Leonese language

Leonese language ("Llionés" in Leonese) is the language of León and Zamora, both in Spain, and Bragança, in Portugal. A Romance language, Leonese was the language of the Kingdom of León in the Middle Ages.
Leonese is recognised by the UN as "seriously endangered" and is officially recognised by Castile and León.
Education.
Leonese is taught in sixteen schools in the cirt of León, and there are lessons for adults in several villages in the provinces of León and Zamora.
For approximately fifteen years, some cultural associations have offered courses in Leonese, sometimes with the support or collaboration of local administrations in the provinces of Leon and Zamora. There was never collaboration by Castile and León. The courses have taken place mostly with difficulty, without continuity or by unqualified teachers and very often, far from where Leonese is spoken.
Pronunciation.
The language has five vowels in a stressed position, represented by "a, e, i, o" and "u", and three (two archiphonemes /I/, /U/ and one phoneme /a/) in a nonstressed position, represented by "e, u, "and "a" at the end of word.
Endangered language.
UNESCO, in its "Atlas of Languages in Danger in the World", places Leonese among languages in danger.
Leonese is classified in the worst of the possible situations whose characteristics are:
Literature.
Literature written in Leonese started in the Middle Ages and is still written today. The first written text in Leonese is the "Nodicia of Kesos" (959 or 974), found in Ardón. Other works in Leonese include the "Fueru de Llión", "Fueru de Salamanca", "Fueru Xulgu", "Códice d'Alfonsu XI", "Disputa d'Elena y María" and "Llibru d'Alixandre".
Important writers are Torres Naharro, Juan del Encina, and Lucas Fernández. Some writers like Caitano Bardón ("Cuentos en Dialecto Leonés"), Luis Maldonado or Aragón Escacena ("Entre brumas") restarted the Leonese literature in the early 20th century. Today, important writers include Eva González in the last 20th century or Abel Pardo, Xuasús González, Adrianu Martín or Félix Llópez.