A Fala: sociolingvistická situace a podmínky pro standardizaci
A Fala: the sociolinguistic situation and preconditions for standardization

Summary/Abstract: A Fala is a language spoken in three villages on the border of Spain and Portugal. The three villages respectively attest the three varieties of the language: Valverdeñu in Valverde del Fresno, Lagarteiru in Eljas, and Mañegu in San Martín de Trevejo. This article describes the legal status of the language, its exclusion from the public education system, and the sociolinguistic situation in the three villages. The main objective is to discuss issues regarding the orthographic standardization of A Fala. The subtopics include the scope of the standard, the authority to create the standard, and two approaches to standardization: the standard as a model and the standard as general usage. Since there is no prestigious variety of A Fala which could serve as a model, the latter approach to standardization seems to be more feasible than the former. Endeavours to standardize the language should also take into account that A Fala is an independent language and not a dialect of one of the Romance languages.

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