The following is the entry for this language as it appeared in the 14th edition (2000).
It was superseded by the corresponding entry in the 15th edition (2005). See also the corresponding entry in the current edition of Ethnologue.
SIL code: AUB
ISO 639-2: ast
| Population | 100,000 first language speakers, plus 450,000 second language speakers able to speak or understand it (1994 F. F. Botas). 50,000 in Central Asturian, 30,000 in Western Asturian, 20,000 in Eastern Asturian. 550,000 in the ethnic group. Population total both countries 100,000 or more. |
| Region | Princedom of Asturias except for the most western section where Galician is spoken, the western part of Cantabria and Leon, and northern Castilla-Leon. In Cantabria and Las Peñamelleras (Asturies) people speak Montañes, a Spanish dialect with Asturian influence. Leonese associations promote their language variety. There are Leonese minorities in Portugal. Also spoken in Portugal. |
| Alternate names | ASTUR-LEONESE, ASTURIAN-LEONESE, ASTURIANU |
| Dialects | LEONESE (LLEONES), WESTERN ASTURIAN, CENTRAL ASTURIAN (BABLE), EASTERN ASTURIAN. |
| Classification | Indo-European, Italic, Romance, Italo-Western, Western, Gallo-Iberian, Ibero-Romance, West Iberian, Asturo-Leonese. |
| Comments | As different from Spanish as Galician or Catalan; more different than Murcian and Andalusian. Close to Leonese. About 80% intelligibility with Spanish (R.A. Hall, Jr. 1989); enough to cause disruption of communicative ability (T. Erickson SIL 1992). The Vaqueiros ethnic group speaks Western Asturian. Intelligibility among the three dialects is functional. Central Asturian is considered the model, and has the most speakers. Closely related to Mirandés in Portugal. Leonese may be a separate language. Bilingualism in Spanish. May be studied in school by ages 6 to 19 if teachers and books are available. They use Spanish in formal situations and with outsiders. There is literature, both popular and literary, since the 17th century; poetry, and traditional ballads and chivalric novels of oral tradition. The Academy of the Asturian Language was formed in 1981, to revive the academy of the 18th century. About 43% of the population in the region have immigrated into the region from the south since the 1950s, and they have not absorbed the Asturian culture or language. Official language. Dictionary. Western Asturian may need orthography adaptation. NT 1997. |
| Portugal |
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