Spanish language
Template:Short description Template:Redirect Template:Pp-pc Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use American English Template:CS1 config Template:Infobox language
Spanish (Template:Lang) or Castilian (Template:Lang) is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from the Vulgar Latin spoken on the Iberian Peninsula of Europe. Today, it is a global language with 497 million native speakers, mainly in the Americas and Spain, and about 600 million speakers total, including second-language speakers.<ref name="e28|spa">Template:E28</ref> Spanish is the official language of 20 countries, as well as one of the six official languages of the United Nations.<ref name="un1">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Spanish is the world's second-most spoken native language after Mandarin Chinese;<ref name="size">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> the world's fourth-most spoken language overall after English, Mandarin Chinese, and Hindustani (Hindi-Urdu); and the world's most widely spoken Romance language. The country with the largest population of native speakers is Mexico.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Spanish is part of the Ibero-Romance language group, in which the language is also known as Castilian (Template:Lang). The group evolved from several dialects of Vulgar Latin in Iberia after the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century. The oldest Latin texts with traces of Spanish come from mid-northern Iberia in the 9th century,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and the first systematic written use of the language happened in Toledo, a prominent city of the Kingdom of Castile, in the 13th century. Spanish colonialism in the early modern period spurred the introduction of the language to overseas locations, most notably to the Americas.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
As a Romance language, Spanish is a descendant of Latin. Around 75% of modern Spanish vocabulary is Latin in origin, including Latin borrowings from Ancient Greek.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Alongside English and French, it is also one of the most taught foreign languages throughout the world.<ref>Spanish in the World Template:Webarchive, Language Magazine, 18 November 2019.</ref> Spanish is well represented in the humanities and social sciences.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Spanish is also the third most used language on the internet by number of users after English and Chinese<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and the second most used language by number of websites after English.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Spanish is used as an official language by many international organizations, including the United Nations, European Union, Organization of American States, Union of South American Nations, Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, African Union, and others.<ref name="un1"/> Template:TOC limit
Name of the language and etymology
[edit]Name of the language
[edit]In Spain and some other parts of the Spanish-speaking world, Spanish is called not only Template:Lang but also Template:Lang (Castilian), the language from the Kingdom of Castile, contrasting it with other languages spoken in Spain such as Galician, Basque, Asturian, Catalan/Valencian, Aragonese, Occitan and other minor languages.
The Spanish Constitution of 1978 uses the term Template:Lang to define the official language of the whole of Spain, in contrast to Template:Lang (Template:Lit). Article III reads as follows:
The Royal Spanish Academy (Template:Lang), on the other hand, currently uses the term Template:Lang in its publications. However, from 1713 to 1923, it called the language Template:Lang.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The Template:Lang (a language guide published by the Royal Spanish Academy) states that, although the Royal Spanish Academy prefers to use the term Template:Lang in its publications when referring to the Spanish language, both terms—Template:Lang and Template:Lang—are regarded as synonymous and equally valid.<ref>Diccionario panhispánico de dudas, 2005, p. 271–272.</ref>
Etymology
[edit]The term Template:Lang is related to Castile (Template:Lang or archaically Template:Lang), the kingdom where the language was originally spoken. The name Castile, in turn, is usually assumed to be derived from Template:Lang ('castle').
In the Middle Ages, the language spoken in Castile was generically referred to as Template:Lang and later also as Template:Lang.<ref name="espania" /> Later in the period, it gained geographical specification as Template:Lang (Template:Lang, Template:Lang), Template:Lang, and ultimately simply as Template:Lang (noun).<ref name="espania">Template:Cite journal</ref>
Different etymologies have been suggested for the term Template:Lang (Spanish). According to the Royal Spanish Academy, Template:Lang derives from the Occitan word Template:Lang and that, in turn, derives from the Vulgar Latin *Template:Lang ('of Hispania').<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Hispania was the Roman name for the entire Iberian Peninsula.
There are other hypotheses apart from the one suggested by the Royal Spanish Academy. Spanish philologist Ramón Menéndez Pidal suggested that the classic Template:Lang or Template:Lang took the suffix Template:Lang from Vulgar Latin, as happened with other words such as Template:Lang (Breton) or Template:Lang (Saxon).
History
[edit]
Like the other Romance languages, the Spanish language evolved from Vulgar Latin, which was brought to the Iberian Peninsula by the Romans during the Second Punic War, beginning in 210 BC. Several pre-Roman languages (also called Paleohispanic languages)—some distantly related to Latin as Indo-European languages, and some that are not related at all—were previously spoken in the Iberian Peninsula. These languages included Proto-Basque, Iberian, Lusitanian, Celtiberian and Gallaecian.
The first documents to show traces of what is today regarded as the precursor of modern Spanish are from the 9th century. Throughout the Middle Ages and into the modern era, the most important influences on the Spanish lexicon came from neighboring Romance languages—Mozarabic (Andalusi Romance), Navarro-Aragonese, Leonese, Catalan/Valencian, Portuguese, Galician, Occitan, and later, French and Italian. Spanish also borrowed a considerable number of words from Andalusi Arabic, as well as smaller amounts from Basque and the Germanic Gothic language through the period of Visigoth rule in Iberia. In addition, many more words were borrowed from Latin through the influence of written language and the liturgical language of the Church. The loanwords were taken from both Classical Latin and Renaissance Latin, the form of Latin in use at that time.
According to the theories of Ramón Menéndez Pidal, local sociolects of Vulgar Latin evolved into Spanish, in the north of Iberia, in an area centered in the city of Burgos, and this dialect was later brought to the city of Toledo, where the written standard of Spanish was first developed, in the 13th century.<ref name="Penny1p16">Template:Harvcoltxt</ref> In this formative stage, Spanish developed a strongly differing variant from its close cousin, Leonese, and, according to some authors, was distinguished by a heavy Basque influence (see Iberian Romance languages). This distinctive dialect spread to southern Spain with the advance of the Template:Lang, and meanwhile gathered a sizable lexical influence from the Arabic of Al-Andalus, much of it indirectly, through the Romance Mozarabic dialects (some 4,000 Arabic-derived words, make up around 8% of the language today).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The written standard for this new language was developed in the cities of Toledo, in the 13th to 16th centuries, and Madrid, from the 1570s.<ref name="Penny1p16" />
The development of the Spanish sound system from that of Vulgar Latin exhibits most of the changes that are typical of Western Romance languages, including lenition of intervocalic consonants (thus Latin Template:Lang > Spanish Template:Lang). The diphthongization of Latin stressed short Template:Lang and Template:Lang—which occurred in open syllables in French and Italian, but not at all in Catalan or Portuguese—is found in both open and closed syllables in Spanish, as shown in the following table:
| Latin | Spanish | Ladino | Aragonese | Asturian | Galician | Portuguese | Catalan | Gascon / Occitan | French | Sardinian | Italian | Romanian | English |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Template:Smallcaps | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang, Template:Lang | Template:Lang | pedra, Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | 'stone' | |||||
| Template:Smallcaps | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | 'land' | ||||||
| Template:Smallcaps | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | 'dies (v.)' | |||
| Template:Smallcaps | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | morte, morti | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | 'death' | ||||
Spanish is marked by palatalization of the Latin double consonants (geminates) Template:Lang and Template:Lang (thus Latin Template:Lang > Spanish Template:Lang, and Latin Template:Lang > Spanish Template:Lang).
The consonant written Template:Lang or Template:Lang in Latin and pronounced Template:IPA in Classical Latin had probably "fortified" to a bilabial fricative Template:IPA in Vulgar Latin. In early Spanish (but not in Catalan or Portuguese) it merged with the consonant written b (a bilabial with plosive and fricative allophones). In modern Spanish, there is no difference between the pronunciation of orthographic Template:Lang and Template:Lang.
Typical of Spanish (as also of neighboring Gascon extending as far north as the Gironde estuary, and found in a small area of Calabria), attributed by some scholars to a Basque substratum was the mutation of Latin initial Template:Lang into Template:Lang whenever it was followed by a vowel that did not diphthongize. The Template:Lang, still preserved in spelling, is now silent in most varieties of the language, although in some Andalusian and Caribbean dialects, it is still aspirated in some words. Because of borrowings from Latin and neighboring Romance languages, there are many Template:Lang-/Template:Lang- doublets in modern Spanish: Template:Lang and Template:Lang (both Spanish for "Ferdinand"), Template:Lang and Template:Lang (both Spanish for "smith"), Template:Lang and Template:Lang (both Spanish for "iron"), and Template:Lang and Template:Lang (both words pertaining to depth in Spanish, though Template:Lang means "bottom", while Template:Lang means "deep"); additionally, Template:Lang ("to make") is cognate to the root word of Template:Lang ("to satisfy"), and Template:Lang ("made") is similarly cognate to the root word of Template:Lang ("satisfied").
Compare the examples in the following table:
| Latin | Spanish | Ladino | Aragonese | Asturian | Galician | Portuguese | Catalan | Gascon / Occitan | French | Sardinian | Italian | Romanian | English |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Template:Smallcaps | Template:Lang | Template:Lang (or Template:Lang) | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang, Template:Lang | Template:Lang | fizu, fìgiu, fillu | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | 'son' |
| Template:Smallcaps | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang (or Template:Lang) | Template:Lang | fàghere, fàere, Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | 'to do' | |
| Template:Smallcaps | Template:Lang (calentura) | Template:Lang | Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang (or Template:Lang) |
Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | 'fever' | |||||
| Template:Smallcaps | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | 'fire' | |||
Some consonant clusters of Latin also produced characteristically different results in these languages, as shown in the examples in the following table:
.jpg){kind=link}
In the 15th and 16th centuries, Spanish underwent a dramatic change in the pronunciation of its sibilant consonants, known in Spanish as the Template:Lang, which resulted in the distinctive velar Template:IPA pronunciation of the letter Template:Angle bracket and—in a large part of Spain—the characteristic interdental Template:IPA ("th-sound") for the letter Template:Angle bracket (and for Template:Angle bracket before Template:Angle bracket or Template:Angle bracket). See History of Spanish (Modern development of the Old Spanish sibilants) for details.
