Castilian Spanish: Origins, Evolution, and Global Use
The Current Castilian
1. Formation of Castilian and Other Languages of Spain
When the Romans arrived in Spain in 218 BC, they encountered various peoples: Iberians, Celts, Tartessians, Basques, and others. These groups also spoke different languages. All of them (except the Basques) adopted Latin and eventually abandoned their native tongues.
Gradually, Latin began to be spoken with distinct characteristics in areas where other languages had previously been spoken. This led to the emergence of the first Latin dialects: Galician, Astur-Leonese, Castilian, Aragonese, and Navarrese-Catalan. By the tenth century, some of these dialects had evolved into languages, namely Galician, Castilian, and Catalan.
We have one pre-Romance language: Basque, and three Romance languages: Castilian, Galician, and Catalan. The progress of the Reconquista introduced new speakers, projecting Castilian among other languages. Consequently, it was given the name “Spanish” and was taken to America.
Besides being the official language of Spain, it is also the official language of eighteen American nations: Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Chile, Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica, Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic. In Puerto Rico, it is co-official with English.
It is the second most spoken language in the world. However, if our language had a greater global presence, it would be more readily incorporated into new technologies and scientific languages, as it currently occupies a position subordinate to English.
The varieties within a language depend on several factors:
- Geographical varieties: These are derived from the area in which the language is spoken.
- Social varieties: These are conditioned by the social stratification of the speaker, such as the cultivated, standard, or vulgar levels.
- Diaphasic varieties: These are imposed by the style and circumstances of each speaker.
2. Latin American Spanish
When the Spanish arrived in America, they encountered a vast mosaic of languages. Among the most prominent were Nahuatl and Quechua. Clergy were ordered to learn these languages, and licenses were withheld from those who did not. Subsequently, Castilian was imposed with the aim of unifying the language across all American domains.
After the independence of these nations from Spain, some scholars proposed differentiating their language from Spanish. Nevertheless, Spanish is spoken in many parts of the world. Logically, the Spanish spoken in South America has its own characteristics that differentiate it from that spoken in Spain:
- Phonetic aspects: Ceceo (pronunciation of ‘c’ and ‘z’ as ‘th’), yeísmo (pronunciation of ‘ll’ and ‘y’ the same), loss of syllable-final or word-final ‘s’.
- Morphosyntactic aspects: Voseo (use of vos instead of tú, also modifying the verb in the present tense), the use of diminutives.
- Lexical-semantic aspects: Lindo for bonito (pretty), apurarse for darse prisa (to hurry), bañera for bañera (bathtub), pollera for falda (skirt), etc.
The reasons for these differences include:
- The Spanish that arrived was diverse, as it included Andalusian, Galician, Basque, etc.
- Pre-Columbian languages influenced Spanish.
- Various ethnic groups arrived in America after the discovery.
3. Linguistic Diversity in Spain
- Language: A linguistic system of a community, defined normatively through grammar and spelling, and cultivated literarily.
- Dialect: A language system derived from a language, with a more limited scope, and which may not achieve widespread dissemination.