Spanish Language Origins and Development: A Concise History
Origin and Development of the Spanish Language
Before the arrival of the Romans, the Iberian Peninsula was inhabited by various peoples, each with their own languages, now referred to as pre-Roman languages. Basque is the only pre-Roman language that survives today. In 218 BC, the Romans landed on the peninsula and imposed Vulgar Latin, initiating Romanization. In 409, Germanic peoples invaded the peninsula, incorporating their languages, some words of which are still in use today. In 711, the Arabs arrived, significantly influencing the Romance languages of the northern regions. Within these regions, several Romance languages emerged, including the early forms of Castilian. The first written examples were the Glosas Emilianenses and Glosas Silenses. Thanks to pilgrimages to Santiago de Compostela, Castilian adopted terms from Provence and southern France. In the 10th century, Alfonso X established a school of translators in Toledo, organizing the translation of important works into Castilian and addressing some linguistic issues. In 1492, Antonio de Nebrija published the first Castilian grammar.
The Influence of Latin and Other Languages
Most Castilian words originate from Latin. The original Latin brought to the peninsula by the Romans evolved, defining the Romance languages of the peninsula. These languages derived from Latin are called heritage words, evolving naturally. Words that stopped their development closer to Latin or were incorporated into the lexicon later are called cultismos or semicultismos, depending on the period. Sometimes, the same Latin etymological root produced both an evolved heritage word and a cultismo or semicultismo, resulting in doublets.
Lexical Innovations and Word Formation
Some words fall into disuse or disappear, while others are created to designate new realities. These lexical innovations are called neologisms. The remaining words in our language are adopted or created through various procedures:
Morphological Procedures
These procedures use elements already present in the language. They include:
- Composition: The union of two or more lexemes (free morphemes). Types of composition include:
- Sinapsis
- Disyuncion
- Contrast
- Yustaposicion
- Derivation: The union of one or more lexemes with one or more derivative morphemes.
- Parasíntesis: Words with the structure morpheme + lexeme + morpheme.
Lexical-Semantic Procedures
These include:
- Invention: The creation of entirely new words (rare).
- Onomatopoeia: Representations of sounds.
- Loanwords: Words borrowed from other languages due to cultural influence.
Phonic and Graphic Procedures
These include:
- Shortening: Reduction of the phonic material of a word at its beginning or end.
- Abbreviation: Representing a word with one or more letters.
- Initialisms: Reducing a group of words to their initial letters.
- Acronyms: The union of the beginning of one word with the end of another.
Terminology and Scientific Language
Terminology is the study and collection of specialized terms used in technical and scientific disciplines. Scientific language is formed using elements from Greek and Roman roots, through the creation of nominal phrases, loanwords, acronyms, initialisms, common language words, and jargon.