The Template:Lang, written in Salamanca in 1492 by Elio Antonio de Nebrija, was the first grammar written for a modern European language.<ref>Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref> According to a popular anecdote, when Nebrija presented it to Queen Isabella I, she asked him what was the use of such a work, and he answered that language is the instrument of empire.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In his introduction to the grammar, dated 18 August 1492, Nebrija wrote that "... language was always the companion of empire."<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
From the 16th century onwards, the language was taken to the Spanish-discovered America and the Spanish East Indies via Spanish colonization of America. Miguel de Cervantes, author of Don Quixote, is such a well-known reference in the world that Spanish is often called Template:Lang ("the language of Cervantes").<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In the 20th century, Spanish was introduced to Equatorial Guinea and the Western Sahara, and to areas of the United States that had not been part of the Spanish Empire, such as Spanish Harlem in New York City. For details on borrowed words and other external influences upon Spanish, see Influences on the Spanish language.
Geographical distribution
[edit].svg){kind=link}
Spanish is the primary language in 20 countries worldwide. As of 2023, it is estimated that about 486 million people speak Spanish as a native language, making it the second most spoken language by number of native speakers.<ref>Template:Cite web Estimate. Corrected as Equatorial Guinea is mistakenly included (no native speakers there)</ref> An additional 75 million speak Spanish as a second or foreign language, making it the fourth most spoken language in the world overall after English, Mandarin Chinese, and Hindi with a total number of 538 million speakers.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Spanish is also the third most used language on the Internet, after English and Chinese.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Europe
[edit]
Spanish is the official language of Spain. Upon the emergence of the Castilian Crown as the dominant power in the Iberian Peninsula by the end of the Middle Ages, the Romance vernacular associated with this polity became increasingly used in instances of prestige and influence, and the distinction between "Castilian" and "Spanish" started to become blurred.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Hard policies imposing the language's hegemony in an intensely centralising Spanish state were established from the 18th century onward.Template:Sfn
Other European territories in which it is also widely spoken include Gibraltar and Andorra.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Spanish is also spoken by immigrant communities in other European countries, such as the United Kingdom, France, Italy, and Germany.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Spanish is an official language of the European Union.
Americas
[edit]Hispanic America
[edit]Template:Main Today, the majority of the Spanish speakers live in Hispanic America. Nationally, Spanish is the official language—either de facto or de jure—of Argentina, Bolivia (co-official with 36 indigenous languages), Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico (co-official with 63 indigenous languages), Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay (co-official with Guaraní),<ref>Constitución de la República del Paraguay Template:Webarchive, Article 140</ref> Peru (co-official with Quechua, Aymara, and "the other indigenous languages"),<ref>Constitución Política del Perú Template:Webarchive, Article 48</ref> Puerto Rico (co-official with English),<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Uruguay, and Venezuela.
United States
[edit]Template:Main Template:See also
Spanish language has a long history in the territory of the current-day United States dating back to the 16th century.Template:Sfn In the wake of the 1848 Guadalupe Hidalgo Treaty, hundreds of thousands of Spanish speakers became a minoritized community in the United States.Template:Sfn The 20th century saw further massive growth of Spanish speakers in areas where they had been hitherto scarce.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
According to the 2020 census, over 60 million people of the U.S. population were of Hispanic or Hispanic American by origin.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In turn, 41.8 million people in the United States aged five or older speak Spanish at home, or about 13% of the population.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Spanish predominates in the unincorporated territory of Puerto Rico, where it is also an official language along with English.
Spanish is by far the most common second language in the country, with over 50 million total speakers if non-native or second-language speakers are included.<ref>Template:Cite web (in Spanish)</ref> While English is the de facto national language of the country, Spanish is often used in public services and notices at the federal and state levels. Spanish is also used in administration in the state of New Mexico.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The language has a strong influence in major metropolitan areas such as those of Los Angeles, Miami, San Antonio, New York, San Francisco, Dallas, Tucson and Phoenix of the Arizona Sun Corridor, as well as more recently, Chicago, Las Vegas, Boston, Denver, Houston, Indianapolis, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Salt Lake City, Atlanta, Nashville, Orlando, Tampa, Raleigh and Baltimore-Washington, D.C. due to 20th- and 21st-century immigration.
Rest of the Americas
[edit]Although Spanish has no official recognition in the former British colony of Belize (known until 1973 as British Honduras) where English is the sole official language, according to the 2022 census, 54% of the total population are able to speak the language.<ref>Template:Cite report</ref>
Due to its proximity to Spanish-speaking countries and small existing native Spanish speaking minority, Trinidad and Tobago has implemented Spanish language teaching into its education system. The Trinidadian and Tobagonian government launched the Spanish as a First Foreign Language (SAFFL) initiative in March 2005.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Spanish has historically had a significant presence on the Dutch Caribbean islands of Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao (ABC Islands) throughout the centuries and in present times. The majority of the populations of each island (especially Aruba) speaking Spanish at varying although often high degrees of fluency.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The local language Papiamentu (Papiamento on Aruba) is heavily influenced by Venezuelan Spanish.
In addition to sharing most of its borders with Spanish-speaking countries, the creation of Mercosur in the early 1990s induced a favorable situation for the promotion of Spanish language teaching in Brazil.Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> In 2005, the National Congress of Brazil approved a bill, signed into law by the President, making it mandatory for schools to offer Spanish as an alternative foreign language course in both public and private secondary schools in Brazil.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In September 2016 this law was revoked by Michel Temer after the impeachment of Dilma Rousseff.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In many border towns and villages along Paraguay and Uruguay, a mixed language known as Portuñol is spoken.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Africa
[edit]Sub-Saharan Africa
[edit]
Equatorial Guinea is the only Spanish-speaking country located entirely in Africa, with the language introduced during the Spanish colonial period.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Enshrined in the constitution as an official language (alongside French and Portuguese), Spanish features prominently in the Equatoguinean education system and is the primary language used in government and business.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Whereas it is not the mother tongue of virtually any of its speakers, the vast majority of the population is proficient in Spanish.<ref>Quilis and Casado-Fresnillo, 1995, pp. 27–35; cfr Template:Harvcoltxt</ref> The Instituto Cervantes estimates that 87.7% of the population is fluent in Spanish.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The proportion of proficient Spanish speakers in Equatorial Guinea exceeds the proportion of proficient speakers in other West and Central African nations of their respective colonial languages.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Spanish is spoken by very small communities in Angola due to Cuban influence from the Cold War and in South Sudan among South Sudanese natives that relocated to Cuba during the Sudanese wars and returned for their country's independence.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
North Africa and Macaronesia
[edit]Spanish is also spoken in the integral territories of Spain in Africa, namely the cities of Ceuta and Melilla and the Canary Islands, located in the Atlantic Ocean some Template:Convert off the northwest of the African mainland. The Spanish spoken in the Canary Islands traces its origins back to the Castilian conquest in the 15th century, and, in addition to a resemblance to Western Andalusian speech patterns, it also features strong influence from the Spanish varieties spoken in the Americas,<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> which in turn have also been influenced historically by Canarian Spanish.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The Spanish spoken in North Africa by native bilingual speakers of Arabic or Berber who also speak Spanish as a second language features characteristics involving the variability of the vowel system.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
While far from its heyday during the Spanish protectorate in Morocco, the Spanish language has some presence in northern Morocco, stemming for example from the availability of certain Spanish-language media.Template:Sfn According to a 2012 survey by Morocco's Royal Institute for Strategic Studies (IRES), penetration of Spanish in Morocco reaches 4.6% of the population.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Many northern Moroccans have rudimentary knowledge of Spanish,Template:Sfn with Spanish being particularly significant in areas adjacent to Ceuta and Melilla.Template:Sfn Spanish also has a presence in the education system of the country (through either selected education centers implementing Spain's education system, primarily located in the North, or the availability of Spanish as foreign language subject in secondary education).Template:Sfn
In Western Sahara, formerly Spanish Sahara, a primarily Hassaniya Arabic-speaking territory, Spanish was officially spoken as the language of the colonial administration during the late 19th and 20th centuries. Today, Spanish is present in the partially-recognized Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic as its secondary official language,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and in the Sahrawi refugee camps in Tindouf (Algeria), where the Spanish language is still taught as a second language, largely by Cuban educators.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Spanish is also an official language of the African Union.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Asia
[edit]
Spanish was an official language of the Philippines from the beginning of Spanish administration in 1565 to a constitutional change in 1973. During Spanish colonization, it was the language of government, trade, and education, and was spoken as a first language by Spaniards and educated Filipinos (Ilustrados). Despite a public education system set up by the colonial government, by the end of Spanish rule in 1898, only about 10% of the population had knowledge of Spanish, mostly those of Spanish descent or elite standing.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Spanish continued to be official and used in Philippine literature and press during the early years of American administration after the Spanish–American War but was eventually replaced by English as the primary language of administration and education by the 1920s.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Nevertheless, despite a significant decrease in influence and speakers, Spanish remained an official language of the Philippines upon independence in 1946, alongside English and Filipino, a standardized version of Tagalog.
Spanish was briefly removed from official status in 1973 but reimplemented under the administration of Ferdinand Marcos two months later.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It remained an official language until the ratification of the present constitution in 1987, in which it was re-designated as a voluntary and optional auxiliary language.<ref>Article XIV, Sec 7: "For purposes of communication and instruction, the official languages of the Philippines are Filipino and, until otherwise provided by law, English. The regional languages are the auxiliary official languages in the regions and shall serve as auxiliary media of instruction therein. Spanish and Arabic shall be promoted on a voluntary and optional basis."</ref> Additionally, the constitution, in its Article XIV, stipulates that the government shall provide the people of the Philippines with a Spanish-language translation of the country's constitution.<ref>Article XIV, Sec 8: "This Constitution shall be promulgated in Filipino and English and shall be translated into major regional languages, Arabic, and Spanish."</ref> In recent years changing attitudes among non-Spanish speaking Filipinos have helped spur a revival of the language,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and starting in 2009 Spanish was reintroduced as part of the basic education curriculum in a number of public high schools, becoming the largest foreign language program offered by the public school system,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> with over 7,000 students studying the language in the 2021–2022 school year alone.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The local business process outsourcing industry has also helped boost the language's economic prospects.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Today, while the actual number of proficient Spanish speakers is around 400,000, or under 0.5% of the population,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> a new generation of Spanish speakers in the Philippines has likewise emerged, though speaker estimates vary widely.<ref>Template:Cite thesis</ref>
Aside from standard Spanish, a Spanish-based creole language called Chavacano developed in the southern Philippines. However, it is not mutually intelligible with Spanish.<ref>Spanish creole:Template:Cite book </ref> The number of Chavacano-speakers was estimated at 1.2 million in 1996.<ref>Template:Harvcoltxt</ref> The local languages of the Philippines also retain significant Spanish influence, with many words derived from Mexican Spanish, owing to the administration of the islands by Spain through New Spain until 1821, until direct governance from Madrid afterwards to 1898.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Oceania
[edit]
Spanish is the official and most spoken language on Easter Island, which is geographically part of Polynesia in Oceania and politically part of Chile. However, Easter Island's traditional language is Rapa Nui, an Eastern Polynesian language.
