Dialect Areas of Galician

Level 6

Galician is traditionally divided into three dialect areas: western, central and eastern. For example, the standard plural cans (dogs) is cas in central areas and cais in the east.

How It Works

Three areas

Dialectologists group Galician speech into three large areas, each with smaller zones inside:

  • Western: the western parts of A Coruña and Pontevedra, plus a small area in the south of Ourense. This area has innovative features such as gheada and seseo.
  • Central: the largest area, covering central Galicia, most of Lugo and Ourense, the north-east and interior of A Coruña, and the interior of Pontevedra.
  • Eastern: the east of Lugo and Ourense, plus the Galician-speaking parts of Asturias, León and Zamora. It keeps many older features.

The plural of words in -n

The border lines between the areas are drawn with the plurals of words like can (dog) and ladrón (thief):

  • West: cans, ladróns.
  • Centre: cas, ladrós.
  • East: cais, ladrois.

The singular is can and ladrón everywhere. The standard plural is cans and ladróns.

Other examples. In parts of the east you can hear tu for the subject pronoun ti (you). Features like these are signs of where a speaker comes from, not mistakes.

What this means for you

Write the standard forms. When you listen to people from different places, expect these differences and do not be surprised if a friend from Lugo says cas.

Examples (5)

  1. Os cans ladran toda a noite.

    The dogs bark all night.

    Standard plural, also used in the western area.

  2. Os cas ladran toda a noite.

    The dogs bark all night.

    Central pronunciation of the same sentence. The standard writes cans.

  3. Os cais ladran toda a noite.

    The dogs bark all night.

    Eastern pronunciation. The standard writes cans.

  4. Colleron os ladróns onte.

    They caught the thieves yesterday.

    Standard ladróns; central speakers say ladrós, and eastern speakers ladrois.

  5. Ti es de Lugo?

    Are you from Lugo?

    Standard ti; in parts of the east you may hear Tu es de Lugo?

How It Connects

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Dialect Areas of GalicianLevel 6

Learn This First

Dialect areas can be introduced as regional variation, with standard written plurals providing a comparison.