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 Logudorian kentu with Italian cento: /'tSento/, Spanish /Ti'ento/ and French /sã/ (/T/ and /s/ from /ts/).
Location and Distribution
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 5-700,000 inhabitants.
Origins and Features
The language's origins have been investigated by several authors: Eduardo Blasco Ferrer's investigation is one of the most thorough. Studies show the langauge to be related to Etruscan, Latin, and Spanish (due to Aragon's domain in the island). Some roots, however, still cannot be deciphered, as they might come from the language of the Nuragici people, which should have been influenced by the Phoenician languages but originated from Sanskrit. Also, the mysterious people of Shardana would be expected to have played an important role in the island's evolution, but only mere hypotheses are available on this matter. Comparisons have been made with Sardo campidanese, the other main variant of the Sardinian language, spoken on the southern side of the island, and it seems obvious that the two variants share common roots but have experienced different evolutions, even if Campidanesu has better certified relationships with Southern Mediterranean languages.
One of most secret roots is "nur", in "Nuraghe" for example (the main Sardinian ancient monument, from which an era is called) and in many names of places (not only thorps).
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.
Dialects
Sardu Logudoresu has a number of 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.
Writers
Most of Sardinian poetry and literature are composed in Sardu Logudoresu. See this list of authors.