As a legacy of comprising the former Spanish East Indies, Spanish loan words are present in the local languages of Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Marshall Islands and Micronesia.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In addition, in Australia and New Zealand, there are native Spanish communities, resulting from emigration from Spanish-speaking countries (mainly from the Southern Cone).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Spanish speakers by country
[edit]20 countries and one United States territory speak Spanish officially, and the language has a significant unofficial presence in the rest of the United States along with Andorra, Belize and the territory of Gibraltar.
| Country | Population<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | Speakers of Spanish as a native language <ref name="viva18">Template:Cite report 498.5 million people have a native command of Spanish. 77.9 million people have limited Spanish proficiency. 24.2 million people are learning the Spanish language. 600.6 million people are potential users of Spanish worldwide, 7.5% (pages 26 and 69).</ref><ref>cia.gov</ref><ref>Ethnologue, 18th Ed.: es:Anexo:Hablantes de español según Ethnologue (edición 18).</ref> | Native speakers and proficient speakers as a second language <ref name="viva18"/><ref name="Eurob2023b">Template:Cite web Reports and documents - Data annex - Europeans and their languages - page 58. The source offers percentages of people over 12 years old in each EU country, who speak Spanish at a very good level (page 58). Of the total EU population over 12 years old, 9% are native Spanish speakers, another 3% have a very good level of Spanish, and a total of 17% can hold a conversation in Spanish (page 54). Therefore, native and very good Spanish speakers account for 12% (9%+3%).</ref> | Total number of Spanish speakers (including limited competence speakers)<ref name="viva18"/><ref name="Eurob2023">Template:Cite web Native and non native people who speak Spanish well enough in order to be able to have a conversation.</ref><ref name="DemografíaLengEsp">Template:Cite web, to countries with official Spanish status.</ref> |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mexico* | 133,367,428<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 125,098,647 (93.8%)<ref name="CIAMexico">Template:Cite web: Spanish only 92.7%</ref> | 125,632,117 (94.2%)<ref name="viva18"/> | 132,300,489 (99.2%)<ref name="CIAMexico" /> |
| United States | 334,914,895<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 43,369,734 (13.7% of 316,581,199) <ref>Spanish speakers older than 5 years old (Template:Cite web)</ref> | 47,576,361 (15.0% of 316,581,199)Template:Efn | 58,869,734 (17.9% of 316,581,199)Template:Efn<ref name="viva18" />Template:Efn |
| Colombia* | 53,110,609<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 52,090,885 (98.1%)<ref name="viva18" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 52 962 217 (99.7%)Template:Efn<ref name="viva18" /> | |
| Spain* | 49,153,849<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 42,075,695 (85.6%)<ref name="INEespañol">INE (2021) Template:Webarchive: In Spain, 85.6% speak Spanish always or frequently in family (77.1% always and 8.5% frequently), 96% speak Spanish well, and 99.5% understand and speak, albeit with difficulty .</ref> | 47,187,695 (96%)<ref name="INEespañol" /> | 48,908,080 (99.5%)<ref name="INEespañol" /> |
| Argentina* | 47,473,760<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 45,574,810 (96.0%)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 46,856,601 (98.7%)<ref name="viva18" /> | 47,188,917 (99.4%)<ref name="DemografíaLengEsp" /> |
| Peru* | 34,412,393<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 28,527,874 (82.9%)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 29,594,658 (86.6%)<ref name="viva18" /> | 30,600,340 (88.9%)Template:Efn<ref name="viva18" /> |
| Venezuela* | 28,460,000 <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 27,720,040 (97.4%)<ref name="viva18" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 28,240,466 (99.2%)Template:Efn<ref name="viva18" /> | |
| Chile* | 20,206,953<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 19,317,847 (95.6%)<ref name="viva18" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 19,945,772 (99.6%)Template:Efn<ref name="viva18" /> | |
| Ecuador* | 18,013,000<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 16,877,244 (93.7%)<ref name="viva18" /> | 17,474,448 (97.0%)Template:Efn<ref name="viva18" /> | 17,642,817 (98.6%)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> |
| Guatemala* | 18,079,810<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 12,637,787 (69.9%)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 13,722,576 (75.9%)<ref name="viva18" /> | 16,440,943 (90.8%)Template:Efn<ref name="viva18" /> |
| Bolivia* | 12,332,252<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 7,485,677 (60.7%)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 9,927,463 (80.5%)<ref name="viva18" /> | 12,064,523 (97.8%)Template:Efn<ref name="viva18" /> |
| Cuba* | 11,089,511<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 10,996,367 (99.2%)<ref name="viva18" /> | 10,996,367 (99.2%)<ref name="viva18" /> | |
| Dominican Republic* | 10,878,267<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 10,323,475 (94.9%)<ref name="viva18" /> | 10,747,728 (98.8%)<ref name="DemografíaLengEsp" /> | |
| Honduras* | 10,039,862<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 9,549,917 (95.1%)<ref name="viva18" /><ref>There are 207,750 people who speak another language, mainly Garifuna (98,000).: Ethnologue Template:Webarchive</ref> | 9,949,503 (99.1%)<ref name="DemografíaLengEsp" /> | |
| France | 68,381,000<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 557,001 (1% of 55 700 114) <ref name="Eurob2023"/><ref>There are more than 433,000 emigrants from predominantly Spanish-speaking countries in France, of which 93.6% speak native Spanish (Inst. Cerv. Anuario 2024): 310,072 Spaniards (INE, 2025) + 31,151 Colombians + 16,473 Chileans + 14,807 Argentines + 13,390 Mexicans + 13,361 Peruvians + 7,249 Venezuelans + 5,466 Cubans + 4,730 Ecuatorians + 3,992 Dominicans + 3,598 Bolivians + 3,423 Guatemalans + 2,784 Uruguayans + 1,178 Paraguayans (datosmacro 2020). On the other hand, we should consider Spanish emigrants who have become French citizens and still speak Spanish, or the descendants of Spanish emigrants born in France who speak Spanish at home.</ref> | 1,910,258 (4% of 55 700 114)Template:Efn<ref name="Eurob2023b"/> | 7,798,016 (14% of 55 700 114) <ref name="Eurob2023"/> |
| Nicaragua* | 6,803,886<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 6,484,103 (95.3%)<ref>www.cia.gov</ref><ref>There are 490,124 people who speak another language, mainly Mískito (154,000).: Ethnologue Template:Webarchive</ref> | 6,599,769 (97.1%)<ref name="viva18" /> | 6,734,219 (98.9%)Template:Efn<ref name="viva18" /> |
| Paraguay* | 6,417,076<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 3,946,502 (61.5%)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 4,318,692 (67.3%)<ref name="viva18" /> | 6,397,823 (99,7%)Template:Efn<ref name="viva18" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> |
| El Salvador* | 6,029,976<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 6,015,876<ref>There are 14,100 people who speak other language as their mother tongue (main language, Kekchí with 12,300 speakers): Ethnologue Template:Webarchive.</ref> | 6,023,946 (99.9%)<ref name="viva18" /> | |
| Brazil | 212,584,000<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 522,443<ref name="viva18" /><ref>There are 1,318,554 emigrants from predominantly Spanish-speaking countries in Brazil, of which 93.6% speak native Spanish (Inst. Cerv. Anuario 2024): 626,900 Venezuelans (r4v, nov 2024) + 140,319 Spaniards (INE, 2025) + 140,544 Bolivians + 81,036 Colombians + 79,744 Argentines + 50,512 Uruguayans + 49,412 Peruvians + 48,501 Paraguayans + 35,602 Cubans + 22,656 Mexicans + 20,650 Chileans + 10,669 Ecuatorians + 3,370 Dominicans + 2,592 Hondurans + 1,929 Costa Ricans + 1,676 Guatemalans (nepo.unicamp.br 2020-22).</ref> | 6,192,887Template:Efn<ref name="viva18" /> | |
| Germany | 83,190,556<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 716,772 (1% of 71 677 231) <ref name="Eurob2023"/><ref>Native command group (GDL): 266,955 non-nationalized Spanish-speaking immigrants, 63,752 nationalized Spanish-speaking immigrants, 44,500 Spanish speakers of children of immigrants (second generation). 375,207 total native speakers, but there are another 37,047 non-mother-tongue speakers with native-level skills. Anuario del Instituto Cervantes 2020 (page 325). "Germany and their Spanish speakers" Template:Webarchive</ref> | 2,150,317 (3% of 71 677 231)Template:Efn<ref name="Eurob2023b"/> | 5,734,178 (8% of 71 677 231) <ref name="Eurob2023"/> |
| Costa Rica* | 5,327,387<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 5,268,786 (98.9%)<ref name="viva18" /> | 5,326,600 (99.9%)Template:Efn<ref name="viva18" /> | |
| Panama* | 4,565,559<ref>Census INEC estimate for 2025</ref> | 3,944,643 (86.4)<ref name="viva18" /><ref>There are 501,043 people who speak another language as mother tongue: Template:Cite web</ref> | 4,495,892 (98.4%)Template:Efn<ref name="viva18" /> | |
| Uruguay* | 3,499,451<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 3,348,975 (95.7%)<ref>datosmundial.com</ref><ref>There are 150,200 people who speak another language as mother tongue, Template:Cite web</ref> | 3,467,956 (99.1%)<ref name="viva18" /> | |
