Spanish Language

Description

Spanish, a Romance language from the Indo-European family, is spoken as a first language by approximately 360 million people worldwide. In the early 21st century, Mexico had the highest number of speakers (over 85 million), followed by Colombia (over 40 million), Argentina (over 35 million), the United States (over 31 million), and Spain (over 30 million).

Global Distribution

Spanish is the official language of 18 American countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela. It is also an official language in Spain, Equatorial Guinea, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. While many South and Central Americans speak native languages as their first language, Spanish continues to spread throughout these regions.

Speaker Estimates:

• Mexico: 110 million
• Colombia: 41 million
• Argentina: 40 million
• Spain: 38 million
• Venezuela: 27 million
• Peru: 26 million
• Chile: 16 million
• Ecuador: 14 million
• Cuba: 11 million
• Guatemala: 10 million
• Bolivia: 8 million
• Dominican Republic: 8 million
• El Salvador: 6 million
• Honduras: 6 million
• Nicaragua: 6 million
• Paraguay: 4 million
• Costa Rica: 4 million
• Puerto Rico: 3 million
• Uruguay: 3 million
• Panama: 3 million
• Equatorial Guinea: 627,000

Additionally, 100,000 to 200,000 speakers of Judeo-Spanish (Ladino) are mostly found in Israel.

Historical Background

Spanish is also known as Castilian, named after the dialect from which modern standard Spanish developed. This dialect originated in Cantabria in the 9th century around Burgos in north-central Spain (Old Castile) and spread southward as Spain was reconquered from the Moors. By the late 15th century, Castilian had become the official language of all of Spain after the kingdoms of Castile and Leon merged with Aragon.

Spanish Dialects

Spanish is spoken across Central and South America, the Canary Islands, parts of Morocco, and the Philippines. Latin American Spanish has various regional dialects derived from Castilian but differs from European Spanish in several phonological aspects. For example, Latin American Spanish uses the /s/ sound where Castilian uses the lisplike /th/ sound and often replaces the Castilian /ly/ sound with a /y/ or /zh/ sound.

Linguistic Characteristics

The case system of Latin has been entirely lost in Spanish, except for subject and object pronouns. Nouns are marked for masculine or feminine gender, and plurals are formed by adding -s or -es. Adjectives change endings to agree with nouns. The verb system is complex but regular, featuring indicative, imperative, and subjunctive moods; various tenses; and passive and reflexive constructions.

Written Spanish

The earliest Spanish texts date back to the 10th century, consisting of scattered words in glosses of Latin texts. By the middle of the 12th century, the famous epic poem “Cantar de mío Cid” (“Song of My Cid”) was written in a language that is fundamentally Castilian. Over time, Castilian Spanish gained prominence, even influencing Portuguese during the 15th and early 16th centuries.

For a comprehensive treatment of Spanish-language literature, refer to resources on Spanish literature and Latin American literature.