page_title: Leonese dialect
section_title: Vitality
hierarchical_section_title: Leonese dialect / Historical, social and cultural aspects / Use and distribution / Vitality
caption_attribution_description: Español: Pintada en la Maragatería que reivindica el uso de la toponimia popular y la lengua leonesa en la rotulación de señalizaciónes y carteles.
context_page_description: Leonese is a set of vernacular Romance dialects currently spoken in northern and western portions of the historical region of León in Spain and a few adjoining areas in Portugal. In this narrow sense, Leonese is distinct from the dialects grouped under Asturian, although there is no clear linguistic division. In the past, it was spoken in a wider area, including most of the historical region. The current number of Leonese speakers is estimated at 20,000 to 50,000. The westernmost fringes of the provinces of León and Zamora are in the territory of the Galician language, although there is dialectal continuity between the linguistic areas.
  The Leonese and Asturian dialects have long been recognized as a single language, currently known as Astur-Leonese or Asturian-Leonese and formerly known as Leonese. For most of the 20th century, linguists 2008? discussed a Leonese language descending from Latin and encompassing two groups: the Asturian dialects on one hand, and dialects spoken in the provinces of León and Zamora in Spain and a related dialect in Trás-os-Montes, Portugal, on the other hand. Unlike Asturian, the Leonese dialects are not officially promoted or regulated.
context_section_description: UNESCO, in its Atlas of Languages in Danger in the World, lists Leonese in the most at-risk category. The category's criteria are:
  unofficial
  without legitimized significant use in the news media
  low levels of proficiency and use
  poor social prestige
  not used as a medium of primary education
  not used in official toponyms
caption: Ad hoc "translation" into Leonese
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