spain, coextensive with the former Kingdom of Asturias in the Middle Ages...
and Castile and LeónCastile and LeónCastile and León is an autonomous community in north-western Spain. It was so constituted in 1983 and it comprises the historical regions of León and Old Castile...
. - AraneseAranese languageAranese is a standardized form of the Pyrenean Gascon variety of the Occitan language spoken in the Val d'Aran, in north western Catalonia on the border between Spain and France, where it is one of the three official languages besides Catalan and Spanish...
co-official in the PyreneanPyreneesThe Pyrenees is a range of mountains in southwest Europe that forms a natural border between France and Spain...
comarcaComarques of CataloniaThis is a list of the comarques of Catalonia . A comarca is roughly equivalent to a US "county" or a UK "district". However, in the context of Catalonia, the term "county" can be a bit misleading, because in medieval Catalonia, the most important rulers were counts, notably the Counts of Barcelona...
of the Aran Valley (Val d'Aran), in north-western CataloniaCataloniaCatalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
. It is a variety of Gascon, which in turn is a variety of the Occitan language.
Spanish is official throughout the country; the rest of these have co-official status in their respective regions, and (except Aranese) are widespread enough to have daily newspapers and significant book publishing and media presence in those regions. In the cases of Catalan and Galician, they are the main languages used by the Catalan and Galician regional governments and local administrations. A number of citizens in these regions consider their regional language
Regional language
A regional language is a language spoken in an area of a nation state, whether it be a small area, a federal state or province, or some wider area....
as their primary language and Spanish as secondary.
In addition to these, there are a series of seriously endangered and recognised minority languages:
- AragoneseAragonese languageAragonese is a Romance language now spoken in a number of local varieties by between 10,000 and 30,000 people over the valleys of the Aragón River, Sobrarbe and Ribagorza in Aragon, Spain...
in AragonAragonAragon is a modern autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. Located in northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces : Huesca, Zaragoza, and Teruel. Its capital is Zaragoza...
, recognised –lengua propia– in Aragon. - AsturianAsturian languageAsturian is a Romance language of the West Iberian group, Astur-Leonese Subgroup, spoken in the Spanish Region of Asturias by the Asturian people...
in AsturiasAsturiasThe Principality of Asturias is an autonomous community of the Kingdom of Spain, coextensive with the former Kingdom of Asturias in the Middle Ages...
, recognised –but not official– in Asturias. - LeoneseLeonese languageThe Leonese language is the endonym term used to refer to all vernacular Romance dialects of the Astur-Leonese linguistic group in the Spanish provinces of León and Zamora; Astur-Leonese also includes the dialects...
in parts of the former Kingdom of LeónKingdom of LeónThe Kingdom of León was an independent kingdom situated in the northwest region of the Iberian Peninsula. It was founded in AD 910 when the Christian princes of Asturias along the northern coast of the peninsula shifted their capital from Oviedo to the city of León...
, recognised –but not official– in the Autonomous Community of Castile and LeónCastile and LeónCastile and León is an autonomous community in north-western Spain. It was so constituted in 1983 and it comprises the historical regions of León and Old Castile...
.
Spanish itself also has distinct dialects around the country; for example, the Andalusian
Andalusian Spanish
The Andalusian varieties of Spanish are spoken in Andalusia, Ceuta, Melilla and Gibraltar. They include perhaps the most distinct of the southern variants of peninsular Spanish, differing in many respects from northern varieties, and also from Standard Spanish...
or Canarian
Canarian Spanish
Canarian Spanish is a variant of standard Spanish spoken in the Canary Islands by the Canarian people, and in the southeastern section of Louisiana in Isleño communities that emigrated to the Americas as early as the 18th century...
dialects, each of these with their own subvarieties, some of them being partially closer to the Spanish of the Americas, which they heavily influenced at different degrees, depending on the regions or periods, and according to different and non-homogeneous migrating or colonisation processes.
Five very localised dialects are of difficult filiation: Fala
Fala language
Fala is a Romance linguistic variety commonly classified in the Portuguese-Galician subgroup, with some traits from Leonese, spoken in Spain by about 10,500 people, of whom 5,500 live in a valley of the northwestern part of Extremadura near the border with Portugal...
