Sardo logudorese

Sardu logudoresu or Logudorian is one of the languages of Sardinia, properly a diasystem of Sardinian, and it is without any doubt the most conservative of all Romance languages.

Latin G- and K- before /i, e/ was not palatalized in this idiom, which makes it different from all other Neo-Latin languages. Compare sardu log. kentu with Italian cento /'tSento/, Spanish /'Tjento/ and French /sã/ (/T/ and /s/ from /ts/).

The name recalls the area of Logudoro[?] (literally "golden place") in which it is spoken; it is a central-eastern sub-region of the island of Sardinia and mainly defers to Ozieri (Othieri) and Nuoro (Nugoro) for culture and language, as well as for history. Roughly we could say it is an area of 150 x 100 km, with some 500/700,000 inhabitants.

Origins have been investigated by several authors (Eduardo Blasco Ferrer's investigation is one of the deepest ones) and tend to be related to Etruscan, Latin, Spanish (due to Aragon's domain in the island).

Some roots still cannot be deciphered, as they might come from the language of Nuragici people, which should have been influenced by Phoenicians but originated from Sanskrit. Also, the mysterious people of Shardana should have been an important passage in the island's evolution, but only mere hypotheses are available on this matter.

One of most secret roots is "nur", that is in "Nuraghe" (the main Sardinian ancient monument, from which an era is called) and in many names of places (not only villages).

Sardu Logudoresu has some dialects (see: Sardinian language), perhaps one per village, with differences that may sometimes be relevant; nevertheless, there appear to be no communication problems among different Logudoresu dialects.

Most of Sardinian poetry and literature are composed in Sardu Logudoresu. See list of authors.

Comparisons have been made with Sardu Campidanesu[?], the other main variant of Sardinian language spoken on the southern side of the island, and it eminently seems that the two variants have common roots with very different evolution, even if Campidanesu has better certified relationships with Southern Mediterranean languages.

The most interesting feature of Sardu Logudoresu is perhaps that, due to the particular history of the area, it has suffered very little contamination and has changed very slowly, preserving traces of every innovation.