| Puerto Rico* | 3,203,295<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 3,049,537 (95.2%)<ref>(Census Bureau 2023 Template:Webarchive)</ref> | 3,200,092 (99.9%)<ref name="viva18" /> | |
| United Kingdom | 68,265,209<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 215,062 (0.4%)<ref>Languages of the United Kingdom</ref> | 518,480 (1% of 51,848,010)<ref name="Eurobarometer 2012 goodspeakers">Eurobarometr 2012 Template:Webarchive (pages T74, TS2): Non native people who speak Spanish very well.</ref> | 3,110,880 (6% of 51,848,010)<ref name="Eurobarometer 2012 speakers">Eurobarometr 2012 Template:Webarchive (page T64): Non native people who speak Spanish well enough in order to be able to have a conversation.</ref> |
| Italy | 60,542,215<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 515,597 (1% of 51,862,391) <ref name="Eurob2023"/> | 1,546,790 (3% of 51,862,391)Template:Efn<ref name="Eurob2023b"/> | 3,093,580 (6% of 51,862,391) <ref name="Eurob2023"/> |
| Canada | 41,465,298<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 600,795 (1.6%)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 1,171,450<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> (3.2%)<ref>cia.gov Template:Webarchive (3.2% speak Spanish in Canada)</ref> | 1,775,000<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> |
| Morocco | 36,828,330<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 12,774<ref name="viva18" /> | 1,754,485<ref name="viva18" /><ref>El español en el contexto Sociolingüístico marroquí: Evolución y perspectivas (page 39): Between 4 and 7 million people have Spanish knowledge (M. Ammadi, 2002) Template:Webarchive</ref> (10%)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | |
| Netherlands | 18,070,000<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 1,328,731 (9% of 14 763 684) <ref name="Eurob2023"/> | ||
| Equatorial Guinea* | 1,505,588<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 1,114,135 (74%)<ref name="viva18" /> | 1,320,401 (87.7%)<ref>cvc.cervantes.es. Template:Webarchive. 13.7% of the country's Spanish speakers are proficient; the remaining 74% are limited-competence speakers.</ref> | |
| Portugal | 10,639,726<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 48,791<ref name="port" /> | 178,312 (2% of 8,915,624) <ref name="Eurob2023b"/> | 1,089,995<ref name="port" >Template:Cite web</ref> |
| Belgium | 11,812,354<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 96,193 (1% of 9,619,330) <ref name="Eurob2023"/> | 192,387 (2% of 9,619,330)Template:Efn<ref name="Eurob2023b"/> | 961,933 (10% of 9,619,330) <ref name="Eurob2023"/> |
| Sweden | 10,588,230<ref>2012 censusTemplate:Webarchive</ref> | 85,415 (1% of 8,541,497) <ref name="Eurob2023"/> | 854,149 (10% of 8,541,497) <ref name="Eurob2023"/>) | |
| Ivory Coast | 29,389,150<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 798,095 (students)<ref name="viva18" /> | ||
| Philippines | 114,123,600<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 4,584<ref name="viva18" /> | 566,921<ref name="viva18" /><ref>Template:Cite web There are 4,803 native Spanish speakers + 461,689 Spanish speakers with limited competence + 33,600 Spanish students.</ref> | |
| Australia | 27,309,396 <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 175,491<ref name="viva18" /> | 559,491<ref name="viva18" /> | |
| Switzerland | 9,060,598<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 212,970<ref name="viva18" />(2.3%)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>exteriores.gob.es Template:Webarchive. 2.3% Spanish speakers as a native language according to 2018 census.</ref> | 556,131<ref name="viva18" /> | |
| Romania | 19,051,562<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 485,241 (3 of 16,174,719) <ref name="Eurob2023"/> | ||
| Denmark | 5,982,117<ref>2025 Census estimate</ref> | 440,213 (9% of 4,891,261) <ref name="Eurob2023"/> | ||
| Western Sahara | 590,506<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | N/A<ref>The 1970 Spanish census claims there were 16,648 Spanish speakers in Western Sahara at the time ([1]. Template:Webarchive), but most of them were probably people born in Spain who left after the Moroccan annexation.</ref> | 423,739<ref name="viva18" /> | |
| Benin | 12,910,087<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 412,515 (students)<ref name="viva18" /> | ||
| Cameroon | 28,758,503<ref>01-July-2024 Census estimate</ref> | 403,000 (students)<ref name="viva18" /> | ||
| Senegal | 12,853,259 | 356,000 (students)<ref name="viva18" /> | ||
| Poland | 38,036,118<ref>2022 Census</ref> | 319,829 (1% of 31,982,941) <ref name="Eurob2023"/> | ||
| Austria | 9,198,214<ref>statistik.at "Population at beginning of 2025/quarter"</ref> | 76,471 (1% of 7,647,176)<ref name="Eurob2023b"/> | 305,887 (4% of 7,647,176)<ref name="Eurob2023"/> | |
| Ireland | 5,380,300<ref>cso.ie "Population and Migration Estimates, April 2024".</ref> | 40,059 (1% of 4,005,909)<ref name="Eurob2023"/> | 120,177 (3% of 4,005,909)<ref name="Eurob2023b"/> | 280,414 (7% of 4,005,909)<ref name="Eurob2023"/> |
| Belize | 430,191<ref>Template:Cite report</ref> | 224,130 (52.1%)<ref name="Spanish in Belize">Template:Cite report</ref> | 224,130 (52.1%) | 270,160 (62.8%)<ref name="Spanish in Belize" /> |
| Czech Republic | 10,897,237<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 89,820 (1% of 8,982,036)<ref name="Eurob2023b"/> | 269,461 (3% of 8,982,036)<ref name="Eurob2023"/> | |
| Algeria | 47,400,000<ref>ons.dz, Census estimate for 1 Jan 2025.</ref> | 1,149<ref name="viva18" /> | 263,428Template:Efn<ref name="viva18" /> | |
| Curaçao, Sint Maarten, Bonaire, Sint Eustatius & Saba | 244,700 | 46,621 <ref name="viva18" /> | 203,339 <ref name="viva18" /> | |
| Finland | 5,638,675<ref>pxdata.stat.fi 1-July-2024 Census estimate</ref> | 186,917 (4% of 4,672,932)<ref name="Eurob2023"/> | ||
| Greece | 10,400,720<ref>statistics.gr 1-January-2024.</ref> | 91,679 (1% of 9,167,896)<ref name="Eurob2023b"/> | 183,358 (2% of 9,167,896)<ref name="Eurob2023"/> | |
| Bulgaria | 6,445,481<ref>nsi.bg 31 Dec 2023 census estimate</ref> | 59,175 (1% of 5,917,534)<ref name="Eurob2023b"/> | 177,526 (3% of 5,917,534)<ref name="Eurob2023"/> | |
| Gabon | 2,408,586<ref>www.state.gov. Census estimate for 1 July 2025.</ref> | 167,410 (students)<ref name="viva18" /> | ||
| Hungary | 9,540,000<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 83,135 (1% of 8,313,539)<ref name="Eurob2023b"/> | 166,271 (2% of 8,313,539)<ref name="Eurob2023"/> | |
| Russia | 146,028,325<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 28,924<ref name="viva18" /> | 163,354 (134,430 students)<ref name="viva18" /> | |
| Japan | 123,440,000<ref>stat.go.jp 1 Mar 2025 census estimate.</ref> | 131,000<ref name="viva18" /> | 160,000<ref name="viva18" /> | |
| Slovakia | 5,421,272 <ref>slovak.statistics.sk 2024 Census estimate.</ref> | 45,915 (1% of 4,591,487)<ref name="Eurob2023b"/> | 91,830 (2% of 4,591,487)<ref name="Eurob2023"/> | |
| Israel | 10,045,100<ref>cbs.gov.il Census estimate for 28 Feb 2025.</ref> | 104,000<ref name="viva18" /> | 149,000<ref name="viva18" /> | |
| Norway | 5,594,340<ref>ssb.no. Census estimate for 2025-01-01.</ref> | 13,000<ref name="viva18" /> | 132,888Template:Efn<ref name="viva18" /> | |
| Aruba | 107,566<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 14,737<ref name="viva18" /> | 89,387<ref name="viva18" /> | |
| Luxembourg | 672,050<ref>January 2024 Census estimate.</ref> | 16,000 (3% of 533,335) <ref name="Eurob2023"/> | 37,000 (7% of 533,335)Template:Efn<ref name="Eurob2023b"/> | 80,000 (15% of 533,335) <ref name="Eurob2023"/> |
| Andorra | 85,101<ref>2024 Census estimate</ref> | 34,132 (43.2%)<ref name="viva18" /> | 49,018 (57.6%)<ref>static1.ara.cat: 43.2% speak Spanish as a mother tongue, and 14.4% as a second language.</ref> | 71,677 (80.0%)<ref>andorrainfo.com</ref><ref name="viva18" /> |
| Trinidad and Tobago | 1,368,333<ref>CSO – Statistics (1 July 2024).}}.</ref> | 4,000<ref name="viva18" /> | 70,401<ref name="viva18" /> | |
| China | 1,408,280,000<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 15,130<ref name="viva18" /> | 69,028 (53,898 students) <ref name="viva18" /> | |
| New Zealand | 22,000<ref name="viva18" /> | 58,373 (36,373 students)<ref name="viva18" /> | ||
| Slovenia | 35,194 (2%<ref name="Eurobarometer 2012 goodspeakers" /> of 1,759,701<ref name="Eurobarometer 2012 population">Eurobarometr 2012 Template:Webarchive (page TS2): Population older than 15. (age scale used for the Eurobarometer survey)</ref>) | 52,791 (3%<ref name="Eurobarometer 2012 speakers" /> of 1,759,701<ref name="Eurobarometer 2012 population" />) | ||
| India | 1,428,627,663<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 4,855<ref name="viva18" /> | 51,104 (46,249 students)<ref name="viva18" /> | |
| Guam | 153,836<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 1,309<ref name="viva18" /> | 32,233<ref name="viva18" /> | |
| Gibraltar | 29,441<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 22,758 (77.3%<ref>www.um.es Template:Webarchive (5.2. Datos descriptivos de los usos de español e inglés, Gráfico 2). 77.3% of the Gibraltar population speak Spanish with their mother more, or equal than English.</ref>) | ||
| Lithuania | 2,972,949<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 28,297 (1%<ref name="Eurobarometer 2012 speakers" /> of 2,829,740<ref name="Eurobarometer 2012 population" />) | ||
| Turkey | 85,664,944 <ref>data.tuik.gov.tr: Census estimate (1/1/2025)</ref> | 5,460<ref name="viva18" /> | 21,660 <ref name="viva18" /> | |
| Egypt | 105,914,499 <ref>[2]: Census estimate (1/1/2025)</ref> | 21,000 <ref>Template:Cite webThere are 6,000 Spanish students and 15,000 Egyptian citizens who speak Spanish for professional reasons</ref> | ||