, a nearly extinct variety of its own mostly adscribed to the Galician-Portuguese group; Cantabrian
Cantabrian language
Cantabrian or Montañés is the name given to the indigenous language of Cantabria, Spain and especially to the variety most distinct from standard Castilian.-Description and dialects:...
and Extremaduran, two Astur-Leonese dialects also regarded as Spanish dialects; Eonavian
Eonavian
Eonavian or Galician-Asturian, is a term used to refer a set of Romance dialects or falas whose linguistic dominion extends in the zone of Asturias between the Eo and Navia rivers , and which have been variously classified as the...
, a dialect between Asturian and Galician, closer to the latter according to several linguists; and Benasquese, a dialect between Aragonese, Catalan and even Aranese, considered either as an extreme Eastern Aragonese dialect or as a transitional dialect of its own. Asturian and Leonese are closely related to the local Mirandese
Mirandese language
The Mirandese language is a Romance language belonging to the Astur-Leonese linguistic group, sparsely spoken in a small area of northeastern Portugal, in the municipalities of Miranda do Douro, Mogadouro and Vimioso...
which is spoken on an adjacent territory but over the border into Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
. Mirandese is recognised and has some local official status.
With the exception of Basque, which appears to be a language isolate
Language isolate
A language isolate, in the absolute sense, is a natural language with no demonstrable genealogical relationship with other languages; that is, one that has not been demonstrated to descend from an ancestor common with any other language. They are in effect language families consisting of a single...
, all of the languages present in mainland Spain are Romance languages
Romance languages
The Romance languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family, more precisely of the Italic languages subfamily, comprising all the languages that descend from Vulgar Latin, the language of ancient Rome...
.
Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
(including Ceuta Darija
Darija
Darija is the group of Arabic dialects spoken by Maghrebi Arabic speakers. It is only used for oral communication, with Modern Standard Arabic used for written communication...
) or Berber (mainly Riffian) are spoken by the Muslim population of Ceuta
Ceuta
Ceuta is an autonomous city of Spain and an exclave located on the north coast of North Africa surrounded by Morocco. Separated from the Iberian peninsula by the Strait of Gibraltar, Ceuta lies on the border of the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Ceuta along with the other Spanish...
and Melilla
Melilla
Melilla is a autonomous city of Spain and an exclave on the north coast of Morocco. Melilla, along with the Spanish exclave Ceuta, is one of the two Spanish territories located in mainland Africa...
and by recent immigrants (mainly from Morocco and Algeria) elsewhere.
Portuguese language in Spain
In Galicia, the mutual relationship between GalicianGalician language
Galician is a language of the Western Ibero-Romance branch, spoken in Galicia, an autonomous community located in northwestern Spain, where it is co-official with Castilian Spanish, as well as in border zones of the neighbouring territories of Asturias and Castile and León.Modern Galician and...
and Portuguese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
has caused some controversy, since some linguists, such as Lindley Cintra, consider that they are still dialects of a common language, in spite of the differences in phonology and vocabulary (see Reintegrationism
Reintegrationism
Reintegrationism is the linguistic and cultural movement in Galicia which defends the unity of Galician and Portuguese as a single language. In other words, it postulates that Galician and Portuguese languages did not only share a common origin and literary tradition, but that they are in fact...
).
Others, such as Pilar Vázquez Cuesta, argue that they have become separate languages due to major differences in phonetics and vocabulary usage, and, to a lesser extent, morphology and syntax.
In any case, the respective written standards are noticeably different one from another, partly because of the divergent phonological features and partly due to the usage of Spanish orthographic conventions over the Portuguese ones at the time of Galician standardisation
Standard language
A standard language is a language variety used by a group of people in their public discourse. Alternatively, varieties become standard by undergoing a process of standardization, during which it is organized for description in grammars and dictionaries and encoded in such reference works...
by the early 20th century.
The official (of the Galician Language Institute) and widespread position is that Galician and Portuguese should be considered independent languages.
