In past publications, we have dealt with some of the historical languages of our country that were forged during the Middle Ages, such as Catalan, Galician, Asturian, Mozarabic or Castilian. In today’s article, to end this cycle of languages of the Hispanic context, we will talk about Navarrese-Aragonese.
The Navarrese-Aragonese language defines the group of Romance dialects spoken in the Ebro valley area during the Middle Ages, from whose linguistic trunk the current Aragonese language descends directly and from which some features remain in the Castilian language spoken in La Rioja, Aragon and Navarre. It has its origin in vulgar Latin, with a possible Basque substratum. The language receives, for its medieval period, the denomination among current linguists of Navarrese-Aragonese, because it includes the related Aragonese and Navarrese Romance languages, as well as pre-Castilian Riojan.
Origin of the language
Navarrese-Aragonese, in origin, covers the evolution of vulgar Latin in the area between Alta Rioja and Ribagorza (region of Huesca), an area subject to Basque influence. The oldest document that can be considered to be written in the Navarrese-Aragonese language is the Glosas Emilianenses, from the Monastery of San Millán de la Cogolla, in La Rioja. This writing is not in Castilian, but in Navarrese-Aragonese, specifically in the Rioja variety; in this regard, it should be borne in mind that the territory of La Rioja was not linked to Castile during the 10th century, when the Glosses were written, so that the ‘Castilianization’ of the territory would not take place until the 11th century.
Of the Glosas Emilianenses, which total more than one thousand in all, about one hundred are in that Riojan or Navarrese-Aragonese romance and have the added interest of including two annotations in Basque, this being the first known written testimony, non-epigraphic, in that language.
Medieval expansion
The apogee of the kingdom of Navarre was under Sancho III the Great, who reigned between 1000 and 1035. During his reign, the union between Navarre and Aragon took place, in addition to incorporating the county of Castile.
The expansion of the kingdom of Navarre over Muslim lands also implied the spread of the language throughout the conquered territory. With the conquest of the taifa of Zaragoza by Alfonso I the Battler (1118), it is believed that the Navarrese-Aragonese language spread southward, encompassing the entirety of the current provinces of Zaragoza and Teruel, as well as the interior areas of the provinces of Castellón and Valencia. However, it is likely that the Romance language spoken in these areas was already quite similar to Navarrese-Aragonese before the conquest.
In the center, south and east of Navarre, the Navarrese variant of Navarrese-Aragonese Romance was spoken throughout the Middle Ages, alternating with Basque and Occitan from the other side of the Pyrenees.
Varieties of Navarrese-Aragonese
Aragonese romance
The best attested period of medieval Aragonese comprises the period 1336-1387, when the throne was occupied by Pedro IV the Ceremonious, who took special care in preserving books and transmitting knowledge. Historical books were translated under his reign, and between 1369 and 1372 the famous Chronicle of San Juan de la Peña, considered by some authors to be the most complete and important narrative source of medieval Aragonese historiography, was first written in Latin and then translated into Catalan and Aragonese.
The literary cultivation of Aragonese fell off abruptly in the 15th century, when the literary works of Aragon written in Romance language were written almost exclusively in Spanish. Nevertheless, the use of Aragonese survived in the territory corresponding to the Crown of Aragon, although its use was increasingly restricted to the northern areas of the region.
Navarre romance
Testimonies in medieval Navarrese are abundant insofar as Navarrese Romance is the language that, from the 13th and especially the 14th century, would be predominant in the court and in the royal chancellery of the Kingdom of Navarre. Once Navarre was definitively annexed to Castile at the beginning of the 16th century, the romance of Navarre went into decline.
Riojan romance
Pre-Castilian Riojan was the most western variety of Navarrese-Aragonese Romance. It represents the evolution of Vulgar Latin in La Rioja and in the north of present-day Soria. There is written testimony in the Glosas Emilianenses of the 10th century. After its incorporation into the Kingdom of Castile, La Rioja was Castilianized between the 11th and 13th centuries.
Navarrese and Aragonese
The state of the question about Navarrese, so short-lived in Hispanic dialectology, differs strongly from the historiographical situation of Aragonese. In order to explain its superior knowledge, what can be observed about Asturian with respect to Leonese is largely valid: the more accentuated contrast of the former with Castilian, the survival and application of suitable academic institutions, etc., have favored it with greater research attention.
Then, the situation of Aragonese, or rather, the attitude of its speakers towards the language, is also very different, if not disparate, from that described above for Navarre. In Aragon there is still a clear awareness of its identity, which is expressed in many different ways. For example, the official status of Aragonese is reflected in the agreement signed in 1409 between the kingdoms of Aragon and Castile.
Aragonese has always been present not only in the oral tradition of some areas, but also in printed texts throughout its domain.
Nowadays, Aragonese is spoken mainly in the north of the province of Huesca, and is also known as Aragonese language or High Aragonese.
Phonetic features
The Glosas Emilianenses would show some phonetic evolutions typical of Navarrese-Aragonese, and not of Castilian, as in these words: lueco (then), get (es, in current Aragonese ye), plicare (to arrive), feito (done). The longest phrase of the codex, which corresponds to a religious prayer, reads as follows:
With the permission of our
Lord Jesus Christ, who
gets the honor and title and
has the mandatee with our
patron of the sacred spirit
in the seculars of the siecu.
God Omnipotent
such a service will be
in front of you
Gaudioso Segamus. Amen.
Carlos Sánchez Luis