West Iberian languages

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West Iberian
Western Iberian Romance
Geographic
distribution:
Iberian Peninsula, Latin America, Africa, Israel, Philippines, East Timor, Easter Island, Goa
Linguistic classification:Indo-European
Subdivisions:

Languages of the Iberian Peninsula
West Iberian:
  Fala
Occitano-Romance: Others:
  Basque (non-Romance language isolate)

The West Iberian languages are a branch of Romance languages. They were first spoken in central and western parts of Iberia. Spanish and Portuguese are the main languages in the branch. They have been spread to Latin America since the colonial era. There are five branches of West Iberian languages. They are Castilian, Galician-Portuguese, Astur-Leonese, Barranquian, and Pyrenean–Mozarabic. Until recently, all speakers of West Iberian languages could understand each other, but now the branches are too different.[1][2]

References[change | change source]

  1. Menéndez Pidal, R (2006) [1906]. El dialecto Leonés. León: El Buho Viajero. ISBN 84-933781-6-X.
  2. UNESCO Interactive Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger, where Cantabrian is listed in the Astur-Leonese linguistic group.