The Galician-Portuguese
Galician-Portuguese
Galician-Portuguese or Old Portuguese was a West Iberian Romance language spoken in the Middle Ages, in the northwest area of the Iberian Peninsula. It was first spoken in the area bounded in the north and west by the Atlantic Ocean and the Douro River in the south but it was later extended south...
based dialect known as A Fala
Fala language
Fala is a Romance linguistic variety commonly classified in the Portuguese-Galician subgroup, with some traits from Leonese, spoken in Spain by about 10,500 people, of whom 5,500 live in a valley of the northwestern part of Extremadura near the border with Portugal...
is locally spoken in San Martín de Trevejo
San Martín de Trevejo
San Martín de Trevejo is a municipality located in the province of Cáceres, Extremadura, Spain. According to the 2008 census , the municipality has inhabitants....
(Sa Martin de Trevellu), Eljas
Eljas
Eljas is a municipality located in the province of Cáceres, Extremadura, Spain. According to the 2008 census , the municipality has inhabitants....
(As Elhas) and Valverde del Fresno
Valverde del Fresno
Valverde del Fresno is a municipality located in the province of Cáceres, Extremadura, Spain. According to the 2006 census , the municipality has a population of 2576 inhabitants....
(Valverdi du Fresnu), in the Valley of Jálama (Val de Xálima), in Cáceres province
Cáceres (province)
The province of Cáceres is a province of western Spain, in the northern part of the autonomous community of Extremadura. It is bordered by the provinces of Salamanca, Ávila, Toledo, and Badajoz, and by Portugal....
, Extremadura
Extremadura
Extremadura is an autonomous community of western Spain whose capital city is Mérida. Its component provinces are Cáceres and Badajoz. It is bordered by Portugal to the west...
.
Portuguese as such is spoken by some in:
- OlivenzaOlivenzaOlivenza or Olivença is a town in the autonomous community of Extremadura, situated on a disputed section of the border between Portugal and Spain...
, in Badajoz provinceBadajoz (province)The province of Badajoz is a province of western Spain located in the autonomous community of Extremadura. It was formed in 1833. It is bordered by the provinces of Cáceres, Toledo, Ciudad Real, Córdoba, Seville, and Huelva, and by Portugal....
, which used to be Portuguese until the 19th century. - CedilloCedilloCedillo is a municipality located in the province of Cáceres, Extremadura, Spain. According to the 2008 census , the municipality has a population of 518 inhabitants.- Languages :...
or Cedilho horn (including Herrera de AlcántaraHerrera de AlcántaraHerrera de Alcántara is a municipality located in the province of Cáceres, Extremadura, Spain. According to the 2006 census , the municipality has a population of 293 inhabitants....
). However, it has virtually faded in both locations.
Historically
In addition, to the languages which continue to be spoken in Spain to the present day, other languages which have been spoken within what are now the borders of Spain include:- Tartessian languageTartessian languageThe Tartessian language is the extinct Paleohispanic language of inscriptions in the Southwestern script found in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula: mainly in the south of Portugal , but also in Spain . There are 95 of these inscriptions with the longest having 82 readable signs...
- Iberian languageIberian languageThe Iberian language was the language of a people identified by Greek and Roman sources who lived in the eastern and southeastern regions of the Iberian peninsula. The ancient Iberians can be identified as a rather nebulous local culture between the 7th and 1st century BC...
- Celtic languagesCeltic languagesThe Celtic languages are descended from Proto-Celtic, or "Common Celtic"; a branch of the greater Indo-European language family...
- Celtiberian languageCeltiberian languageCeltiberian is an extinct Indo-European language of the Celtic branch spoken by the Celtiberians in an area of the Iberian Peninsula lyingbetween the headwaters of the Duero, Tajo, Júcar and Turia rivers and the Ebro river...
- Celtiberian language
- Lusitanian languageLusitanian languageLusitanian was a paleohispanic language that apparently belonged to the Indo-European family. Its relationship to the Celtic languages of the Iberian Peninsula, either as a member, a cousin , or as a different branch of Indo-European, is debated. It is known from only five inscriptions, dated from...
- Punic languagePunic languageThe Punic language or Carthagian language is an extinct Semitic language formerly spoken in the Mediterranean region of North Africa and several Mediterranean islands, by people of the Punic culture.- Description :...
- Latin language
- Guanche languageGuanche languageGuanche is an extinct language that was spoken by the Guanches of the Canary Islands until the 16th or 17th century. It is only known today through a few sentences and individual words recorded by early travellers, supplemented by several placenames, as well as some words assimilated into the...