| US Virgin Islands | 16,788 <ref name="viva18" /> | 16,788 | 16,788 | |
| Latvia | 2,209,000 | 13,943 (1%<ref name="Eurobarometer 2012 speakers" /> of 1,447,866<ref name="Eurobarometer 2012 population" />) | ||
| Cyprus | 2%<ref name="Eurobarometer 2012 speakers" /> of 660,400<ref name="Eurobarometer 2012 population" /> | |||
| Estonia | 9,457 (1%<ref name="Eurobarometer 2012 speakers" /> of 945,733<ref name="Eurobarometer 2012 population" />) | |||
| Jamaica | 2,711,476<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 8,000<ref name="viva18" /> | 8,000 | 8,000 |
| Namibia | 666 | 3,866<ref>El español en Namibia, 2005. Template:Webarchive Instituto Cervantes.</ref> | 3,866 | |
| Malta | 3,354 (1%<ref name="Eurobarometer 2012 speakers" /> of 335,476<ref name="Eurobarometer 2012 population" />) | |||
| Total | 8,107,000,000 (total world population)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | {{#expr: 125,098,647 + 43,369,734 + 52,090,885 + 42,075,695 + 45,574,810 + 28,527,874 + 27,720,040 + 19,317,847 + 16,877,244 + 12,637,787 + 7,485,677 + 10,995,250 + 10,323,475 + 9,549,917 + 557,001 + 6,484,103 + 3,946,502 + 5,788,776 + 716,772 + 1,240,391 + 5,268,786 + 3,944,643 + 3,348,975 + 3,049,537 + 259,322 + 515,597 + 13,204 + 223,837 + 88,461 + 600,795 + 48,265 + 96,193 + 85,415 + 5,833 + 175,491 + 4,284 + 20,320 + 224,130 + 5,150 + 1,149 + 210,115 + 6,068 + 16,062 + 104,000 + 131,000 + 40,059 + 27,921 + 10,699 + 8,241 + 15,130 + 13,542 + 4,000 + 1,201 + 22,000 + 36,763 + 47,300 + 5,872 + 22,758 + 16,000 + 5,235 + 16,788 + 4,855 + 8,000 + 227 round 0}} ({{#expr: 48,873,695,200 / 8,107,000,000 round 1 }}%)<ref name="worldcia">According to the CIA Factbook, Spanish is the second most spoken language at 6%, and the fourth most spoken language overall at 6.9%.</ref><ref name="viva18" /> | {{#expr: 125,632,117 + 47,576,361 + 52,090,885 + 47,187,695 + 46,856,601 + 29,594,658 + 27,720,040 + 19,317,847 + 17,474,448 + 13,722,576 + 9,927,463 + 10,996,367 + 10,323,475 + 9,549,917 + 2,228,004 + 6,599,769 + 4,318,692 + 6,029,976 + 2,150,317 + 1,240,391 + 5,268,786 + 3,944,643 + 3,467,956 + 3,049,537 + 518,480 + 1,546,790 + 13,204 + 1,209,048 + 88,461 + 1,171,450 + 178,312 + 192,387 + 85,415 + 5,833 + 175,491 + 212,970 + 16,062 + 4,284 + 76,471 + 120,177 + 224,130 + 83,135 + 173,600 + 91,679 + 59,175 + 83,135 + 131,000 + 104,000 + 125,534 + 27,921 + 8,241 + 130,750 + 5,872 + 45,914 + 16,000 + 75,402 + 4,100 + 15,130 + 1,201 + 22,000 + 49,018 + 47,300 + 5,872 + 22,758 + 37,000 + 5,235 + 16,788 + 4,855 + 8,000 + 3,870 + 227 round 0}} ({{#expr: 50,882,108,400 / 8,107,000,000 round 1 }}%)<ref name="viva18" /> | {{#expr: 132,300,489 + 58,723,734 + 52,962,217 + 48,908,080 + 47,188,917 + 30,600,340 + 28,240,466 + 20,121,084 + 17,642,817 + 16,440,943 + 12,064,523 + 10,996,350 + 10,747,728 + 9,949,503 + 7,798,016 + 6,734,219 + 6,397,823 + 6,023,946 + 5,734,178 + 5,459,173 + 5,326,600 + 4,495,892 + 3,467,956 + 3,200,092 + 3,110,880 + 3,093,580 + 1,754,485 + 1,432,886 + 1,328,731 + 1,171,450 + 1,089,995 + 961,933 + 854,149 + 798,095 + 568,170 + 559,491 + 556,131 + 485,241 + 440,213 + 423,739 + 412,515 + 403,000 + 356,000 + 319,829 + 305,887 + 280,414 + 270,160 + 269,461 + 263,428 + 209,250 + 186,917 + 183,358 + 177,526 + 167,410 + 166,271 + 160,000 + 149,000 + 147,809 + 140,880 + 140,302 + 71,650 + 83,064 + 80,000 + 73,656 + 71,677 + 71,650 + 70,401 + 69,028 + 60,582 + 57,883 + 51,104 + 48,000 + 29,441 + 28,297 + 20,235 + 16,788 + 13,943 + 13,480 + 9,457 + 8,000 + 7,344 + 6,104 + 3,969 + 3,354 + 227 + 91 round 0}} ({{#expr: 57,435,383,800 / 8,107,000,000 round 1 }}%)<ref name="worldcia"/><ref name="viva18" /><ref name="ethnologue200" >www.ethnologue.com Spanish is the fourth most spoken language with 558.5 million speakers.</ref> |
Grammar
[edit]
Most of the grammatical and typological features of Spanish are shared with the other Romance languages. Spanish is a fusional language. The noun and adjective systems exhibit two genders and two numbers. In addition, articles and some pronouns and determiners have a neuter gender in their singular form. There are about fifty conjugated forms per verb, with 3 tenses: past, present, future; 2 aspects for past: perfective, imperfective; 4 moods: indicative, subjunctive, conditional, imperative; 3 persons: first, second, third; 2 numbers: singular, plural; 3 verboid forms: infinitive, gerund, and past participle. The indicative mood is the unmarked one, while the subjunctive mood expresses uncertainty or indetermination, and is commonly paired with the conditional, which is a mood used to express "would" (as in, "I would eat if I had food"); the imperative is a mood to express a command, commonly a one word phrase – "¡Di!" ("Talk!").
Verbs express T–V distinction by using different persons for formal and informal addresses. (For a detailed overview of verbs, see Spanish verbs and Spanish irregular verbs.)
Spanish syntax is considered right-branching, meaning that subordinate or modifying constituents tend to be placed after head words. The language uses prepositions (rather than postpositions or inflection of nouns for case), and usually—though not always—places adjectives after nouns, as do most other Romance languages.
Spanish is classified as a subject–verb–object language; however, as in most Romance languages, constituent order is highly variable and governed mainly by topicalization and focus. It is a "pro-drop", or "null-subject" language—that is, it allows the deletion of subject pronouns when they are pragmatically unnecessary. Spanish is described as a "verb-framed" language, meaning that the direction of motion is expressed in the verb while the mode of locomotion is expressed adverbially (e.g. subir corriendo or salir volando; the respective English equivalents of these examples—'to run up' and 'to fly out'—show that English is, by contrast, "satellite-framed", with mode of locomotion expressed in the verb and direction in an adverbial modifier).
Phonology
[edit]The Spanish phonological system evolved from that of Vulgar Latin. Its development exhibits some traits in common with other Western Romance languages, others with the neighboring Hispanic varieties—especially Leonese and Aragonese—as well as other features unique to Spanish. Spanish is alone among its immediate neighbors in having undergone frequent aspiration and eventual loss of the Latin initial Template:IPA sound (e.g. Cast. Template:Lang vs. Leon. and Arag. Template:Lang).<ref>Template:Harvcoltxt</ref> The Latin initial consonant sequences Template:Lang, Template:Lang, and Template:Lang in Spanish typically merge as Template:Lang (originally pronounced Template:IPA), while in Aragonese they are preserved in most dialects, and in Leonese they present a variety of outcomes, including Template:IPA, Template:IPA, and Template:IPA. Where Latin had Template:Lang before a vowel (e.g. Template:Lang) or the ending Template:Lang, Template:Lang (e.g. Template:Lang), Old Spanish produced Template:IPA, that in Modern Spanish became the velar fricative Template:IPA (Template:Lang, Template:Lang), whereas neighboring languages have the palatal lateral Template:IPA (e.g. Portuguese Template:Lang, Template:Lang; Catalan Template:Lang, Template:Lang).
Segmental phonology
[edit]
The Spanish phonemic inventory consists of five vowel phonemes (Template:IPA, Template:IPA, Template:IPA, Template:IPA, Template:IPA) and 17 to 19 consonant phonemes (the exact number depending on the dialect<ref>Template:Harvcoltxt</ref>). The main allophonic variation among vowels is the reduction of the high vowels Template:IPA and Template:IPA to glides—Template:IPA and Template:IPA respectively—when unstressed and adjacent to another vowel. Some instances of the mid vowels Template:IPA and Template:IPA, determined lexically, alternate with the diphthongs Template:IPA and Template:IPA respectively when stressed, in a process that is better described as morphophonemic rather than phonological, as it is not predictable from phonology alone.
The Spanish consonant system is characterized by (1) three nasal phonemes, and one or two (depending on the dialect) lateral phoneme(s), which in syllable-final position lose their contrast and are subject to assimilation to a following consonant; (2) three voiceless stops and the affricate Template:IPA; (3) three or four (depending on the dialect) voiceless fricatives; (4) a set of voiced obstruents—Template:IPA, Template:IPA, Template:IPA, and sometimes Template:IPA—which alternate between approximant and plosive allophones depending on the environment; and (5) a phonemic distinction between the "tapped" and "trilled" r-sounds (single Template:Angle bracket and double Template:Angle bracket in orthography).
In the following table of consonant phonemes, Template:IPA is marked with an asterisk (*) to indicate that it is preserved only in some dialects. In most dialects it has been merged with Template:IPA in the merger called Template:Lang. Similarly, Template:IPA is also marked with an asterisk to indicate that most dialects do not distinguish it from Template:IPA (see Template:Lang), although this is not a true merger but an outcome of different evolution of sibilants in southern Spain.
The phoneme Template:IPA is in parentheses () to indicate that it appears only in loanwords. Each of the voiced obstruent phonemes Template:IPA, Template:IPA, Template:IPA, and Template:IPA appears to the right of a pair of voiceless phonemes, to indicate that, while the voiceless phonemes maintain a phonemic contrast between plosive (or affricate) and fricative, the voiced ones alternate allophonically (i.e. without phonemic contrast) between plosive and approximant pronunciations.
