Number of native speakers:Â 641,502
Minority language: Spain (Asturias)
Language of diaspora:Â Argentina, Belgium, Cuba, Mexico, United States, Venezuela
Script:Â Latin, 23 letters
Linguistic typology:Â fusional, SVO
Language family:Â Indo-European, Romance
Number of dialects:Â 3 main dialects
1085 - oldest parchment in Asturian
16th-18th century - disappearance from written texts
1605 - beginning of modern literature
1974 - rise of the movement for Asturian’s acceptance and use
1980 - creation of the Academy of the Asturian Language
Asturian is an endangered language that has a legally hazy position, as the Asturian Statute of Autonomy recognizes its existence, but does not grant it the same status as Spanish.
Writing system and pronunciation
These are the letters that make up the alphabet: a b c d e f g h i l lj m n ñ o p r s t ts u v x y z.
Nouns have three genders (masculine, feminine, and neuter) and two numbers (singular and plural). There are three types of neuters: masculine, feminine, and pure neuters, which are nominal groups with an adjective and neuter pronoun. Neuter nouns are abstract, collective and uncountable, and usually have no plural.
Adjectives are modified by gender and number as well.
Verbs are conjugated for tense, mood (indicative, subjunctive, conditional, and imperative), aspect (perfective and imperfective), person, and number. Asturian has no compound tenses.
The dialects of Asturian are mutually intelligible and are the following: Western, Central (the basis for standard Asturian), and Eastern.
The differences between them are mainly phonological and morphological.
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