Sobre a Gallaecia magna e as relacións históricas e xeolingüísticas entre galego, protugués e asturiano

Resum

The aim of this article is to call attention to the existence of certain dialectal features that prove the existence of a Galicio-Asturian geolinguistic area (including the Portuguese Baixo-Minho) which dates back to the period of Roman colonization. What we effectively do is revive the geo-historico-linguistic notion of a Gallaecia Magna elaborated by Joseph M. Piel as the original geographical birthplace of Portuguese, Galician and Asturian. This area consisted of north-east Portugal, the provinces of Pontevedra, Coruña, Lugo and the western part of Oviedo. Some differences between Galician and Portuguese (that show Galician as more akin to Asturian) must have to do with the affinity of Galician and western Asturias to this area. The features are proof of a long period of contact between Galician and Asturian, and their allegiance to the area, as opposed to the independent, sometimes united, stance of Portuguese and Castilian in the face of these facts.