Barranquenho

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Barranquenho
Barranquian
Native toPortugal
RegionBarrancos
Native speakers
(undated figure of 1,500)[1]
Mixed Portuguese-southern Spanish
  • Barranquenho
Language codes
ISO 639-3None (mis)
1oy
GlottologNone
Kreis Barrancos 2020.png
Location of Barrancos in the Beja District

Barranquenho (Barranquenhu; English: Barranquian[2]) is a Romance linguistic variety spoken in the Portuguese town of Barrancos, near the Spanish border. It is a mixed language, and can be considered either a variety of Portuguese (Alentejan Portuguese) heavily influenced by the Spanish dialects of neighbouring areas in Spain in Extremadura and Andalusia (especially those from Encinasola and Rosal de la Frontera),[3] or a Spanish dialect (Extremaduran / Andalusian) heavily influenced by Portuguese.

Barranquian speakers maintain that they speak neither Spanish nor Portuguese but a third language altogether different. Contrary to certain claims, Barranquenho is intelligible to speakers of both languages, and especially similar to the Andalusian dialect. Ethnologue lists Barranquian as a dialect of Extremaduran, perhaps because Barrancos was populated by settlers from Badajoz, a city in Extremadura, though not in an Extremaduran language speaking area.[4]

The development of Barranquenho seems to be relatively recent (in the past 200 years), unlike other minority linguistic varieties in the Iberian Peninsula, which have medieval roots.

Characteristics[]

The Portuguese base of this dialect is extremely hidden behind the Spanish dialects that mold it. The most characteristic aspect of this dialect is the aspiration of the ⟨s⟩ and ⟨z⟩ in the end of the words, as in the Extremaduran and Andalusian dialects: cruh (Portuguese/Spanish: cruz; English: cross), buhcá (Portuguese/Spanish: buscar; English: search). Sometimes these letters can be completely muted: uma bê (Portuguese: uma vez; English: once). The Portuguese ⟨j⟩, ⟨ge⟩ and ⟨gi⟩, usually pronounced as [ʒ], are pronounced as [x].

The ⟨l⟩ and ⟨r⟩ in the end of the words are not pronounced: Manué (Manuel), olivá (Spanish: olivar). But they appear again in the plural form: olivareh (olivares). If the ⟨l⟩ is at the end of a syllable it turns into ⟨r⟩: argo (Portuguese/Spanish: algo). Like in Spanish, there is no differentiation between ⟨b⟩ and ⟨v⟩, both are pronounced as either [b] or [β̞]. Just as in Extremaduran and some southern dialects of Portuguese, the -e suffix at the end of a word (for example pobre) is pronounced IPA: [i], as opposed to [ɨ] in standard European Portuguese or [e] in Spanish.

The Portuguese form of the first person of the plural, nós, is replaced by nusotrus - a variation of the Spanish nosotros. The placing of the pronouns is closer to the Spanish norm than to the Portuguese: se lavô (Portuguese: lavou-se; Spanish: se lavó; English: was washed).

It also contains many verbal forms of clearly Spanish conjugation: andubi (Portuguese: andei, Spanish: anduve); supimos (Portuguese: soubemos; Spanish: supimos).

Recognition[]

On 26 November 2021, the Parliament of Portugal unanimously voted for the approval of a resolution through which Barranquenho was recognized and protected in the municipality.[5]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Extremaduran (Portugal) at Ethnologue (16th ed., 2009)
  2. ^ Ethnologue report for Portugal
  3. ^ José Leite de Vasconcelos, Filologia Barranquenha - apontamentos para o seu estudo, 1940.
  4. ^ José Ignacio Hualde, Antxon Olarrea, Erin O'Rourke (2012) The Handbook of Hispanic Linguistics, p. 60
  5. ^ Sousa, Guilhermina; Teles, Gonçalo (20 December 2021). "O barranquenho já tem proteção. Agora falta quem o ensine e quem o mantenha original" (in Portuguese). TSF.


Stub icon

This article about Romance languages is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by .

  • v
  • t
Stub icon

This Portugal-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by .

  • v
  • t
Retrieved from ""