Minderico language explained

Minderico
Nativename:Piação do Ninhou
States:Portugal
Region:Minde
Speakers:500
Date:2010
Ref:e18
Familycolor:Indo-European
Fam2:Italic
Fam3:Latino-Faliscan
Fam4:Latin
Fam5:Romance
Fam6:Ibero-Romance
Fam7:Galician-Portuguese
Fam8:Portuguese
Ancestor:Proto-Indo-European
Ancestor2:Proto-Italic
Ancestor3:Old Latin
Ancestor4:Vulgar Latin
Ancestor5:Proto-Romance
Ancestor6:Galician-Portuguese
Ancestor7:Portuguese
Iso3:drc
Glotto:mind1263
Glottorefname:Minderico

Minderico, also known as Piação do Ninhou (the language of Minde), was originally a sociolect or a secret language spoken by textile producers and traders in the freguesia (civil parish) of Minde (Alcanena, Portugal).

History

After this initial phase (18th century), Minderico began to expand its vocabulary continuously and creatively. This expansion was (and continues to be) intimately related to the socio-cultural experiences of the inhabitants of Minde. For example, names and nicknames of well-known persons from Minde and the neighbouring areas were used as lexemes to express physical or psychological characteristics, as these characteristics were salient for those persons. This method of lexical formation can be explained by the fact that Minde, due to its geographical isolation, is a small and close knit community, where everyone knows one another. Therefore, using names of persons as a means to express the characteristics associated to them was immediately understood amongst members of the speech community; this was not an obstacle to effective communication.

The Interdisciplinary Centre for Social and Language Documentation (CIDLes), an institution dedicated to the research and documentation of endangered languages in Europe and the development of language technologies for lesser-used languages, is now working on the linguistic documentation of Minderico and, together with the speech community, on its revitalization.

See also

Bibliography

External links