Ribagorçan

• Palatalization of L in PL, CL, FL groups, e.g. pllou [pLOw] (it rains), cllau [kLaw] (key), an exclusive feature of this dialect, not shared by general Catalan nor Aragonese.
• General loss of Latin final unstressed vowels but A, as in Catalan. Moving westward preserved final -O get more frequent.
• Occasional diphtongation of Romance short E>ie,O>ue, a feature shared with Aragonese. This feature gets more general moving westward. E.g. TERRA > tierra, terra; PONTE > puent, pont; FONTES > Fonts (documented ancien toponymic) > Fonz (contemporary toponymic) (this last one would have rendered *Fuenz in Aragonese).
• Occasional interdental fricative as solution to Latin CE,CI, e.g. cinc [TiNk] (five), a feature shared with Aragonese. This feature gets more general moving westward. (Contemporary Catalan has rendered [s] < [ts] < CE,CI).
• Different results for 2nd person plural endings of verbs (< -TIS), from west to east: -z [T] (as in Aragonese), -ts [ts] (as in Occitan and medieval Catalan), -u [w] (as in contemporary Catalan).
• Different results for romance voiced prepalatal africate ([dZ] < I-, Dj- Gj-), from west to east: [tS] (as in Aragonese and apitxat Valencian), [dZ] (as in medieval Catalan and most of contemporary Valencian), [Z] (as in most of contemporary Catalan). E.g. [tS] (West Ribagoza), [dZ] (East R.) (young ones).
• Loss of final -R of infinitives and polysillabic words, a feature shared with most of contemporary Catalan (except Valencian variants). E.g. MULIERE > mulle(r) (woman), *TRIPALIARE > treballa(r) (to work)
• Past perfect of verbs formed with auxiliary forms derived from VADERE + infinitive e.g. van fer [ban 'fe] (they did), a feature shared with Catalan, and unknown in Aragonese.

It is spoken in the comarques of

• Alta Ribagorça in the province of Lleida, Catalonia
• Baixa Ribagorça in the province of Huesca, Aragon
• Llitera in the province of Huesca, Aragon
• Alta Ribagorza Occidental in the province of Huesca, Aragon

Major towns of the area are: Tamarite de Litera, Benabarre, Pont de Suert, Benasque

Referenced By