Navarro-Aragonese was a Romance language once spoken in a large part of the Ebro River basin, south of the middle Pyrenees; the dialects of the modern Aragonese language, spoken in a small portion of that territory, can be seen as its last remaining forms. The areas where Navarro-Aragonese was spoken might have included most of Aragon, southern Navarre, and La Rioja. It was also spoken across several towns of central Navarre in a multilingual environment with Occitan, where Basque was the native language.

Navarro-Aragonese gradually lost ground throughout most of its geographic area to Castilian (i.e. Spanish), with its last remnants being the dialects of the Aragonese language still spoken in northern Aragon.

Dialects

[[File:Variedatz de l'aragonés meyeval.svg|thumb|Map of Navarro-Aragonese dialects:

{{Legend|#62d662|Valencian Aragonese}}]]

Navarro-Aragonese has 6 different dialects:

Community of Villages Aragonese
Ebro Valley Aragonese
Medieval High Aragonese
Navarrese Romance
Old Riojan
Valencian Aragonese

The only surviving dialect is Medieval High Aragonese, with it evolving into Aragonese.

Origins and distribution

Navarro-Aragonese was not defined by clear-cut boundaries, but was rather a Romance language continuum spoken in the area extending north of the Muslim realms of the Ebro, under the influence of Mozarabic and Basque, towards the Pyrenees.{{cite book | author = Elvira (coord.), Javier | year = 2008 | title = Lenguas, Reinos y Dialectos en la Edad Media Ibérica: La Construcción de la Identidad; Homenaje a Juan Ramón Lodares | publisher = Iberoamericana Ed. Vervuert | isbn = 978-84-8489-305-9 | page = 523}} The Muwallad Banu Qasi, lords of Tudela in the 9th century, may have mostly spoken a variant of Navarro-Aragonese.{{cite book | author = Caro Baroja, Julio | year = 1985 | title = Los vascones y sus vecinos | publisher = Editorial Txertoa | location = San Sebastian | isbn = 84-7148-136-7 | page = 115}} Early evidence of the language can be found in place-names like Murillo el Fruto attested as Murello Freito and Muriel Freito (stemming from Latin {{lang|la|Murellus Fractus}}), and Cascante, Olite or Urzante with a typical restored -e ending after t in this area.

Navarro-Aragonese is also attested in major towns of Navarre (including Estella and Pamplona) in a multilingual environment where Basque was the natural language, used by most of the people; Occitan was spoken by the Franks in their ethnic boroughs; and Hebrew was used for written purposes in the aljamas{{cite book | author = Jurio, Jimeno | year = 1995 | title = Historia de Pamplona y de sus Lenguas | publisher = Txalaparta | location = Tafalla | isbn = 84-8136-017-1 | pages = 82, 138, 175–177}} along with Basque{{Cite journal | last1 = Sainz Pezonaga | first1 = Jabier | title = Antroponimia Medieval Euskérica en la Navarra Tudelana | journal = Fontes Linguae Vasconum: Studia et Documenta | volume = 1 | issue = 93 | page = 371 | publisher = Gobierno de Navarra; Institución Príncipe de Viana | date = May–August 2003 | url = http://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=664035 | issn =0343-6993}} and Navarro-Aragonese as vernaculars in their respective linguistic regions.

File:Monasterio de Suso (2).jpg in La Rioja is home to the oldest records in Navarro-Aragonese

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File:Jaca a los pies de la peña Oroel.JPG in the Corridor of Berdún

