Alentejan Portuguese
Alentejan Portuguese is a dialect of Portuguese spoken in most of the Portuguese region of Alentejo. It is also spoken, with its own subdialect, in the disputed municipalities of Olivença and Táliga. In this area, the language is currently endangered.
Characteristics
Alentejan Portuguese is thought to be influenced by the regions large focus on agriculture and livestock. Vowels are after stretched as be more easily heard over long distances. This coupled with a slow more deliberate pronunciation makes speakers of Alentejan Portuguese sound a bit more relaxed and simple compared to other dialects Below are a few more traits that differenciate Alentejan Portuguese- Presence of the article before the possessive pronoun, as in Ladino
- The regular use of the gerund in the present tense.
- A shift of ou to oi: oitro for outro
- Paragoge with i added to the end of verbs in the infinitive of verbs: fazeri for fazer
- The diphthong ei is replaced by e: galinhero for galinheiro
Cultural Significance
Present situation in Olivença and Táliga
The 2005 report of the Council of Europe's expert group on the implementation of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages in Spain asked the Spanish government to furnish information about the situation of Oliventine Portuguese, and for measures for the protection and promotion of that language under the provisions of Article 7 of the charter. However, in the report submitted by Spain in 2006, there are no references to Oliventine Portuguese.In the 2008 report issued by the Council of Europe, the following paragraphs were listed: