Spanish language

Spanish, also known as español or Castilian (castellano), is a language that belongs to the Indo-European language family. It began from the Vulgar Latin spoken on the Iberian Peninsula in Europe and grew from the language used in the Kingdom of Castile, a historic kingdom in north-central Spain. Today, Spanish is spoken by millions of people around the world. Many people live in the Americas and Spain, and some learned it as a second language.

Spanish is very important globally. It is the official language in 20 countries and one of the six official languages of the United Nations. It is the world's second-most spoken native language after Mandarin Chinese, and the fourth-most spoken language overall. The country with the most native Spanish speakers is Mexico.

As a Romance language, Spanish comes from Latin. It is one of the most studied languages in schools around the world, along with English and French. Many important subjects like the humanities and social sciences use Spanish. It is also widely used on the internet and by many international groups such as the European Union and the Organization of American States.

Name of the language and etymology

Main article: Names given to the Spanish language

In Spain and many places where people speak Spanish, the language is called español or castellano. Castellano comes from the Kingdom of Castile, a region in north-central Spain. This name helps to tell it apart from other languages spoken in Spain, such as Galician, Basque, Asturian, Catalan/Valencian, Aragonese, and Occitan.

The term castellano relates to Castile, which likely got its name from the word castillo, meaning "castle." Over time, the language spoken there became known as Romance castellano, and later just castellano. The word español comes from an old form of a language called Occitan and traces back to Latin words for the area known as Hispania, the Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula.

History

Main article: History of the Spanish language

The Spanish language started from a type of Latin that Romans brought to the Iberian Peninsula around 210 BC. Before that, many different languages were spoken there.

The first examples of what we now call Spanish appeared in writing in the 9th century. As time passed, Spanish added words from other languages, such as Arabic, French, and Italian. It also changed its sounds and spelling in many ways. Today, Spanish is spoken by millions of people around the world.

Geographical distribution

See also: Hispanophone

Spanish is the main language in 20 countries around the world. About 519 million people speak Spanish as their first language, making it the second most spoken language by native speakers. Another 117 million speak Spanish as a second or foreign language, making it the fourth most spoken language overall. Spanish is also the third most used language on the Internet, after English and Chinese.

Europe

Main article: Peninsular Spanish

Spanish is the official language of Spain. It is also widely spoken in Gibraltar and Andorra. Many people in other European countries, like the United Kingdom, France, Italy, and Germany, speak Spanish too. Spanish is the most studied Romance language in Europe.

Americas

Hispanic America

Most Spanish speakers live in Hispanic America. Spanish is the official language in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico (shared with 63 indigenous languages), Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Uruguay, and Venezuela.

United States

See also: Spanish language in California, New Mexican Spanish, and Isleño Spanish

Spanish has been spoken in the United States since the 1500s. Today, over 60 million people in the U.S. have Hispanic origins. About 41.8 million people aged five or older speak Spanish at home. Spanish is very common in Puerto Rico, where it is an official language along with English.

Spanish is the most common second language in the country, with over 50 million speakers when including non-native speakers. English is the main national language, but Spanish is used in many public services. Spanish is also used in government in New Mexico.

Africa

Sub-Saharan Africa

See also: Equatoguinean Spanish

Equatorial Guinea is the only country in Africa where Spanish is the main language. Spanish is used in schools, government, and business there.

North Africa and Macaronesia

See also: Canarian Spanish and Saharan Spanish

Spanish is spoken in Spanish territories in Africa, including the cities of Ceuta and Melilla and the Canary Islands.

Asia

See also: Chavacano, Philippine Spanish, and Spanish language in the Philippines

Spanish was an official language in the Philippines from 1565 until 1973.

Oceania

Spanish is the official language on Easter Island, which is part of Chile. The traditional language of Easter Island is Rapa Nui, an Eastern Polynesian language.

Grammar

Main article: Spanish grammar

Spanish has rules like many other languages. Words change to show different meanings. Nouns and adjectives can be male or female, and they can be single or more than one. Verbs change to show when something happens, like in the past or future, and if something is sure or just maybe.

In Spanish, important words come first, followed by extra details. Small words called prepositions show how things are related. Describing words often come after the main noun. The order of words can change to show what is most important.

Phonology

Main article: Spanish phonology

The sounds of Spanish come from ancient Latin. Spanish has special ways of saying words that make it different from other languages nearby. Some sounds that were in Latin changed or went away in Spanish but stayed in other languages.

Spanish uses five main vowel sounds and about 17 to 19 consonant sounds, depending on where you are. How these sounds change based on their place in a word helps give Spanish its special rhythm and flow. Stress in Spanish words usually lands on one of the last three syllables, and special marks can show you exactly where to stress the word.

Speaker population

Spanish is the official language in 18 countries and one territory in the Americas, Spain, and Equatorial Guinea. Most Spanish speakers live in the Americas, and Mexico has the most people who speak Spanish at home. In the European Union, about 8% of people speak Spanish as their first language, and another 7% speak it as a second language.

Spanish is also very common in the United States. In 2015, around 50 million people spoke Spanish there, with about 41 million being native speakers. As more people from Spanish-speaking countries move to the U.S. and as the language is used more in schools and media, the number of Spanish speakers in America is expected to grow.

Dialectal variation

Main article: Spanish dialects and varieties

Spanish changes a little depending on where it is spoken. People in different places say words slightly differently, use different sounds, and sometimes even use different words for the same thing.

The most common type of Spanish is Mexican Spanish, spoken by many people. One special feature of Mexican Spanish is that some sounds, especially when they are not stressed, can change or disappear.

In Spain, people in the north often think their way of speaking is closer to the standard, but people in the south are also proud of how they speak. The way people in Madrid speak is often used in TV and radio. Over time, the way people speak in the center and south of Spain has been changing and mixing together.

Phonology

See also: Phonetic change "f → h" in Spanish

Spanish sounds can change in four main ways:

• The sound made with the letters c and z (like the th in thing) is used by most people in Spain, especially in the north and middle parts. But in southern Spain, the Canary Islands, and most of Latin America, this sound changes to the s sound.
• In southern Spain and parts of Latin America, the s sound at the end of syllables can change to a softer h sound or disappear completely.
• In northern and central Spain, the s sound is made with the tongue a little further back in the mouth. In southern Spain, the Canary Islands, and most of Latin America (except some parts of Colombia), the s sound is made more forward with the teeth.
• The sound made with the letters ll (like the ll in million) is kept in some parts of northern Spain and in highland areas of South America, Paraguay, and Bolivia. But in most other places, this sound changes to the y sound (like the y in yacht).

Morphology

Spanish words and ways of speaking can change a little, especially when talking to someone else.

Voseo

Main article: Voseo

Most Spanish speakers have two ways to say “you”: a formal way and a friendly way. The formal way is usted. The friendly way can be either tú or vos, depending on where you are. Using vos and its verb forms is called voseo.

In places like Argentina, Nicaragua, Honduras, Costa Rica, Paraguay, and Uruguay, vos is used a lot in everyday talking. But in places like Mexico, most of Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, and coastal Ecuador, tú is used instead.

Ustedes

Ustedes is used for “you all” in most of Latin America and some parts of Spain. In most of Spain, people use vosotros for “you all” in friendly situations and ustedes for formal situations.

Usted

Usted is used for “you” in formal situations, like when talking to someone older or in a position of authority. In some countries like Colombia and Costa Rica, usted is also used in friendly situations instead of tú or vos.

Third-person object pronouns

Most Spanish speakers use lo and la for “him” or “her” and le for “to him” or “to her”. Some areas have different rules for these words.

Vocabulary

Words can be different in different Spanish-speaking countries. For example, the word for “butter” is mantequilla in Spain but manteca in Argentina and some other places. The word for “avocado” is aguacate in Spain but palta in Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay.

Vocabulary

Spanish words come from many places. Spanish uses words that started in Classical Greek, especially in art, science, and politics. During a time called Al-Andalus in the Iberian Peninsula, Spanish picked up words from Arabic. Many Spanish words have Arabic roots.

Spanish has borrowed words from other languages. These include nearby languages like Basque, Celtiberian, and Visigothic, as well as other Romance languages such as French, Portuguese, Galician, Catalan, and Occitan. Words also came from languages of the Americas, like Quechua and Nahuatl.

In the 1700s, Spanish added many words from French, especially about fashion and cooking. In the 1800s, it borrowed words from English, German, and Italian, particularly in music and food. By the 1900s, English had a bigger influence, especially in technology, computers, and sports.

