Asturian

The third sociolinguistic survey of Asturias, carried out in 2017 by the Euskobarómetro team of the University of the Basque Country among the population aged 16 and over, is the most recent available¹. It found that 62% of Asturians speak Asturian, 38% of whom can also read or write it, and that 28% understand it only; 90% are thus at least potential speakers, up from 40% in 1983¹.

Transmission: 34% had Asturian as their family language in childhood (+13 points in fifteen years), 20% both languages and 42% Castilian¹. For 65% of Asturians, the region's vernacular is "Asturian, bable or the Asturian language"¹.

Asturian is protected by Law 1/1998 on the use and promotion of bable/Asturian². In 2017, 53% of Asturians supported the demand for Asturian to be made official, 25% were opposed and 20% indifferent¹.

Citizens' oral or written communications with the Principality's administration in Asturian are valid for all purposes². Place names have their traditional form as their official name, possibly bilingual where both forms are in common use².

Asturian is taught at all levels, during school hours and as a curriculum subject, but learning it remains voluntary². In 2017, 14% of Asturians aged 16 and over said they had studied it themselves, and 45% that they or someone close to them had done so¹.

The 1998 law requires public administrations to promote the defence of Asturian in public and private media².

In 2017, 88% of Asturians rejected the idea that speaking Asturian means "speaking badly"¹.