Galician–Portuguese

Galician–Portuguese (Galician: galego-portugués or galaico-portugués; Portuguese: galego-português or galaico-portugués), also known as Old Galician–Portuguese, was a West Iberian Romance language used during the Middle Ages in the northwest part of the Iberian Peninsula. It is the language from which modern Galician, Fala, Portuguese, and Eonavian developed. People can still understand these languages easily today.

People first spoke Galician–Portuguese in an area that stretched from the Atlantic Ocean in the north and west down to the Douro River in the south. This region included what we now call Galicia and northern Portugal. Later, as the Reconquista moved forward, the language spread further south beyond the Douro River.

Today, the name "Galician–Portuguese" is also used in language studies to describe a group of related languages in the same family. It helps experts understand how these languages evolved and are connected to each other.

Language

Origins and history

See also: History of Portuguese, Galician language § History, and Will of Afonso II of Portugal

Galician–Portuguese started from Vulgar Latin, the everyday Latin used by Romans in the area called Gallaecia. Over time, local languages mixed with this Latin. By about the year 800, this new language was spoken in northwestern Iberia. Early writings showing Galician–Portuguese words are from the 9th century.

Literature

Main article: Galician-Portuguese lyric

Galician–Portuguese was very important for literature in the Christian kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula. Many beautiful poems were written in this language. Important collections of poems include the Cantigas de Santa Maria, Cancioneiro da Ajuda, and Cancioneiro da Vaticana. Famous poets wrote love songs and other poems in Galician–Portuguese.

Divergence

When Portugal became separate from Leon, the language began to split into Galician and Portuguese. Portuguese changed as it spread southward, while Galician was influenced by nearby languages. Today, Galician is a co-official language in Galicia, and Portuguese is one of the most spoken languages in the world.

Phonology

Galician–Portuguese had seven vowel sounds, like many other languages from the Romance family. These vowels could be regular or nasal sounds. In some places, vowels changed their sound, similar to what happens in modern Spanish.

Letters also made different sounds in different parts of Portugal and Galicia. Some consonant sounds became softer or changed completely. This created the unique ways people speak Portuguese and Galician today.

See History of Portuguese for more information.

Main article: Galician-Portuguese lyric

Here is an example of a poem written in Galician-Portuguese:

Proençaes soen mui ben trobar
e dizen eles que é con amor,
mays os que troban no tempo da frol
e non-en outro, sei eu ben que non
an tan gran coita no seu coraçon
qual m' eu por mha senhor vejo levar

This poem was written by King Dinis of Portugal. It talks about how poets write lovely words, especially when the flowers bloom, but the poet feels a special love for their lady.

Oral traditions

The Galician–Portuguese region has shared folklore since very old times. As the Galician–Portuguese language spread south during the Reconquista, these traditions became even stronger. In 2005, Portugal and Spain suggested making these oral traditions part of the Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.

Galician–Portuguese folklore includes many oral traditions like cantigas ao desafio (improvised song duels), legends, stories, poems, folk songs, sayings, and riddles. There are also traditional markets, festivals, and religious celebrations such as magosto, entroido, and Corpus Christi, featuring dances and customs like a Coca the dragon fighting Saint George. Traditional clothing, crafts, and knowledge about plants and animals are also part of this shared heritage, though some traditions are slowly being forgotten.