Prosody
[edit]Spanish is classified by its rhythm as a syllable-timed language: each syllable has approximately the same duration regardless of stress.<ref>Template:Harvcoltxt</ref><ref>Template:Harvcoltxt</ref>
Spanish intonation varies significantly according to dialect but generally conforms to a pattern of falling tone for declarative sentences and wh-questions (who, what, why, etc.) and rising tone for yes/no questions.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> There are no syntactic markers to distinguish between questions and statements and thus, the recognition of declarative or interrogative depends entirely on intonation.
Stress most often occurs on any of the last three syllables of a word, with some rare exceptions at the fourth-to-last or earlier syllables. Stress tends to occur as follows:<ref>Template:Harvcoltxt</ref>Template:Better source needed
- in words that end with a monophthong, on the penultimate syllable
- when the word ends in a diphthong, on the final syllable.
- in words that end with a consonant, on the last syllable, with the exception of two grammatical endings: Template:Lang, for third-person-plural of verbs, and Template:Lang, for plural of nouns and adjectives or for second-person-singular of verbs. However, even though a significant number of nouns and adjectives ending with Template:Lang are also stressed on the penult (Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang), the great majority of nouns and adjectives ending with Template:Lang are stressed on their last syllable (Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang).
- Preantepenultimate stress (stress on the fourth-to-last syllable) occurs rarely, only on verbs with clitic pronouns attached (e.g. Template:Lang 'saving them for him/her/them/you').
In addition to the many exceptions to these tendencies, there are numerous minimal pairs that contrast solely on stress such as Template:Lang ('sheet') and Template:Lang ('savannah'); Template:Lang ('boundary'), Template:Lang ('he/she limits') and Template:Lang ('I limited'); Template:Lang ('liquid'), Template:Lang ('I sell off') and Template:Lang ('he/she sold off').
The orthographic system unambiguously reflects where the stress occurs: in the absence of an accent mark, the stress falls on the last syllable unless the last letter is Template:Angle bracket, Template:Angle bracket, or a vowel, in which cases the stress falls on the next-to-last (penultimate) syllable. Exceptions to those rules are indicated by an acute accent mark over the vowel of the stressed syllable. (See Spanish orthography.)
Speaker population
[edit]Spanish is the official, or national language in 18 countries and one territory in the Americas, Spain, and Equatorial Guinea. With a population of over 410 million, Hispanophone America accounts for the vast majority of Spanish speakers, of which Mexico is the most populous Spanish-speaking country. In the European Union, Spanish is the mother tongue of 8% of the population, with an additional 7% speaking it as a second language.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Additionally, Spanish is the second most spoken language in the United States and is by far the most popular foreign language among students.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2015, it was estimated that over 50 million Americans spoke Spanish, about 41 million of whom were native speakers.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> With continued immigration and increased use of the language domestically in public spheres and media, the number of Spanish speakers in the United States is expected to continue growing over the forthcoming decades.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Dialectal variation
[edit]
Template:Main While being mutually intelligible, there are important variations (phonological, grammatical, and lexical) in the spoken Spanish of the various regions of Spain and throughout the Spanish-speaking areas of the Americas.
The national variety with the most speakers is Mexican Spanish. It is spoken by more than twenty percent of the world's Spanish speakers (more than 112 million of the total of more than 500 million, according to the table above). One of its main features is the reduction or loss of unstressed vowels, mainly when they are in contact with the sound /s/.<ref>Eleanor Greet Cotton, John M. Sharp (1988) Spanish in the Americas, Volume 2, pp. 154–155, Template:Webarchive</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
In Spain, northern dialects are popularly thought of as closer to the standard, although positive attitudes toward southern dialects have increased significantly in the last 50 years. The speech from the educated classes of Madrid is the standard variety for use on radio and television in Spain and it is indicated by many as the one that has most influenced the written standard for Spanish.<ref>Template:Harvcoltxt: "whatever might be claimed by other centres, such as Valladolid, it was educated varieties of Madrid Spanish that were mostly regularly reflected in the written standard."</ref> Central (European) Spanish speech patterns have been noted to be in the process of merging with more innovative southern varieties (including Eastern Andalusian and Murcian), as an emerging interdialectal levelled koine buffered between the Madrid's traditional national standard and the Seville speech trends.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Phonology
[edit]Template:See also The four main phonological divisions are based respectively on (1) the phoneme Template:IPAslink, (2) the debuccalization of syllable-final Template:IPA, (3) the sound of the spelled Template:Angle bracket, (4) and the phoneme Template:IPAslink.
- The phoneme Template:IPA (spelled Template:Lang before Template:Lang or Template:Lang and spelled Template:Angle bracket elsewhere), a voiceless dental fricative as in English thing, is maintained by a majority of Spain's population, especially in the northern and central parts of the country. In other areas (some parts of southern Spain, the Canary Islands, and the Americas), Template:IPA does not exist and Template:IPA occurs instead. The maintenance of phonemic contrast is called Template:Lang in Spanish, while the merger is generally called Template:Lang (in reference to the usual realization of the merged phoneme as Template:IPA) or, occasionally, Template:Lang (referring to its interdental realization, Template:IPA, in some parts of southern Spain). In most of Hispanic America, the spelled Template:Angle bracket before Template:Angle bracket or Template:Angle bracket, and spelled Template:Angle bracket is always pronounced as a voiceless dental sibilant.
- The debuccalization (pronunciation as Template:IPA, or loss) of syllable-final Template:IPA is associated with the southern half of Spain and lowland Americas: Central America (except central Costa Rica and Guatemala), the Caribbean, coastal areas of southern Mexico, and South America except Andean highlands. Debuccalization is frequently called "aspiration" in English, and Template:Lang in Spanish. When there is no debuccalization, the syllable-final Template:IPA is pronounced as voiceless "apico-alveolar" sibilant or as a voiceless dental sibilant in the same fashion as in the next paragraph.
- The sound that corresponds to the letter Template:Angle bracket is pronounced in northern and central Spain as a voiceless "apico-alveolar" sibilant Template:IPA (also described acoustically as "grave" and articulatorily as "retracted"), with a weak "hushing" sound reminiscent of Template:Lcons fricatives. In Andalusia, Canary Islands and most of Hispanic America (except in the Paisa region of Colombia) it is pronounced as a voiceless dental sibilant Template:IPA, much like the most frequent pronunciation of the /s/ of English.
- The phoneme Template:IPA, spelled Template:Angle bracket, a palatal lateral consonant that can be approximated by the sound of the Template:Angle bracket of English million, tends to be maintained in less-urbanized areas of northern Spain and in the highland areas of South America, as well as in Paraguay and lowland Bolivia. Meanwhile, in the speech of most other Spanish speakers, it is merged with Template:IPA ("curly-tail j"), a non-lateral, usually voiced, usually fricative, palatal consonant, sometimes compared to English Template:IPA (yod) as in yacht and spelled Template:Angle bracket in Spanish. As with other forms of allophony across world languages, the small difference of the spelled Template:Angle bracket and the spelled Template:Angle bracket is usually not perceived (the difference is not heard) by people who do not produce them as different phonemes. Such a phonemic merger is called Template:Lang in Spanish. In Rioplatense Spanish, the merged phoneme is generally pronounced as a postalveolar fricative, either voiced Template:IPA (as in English measure or the French Template:Angle bracket) in the central and western parts of the dialectal region (Template:Lang), or voiceless Template:IPA (as in the French Template:Angle bracket or Portuguese Template:Angle bracket) in and around Buenos Aires and Montevideo (Template:Lang).<ref>Charles B. Chang, "Variation in palatal production in Buenos Aires Spanish" Template:Webarchive. Selected Proceedings of the 4th Workshop on Spanish Sociolinguistics, ed. Maurice Westmoreland and Juan Antonio Thomas, 54–63. Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project, 2008.</ref>
Morphology
[edit]The main morphological variations between dialects of Spanish involve differing uses of pronouns, especially those of the second person and, to a lesser extent, the object pronouns of the third person.
Voseo
[edit]
Virtually all dialects of Spanish make the distinction between a formal and a familiar register in the second-person singular and thus have two different pronouns meaning "you": Template:Lang in the formal and either Template:Lang or Template:Lang in the familiar (and each of these three pronouns has its associated verb forms), with the choice of Template:Lang or Template:Lang varying from one dialect to another. The use of Template:Lang and its verb forms is called Template:Lang. In a few dialects, all three pronouns are used, with Template:Lang, Template:Lang, and Template:Lang denoting respectively formality, familiarity, and intimacy.<ref name="rae.es site">Template:Cite web</ref>
In Template:Lang, Template:Lang is the subject form (Template:Lang, "you say") and the form for the object of a preposition (Template:Lang, "I am going with you"), while the direct and indirect object forms, and the possessives, are the same as those associated with Template:Lang: Template:Lang ("You know your friends respect you").
The verb forms of the general Template:Lang are the same as those used with Template:Lang except in the present tense (indicative and imperative) verbs. The forms for Template:Lang generally can be derived from those of Template:Lang (the traditional second-person familiar plural) by deleting the glide Template:IPA, or Template:IPA, where it appears in the ending: Template:Lang > Template:Lang; Template:Lang > Template:Lang, Template:Lang (Template:Lang) > Template:Lang (Template:Lang), Template:Lang (Template:Lang) > Template:Lang (Template:Lang).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
| Indicative | Subjunctive | Imperative | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present | Simple past | Imperfect past | Future | Conditional | Present | Past | |
| Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang Template:Lang |
Template:Lang |
| Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang Template:Lang |
Template:Lang |
| Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang Template:Lang |
Template:Lang |
| The forms in bold coincide with standard tú-conjugation. | |||||||
In Central American Template:Lang, the Template:Lang and Template:Lang forms differ in the present subjunctive as well:
| Indicative | Subjunctive | Imperative | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present | Simple past | Imperfect past | Future | Conditional | Present | Past | |
| Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang Template:Lang |
Template:Lang |
| Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang Template:Lang |
Template:Lang |
| Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang Template:Lang |
Template:Lang |
| The forms in bold coincide with standard tú-conjugation. | |||||||
In Chilean Template:Lang, almost all Template:Lang forms are distinct from the corresponding standard Template:Lang-forms.
| Indicative | Subjunctive | Imperative | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present | Simple past | Imperfect past | Future<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> | Conditional | Present | Past | |
| Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang Template:Lang |
Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang Template:Lang |
Template:Lang |
| Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang Template:Lang |
Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang Template:Lang |
Template:Lang |
| Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang Template:Lang |
Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang Template:Lang |
Template:Lang |
| The forms in bold coincide with standard tú-conjugation. | |||||||
The use of the pronoun Template:Lang with the verb forms of Template:Lang (Template:Lang) is called "pronominal Template:Lang". Conversely, the use of the verb forms of Template:Lang with the pronoun Template:Lang (Template:Lang or Template:Lang) is called "verbal Template:Lang". In Chile, for example, verbal voseo is much more common than the actual use of the pronoun vos, which is usually reserved for highly informal situations.
