Azorean

Azorean is one of the official languages of the Azorean Republic.

The Azorean Language

While standard Portuguese evolved in the last 200 years by absorbing and collecting new words and expressions from languages such as English or German, and adopting its grammar so it could be easily used by colonial peoples, the Azorean language was able to mantain the old Portuguese traces, basing itself more in old and erudict latin romance. Although very similar, Azorean is not considered as being a Portuguese dialect, but rather a different language of the same family.

History

Latin arrived to the Azores during the Roman colonisation period. It quickly evolved during a prosper Middle Ages, establishing the Portuguese language in Europe. During the Civil War of 1698,Romance Latin was enforced as the offical language, causing the non-educated areas to create a mix between mediaeval Portuguese and modern Latin. This ultimately led to a mix between the two languages and the creation of a mixed language, loosely based on Latin and very similar to the official Portuguese of the 18th century. The first rules for the Azorean language were set in 1787, when João Paes wrote the Grammática Aplicadda do Impérium Azoreano.

Classification

Azorean is a member of the Latin family of languages, which include, among others, Portuguese, Spanish, French and Italian. It is a Romance language, being a link to ancient Portuguese and Castillian - langiages which lost many of their Latin particularities throughout the ages.

Geographical Distribution

Azorean is the official language of the Azores, being the primary language of 90% of the Azorean population. Known Azorean speaking groups are also present in other European countries such as Hugoland, Twente, Medolai, Venice and Capitollium.

Official Status

Azorean is an official language in the Azorean Republic. It is internationally recognised as an independent language, and not a Portuguese dialect.

Dialects

Although at first considered a Portuguese dialect, Azorean has its own different dialects, hence being considered a different language, but sharing the same roots. The most important dialects are the Franquês (Frankish) and Faialense. Both dialects originated from heavy influences from other languages. Frankish from French and Faialense from Flemish.

Sounds and Phonetics

Most of the rules for Portuguese apply in this case. Spoken Azorean sounds pretty similar to Portuguese, with a strong Italian accent. As Dr Manuel Casanova, from the Mercoburg Institute of Languages writes:

The Portuguese language is particularly interesting to linguists because of the complexity of its phonetic structure. The language contains 9 vowels, 5 nasal vowels and 25 consonantal sounds. Also, Portuguese is a "free accentuation language", as distinct pronunciation exists even in the same dialect.

Grammar

Although Azorean adopts almost the same rules as Portuguese in Grammar, a common Portuguese native speaker will find written Azorean quite strange. Due to the ancient Portuguese influences and the lack of grammar evolution in the Azorean language, it is quite common to find double consonants and other lost writing styles in the Azorean language.

Example:

Standard English The National Party won these elections. It shall now rule the Republic

Standard Portuguese O Partido Nacional venceu estas eleições. Deverá agora reger a República.

Standard Azorean O Partido National venceo estas eleicções. Deverá agora reger a Reppublica.