Riunorese Leonese is the name given to the Leonese varieties spoken in Portugal[1] belonging to the Senabrese dialect. The name Riunorese stemming from the main village where said varieties are spoken, Riudenore.
The Latin [e] appears more often as [je] than in other dialects; iêl for él 'him'.[2]
The diphthong [we] appears as [wo] or [wɐ]; ruôdra for rueda 'wheel', puârta for puerta 'door'.[3]
In some cases where in other dialects there is an intervocalic [t̠ʃ], Riunorese Leonese has [ut]; noute for nueche.[4]
There is a larger quantity of contractions: à for a la 'to the' (f.), da for de la 'of the' (f.), like Portuguese and Galician but unlike other Leonese dialects.[4]
Nasalization of diphthongs at the end of words, like matanun 'they killed'.[4]
Palatalization of [s], despite being more common in leonese than in other West Iberian languages languages, appears even more commonly in Riunorese, like in verb conjugations (note: 'X' represents [ʃ]): Iêl dixu for Él dixu 'He said' (both palatalized), Tu dixes for Tú dices 'You say' (other dialects not palatalized).[5]
Linguistic Classification
Being in between Galician, Portuguese and Leonese speaking areas, many people consider it a transitional speech between Galician-Portuguese and Asturleonese, just like other regions between Galicia and Leon/Asturias. In other contexts, it's considered an "influenced zone", like the Extremaduran and Cantabrian speaking areas, by Castillian influence (which are also considered transitional speeches sometimes).
Rough geographical distribution of Old Asturleonese (in light purple) in northeastern Portugal and surrounding areas, in comparison to its modern descendants, including Riunorese and Mirandese (in dark purple)
Writing system
The writing system most commonly used for Riunorese is based on Portuguese orthography, with the existence of ⟨â⟩⟨ê⟩⟨ô⟩, the representation of [t̠ʃ] with ⟨tch⟩ (since Portuguese lacks [t̠ʃ], and ⟨ch⟩ represents [ʃ], unlike Spanish and other Leonese dialects, where ⟨ch⟩ represents [t̠ʃ]), among other aspects. The writing system has no legal recognition and is not regulated by any institution. The subdialect has a proposed writing system since it is the only Leonese-speaking territory of Portugal (considering Leonese a separate entity from the rest of Asturleonese, as Mirandese is an Asturleonese language/dialect spoken in Portugal in greater numbers).
Sample text
História de um louco criminoso
('Story of a crazy criminal'; title in Portuguese), written originally in Riunorese Leonese.[6]
Riunorese Leonese
Spanish
Portuguese
Leonese
Central Asturian
Mirandese
English
Un tal Miguel ficou de piquenu sin pai e a mai, marota, terminou-se di cassar cun al Tiu Domingo Tano. I iêl iera mau i batia-le al rapace i bateu-le na cabeça. Que iêl de piquenu iera listu i cun as porradas que le dou na cabeça pusu-se tonto.
Un tal Miguel se quedó de pequeño sin padre y la madre, traviesa, acabó casándose con el tío Domingo Tano. Y él era malo y le golpeaba al niño y le golpeó en la cabeza. Que él de pequeño era listo y con los golpes que le dio en la cabeza se puso tonto.
Um tal Miguel ficou de pequeno sem pai e a mãe, marota, acabou por casar com o Tio Domingo Tano. E ele era mau e batia ao rapaz e bateu-lhe na cabeça. Que ele desde pequeno era esperto e com as pancadas que lhe deu na cabeça fez-se tonto.
Un tal Miguel quedóu de piquenu ensin pai y la mai, cundanada, terminóu casandu cunu Tiu Domingo Tano. Ya él yera malu ya abatucaba-ye al rapaz, abatucóu-ye ena tiesta. Qu'él de piquenu yera llistu ya cunus guelpes que-ye diou na tiesta púnxuse fatu.
Un tal Miguel quedó de pequeñu ensin pá y la ma, condergada, terminó casando col tíu Domingo Tano. Y elli yera malu y golpiaba-y al rapaz y bató-y na tiesta. Qu'elli de pequeñu yera llistu y colos güelpes que-y dio na tiesta púnxose fatu.
Un tal Miguel quedou-se de pequeinho sien pai i la mai, marota, terminou-se por casar cul Tiu Domingo Tano. I el era malo i batie al rapaç i batiu-le na cabeça. Qu'el de pequeinho era listo i culas porradas que le dou na cabeça puso-se boubo.
A so called Miguel was left without a father as a child and the mother, naughty, ended up marrying Uncle Domingo Tano. And he was bad and hit the boy and hit him on the head. Though he was smart since he was little and the blows he gave him to the head made him stupid.
References
Notes
↑ And, by technicality, Spain, given Riudenore is a border settlement
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