UNESCO RED BOOK ON ENDANGERED LANGUAGES: EUROPE

Asturian

Variant(s):Geographical location: Spain: historical province of Asturias

Relationships: /Ibero-Romance/Indo-European

Present state of the language: ENDANGERED

(a) children speakers: some children learn the language, but most if not all of them become more fluent in Castilian Spanish and may not become active users of Asturian
(b) mean age of youngest speakers:
(c) distribution by sex:
(d) total number of speakers, members of the ethnic group: not known
(e) degree of speakers' competence: many speakers mix Castilian elements in their speech

Sources:
(i) information (about the language): Xosé Lluis García Arias: Asturianisch. Lexicon der Romanistische Linguistik. VI, 1. 652--693.
(ii) published and unpublished material (of the language): a little
(iii) competent scholar(s) and institution(s): Xosé Lluis García Arias (Oviedo)
Remarks:

Compiler: Tapani Salminen, Helsinki, 31 Dec 1993


Leonese

Variant(s): known as Mirandese in Portugal

Geographical location: Spain: historical province of León, extending to the northeastern corner of Portugal

Relationships: /Ibero-Romance/Indo-European

Present state of the language: SERIOUSLY ENDANGERED

(a) children speakers: in Spain, some children may learn the language, but most if not all of them become more fluent in Castilian Spanish and may not become active users of Leonese; in Portugal, the language is more widely used
(b) mean age of youngest speakers:
(c) distribution by sex:
(d) total number of speakers, members of the ethnic group: in Spain, not known; in Portugal, possibly approx. 10,000 speakers
(e) degree of speakers' competence: many speakers mix Castilian elements in their speech

Sources:
(i) information (about the language): Joachim Born: Leonesisch. Lexicon der Romanistische Linguistik. VI, 1. 693--700.
(ii) published and unpublished material (of the language): a little
(iii) competent scholar(s) and institution(s): Joachim Born (Mannheim), Jesús Neira Martínez

Remarks: Extremeño in Extremadura is sometimes regarded as a co-dialect

Compiler: Tapani Salminen, Helsinki, 31 Dec 1993 [updated 21 Dec 1999]