Why
learn the Spanish Language?
If
the 400 million native Spanish speakers aren’t enough on
there own to make you want to learn this beautiful language,
just consider where it's spoken. As well as Spain, with all
its sun, sand, paella and flamenco, Spanish is spoken in much
of South America where knowledge of the language will help you
get the most out of this amazing continent. Learn Spanish today
and open the door to a whole new world of fascinating and exciting
cultures. Spanish is the official language of Spain, Balearic
Islands, Canary Islands, all South American republics except
Brazil and Guyana. Spanish is the common 2nd language of parts
of USA, parts of Morocco and the west coast of Africa.
The
Rise of Castilian. In
the 7th century the regions to the north of Spain which had
not been conquered during the Moorish invasion, saw the formation
of Christian kingdoms which began to expand southwards and set
the Reconquista in motion. One
such kingdom, Castile (land of castles – Castella) had
succeeded in maintaining its independence throughout the various
occupations (with the exception of the Roman Empire). This is
shown in the language which was spoken in the 8th and 9th centuries.
It was the same language which, was to be elevated to the position
of official language of the whole Spanish speaking world, namely
Castilian Spanish.
Present
day Spanish. Spanish
is the most widely spoken of the Romance languages, both in
terms of number of speakers and the number of countries in which
it is the dominant language. It is the mother tongue of some
320 million people scattered throughout the world – in
the Iberian Peninsula, the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands,
in parts of Morocco and the west coast of Africa. It
is the official language of all the South American republics,
with the exception of Brazil and Guyana. Naturally the Spanish
spoken in all these places appears in many varieties. In fact
the differences between Castilian Spanish and Latin American
Spanish are equivalent to those between British English and
American English. The
Spanish vocabulary is of Latin origin, though many of the words
differ markedly from their counterparts in French and Italian.
Prolonged contact with Germanic and later Arabic affected its
evolution but did not risk the decrease in Romance speaking.
Germanic and Arabic have left their mark on the Spanish language
as words like ‘guerra’ – war and ‘algebra’
– maths can both be traced back to their respective Germanic
and Arabic origins.
Latin
American Spanish. When
the Spaniards ‘discovered’ and colonised the Americas,
the language of Spain was still undergoing change. It was the
language of Castile (land of castles) which was destined to
become not only the chief language of Spain, but also of the
Latin American Republics.As
to be expected, the indigenous inhabitants of Latin America
exerted a great influence on the Castilian language and differences
between the two types of Spanish began to emerge. This was mainly
due to the diminishing contact between Latin America and Spain,
coupled with the languages used by the inhabitants of Latin
America. The
influence of American English in the North of the region also
took its toll; words were absorbed with a Spanish pronunciation
which was based solely on what was heard with no regard for
the correct spelling, for example ‘boila’ (boiler)
and ‘mechas’ (matches)! There
are many factors that are attributable to the birth of the Latin
American Spanish language but it is important to realise that
it was a slow and gradual process. Although there are differences
between Castilian Spanish and Latin American Spanish –
particularly relating to pronunciation – they do not prevent
mutual intelligibility.
The
differences between these two languages are equivalent to those
between British English and American English.
