Evolution of the Spanish Language: Historical Stages & Influences
The Evolution of the Spanish Language: A Diachronic Perspective
This document outlines the various historical stages and influences that have shaped the Spanish language.
Pre-Roman Hispania
Before the arrival of the Romans in the Iberian Peninsula, diverse languages such as Celtic, Iberian, and Basque were spoken. With the expansion of Latin, most of these languages disappeared, although they left some influence on the way Spanish is spoken today.
The Roman Empire
In 218 BC, Roman forces landed in Empúries,
Read MoreCastilian Dialects: A Comprehensive Linguistic Analysis
Varieties of Castilian
Castilian has different dialects, categorized as historical and contemporary.
1 Historical Dialects
Historical dialects are varieties derived directly from Latin. Primitive languages simultaneous to Castilian were absorbed by its influence. There are two main historical dialects:
- Leonese: Originating in the ancient kingdom of Leon, it retains archaic phonetic and morphological features. The Asturian Language Academy recognizes its Spanish variant. Significant features include:
Sociolinguistics: Analyzing Language in Social Contexts
Sociolinguistics analyzes actual language productions, exploring the connections between language and society. This discipline studies and analyzes the connections and uses of language among its speakers, considering social factors such as age, gender, education, and profession. Our language use is connected to our social realities.
While dialectology seeks to differentiate language from a spatial viewpoint, sociolinguistics analyzes different linguistic scales within a specific community. There
Read MoreArgumentative Texts: Statements, Phrases, and Spelling
Argumentative Texts
The purpose of argumentative texts is to convince or persuade others that a particular opinion or theory is correct. There are two different basic types:
- Opinion or Thesis: A statement from a personal perspective of the issuer of the text on a particular subject.
- Arguments: Various reasons or evidence that the author of the text presents to support their thesis.
Examples of argumentative texts include editorials, letters to the editor, articles, opinion columns, essays, and oral
Read MoreEarly Modern English: Morphology, Syntax, Lexis
Early Modern English: Morphology, Syntax, and Lexis
Morphology
Declensions: Only Genitive -es and -s. The apostrophe in ‘s wasn’t used to mark possession until the 18th century; it was used to mark elided e (e.g., Thron’).
- Umlaut plurals: men, feet, lice, teeth.
- Uninflected plurals: sheep, deer, swine.
- Lexical imports: phenomenon-phenomena, stimulus-stimuli, analysis-analyses.
Adjectives & Adverbs: Adjectives were indeclinable. Comparison used both periphrastic more/most and synthetic -er/-est. Double
Read MoreSociolinguistics: Key Concepts and Definitions
Unit 1: Foundations of Sociolinguistics
Analytic Language: Words are one syllable long with no affixes; function is determined by word order. Example: Chinese.
Black English Vernacular: Non-standard English spoken in U.S. Black communities, influenced by Creole languages.
Borrowing: Spread of words or phrases across languages due to contact, dominance, or prestige.
Communicative Competence: Dell Hymes’ concept of appropriate language use in context.
Dialect: Language variation by region, affecting vocabulary,
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