Galician Dialects: Phonology, Morphology, and Regional Variations

Posted on Apr 3, 2025 in Geology

Galician Dialects: Phonological and Morphological Features

Dialectology: Dialectal Variations: Dialectal variations can affect phonology, morphology (including syntax), and vocabulary.

Phonological Variations

Galician dialects differ in their use of phonemes.

Vowel Differences

While most Galician dialects have seven non-vocalic phonemes, the specific vowels used in words can vary.

Phoneme Variations
  • Nasal consonants in the syllable coda can influence preceding vowels, particularly ‘E’ in nouns and adjectives, especially in western Galicia.
  • Dent-A: The final vowel ‘O’ in some nouns and adjectives in western Galicia changes to ‘A’.
  • (Mede)-A: The final vowel in some nouns and pronouns in western areas changes, with a half-open tonic vowel.

Consonant Differences

A key phenomenon in western Galician dialects is the ‘Gheada’ (pronouncing ‘g’ as ‘gh’) and lisping.

Morphological Variations

Morphological variations affect the second qualifying aspect of nominals (nouns, adjectives, pronouns).

Nominal Morphology

Variations in nominal morphology include plural forms, with the three main dialectal blocks of Galician using different endings (ons, is, ois). These variations stem from the evolution of Latin endings like -anum and -anam. For example:

  • West: (an)
  • Center and East: (ao)
  • Occidente an, and east to downtown.
  • Enum, enam (Galego of Asturias ‘en, ia’ not resto ‘eo, ea’).
  • Inum inam west and center: Ino, ina. Asturias Galego d ‘in ia’ rest do oriente ‘in ina ‘.

Pronoun usage also varies. Most Galician dialects use a 2nd person singular pronoun with two unstressed pronouns: one for direct object (OD) and another for indirect object (OI). However, in the southwestern Pontevedra province, one pronoun is used for both functions (theism). In the northeast, amalgamated forms like ‘connosco’ and ‘convosco’ are not used. Western Galicia uses ‘us’ while the eastern half uses ‘you’ as the 2nd person singular subject pronoun. Central and southwestern Lugo present ‘il/eles’, while the rest of Galicia uses ‘eels’.

Verbal Morphology

  • West: Thematic vowel ‘e’ in the 2nd person singular indicative.
  • Center-East-Northwest: Thematic vowel ‘i’.
  • A Coruña: Thematic vowel ‘i’ in the 3rd person singular indicative.
  • Pontevedra (northern, southern, north-central) and northern A Coruña and Lugo: Thematic vowel ‘e’.

Galician Dialectal Blocks and Areas

Western Block

  • Plural: pantalons
  • Gheada
  • Termination: -an (masculine and feminine)
  • Thematic vowel: “e” (e.g., colleches ti-ti collestes)

Central Block

  • Plural: Pantalos
  • Diphthong: oi (moito)
  • No lisping, no western Gheada
  • Termination: ao (IRMA) and á (IRMA)
  • Thematic vowel: ‘i’ in the 2nd person singular indicative

Eastern Block

  • Plural: pantalois
  • Diphthong: ou/ui (muito-muto)
  • Termination: ‘in’ (carmine, sobrin)
  • -is in the 2nd person plural