In places where Spanish is spoken in the Americas, like Hispanic America, many English words are used. For example, the word for a computer mouse is often just mouse, while in Spain the word ratón is used. This difference is because countries in the Americas have more contact with the United States. Meanwhile, Spain often uses words from France, like ordenador for computer, unlike the English-based words used in American Spanish.

Relation to other languages

Further information: Comparison of Portuguese and Spanish

Spanish is similar to many other languages, especially those spoken close to Spain in Europe. It is closely related to languages like Asturian, Aragonese, Galician, Ladino, Leonese, Mirandese, and Portuguese. People who speak Spanish and Portuguese can often understand each other when they read or write, even though they may sound different when they talk.

The table below shows how some everyday words compare across several of these languages. This helps us see how languages change and share ideas over time.

1. In Romance etymology, Latin terms are given in the Accusative since most forms derive from this case.
2. As in "us very selves", an emphatic expression.
3. Also nós outros in early modern Portuguese (e.g. The Lusiads), and nosoutros in Galician.
4. Alternatively nous autres in French.
5. noialtri in many Southern Italian dialects and languages.
6. Medieval Catalan (e.g. Llibre dels fets).
7. Modified with the learned suffix -ción.
8. Depending on the written norm used (see Reintegrationism).
9. From Basque esku, "hand" + erdi, "half, incomplete". This negative meaning also applies for Latin sinistra(m) ("dark, unfortunate").
10. Romanian caș (from Latin cāsevs) means a type of cheese. The universal term for cheese in Romanian is brânză (from unknown etymology).

Judaeo-Spanish

Further information: Judaeo-Spanish

Judaeo-Spanish, also called Ladino, is a special form of Spanish that kept many older words and sounds. It was used by Jewish families who lived in Spain long ago. Today, most people who speak Judaeo-Spanish live in places like Israel, Turkey, and the United States. This language is slowly being forgotten, but some communities are working to keep it alive, especially through music.

A related way of speaking is Haketia, used in northern Morocco. It too is blending into modern Spanish.

Writing system

Main article: Spanish orthography

Spanish is written with the Latin script. It has a special letter called ⟨ñ⟩ (eñe). This letter is different from the regular n and makes a special sound.

In the past, some pairs of letters like ⟨ch⟩ and ⟨ll⟩ were treated as single letters. But today they are just pairs of letters.

The Spanish alphabet has 27 letters: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, Ñ, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z. Letters like k and w are only used in words from other languages, like kilo or whisky.

Spanish spelling helps you say a word correctly. Usually, the stress is on the syllable before the last one if the word ends in a vowel, n, or s. Sometimes an accent mark is used to show the correct stress or to tell apart words that sound alike but mean different things, like el (the) and él (he or it). Questions and exclamations start with special upside-down marks (¿ and ¡) to make them easy to spot.

Organizations

Royal Spanish Academy

Main article: Royal Spanish Academy

The Royal Spanish Academy was founded in 1713. It helps keep the Spanish language the same. The academy makes dictionaries and guides for grammar and writing. Many people use these in books, schools, and news.

Association of Spanish Language Academies

Main article: Association of Spanish Language Academies

The Association of Spanish Language Academies began in Mexico in 1951. It brings together language experts from 23 countries where Spanish is spoken. These countries include Spain, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, El Salvador, Venezuela, Chile, Peru, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Philippines, Panama, Cuba, Paraguay, Dominican Republic, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Argentina, Uruguay, Honduras, Puerto Rico, United States, and Equatorial Guinea.

Cervantes Institute

Main article: Instituto Cervantes

The Cervantes Institute was started by the Spanish government in 1991. It has centers in 45 countries. The institute helps people learn Spanish and understand Spanish culture. It teaches Spanish to learners around the world and supports Spanish-speaking cultures where Spanish isn’t commonly spoken.

Official use by international organizations

For a more comprehensive list, see List of countries where Spanish is an official language § International organizations.

Spanish is an official language in many important groups around the world. These include the United Nations, the European Union, the World Trade Organization, and the Organization of American States. It is also used by the Organization of Ibero-American States, the African Union, and many other international groups.

Sample text

Here is the first article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Spanish:

Todos los seres humanos nacen libres e iguales en dignidad y derechos y, dotados como están de razón y conciencia, deben comportarse fraternalmente los unos con los otros.

And in English:

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.