Together with other initially European languages such as Portuguese, French or Italian, the linguistic roots of Spanish make it a Romance language. This means that Latin, or more specifically, Vulgar Latin, constitutes its most important linguistic base.
The constant contact and mutual influence of the Latin basis with other linguistic traditions and cultures has led to the formation of the different Romance languages as we know them today. In the case of Spanish, there are, for example, characteristics that come from the Iberian and Celtic traditions.
There is also a great amount of Greek vocabulary that was first adopted by Latin speakers and then brought into Spanish. Words such as “escuela” (school) or “huérfano” (orphan) all belong to this tradition. And we should not forget the seven centuries of Arab domination of the peninsula. This has left, among other things, an important legacy of lexical elements that have been incorporated into the Spanish language. A surname you probably know which exemplifies this is “Almodóvar”.
Spanish is, especially in the bilingual territories of Spain, also known as castellano (Castilian), because of its origins in the region of Castilla. Castilla is situated in the north-central part of Spain, and it was once the neuralgic center of the Spanish empire that would take the Spanish language to more than twenty other countries.
The establishment of a linguistic unity of Spanish as a common language for the state of Spain was parallel to its territorial unity. This union was only possible after the Reconquest of the peninsula from the Arab settlers, at the end of the 15th century. The kingdom of Castilla, and also its linguistic variety, expanded to the practical totality of the Iberian Peninsula. After the marriage of Isabel I of Castilla and Fernando II of Aragón, the Spanish state was born, and Castilian language and culture became its most dominant identity. During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, through a series of linguistic evolutions and normalizing changes, the language of the Spanish state became what is nowadays known as Modern Spanish.
It is important to remember, however, that spoken Spanish is not identical in the different regions of the Spanish state. In fact, its pronunciation and lexical characteristics can vary to a very significant extent from one place to another. However, the maintenance of a unified, standard, version of the Spanish language and of its written form is guaranteed by the Real Academia de la Lengua Española. The Academia sets the rules to follow in order to speak and write in a way that is accepted by all the different Spanish speakers.
History Of The Spanish Language
The Phoenicians of Lebanon followed. These great pioneers of peaceful and productive civilization founded Cadiz and other trading posts along the Mediterranean coast. They left a profoundly rich legacy including the invention of the alphabet.
Next came the Greeks. They founded several towns before the Phoenicians decided to claim possession of the peninsula and called for help from Carthage. But Rome came to the Greeks' defense and this became the Second Punic War.
The Romans conquered the entire Iberian Peninsula and ruled for 600 years until the collapse of the Roman Empire in the 400s A.D. They named the region Hispania, taught classical Latin to the inhabitants, and completely absorbed them in Roman culture. When classical Latin merged with the languages of the Iberians, Celts and Carthaginians, the result was a language called Vulgar Latin.
Latin remained the official language of Hispania even after the German Visigoth tribes invaded in the 400s A.D. But in about 719 A.D. came the attack of the Moors. These were Arabic-speaking Islamic Muslims from Northern Africa and they dominated most of Hispania until the late 1400s. Vulgar Latin survived only in a few remote centers of Christianity, but the creation of a standardized Spanish language had begun 200 years earlier. More about this in a moment.
Arabic became the next largest contributor of words to what was to become the Spanish language. Thousands of Arabic words had been added by the time the Christian kingdoms finally re-took possession of Spain and expelled the Moors in the 15th century A.D. Vulgar Latin dialects, especially Castilian, now began to dominate.
The Catholic husband-wife monarchs Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon made Castilian the official Spanish language dialect when they finished the reconquest of Moorish Spain in 1492. By now, from the work of the court of scholars that had begun in the 1200s under King Alfonso X, the Spanish language had already been standardized based on the Castilian dialect.
Alfonso X was known as the Learned King of Castile and Leon. Headquartered in the central highlands city of Toledo, he and his scholars translated histories along with literary, scientific and legal works from Latin, Greek and Arabic. This played a major role in the spread of knowledge throughout ancient Western Europe. They also wrote original works and their official documents in Castilian.
And so, the Castilian dialect became Spain's written and educational standard. Several spoken dialects survived, with Andalusian as the next most prominent.
In the end, the principal contributors of words to the Spanish language are Latin, English and Arabic, in that order. Modern Spanish is laced with about 4,000 words having Arabic roots. Non-Latin words that both Spanish and English share come from Arabic. For instance, albacore (albacora), alcohol, algebra, guitar (guitarra), coffee (caf?) and sofa among others.
Today, Spanish is the official language of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Spain, Uruguay and Venezuela. Spanish is the native language of over 332 million people, and is widely spoken in the United States, Canada, Morocco and the Philippines.
Both Steven Muller & Elizabeth Miller are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Elizabeth Miller has sinced written about articles on various topics from Programming, Learn Spanish and Home. Copyright MBPCO 2006 and Beyond. Elizabeth Miller is an author/publisher. For more about Spanish just click spanish.. Elizabeth Miller's top article generates over 1600 views. Bookmark Elizabeth Miller to your Favourites.
Bottle Opener Key Chains There is also a Teamwork Cap keychain light that comes with a bright krypton lamp and a replaceable battery.