Apostrophization (L'Apostrofación)
 
 
A few words in Asturian are apostrophized:
  1. The artícles el, la;
  2. The pronouns me, te, se;
  3. The prepositions de, en, pa;
  4. The word que (used as conjunction or relative).
 
The artícle el

The article el is apostrophized:

  1. in front of a word beginning with vowel or mute h, cf.:

    2. l'home  Sp. el hombre,
    l'árbol  Sp. el árbol,
    l'espaciu  Sp. el espacio,
    l'horru  Sp. el hórreo.
  2. after a word ending with vowel and before a word beginning with consonant, cf.:

    3. ye'l fíu,
    canta'l carru,
    baltia'l coche.
When both the preceding and the following words begin with vowels, the apostrophization form is l', cf.:
ye l'árbol,
canta l'home,
baltia l'horru.
The article el is not apostrophized after the conjunctions y / o and the pronoun -y, even if the next word begins with vowel or mute h, cf.:
Xuan y el fíu.
Trúxo-y el regalu.
 
The artícle la

The article la is apostrophized before words beginning with vowel or mute h, cf.:

l'asturiana,
l'amestadura etc.
 
Pronouns me, te, se

The pronouns me, te se are apostrophized before words beginning with vowel or mute h, cf.:

cuando s'escuenda,
nun t'envizques,
si m'apurres el llibru.
 
Preposition de

The preposition de is apostrophized before words beginning with vowel or mute h, cf.:

d'esti,
d'horru,
d'Europa.
Make distinction between delles and d'elles etc., cf.:
delles neñes   Sp. algunas niñas,
les neñes d'elles   Sp. las niñas de ellas.
 
Preposition en

The preposition en is apostrophized before words beginning with vowel or mute h, cf.:

ta n'Uviéu,
foi n'ochobre.
 
Preposition pa

The preposition pa is apostrophized before words beginning with a- or ha-, cf.:

Ta p'Albandi,
p'arriba o p'abaxo,
ye p'hacia'l mio pueblu.
 
The word que

Que (used as conjunction or relative) is apostrophized before words beginning with vowel or mute h, cf.:

tien qu'empobinar pel camín,
qu'ésti quiera nun me da más.
When que is before the personal pronoun él, the apostrophization is qu'él, cf.:
quier lo mesmo qu'él.
When que is before the article el, the apostrophization is que'l, cf.:
Diz que'l home ye altu.
Diz que'l vecín fale.
The interrogative and exclamative qué is never apostrophized.


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