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Leonese

Leonese

1 8.1
Relating to the region of León in Spain, its people, or its language
  • adjective
: leonés
  • The Leonese culture is rich in traditions that reflect the history of the region of León.

Examples

  • Anachronistically (perhaps even nationalistically), they dialectalize O and P and promote the Leonese and Aragonese features as metastatic contaminants.

    Academic text (1994)
  • The Leonese language has unique characteristics that distinguish it from other regional dialects.

  • Many people in Spain are proud to celebrate their Leonese heritage during local festivals.

Surface Forms

Leonese positive

Morphology

Leonese = Leon (transparent) = Leon + ese

Formed by the productive demonym/adjectival suffix '-ese' added to the place name 'Leon', so the relation 'relating to León' is directly derivable.

Etymology

Leonese comes from the place León, whose name comes from the old Latin Legio, meaning 'legion' or 'group of soldiers' and sharing the same root as English legion. The ending -ese means 'from', so Leonese describes things or people 'from León'.