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At the westernmost tip of this middle Ebro stretch, a Romance variant was developed in La Rioja, recorded in the Glosas Emilianenses dating from roughly 1000 AD. They have been diversely classified from "cradle of Spanish" to a Navarro-Aragonese variant, while it is widely accepted that the glosses show more similarities with the latter.{{Cite journal | last1 = Wolf | first1 = Hanz Jürgen | title = Las Glosas Emilianenses, Otra Vez | journal = Revista de Filología Románica | volume = 1 | issue = 14 | pages = 597–604 | publisher = Servicio de Publicaciones. Universidad Complutense | location = Madrid | year = 1997 | issn = 0212-999X}} However, political events would tip the scale in favour of an increasing assimilation to Spanish in the following centuries, especially after the disputed region was annexed to Castile in 1177 at the expense of Navarre. Another focal point for the emergence and expansion of Romance in High Aragon and the eastern border of Navarre was the ancient Roman road and Way of St. James crossing the Pyrenees to the south from Gascony and extending west via Jaca through the Corridor of Berdún, while the territory was largely Basque-Romance bilingual in 1349.{{cite book | author = Jurio, Jimeno | year = 1997 | title = Navarra: Historia del Euskera | publisher = Txalaparta | location = Tafalla | isbn = 978-84-8136-062-2 | pages = 59–60}}

However, early Navarro-Aragonese–speaking communities may have ebbed and become assimilated in some spots on the strength of a predominant Basque-speaking population (overwhelmingly so in Navarre) north away from the Ebro plains, due to demographic, economic and political shifts; e.g. the eastern borders of Navarre in Leire, Sangüesa, Liédena, and Romanzado altogether, were densely Basque-speaking in the mid and late 16th century.{{cite web | url = http://www.euskomedia.org/aunamendi/117130/110327?q=romanzado&numreg=1&start=0 | title = Romanzado; Lengua | publisher = EuskoMedia Fundazioa | access-date = 2010-01-29}} Site in Spanish Navarro-Aragonese had a strong Basque substratum and adstratum, the former being in close contact with Basque, which in turn was rapidly losing ground to the Romance language in the Kingdom of Aragon during the High and Late Middle Ages.

Status and written language

Navarro-Aragonese was chosen in the High Middle Ages by the Navarrese aristocracy and royal institutions for official records and documents in the 14th century,{{Cite journal | last1 = González Olle | first1 = Fernando | title = Reconocimiento del Romance Navarro bajo Carlos II (1350) | journal = Príncipe de Viana | volume = 1 | issue = 182 | page = 705 | publisher = Gobierno de Navarra; Institución Príncipe de Viana | year = 1987 | url = http://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=15791 | issn = 0032-8472}} when Occitan variants fell into disuse after the last devastating war among boroughs in Pamplona; it was dubbed ydiomate navarre terrae or lengoage de Navarra (as opposed to the lingua navarrorum, the Basque language).{{cite web |title=Lingua Navarrorum |url=http://www.euskara.euskadi.net/r59-738/es/contenidos/informacion/argitalpenak/es_6092/adjuntos/EEH/GAZTELAN/EEH4_CAS.PDF |access-date=2010-03-16 |publisher=Basque Government}}{{Cite journal | last1 = Ciervide | first1 = Ricardo | title = El euskera en la Navarra Medieval en su Contexto Románico | journal = Fontes Linguae Vasconum | volume = 1 | issue = 79 | page = 508 | publisher = Gobierno de Navarra; Institución Príncipe de Viana | year = 1998 | url = http://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=26277 | issn = 0046-435X}} "Navarro-Aragonese" is a modern term coined for linguistic classification purposes, while its speakers may have referred to it as "Romanz(e) (Aragonés/Navarro)" in the Middle Ages.

File:San Juan de la Peña.jpg, a landmark in the expansion of Romance in Aragón

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The features of the language at this last stage in the 14th and 15th century grew closer to those of Castilian, showing a clear trend towards convergence, as attested in the telling opening sentence of Charles II of Navarre at his coronation ceremony (1350): "Nos Karlos, por la gracia de Dios, rey de Navarra et conté d'Evreux, juramos a nuestro pueblo de Navarra, es assaber, prelados, ricoshombres, cavailleros, hombres de buenas villas et a todo el pueblo de Navarra, todos lures fueros, usos, costumbres, franquezas, libertades."{{Cite journal | last1 = González Olle | first1 = Fernando | title = Reconocimiento del Romance Navarro bajo Carlos II (1350) | journal = Príncipe de Viana | volume = 1 | issue = 182 | page = 706 | publisher = Gobierno de Navarra; Institución Príncipe de Viana | year = 1987 | url = http://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=15791 | issn = 0032-8472}}

