Límites del dialecto leonés en la provincia de Zamora según los materiales del Cuaderno I del ALPI (1934-1935)

Abstract

The validity of the isoglosses by which the boundaries of the Leonese dialect in the province of Zamora have been traditionally indicated, especially as a way of identifying the area where this dialect was spoken in the early 20th century, has always been held in doubt. It is uncertain that the authors of the isoglosses kept in mind the systematic character of the studied phenomena for establishing the boundaries of this dialect. In all likelihood, the isoglosses represent the area where the phenomena were more frequently lexicalized rather than the area where they were actually spoken. Here the author attempts to set the eartern and western boundaries of the dialect in the province of Zamora by considering the lexicalized or systematic character of the phenomena. In addition, he identifies the different areas and subareas within those boundaries and, thereafter, compares his results with the representation received from Leonese dialectology. Relevant materials from the province of Zamora for this comparison are those included in the Linguistic Atlas of the Iberian Peninsula (ALPI), gathered in 1934 and 1935 by Aurelio M. Espinosa Jr. and Anibal Otero; more specifically, the materials of Cuaderno 1, published by David Heap in www.alpi.ca..