- Galician-PortugueseGalician-PortugueseGalician-Portuguese or Old Portuguese was a West Iberian Romance language spoken in the Middle Ages, in the northwest area of the Iberian Peninsula. It was first spoken in the area bounded in the north and west by the Atlantic Ocean and the Douro River in the south but it was later extended south...
- Gothic languageGothic languageGothic is an extinct Germanic language that was spoken by the Goths. It is known primarily from the Codex Argenteus, a 6th-century copy of a 4th-century Bible translation, and is the only East Germanic language with a sizable Text corpus...
- Andalusi ArabicAndalusi ArabicAndalusian Arabic was a variety of the Arabic language spoken in Al-Andalus, the regions of the Iberian Peninsula under Muslim rule...
- Classical ArabicClassical ArabicClassical Arabic , also known as Qur'anic or Koranic Arabic, is the form of the Arabic language used in literary texts from Umayyad and Abbasid times . It is based on the Medieval dialects of Arab tribes...
- Mozarabic languageMozarabic languageMozarabic was a continuum of closely related Romance dialects spoken in Muslim-dominated areas of the Iberian Peninsula during the early stages of the Romance languages' development in Iberia. Mozarabic descends from Late Latin and early Romance dialects spoken in the Iberian Peninsula from the 5th...
s - Romany language
Languages that have been spoken outside Spain but which have roots in Spain are:
- Judeo-Catalan
- Ladino (Judaeo-Spanish)
Variants
There are also variants of these languages proper to Spain, either dialect, cants or pidgins:- BaralleteBaralleteBarallete is a largely vanished argot which used to be employed by the traditional knife-sharpeners and umbrella-repairers of the Galician province of Ourense, in Spain....
- BronBron languageBron is an argot spoken by itinerant coppersmiths and fabric merchants in Miranda de Avilés , Fornela and Auvergne, France.-See also:*Cant*Fala dos arxinas*Gacería...
- CalóCaló (Spanish Romani)Caló is a language spoken by the Spanish and Portuguese Romani. It is a mixed language based on Romance grammar, with an adstratum of Romani lexical items through language shift by the Romani community. It is often used as an argot, a secret language for discreet communication amongst Iberian...
- CheliCheliCheli, according to the Royal Spanish Academy, is the jargon with elements of certain traditional working class districts of Madrid, Spain, such as Lavapiés and Atocha in the southern part of the old city , together with marginal and counter-cultural elements.Cheli, mainly a juvenile jargon,...
- ErromintxelaErromintxelaErromintxela is the distinctive language of a group of Roma living in the Basque Country, who also go by the name Erromintxela. It is sometimes called Basque Caló or Errumantxela in English; caló vasco, romaní vasco, or errominchela in Spanish; and euskado-rromani or euskado-romani in French...
- Fala dos arxinasFala dos arxinasFala dos arxinas is the name of an argot employed by stonecutters in Galicia, Spain, particularly in the area of Pontevedra, based on galician language...
- GaceríaGaceríaGacería is the name of a slang or argot employed by the trilleros and the briqueros in the village of Cantalejo, in the Spanish province of Segovia...
- GermaníaGermaníaGermanía is the Spanish term for the argot used by criminals or in jails in Spain during 15th and 16th centuries. Its purpose is to keep outsiders out of the conversation...
Further information
- AragoneseAragonese languageAragonese is a Romance language now spoken in a number of local varieties by between 10,000 and 30,000 people over the valleys of the Aragón River, Sobrarbe and Ribagorza in Aragon, Spain...
(aragonés) - Astur-Leonese
- AsturianAsturian languageAsturian is a Romance language of the West Iberian group, Astur-Leonese Subgroup, spoken in the Spanish Region of Asturias by the Asturian people...
(asturianu, bable) - LeoneseLeonese languageThe Leonese language is the endonym term used to refer to all vernacular Romance dialects of the Astur-Leonese linguistic group in the Spanish provinces of León and Zamora; Astur-Leonese also includes the dialects...
(llionés) - Extremaduran (estremeñu)
- Cantabrian (cántabru, montañés)
- Asturian
- BasqueBasque languageBasque is the ancestral language of the Basque people, who inhabit the Basque Country, a region spanning an area in northeastern Spain and southwestern France. It is spoken by 25.7% of Basques in all territories...