Distribution in Spanish-speaking regions of the Americas
[edit]Although Template:Lang is not used in Spain, it occurs in many Spanish-speaking regions of the Americas as the primary spoken form of the second-person singular familiar pronoun, with wide differences in social consideration.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>Template:Better source needed Generally, it can be said that there are zones of exclusive use of Template:Lang (the use of Template:Lang) in the following areas: almost all of Mexico, the West Indies, Panama, most of Colombia, Peru, Venezuela and coastal Ecuador.
Template:Lang as a cultured form alternates with Template:Lang as a popular or rural form in Bolivia, in the north and south of Peru, in Andean Ecuador, in small zones of the Venezuelan Andes (and most notably in the Venezuelan state of Zulia), and in a large part of Colombia. Some researchers maintain that Template:Lang can be heard in some parts of eastern Cuba, and others assert that it is absent from the island.<ref>Katia Salamanca de Abreu, review of Humberto López Morales, Estudios sobre el español de Cuba Template:Webarchive (New York: Editorial Las Américas, 1970), in Thesaurus, 28 (1973), 138–146.</ref>
Template:Lang exists as the second-person usage with an intermediate degree of formality alongside the more familiar Template:Lang in Chile, in the Venezuelan state of Zulia, on the Caribbean coast of Colombia, in the Azuero Peninsula in Panama, in the Mexican state of Chiapas, and in parts of Guatemala.
Areas of generalized Template:Lang include Argentina, Nicaragua, eastern Bolivia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Costa Rica, Paraguay, Uruguay and the Colombian departments of Antioquia, Caldas, Risaralda, Quindio and Valle del Cauca.<ref name="rae.es site" />
Ustedes
[edit]Template:Lang functions as formal and informal second-person plural in all of Hispanic America, the Canary Islands, and parts of Andalusia. It agrees with verbs in the 3rd person plural. Most of Spain maintains the formal/familiar distinction with Template:Lang and Template:Lang respectively. The use of Template:Lang with the second person plural is sometimes heard in Andalusia, but it is non-standard.
Usted
[edit]Template:Lang is the usual second-person singular pronoun in a formal context, but it is used jointly with the third-person singular voice of the verb. It is used to convey respect toward someone who is a generation older or is of higher authority ("you, sir"/"you, ma'am"). It is also used in a familiar context by many speakers in Colombia and Costa Rica and in parts of Ecuador and Panama, to the exclusion of Template:Lang or Template:Lang. This usage is sometimes called Template:Lang in Spanish.
In Central America, especially in Honduras, Template:Lang is often used as a formal pronoun to convey respect between the members of a romantic couple. Template:Lang is also used that way between parents and children in the Andean regions of Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela.
Third-person object pronouns
[edit]Most speakers use (and the Template:Lang prefers) the pronouns Template:Lang and Template:Lang for direct objects (masculine and feminine respectively, regardless of animacy, meaning "him", "her", or "it"), and Template:Lang for indirect objects (regardless of gender or animacy, meaning "to him", "to her", or "to it"). The usage is sometimes called "etymological", as these direct and indirect object pronouns are a continuation, respectively, of the accusative and dative pronouns of Latin, the ancestor language of Spanish.
A number of dialects (more common in Spain than in the Americas) use additional rules for the pronouns, such as animacy, or count noun vs. mass noun, rather than just direct vs. indirect object. The ways of using the pronouns in such varieties are called "Template:Lang", "Template:Lang", or "Template:Lang", according to which respective pronoun, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, or Template:Lang, covers more than just the etymological usage (Template:Lang as a direct object, or Template:Lang or Template:Lang as an indirect object).
Vocabulary
[edit]Some words can be significantly different in different Hispanophone countries. Most Spanish speakers can recognize other Spanish forms even in places where they are not commonly used, but Spaniards generally do not recognize specifically American usages. For example, Spanish Template:Lang, Template:Lang and Template:Lang (respectively, 'butter', 'avocado', 'apricot') correspond to Template:Lang (word used for lard in Peninsular Spanish), Template:Lang, and Template:Lang, respectively, in Argentina, Chile (except Template:Lang), Paraguay, Peru (except Template:Lang and Template:Lang), and Uruguay. In the healthcare context, an assessment of the Spanish translation of the QWB-SA identified some regional vocabulary choices and US-specific concepts, which cannot be successfully implemented in Spain without adaptation.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Vocabulary
[edit]Around 85% of everyday Spanish vocabulary is of Latin origin. Most of the core vocabulary and the most common words in Spanish comes from Latin. The Spanish words first learned by children as they learn to speak are mainly words of Latin origin. These words of Latin origin can be classified as heritage words, cultisms (learned borrowings) and semi-cultisms.
Most of the Spanish lexicon is made up of heritage lexicon. Heritage or directly inherited words are those whose presence in the spoken language has been continued since before the differentiation of the Romance languages. Heritage words are characterized by having undergone all the phonetic changes experienced by the language. This differentiates it from the cultisms and semi-cultisms that were no longer used in the spoken language and were later reintroduced for restricted uses. Because of this, cultisms generally have not experienced some of the phonetic changes and present a different form than they would have if they had been transmitted with heritage words.
In the philological tradition of Spanish, cultism is called a word whose morphology very strictly follows its Greek or Latin etymological origin, without undergoing the changes that the evolution of the Spanish language followed from its origin in Vulgar Latin. The same concept also exists in other Romance languages. Reintroduced into the language for cultural, literary or scientific considerations, cultism only adapts its form to the orthographic and phonological conventions derived from linguistic evolution, but ignores the transformations that the roots and morphemes underwent in the development of the Romance language.
In some cases, cultisms are used to introduce technical or specialized terminology that, present in the classical language, did not appear in the Romance language due to lack of use; This is the case of many of the literary, legal and philosophical terms of classical culture, such as ataraxia (from the Greek ἀταραξία, "dispassion") or legislar (built from the Latin legislator). In other cases, they construct neologisms, such as the name of most scientific disciplines.
A semi-cultism is a word that did not evolve in the expected way, in the vernacular language (Romance language), unlike heritage words; its evolution is incomplete. Many times interrupted by cultural influences (ecclesiastical, legal, administrative, etc.). For the same reason, they maintain some features of the language of origin. Dios is a clear example of semi-cultism, where it came from the Latin Deus. It is a semi-cultism, because it maintains (without fully adapting to Castilianization, in this case) some characteristics of the Latin language—the ending in -s—, but, at the same time, it undergoes slight phonetic modifications (change of eu for io). Deus > Dios (instead of remaining cultist: Deus > *Deus, or becoming a heritage word: Deus > *Dío). The Catholic Church influenced by stopping the natural evolution of this word, and, in this way, converted this word into a semi-cultism and unconsciously prevented it from becoming a heritage word.
Spanish vocabulary has been influenced by several languages. As in other European languages, Classical Greek words (Hellenisms) are abundant in the terminologies of several fields, including art, science, politics, nature, etc.<ref>Bergua Cavero, J., Los helenismos del español : historia y sistema, Madrid (Gredos) 2004, Template:ISBN</ref> Its vocabulary has also been influenced by Arabic, having developed during the Al-Andalus era in the Iberian Peninsula, with around 8% of its vocabulary having Arabic lexical roots.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book
—OR—
Template:Cite bookTemplate:Verify source</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal: "El léxico español de procedencia árabe es muy abundante: se ha señalado que constituye, aproximadamente, un 8% del vocabulario total"</ref><ref name="Dworkin83">Template:Cite book,Template:Cite book,Template:Cite book</ref> It has also been influenced by Basque, Iberian, Celtiberian, Visigothic, and other neighboring Ibero-Romance languages.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Dworkin83" /> Additionally, it has absorbed vocabulary from other languages, particularly other Romance languages such as French, Mozarabic, Portuguese, Galician, Catalan, Occitan, and Sardinian, as well as from Quechua, Nahuatl, and other indigenous languages of the Americas.<ref>Template:Harvcoltxt</ref> In the 18th century, words taken from French referring above all to fashion, cooking and bureaucracy were added to the Spanish lexicon. In the 19th century, new loanwords were incorporated, especially from English and German, but also from Italian in areas related to music, particularly opera and cooking. In the 20th century, the pressure of English in the fields of technology, computing, science and sports was greatly accentuated.
In general, Hispanic America is more susceptible to loanwords from English or Anglicisms. For example: mouse (computer mouse) is used in Hispanic America, in Spain ratón is used. This happens largely due to closer contact with the United States. For its part, Spain is known by the use of Gallicisms or words taken from neighboring France (such as the Gallicism ordenador in European Spanish, in contrast to the Anglicism computador or computadora in American Spanish).
Relation to other languages
[edit]Template:Further Spanish is closely related to the other West Iberian Romance languages, including Asturian, Aragonese, Galician, Ladino, Leonese, Mirandese and Portuguese. It is somewhat less similar, to varying degrees, from other members of the Romance language family.
It is generally acknowledged that Portuguese and Spanish speakers can communicate in written form, with varying degrees of mutual intelligibility.<ref>Template:Harvcoltxt</ref><ref>Template:Harvcoltxt</ref><ref>Template:Harvcoltxt</ref><ref>Template:Harvcoltxt</ref> Mutual intelligibility of the written Spanish and Portuguese languages is high, lexically and grammatically. Ethnologue gives estimates of the lexical similarity between related languages in terms of precise percentages. For Spanish and Portuguese, that figure is 89%, although phonologically the two languages are quite dissimilar. Italian on the other hand, is phonologically similar to Spanish, while sharing lower lexical and grammatical similarity of 82%. Mutual intelligibility between Spanish and French or between Spanish and Romanian is lower still, given lexical similarity ratings of 75% and 71% respectively.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Comprehension of Spanish by French speakers who have not studied the language is much lower, at an estimated 45%. In general, thanks to the common features of the writing systems of the Romance languages, interlingual comprehension of the written word is greater than that of oral communication.
