Aragonese | |
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aragonés | |
Pronunciation | IPA: [aɾaɣoˈnes] |
Native to | Spain |
Region | Aragon; northern and central Huesca and northern Zaragoza |
Native speakers
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54,000, including speakers living outside the native area (2011) 20,000 as L2 (1993 Counsel of the Aragonese Language); 500 older adult monolinguals (1993) |
Indo-European
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Early forms
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Navarro-Aragonese
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Latin (Aragonese alphabet) | |
Official status | |
Regulated by | Academia d'a Luenga Aragonesa |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-1 | an |
ISO 639-2 |
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ISO 639-3 |
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Glottolog | arag1245 |
Linguasphere | 51-AAA-d |
Map of Aragon with the dialects of northern Aragon in gray, blue, and light orange
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Aragonese (/ˌærəɡɒˈniːz/; aragonés [aɾaɣoˈnes] in Aragonese) is a Romance language spoken in several dialects by 10,000 to 30,000 people in the Pyrenees valleys of Aragon, Spain, primarily in the comarcas of Somontano de Barbastro, Jacetania, Alto Gállego, Sobrarbe, and Ribagorza/Ribagorça. It is the only modern language which survived from medieval Navarro-Aragonese in a form distinctly different from Spanish.
Informally known as fabla ("talk" or "speech"), Aragonese is also commonly referred to by the names of its local dialects such as cheso (from Valle de Hecho) or patués (from the Benasque Valley).
Aragonese, which developed in portions of the Ebro basin, can be traced back to the High Middle Ages. It spread throughout the Pyrenees to areas where languages similar to Basque were previously spoken. The Kingdom of Aragon (formed by the counties of Aragon, Sobrarbe and Ribagorza) expanded southward from the mountains, pushing the Moors farther south in the Reconquista and spreading the Aragonese language.