r/endangeredlanguages • • 19d ago

Mirandese Language Day was celebrated with the launch of the first school textbook for the language

"Mirandese Language Day" was celebrated on the 17th—an initiative dedicated to promoting the Mirandese language and culture.

Key events include the presentation of the first manual for learning the Mirandese language and the translation of the Portuguese Constitution into that language. Until now, Mirandese was taught without textbooks, and teachers had to create them themselves.

These are some of the initiatives introduced as part of the celebrations marking the 28th anniversary of the law recognizing the linguistic rights of the Mirandese language.

The Mirandese language ( in Mirandese: lhéngua mirandesa ) is a Romance language spoken in an area called Terra de Miranda, in the north-east of Portugal.

According to a survey carried out by the University of Vigo in 2020, about 1,500 people speak Mirandese regularly.

In 2023, the study Present and Future of the Mirandese Language was published, coordinated by the professor of Galician philology Xosé-Henrique Costas, who wrote: “At this rate of loss of speakers, in 2050 or 2060 Mirandese will be lost as a living language”.

Mirandese is not a mixture of Portuguese and Spanish nor a dialect, but rather a language that has its origins in the Asturian-Leonese spoken in the Kingdom of León.

Mirandese is much more than an endangered language; it is a testament to Portugal's linguistic and cultural richness, a heritage that deserves to be preserved and celebrated.

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u/Different_Method_191 19d ago

"La Lhéngua i L futuro de la Tierra de Miranda Hoije, la Tierra de Miranda puode tener proua an ber reconhecida la sue eidentidade stórica, de que la sue lhéngua ye talbeç l maior i l más amportante pedamiego. La Lhéngua Mirandesa nun ye solo un strumiento de quemunicaçon. Ye mimória, ye tradiçon, ye lhiteratura, ye música, ye ua maneira única de dezir l mundo i dar sentido a la rialidade. An cada palabra mirandesa stan guardadas cuontas, questumes, agarimos i seclos de bida quemunitaira."

https://www.publico.pt/2026/09/17/opiniao/opiniao/lhengua-i-l-futuro-tierra-miranda-2188286

u/MdMV_or_Emdy_idk

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u/MdMV_or_Emdy_idk 19d ago

I’m really surprised this only happened now. This book made the news a few years ago, idk why it only started circulating now

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u/SanMarinoNerd 18d ago

not all who wanders are lost