19 The Emergence of Galician as a Written Language

In this study, the process of the emergence of written Galician is described in light of the most recent research carried out within the Galician context, which is where the greatest advances, in terms of both quality and quantity, have been made in recent years. Firstly, the emergence and gradual and progressive consolidation of writing in Galician as a collective, pan- Romanic phenomenon within a context of cultured language in Latin, is described from a Romanic perspective. Secondly, the general and Galician sociolinguistic Romanic setting is assessed, and in particular, that where there would be, by way of different registers and according to the texts and situation, ecclesiastical Latin, notarial Latin and the vernacular. Following this, the process of emergence of the writing and constitution of a scripta through hybrid Latin-Galician texts which are defined as transitional, and in which it is observed that starting with Castilian and especially Astur-Leonese models, the written uses of Romance were gradually introduced into the Galician notarial apparatus and would later advance from Galician centres towards the south until reaching Portugual, is examined. The chronology of the first texts already written in Galician forms the conclusion.