Eventual development

In Navarre the language gradually merged with Castillian (Spanish) around the 15th and early 16th century, but it survived in Aragon, eventually developing into Aragonese, expanding south along with the Crown of Aragon's lands conquered to the kingdoms in Al-Andalus, and reaching at one point as far south as Murcia,{{cite book | author = Elvira (coord.), Javier | year = 2008 | title = Lenguas, Reinos y Dialectos en la Edad Media Ibérica: La Construcción de la Identidad; Homenaje a Juan Ramón Lodares | publisher = Iberoamericana Ed. Vervuert | isbn = 978-84-8489-305-9 | page = 57}} while the Mediterranean coastal strip came to be settled by Catalan speakers. These geo-linguistic gains could not prevent Navarro-Aragonese from gradually losing ground to Spanish both territorially and socially after the Trastámara dynasty's access to the Aragonese crown{{cite book | author = Elvira (coord.), Javier | year = 2008 | title = Lenguas, Reinos y Dialectos en la Edad Media Ibérica: La Construcción de la Identidad; Homenaje a Juan Ramón Lodares | publisher = Iberoamericana Ed. Vervuert | isbn = 978-84-8489-305-9 | pages = 40–41}} and the 1469 wedding between Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile, who favoured Spanish in the royal court. However, some varieties of the language, now called Aragonese language, have survived in northern Aragon as a vernacular, increasingly confined to the higher Pyrenees.

Vocabulary

The vocabulary below illustrates the language's Romance roots, its relationship to neighbouring languages (adstratum, and possibly also as substratum in the case of Basque), as well as meanings in English.Spanish, Basque, and English meaning refer to present-day forms. Béarnese refers to modern attested forms (19th–20th centuries), while Navarro-Aragonese refers to the Late Middle Ages, so no synchrony can be established. Orthography delivered according to traditional usage, not actual phonetics.

class="wikitable" style="width:100%; font-size: 100%"

!style="background-color: whitesmoke"|Navarro-Aragonese

!style="background-color: aliceblue"|Béarnese (Occitan)

!style="background-color: honeydew"|Spanish

!style="background-color: PapayaWhip"|Catalan

!style="background-color: lightgrey"|Basque

!style="background-color: LightGoldenrodYellow"|English

style="background-color: whitesmoke"|ome

| style="background-color: aliceblue"|òmi

| style="background-color: honeydew"|hombre

| style="background-color: PapayaWhip"|home

| style="background-color: lightgrey"|gizon

| style="background-color: LightGoldenrodYellow"|man

style="background-color: whitesmoke"|muyller/muger

| style="background-color: aliceblue"|hemna, dauna

| style="background-color: honeydew"|mujer

| style="background-color: PapayaWhip"|muller, dona

| style="background-color: lightgrey"|emazte, emakume

| style="background-color: LightGoldenrodYellow"|woman

style="background-color: whitesmoke"|casa

| style="background-color: aliceblue"|ostau/casa/maison

| style="background-color: honeydew"|casa

| style="background-color: PapayaWhip"|casa

| style="background-color: lightgrey"|etxe

| style="background-color: LightGoldenrodYellow"|house

style="background-color: whitesmoke"|arb/arbor

| style="background-color: aliceblue"|arbe/arbo

| style="background-color: honeydew"|arbol

| style="background-color: PapayaWhip"|arbre

| style="background-color: lightgrey"|zuhaitz, arbola

| style="background-color: LightGoldenrodYellow"|tree

style="background-color: whitesmoke"|aquest(i)

| style="background-color: aliceblue"|aqueste

| style="background-color: honeydew"|este

| style="background-color: PapayaWhip"|aquest

| style="background-color: lightgrey"|hau

| style="background-color: LightGoldenrodYellow"|this

style="background-color: whitesmoke"|areyto

| style="background-color: aliceblue"|dret

| style="background-color: honeydew"|derecho, de pie

| style="background-color: PapayaWhip"|dret, dempeus

| style="background-color: lightgrey"|zuzen, tente, zutik

| style="background-color: LightGoldenrodYellow"|straight, standing

style="background-color: whitesmoke"|car/quar

| style="background-color: aliceblue"|per' mor, pr'amor

| style="background-color: honeydew"|porque

| style="background-color: PapayaWhip"|perquè

| style="background-color: lightgrey"

