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Mirandese language (Lhéngua Mirandesa in Mirandese; Língua Mirandesa or Mirandês
in Portuguese) is a language spoken in northeast Portugal, which was recognised by
the Portuguese Parliament in 1999.
Mirandese has a grammatical body (independent phonetics, phonology, morphology and syntax) dates from the formation of Portugal (12th century). It has its roots in the spoken Latin in the North of the Iberian Peninsula (Portuguese was in
the Northwest). It is a well preserved dialect of the ancient Leonese language of northern Iberia, which
today is related to Asturian language, which in its turn is
considered by many a dialect of Spanish.
However, these amalgamations in the Spanish territory did not affect Mirandese, which is a distinct language in
relation to both Portuguese and Spanish. It is the last
remnant of the ancient language of the Kingdom of León.
In the 19th century, José Leite de Vasconcelos, describe it has "the
language of the farms, of work, home, and love between the Mirandese".
Today it is used, mostly as a second language, by 15,000 people (although still as a first language by some) in the villages
of the Municipality of Miranda do Douro and in three villages of
the Municipality of Vimioso, in an area of
484 Km2, stretching to other villages of the municipalities of Vimioso, Mogadouro, Macedo de Cavaleiros and Bragança. There are
three dialects: "Normal Mirandese", "Border Mirandese" and "Sendinês Mirandese". Most people are bilingual in Portuguese or even
trilingual in Spanish.
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