(euskara) - CatalanCatalan languageCatalan is a Romance language, the national and only official language of Andorra and a co-official language in the Spanish autonomous communities of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Valencian Community, where it is known as Valencian , as well as in the city of Alghero, on the Italian island...
(català), known as ValencianValencianValencian is the traditional and official name of the Catalan language in the Valencian Community. There are dialectical differences from standard Catalan, and under the Valencian Statute of Autonomy, the Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua has been established as its regulator...
(valencià) in the Valencian CommunityValencian CommunityThe Valencian Community is an autonomous community of Spain located in central and south-eastern Iberian Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Valencia... - FalaFala languageFala is a Romance linguistic variety commonly classified in the Portuguese-Galician subgroup, with some traits from Leonese, spoken in Spain by about 10,500 people, of whom 5,500 live in a valley of the northwestern part of Extremadura near the border with Portugal...
- GalicianGalician languageGalician is a language of the Western Ibero-Romance branch, spoken in Galicia, an autonomous community located in northwestern Spain, where it is co-official with Castilian Spanish, as well as in border zones of the neighbouring territories of Asturias and Castile and León.Modern Galician and...
(galego) - Gascon (Occitan dialect)
- AraneseAranese languageAranese is a standardized form of the Pyrenean Gascon variety of the Occitan language spoken in the Val d'Aran, in north western Catalonia on the border between Spain and France, where it is one of the three official languages besides Catalan and Spanish...
(aranés)
- Aranese
- SpanishSpanish languageSpanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
(español), also known as CastilianNames given to the Spanish languageThere are two names given to the Spanish language: Spanish and Castilian . Spanish speakers from different countries or backgrounds can show a preference for one term or the other, or use them indiscriminately, but political issues or common usage might lead speakers to prefer one term over the...
(castellano)- Judaeo-Spanish (djudeo-espanyol, judezmo, ladino, sefardi, etc.)
- Signed languagesSign languageA sign language is a language which, instead of acoustically conveyed sound patterns, uses visually transmitted sign patterns to convey meaning—simultaneously combining hand shapes, orientation and movement of the hands, arms or body, and facial expressions to fluidly express a speaker's...
- Spanish Sign LanguageSpanish Sign languageSpanish Sign Language is a sign language used mainly by deaf people in Spain and the people who live with them.There are small differences throughout Spain with no difficulties in intercommunication, except in Catalonia and in Valencia...
(lengua de signos española, LSE). - Catalan Sign LanguageCatalan Sign LanguageCatalan Sign Language is a sign language used by 18,000 signers in Catalonia. About 50% intelligibility by users of Spanish Sign Language.Since 1994, it has an official status thanks to a law to promote and diffuse the language promulgated by Generalitat de Catalunya...
(llengua de signes catalana, LSC) and Valencian Sign LanguageValencian Sign LanguageValencian Sign Language is a sign language used by deaf people in the Valencian Community, Spain. Some linguists consider LSV, Spanish Sign Language and Catalan Sign Language as variants related to a language group, while others believe it is a dialect of the latter...
(llengua de Signes de la Comunitat Valenciana, LSCV).
- Spanish Sign Language
- Language politics in Francoist Spain
See also
- Iberian languagesIberian languagesIberian languages is a generic term for the languages currently or formerly spoken in the Iberian Peninsula.- Pre-Roman languages :The following languages were spoken in the Iberian Peninsula before the Roman occupation and the spread of the Latin language.* Aquitanian * Proto-Basque* Tartessian*...
- Languages of PortugalLanguages of PortugalThe languages of Portugal are the languages spoken or once spoken in the territory of the country of Portugal.-Modern:Portuguese is practically universal in Portugal, but there are some specificities.thumb|Portuguese dialects of Portugal...
- Iberian Romance languagesIberian Romance languagesThe Iberian Romance languages or Ibero-Romance languages are the Romance languages that developed on the Iberian Peninsula, an area consisting primarily of Spain, Portugal, and Andorra....
- Language politics in Spain under FrancoLanguage politics in Spain under FrancoLanguage politics in Francoist Spain centered on attempts in Spain under Franco to increase the dominance of the Spanish language over the other languages of Spain.The regime of Francisco Franco had Spanish nationalism as one of its bases....