Galician

Where it’s spoken

Galician (galego) is co-official in the autonomous community of Galicia in northwestern Spain, where about 60% of the population speaks it. It is also a recognized minority language in adjacent areas of Asturias, León, and Zamora. Galician shares its early medieval origins with Portuguese — together they form the Galician-Portuguese language group of the medieval period.

What it sounds like

Galician has seven stressed vowels, including open ɛ and ɔ that contrast with closed e and o. It preserves the lateral palatal ll and the palatal nasal ñ. The voiceless dental fricative (the Spanish “lisp”) is generally absent — Galician keeps a distinction between s and z that differs from Castilian.

How it’s written

Galician uses the Latin alphabet with two competing modern orthographic norms — the official Galician Royal Academy norm (closer to Spanish conventions) and the reintegrationist norm (closer to Portuguese). Most public-facing Galician follows the academic norm.

History

Galician-Portuguese lyric poetry of the 12th–14th centuries — including the Cantigas de Santa Maria of Alfonso X — was the most prestigious poetic tradition of the medieval Iberian Peninsula. After Portugal’s separation, Galician declined in prestige but survived in rural use until 19th-century revival.