Editing Name of the Spanish language (section)

==Usage in Spain==
Spaniards tend to call the language ''español'' (Spanish) to contrast it to languages of other states, such as in a list with [[French language|French]] (''francés''), [[German language|German]] (''alemán''), etc. ''Castellano'' (Castilian) by contrast, is more often used when contrasting the language with other [[Languages of Spain|regional languages of Spain]]: official languages like [[Basque language|Basque]], [[Catalan language|Catalan]] and [[Galician language|Galician]] or unofficial ones like [[Aragonese language|Aragonese]], [[Asturian language|Asturian]], [[Extremaduran language|Extremaduran]] and [[Leonese language|Leonese]]. The [[Spanish Constitution of 1978]] uses the term ''el castellano'' to define the official language of the whole State, opposed to ''las demás lenguas españolas'' (''the other Spanish languages''). Article 3 reads in part:

{{Blockquote|El castellano es la lengua española oficial del Estado. Todos los españoles tienen el deber de conocerla y el derecho a usarla. Las demás lenguas españolas serán también oficiales en las respectivas Comunidades Autónomas...}}

{{Blockquote|''Castilian is the official Spanish language of the State. All Spaniards have the duty to know it and the right to use it. The other Spanish languages as well shall be official in their respective Autonomous Communities...''|[[Spanish Constitution]] of 1978}}

This choice of words, however, varies depending on many factors, including the origin of the speaker or some political nuances.

===Bilingual and multilingual regions of Spain===
In the regions where regional languages are spoken, there is a daily need to make the contrast between the [[national language]] and the [[regional language]] and so the national language is most often referred to as Castilian, particularly in the regional languages themselves (for example, ''espanyol'' is virtually never used to refer to the language in Catalan: ''castellà'' is used instead; in Basque, the name of the language is ''gaztelania'' or ''gaztelera'', rather than ''espainiera''; and in Galician, the most commonly used term is "castelán" rather than "español"). That is often mirrored by educated English-speakers to refer to the linguistic situation in Spain.

For some, this use of the term ''castellano'' is a political or cultural statement that Spanish is only the language of Castile, perhaps also of some areas that Castile colonised, but not the language of their region, which they consider the only legitimate language to be the regional one: Catalan, Basque, Galician etc. That stance is common in regionalist circles.

Conversely, some nationalist circles prefer the term ''español'' because they perceive their ethnic community to be distinct from that of Spain and therefore do not object to the language of Spain being called Spanish. In Basque-speaking regions, whose language is not of [[Romance languages|Romance]] origin (Basque is considered by many scholars to be a [[language isolate]]), some Basque speakers also use the term ''erdara'' or ''erdera'' <ref name="Morris">''erdara'' in the [http://www1.euskadi.net/morris/hiztegia.htm Morris Student Plus] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070701020041/http://www1.euskadi.net/morris/hiztegia.htm |date=2007-07-01 }} Basque-English dictionary.</ref> (''foreign'') specifically for Spanish, since for them, it is the prevalent foreign language, just as in the [[French Basque Country]], "French language" is the usual meaning of ''erdara''; in fact, ''erdara'' is another language, different from Basque.

===Monolingual regions of Spain===
In monolingual regions, the implications are a little different. In such regions, there is no identity implication, but still, they must choose one of the two terms. [[Castilian people|Castilians]] usually use the term ''el español'', legitimately presenting it as the national language.{{citation needed|date=January 2017}} However, they also frequently call it ''el castellano'', either to assert their ownership or to distinguish it from the regional languages.

Monolingual regions outside of [[Castile (historical region)|Castile]] include mainly [[Andalusia]] but also other regions where the regional languages are not developed enough to be widely spoken by the majority of the population, such as [[Extremadura]], [[Cantabria]] or [[Aragon]]. There, ''español'' may be used, as in [[Castile (historical region)|Castile]], to stress the national nature of the language but with a slightly different nuance: they are accepting another region's historical language as their own.

===Concept of a standard===
The term ''castellano'' is occasionally used to imply more of a standard form than ''español'' does. For example, if someone mispronounces a word, they might be told ''¡Habla castellano!'', i.e. 'Speak Castilian!', 'Speak properly!'. However, that nuance is not to be exaggerated, as it is perfectly possible that the term ''español'' or even, jocularly, ''cristiano'' ('Christian') could be used instead. Moreover, the term ''castellano'' is also commonly and correctly used to refer to dialects of Spanish, which deviate dramatically from the standard.