WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF SPANISH? - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

The origin of Castilian goes back to the predominant use of Latin during the occupation and establishment of the Roman Empire in the Iberian Peninsula. Added to this are the influences of various Indo-European dialects and, later, Arabic.

It is estimated that Spanish is the native language of more than 400 million people around the world, a characteristic that makes it the most widespread and global of all the Romance or Latin languages, both in territory and in time.

Spanish is also the third language with the most speakers in the world, managed by more than 550 million people, behind only Mandarin and English. As a foreign language, it is the second most studied language in the world, after English.

It is the official language of 20 countries, of which 18 belong to the American continent; Spain and Equatorial Guinea are the countries outside of America that speak this language.

If Puerto Rico were added, it would be 21; but because it is part of the United States, it is not counted as a country per se.

Castilian is also called Spanish; both terms are usually synonymous or interchangeable with each other in most Spanish-speaking countries.

However, as it is usually associated directly with the country of Spain, the use of the word "Castilian" better identifies the language as such and the difference from other languages ​​that are also spoken within the Spanish territory, such as Catalan, Basque, Galician, Leonese and Aragonese.

Next, it will be explained chronologically how the mixtures, impositions, standardizations and evolutions of the different languages ​​of the area of ​​Spain gave rise to what is considered today as modern Castilian.

Iberian pre-Roman period and the conquest of Hispania

Prior to the arrival and Roman settlement in the Iberian Peninsula in the 2nd century BC. C., there were several towns that inhabited the region. Among them the Iberians, the Celts, the Basques, the Phoenicians and the Carthaginians.

These languages ​​disappeared completely, except for Basque. Few pre-Roman words managed to survive the strong imposition of Latin and the subsequent linguistic standardizations, until the present day.

In other words, the Iberian languages ​​had a very small influence on Spanish. Some of the surviving words are: rabbit, beer, dog, raft, mud, cabin, salmon, pond, spear, carpenter, stream, toad, puppy, and the surname Garcia.

Once the territory was under the full domination and administration of the Roman Empire, Latin was introduced and forced into the population, along with its more advanced culture and way of life. For some 500 years, Latin took root throughout Hispania.

While it was part of Rome, two forms of spoken Latin developed in Hispania. One of them was classical Latin, used by the military, politicians, merchants, academics and other members of the upper social classes or educated people.

The rest spoke a variant called Vulgar Latin, which was the result of the mixture of Classical Latin with pre-Roman Iberian languages. It followed the basic model of Latin, but with words borrowed or added from other languages, such as Carthaginian, Celtic or Phoenician.

It is considered that more than 70% of Spanish, between words and structure, comes from this vulgar Latin, making it the main base from which it began to evolve.

The days of the week (not counting Saturday), the months and the numbers, among other elements, originate from Latin.

The barbarian invasions

At the beginning of the V century d. C., Roman Europe was invaded by various barbarian tribes from the north and east (Alans, Suevi, Vandals), but their presence was short and their influence on the language very little. The name of the city of Andalusia comes from “Vandalucía”, which means land of the vandals.

The Visigoth Germans, another barbarian tribe, were interacting with Rome for more than 30 years, between wars and treaties at will; the Visigoths ended up adopting Latin as a language. By 415 AD C., invade Hispania and expel the vandals from the area.

They then separated from the Roman Empire and established their capital in Toledo. Since they adapted very easily to the vulgar Latin of Hispania, the influence of the Visigoths in the Castilian language was almost imperceptible.

A few words called Germanisms managed to enter, such as spy, goose, guard, sprout, vine, clothes, among others.

However, the Visigothic invasion and rule isolated Hispania from the rest of the areas still controlled by the Romans, which allowed the Vulgar Latin of the area to begin to evolve on its own.

Without constant contact with classical Latin, it is stated that after approximately 250 years, the language of Hispania was already remarkably distinguishable from other Romance areas in Europe, such as Catalonia, Galicia, Aragon, León, Italy, France and Rumania.

The Moors and the birth of Castilian

In 711 d. C., the Moors take Hispania from the hands of the Visigoths, without much resistance. Many of the Christian kingdoms of the peninsula remained under Arab control, especially in the south and center of the region.

Other kingdoms were forced north, out of the jurisdiction of the Moors. The cultural and linguistic exchange between the Arabic (or Mozarabic) and the local language was quite significant for the new evolution of the language of the peninsula. In the year 1200 it is already considered a hybrid language.

More than 4,000 words of Spanish are of Arabic origin. The vast majority related to war, agricultural, scientific and household vocabulary.

These include ensign, artichoke, alfalfa, cotton, alcove, algorithm, alcohol, alchemy, horseman, algebra, sugar, carrot, and sewer.

It was during that time that the King of Castile standardized the language of his kingdom in many scientific and legal texts, translations, histories, literature, and other official documents. This functioned as the vehicle for the dissemination of knowledge in the surrounding areas.

The language of Castile begins to gain acceptance and widespread use throughout the peninsula. Thanks to the progressive reconquest of the territories dominated by the Moors, the use of Castilian took more force towards the south of Spain.

In 1492, the unification of the Spanish kingdoms under Isabel de Castilla and Fernando de Aragón ended up expelling the Arabs from Granada, and they established Castilian as the official language of Spain.

That same year the voyages of discovery of America began, taking the language of Castile to expand towards the new world.

Thanks to the literary achievements of the Spanish Golden Age of the Renaissance, the Castilian language had enough written material available to all to remain fairly standardized throughout the territory and in its colonies.

Until the 15th century, the language was called Spanish or Old Castilian. As of the 16th century, it is considered as modern Spanish or Castilian.

In the 18th century, the institution of the Royal Spanish Academy was created, which establishes linguistic guidelines and regulations for the unification of the language.

In the American continent, the Castilian Spanish brought by the Spaniards was mixing and absorbing local indigenous languages, giving birth to the different varieties of Spanish currently known from Mexico to Argentina.

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