lako, -gatik, (...) bait, zeren

| style="background-color: LightGoldenrodYellow"|because

style="background-color: whitesmoke"|canba

| style="background-color: aliceblue"|camba

| style="background-color: honeydew"|pierna

| style="background-color: PapayaWhip"|cama

| style="background-color: lightgrey"|hanka, zango

| style="background-color: LightGoldenrodYellow"|leg

style="background-color: whitesmoke"|cayll

| style="background-color: aliceblue"|carrera

| style="background-color: honeydew"|calle

| style="background-color: PapayaWhip"|carrer

| style="background-color: lightgrey"|kale, karrika

| style="background-color: LightGoldenrodYellow"|street

style="background-color: whitesmoke"|cuylir

| style="background-color: aliceblue"|préner, gahar

| style="background-color: honeydew"|coger

| style="background-color: PapayaWhip"|collir, prendre

| style="background-color: lightgrey"|hartu

| style="background-color: LightGoldenrodYellow"|take (collect)

style="background-color: whitesmoke"|dreytos

| style="background-color: aliceblue"|drets

| style="background-color: honeydew"|derechos

| style="background-color: PapayaWhip"|drets

| style="background-color: lightgrey"|eskubideak

| style="background-color: LightGoldenrodYellow"|rights

style="background-color: whitesmoke"|exir/ixir

| style="background-color: aliceblue"|sortir, eishir, gessir, salhir

| style="background-color: honeydew"|salir

| style="background-color: PapayaWhip"|sortir, eixir

| style="background-color: lightgrey"|irten/jalgi/elk(h)i

| style="background-color: LightGoldenrodYellow"|exit, get out

style="background-color: whitesmoke"|faya

| style="background-color: aliceblue"|destrau

| style="background-color: honeydew"|hacha

| style="background-color: PapayaWhip"|destral

| style="background-color: lightgrey"|aizkora

| style="background-color: LightGoldenrodYellow"|axe

style="background-color: whitesmoke"|feyto

| style="background-color: aliceblue"|hèit

| style="background-color: honeydew"|hecho

| style="background-color: PapayaWhip"|fet

| style="background-color: lightgrey"|egina

| style="background-color: LightGoldenrodYellow"|done/made

style="background-color: whitesmoke"|ferme

| style="background-color: aliceblue"|hidança

| style="background-color: honeydew"|fianza

| style="background-color: PapayaWhip"|fiança

| style="background-color: lightgrey"|berme

| style="background-color: LightGoldenrodYellow"|deposit

style="background-color: whitesmoke"|huey

| style="background-color: aliceblue"|uei

| style="background-color: honeydew"|hoy

| style="background-color: PapayaWhip"|avui

| style="background-color: lightgrey"|gaur

| style="background-color: LightGoldenrodYellow"|today

style="background-color: whitesmoke"|lueyn

| style="background-color: aliceblue"|luenh

| style="background-color: honeydew"|lejos

| style="background-color: PapayaWhip"|lluny

| style="background-color: lightgrey"|urrun, urruti

| style="background-color: LightGoldenrodYellow"|far

style="background-color: whitesmoke"|lur/lures

| style="background-color: aliceblue"|lor/lors; lo son/los sons; eth son/eths sons

| style="background-color: honeydew"|su/sus

| style="background-color: PapayaWhip"|llur/llurs; llura/llures; els seus/les seves

