Spoken in the Alentejo village of Barrancos, Barranquenho is the result of the contact between southern varieties of Portuguese and Castilian, in a hybrid community, in the frontier between Portugal and Spain.
The study of the oral heritage of Barrancos aims to contribute not only to the knowledge of the effects of the contact of those two Romance languages but above all to the recognition of the richness of linguistic and cultural diversity in territories of low demography and isolation.
Since then 2017, a Program for the Preservation and Enhancement of Barranquenho’s Language and Culture has been underway.
The UNESCO Chair has been working with the Municipality of Barrancos to preserve and enhance the oral heritage of the village, which is a unique case in the Iberian Peninsula and in Europe.
Among the various activities carried out over the years were the International Congress “O Barranquenho: bridge between languages and cultures past, present and future”, which took place in Barrancos on June 2, 2017, and the publication of the book O Barranquenho como língua de contacto no contexto românico, by Maria Filomena Gonçalves and María Victoria Navas, as well as articles in prestigious journals such as Revista de Lingüística Galega (no. 12, 2020), Revista d’Estudis Romànics (no. 43, 2021), Revista Internacional de Lingüística Iberoamericana – RILI (no. 42, 2023).
In recent years, the research carried out by members of the Chair has contributed to the public discussion around the status of Barranquenho, providing opinions to the Assembly of the Republic, which eventually approved Law No. 97/2021 (Recognition and protection of Barranquenho and its cultural identity).
Barranquenho has been the object of a linguistic policy and planning, with preservation and enhancement measures, such as the elaboration of a Bases for a Barranquenho Orthographic Convention, a grammar, and a dictionary, but also work with the local authorities, the community in general and, in particular, with the school community.
After previous incursions into the community, in March 2024, a writing workshop (3 lessons) was held in Barranquenho with students from the 7th, 8th and 9th grades of the Barrancos School Group.
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