| style="background-color: lightgrey"|haien, beren

| style="background-color: LightGoldenrodYellow"|their

style="background-color: whitesmoke"|miyor/migor

| style="background-color: aliceblue"|miélher/melhor

| style="background-color: honeydew"|mejor

| style="background-color: PapayaWhip"|millor

| style="background-color: lightgrey"|hobe

| style="background-color: LightGoldenrodYellow"|better

style="background-color: whitesmoke"|Nadal

| style="background-color: aliceblue"|Nadau

| style="background-color: honeydew"|Navidad

| style="background-color: PapayaWhip"|Nadal

| style="background-color: lightgrey"|Eguberri

| style="background-color: LightGoldenrodYellow"|Christmas

style="background-color: whitesmoke"|noch/nueyt

| style="background-color: aliceblue"|nueit

| style="background-color: honeydew"|noche

| style="background-color: PapayaWhip"|nit

| style="background-color: lightgrey"|gau

| style="background-color: LightGoldenrodYellow"|night

style="background-color: whitesmoke"|pluvia

| style="background-color: aliceblue"|ploja

| style="background-color: honeydew"|lluvia

| style="background-color: PapayaWhip"|pluja

| style="background-color: lightgrey"|euri

| style="background-color: LightGoldenrodYellow"|rain

style="background-color: whitesmoke"|poçon/pozon

| style="background-color: aliceblue"|bevuda/beguda

| style="background-color: honeydew"|bebida

| style="background-color: PapayaWhip"|beguda

| style="background-color: lightgrey"|edari

| style="background-color: LightGoldenrodYellow"|drink

style="background-color: whitesmoke"|remanir

| style="background-color: aliceblue"|demorar

| style="background-color: honeydew"|permanecer

| style="background-color: PapayaWhip"|romandre

| style="background-color: lightgrey"|gelditu

| style="background-color: LightGoldenrodYellow"|remain

style="background-color: whitesmoke"|seteno

| style="background-color: aliceblue"|setau

| style="background-color: honeydew"|séptimo

| style="background-color: PapayaWhip"|setè

| style="background-color: lightgrey"|zazpigarren

| style="background-color: LightGoldenrodYellow"|seventh

style="background-color: whitesmoke"|soz/soç

| style="background-color: aliceblue"|devath, jus

| style="background-color: honeydew"|bajo

| style="background-color: PapayaWhip"|sota

| style="background-color: lightgrey"

ren pean/azpian

| style="background-color: LightGoldenrodYellow"|under/below

style="background-color: whitesmoke"|veyendo

| style="background-color: aliceblue"|vedent

| style="background-color: honeydew"|viendo

| style="background-color: PapayaWhip"|veient

| style="background-color: lightgrey"|ikusten

| style="background-color: LightGoldenrodYellow"|seeing

Ebro Valley Aragonese

{{Infobox language

| name = Ebro Valley Aragonese

| altname =

| nativename =

| pronunciation =

| ethnicity =

| states = Northern Spain

| region = Ebro Valley

| era =

| extinct = 16–17th centuries{{Cite book |last1=Conte |first1=Anchel |title=El aragonés: identidad y problemática de una lengua |last2=Cortes |first2=Chorche |last3=Martinez |first3=Antonio |last4=Nagore |first4=Francho |last5=Vazquez |first5=Chesus |publisher=Librería General |year=1977 |isbn=9788470780226}}

| date =

| ref =

| speakers2 =

| familycolor = Indo-European

| fam2 = Italic

| fam3 = Latino-Faliscan

| fam4 = Latinic

| fam5 = Romance

| fam6 = Italo-Western

| fam7 = Western Romance

| fam8 = (disputed)

| fam9 = Pyrenean–Mozarabic?

| fam10 = Navarro-Aragonese

| dia1 =

| ancestor = Old Latin

| ancestor2 = Vulgar Latin

| ancestor3 = Proto-Romance

| ancestor4 = (unclassified)

| ancestor5 = Navarro-Aragonese

| script = Latin

| agency =

| iso3 = none

| glotto = none

| lingua =

| map = Aragonés d'a Val de l'Ebro.svg

| mapcaption = {{legend|#ff7c1f|Ebro Valley Aragonese}}

| notice =

| map2 =

| mapcaption2 =

}}

Ebro Valley Aragonese was the dialect of Navarro-Aragonese spoken in the Ebro Valley until the 16th–17th centuries when speakers underwent a process of language replacement, which made Castilian the spoken language in the Ebro Valley.