The following table compares the forms of some common words in several Romance languages:
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 Template:Lang in early modern Portuguese (e.g. The Lusiads), and Template:Lang in Galician.
4. Alternatively Template:Lang in French.
5. Template:Lang 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 Template:Smallcaps) means a type of cheese. The universal term for cheese in Romanian is brânză (from unknown etymology).<ref>Often considered to be a substratum word. Other theories suggest, on the basis of what is used to make cheese, a derivation from Latin brandeum (originally meaning a linen covering, later a thin cloth for relic storage) through an intermediate root *brandea. For the development of the meaning, cf. Spanish manteca, Portuguese manteiga, probably from Latin mantica ('sack'), Italian formaggio and French fromage from formaticus. Romanian Explanatory Dictionary Template:Webarchive</ref>
Judaeo-Spanish
[edit]
Judaeo-Spanish, also known as Ladino,<ref name="Ladino">Template:Cite web</ref> is a variety of Spanish which preserves many features of medieval Spanish and some old Portuguese and is spoken by descendants of the Sephardi Jews who were expelled from Spain in the 15th century.<ref name="Ladino" /> While in Portugal the conversion of Jews occurred earlier and the assimilation of New Christians was overwhelming, in Spain the Jews kept their language and identity. The relationship of Ladino and Spanish is therefore comparable with that of the Yiddish language to German. Ladino speakers today are almost exclusively Sephardi Jews, with family roots in Turkey, Greece, or the Balkans, and living mostly in Israel, Turkey, and the United States, with a few communities in Hispanic America.<ref name="Ladino" /> Judaeo-Spanish lacks the Native American vocabulary which was acquired by standard Spanish during the Spanish colonial period, and it retains many archaic features which have since been lost in standard Spanish. It contains, however, other vocabulary which is not found in standard Spanish, including vocabulary from Hebrew, French, Greek and Turkish, and other languages spoken where the Sephardim settled.
Judaeo-Spanish is in serious danger of extinction because many native speakers today are elderly as well as elderly olim (immigrants to Israel) who have not transmitted the language to their children or grandchildren. However, it is experiencing a minor revival among Sephardi communities, especially in music. In Hispanic American communities, the danger of extinction is also due to assimilation by modern Spanish.
A related dialect is Haketia, the Judaeo-Spanish of northern Morocco. This too, tended to assimilate with modern Spanish, during the Spanish occupation of the region.
Writing system
[edit]Template:Main Template:Spanish language Spanish is written in the Latin script, with the addition of the character Template:Angle bracket (Template:Lang, representing the phoneme Template:IPA, a letter distinct from Template:Angle bracket, although typographically composed of an Template:Angle bracket with a tilde). Formerly the digraphs Template:Angle bracket (Template:Lang, representing the phoneme Template:IPA) and Template:Angle bracket (Template:Lang, representing the phoneme Template:IPA or Template:IPA), were also considered single letters. However, the digraph Template:Angle bracket (Template:Lang, 'strong r', Template:Lang, 'double r', or simply Template:Lang), which also represents a distinct phoneme Template:IPA, was not similarly regarded as a single letter. Since 1994 Template:Angle bracket and Template:Angle bracket have been treated as letter pairs for collation purposes, though they remained a part of the alphabet until 2010. Words with Template:Angle bracket are now alphabetically sorted between those with Template:Angle bracket and Template:Angle bracket, instead of following Template:Angle bracket as they used to. The situation is similar for Template:Angle bracket.<ref>Diccionario Panhispánico de Dudas Template:Webarchive, 1st ed.</ref><ref>Real Academia Española Template:Webarchive, Explanation Template:Webarchive at Spanish Pronto Template:Webarchive Template:In lang</ref>
Thus, the Spanish alphabet has the following 27 letters:
Since 2010, none of the digraphs (Template:Lang) are considered letters by the Royal Spanish Academy.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The letters Template:Lang and Template:Lang are used only in words and names coming from foreign languages (Template:Lang, etc.).
With the exclusion of a very small number of regional terms such as Template:Lang (see Toponymy of Mexico), pronunciation can be entirely determined from spelling. Under the orthographic conventions, a typical Spanish word is stressed on the syllable before the last if it ends with a vowel (not including Template:Angle bracket) or with a vowel followed by Template:Angle bracket or an Template:Angle bracket; it is stressed on the last syllable otherwise. Exceptions to this rule are indicated by placing an acute accent on the stressed vowel.
The acute accent is used, in addition, to distinguish between certain homophones, especially when one of them is a stressed word and the other one is a clitic: compare Template:Lang ('the', masculine singular definite article) with Template:Lang ('he' or 'it'), or Template:Lang ('you', object pronoun) with Template:Lang ('tea'), Template:Lang (preposition 'of') versus Template:Lang ('give' [formal imperative/third-person present subjunctive]), and Template:Lang (reflexive pronoun) versus Template:Lang ('I know' or imperative 'be').
The interrogative pronouns (Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, etc.) also receive accents in direct or indirect questions, and some demonstratives (Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, etc.) can be accented when used as pronouns. Accent marks used to be omitted on capital letters (a widespread practice in the days of typewriters and the early days of computers when only lowercase vowels were available with accents), although the Template:Lang advises against this and the orthographic conventions taught at schools enforce the use of the accent.
When Template:Lang is written between Template:Lang and a front vowel Template:Lang or Template:Lang, it indicates a "hard g" pronunciation. A diaeresis Template:Lang indicates that it is not silent as it normally would be (e.g., Template:Lang, 'stork', is pronounced Template:IPA; if it were written *Template:Lang, it would be pronounced *Template:IPA).
Interrogative and exclamatory clauses are introduced with inverted question and exclamation marks (Template:Lang and Template:Lang, respectively) and closed by the usual question and exclamation marks.
Organizations
[edit]Royal Spanish Academy
[edit]The Royal Spanish Academy (Template:Lang), founded in 1713,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> together with the 21 other national ones (see Association of Spanish Language Academies), exercises a standardizing influence through its publication of dictionaries and widely respected grammar and style guides.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Because of influence and for other sociohistorical reasons, a standardized form of the language (Standard Spanish) is widely acknowledged for use in literature, academic contexts and the media.
Association of Spanish Language Academies
[edit]
The Association of Spanish Language Academies (Template:Lang, or Template:Lang) is the entity which regulates the Spanish language. It was created in Mexico in 1951 and represents the union of all the separate academies in the Spanish-speaking world. It comprises the academies of 23 countries, ordered by date of academy foundation: Spain (1713),<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Colombia (1871),<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Ecuador (1874),<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Mexico (1875),<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> El Salvador (1876),<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Venezuela (1883),<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Chile (1885),<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Peru (1887),<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Guatemala (1887),<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Costa Rica (1923),<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Philippines (1924),<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Panama (1926),<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Cuba (1926),<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Paraguay (1927),<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Dominican Republic (1927),<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Bolivia (1927),<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Nicaragua (1928),<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Argentina (1931),<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Uruguay (1943),<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Honduras (1949),<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Puerto Rico (1955),<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> United States (1973)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and Equatorial Guinea (2016).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Template:Clear left
Cervantes Institute
[edit]Template:Main The Template:Lang ('Cervantes Institute') is a worldwide nonprofit organization created by the Spanish government in 1991. This organization has branches in 45 countries, with 88 centers devoted to the Spanish and Hispanic American cultures and Spanish language.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The goals of the Institute are to promote universally the education, the study, and the use of Spanish as a second language, to support methods and activities that help the process of Spanish-language education, and to contribute to the advancement of the Spanish and Hispanic American cultures in non-Spanish-speaking countries. The institute's 2015 report "El español, una lengua viva" (Spanish, a living language) estimated that there were 559 million Spanish speakers worldwide. Its latest annual report "El español en el mundo 2018" (Spanish in the world 2018) counts 577 million Spanish speakers worldwide. Among the sources cited in the report is the U.S. Census Bureau, which estimates that the U.S. will have 138 million Spanish speakers by 2050, making it the biggest Spanish-speaking nation on earth, with Spanish the mother tongue of almost a third of its citizens.<ref>Stephen Burgen, US now has more Spanish speakers than Spain – only Mexico has more Template:Webarchive, US News, 29 June 2015.</ref>
Official use by international organizations
[edit]Spanish is one of the official languages of the United Nations, the European Union, the World Trade Organization, the Organization of American States, the Organization of Ibero-American States, the African Union, the Union of South American Nations, the Antarctic Treaty Secretariat, the Latin Union, the Caricom, the North American Free Trade Agreement, the Inter-American Development Bank, and numerous other international organizations.
Sample text
[edit]Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Spanish:
- Template:Lang<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
See also
[edit]Template:Portal Template:Col-begin Template:Col-break
Spanish words and phrases
[edit]- Café para todos
- Cuento
- List of English–Spanish interlingual homographs
- Longest word in Spanish
- Most common words in Spanish
- Olé
- Olé, Olé, Olé
- Spanish profanity
- Spanish proverbs
- Tertulia
- Vale un Perú
Spanish-speaking world
[edit]- Association of Academies of the Spanish Language
- Countries where Spanish is an official language
- Hispanic culture
- Hispanicization
- Hispanidad
- Hispanism
- Hispanophone
- Fundéu BBVA
- Instituto Cervantes
- International Conference of the Spanish Language
- List of Spanish-language poets
- Panhispanism
- Royal Spanish Academy
- Spanish-language literature
- Spanish-language music
Influences on the Spanish language
[edit]- Arabic language influence on the Spanish language
- List of Spanish words of Germanic origin
- List of Spanish words of Philippine origin
Dialects and languages influenced by Spanish
[edit]- Alemañol
- Caló
- Chamorro
- Chavacano
- Creoles
- Frespañol
- Jopara
- Judaeo-Spanish
- List of English words of Spanish origin
- Llanito
- Media Lengua
- Palenquero
- Papiamento
- Philippine languages
- Portuñol
- Spanglish
Spanish dialects and varieties
[edit]- Spanish dialects and varieties
- European Spanish
- Peninsular Spanish
- Andalusian Spanish
- Castilian Spanish
- Castrapo (Galician Spanish)
- Castúo (Extremaduran Spanish)
- Murcian Spanish
- Canarian Spanish
- Peninsular Spanish
- Spanish language in the Americas
- Spanish in Africa
- Spanish in Asia
References
[edit]Citations
[edit]Sources
[edit]- Template:Cite book
- Template:Cite book
- Template:Cite book
- Template:Cite book
- Template:Cite book
- Template:Cite journal
- Template:Cite book
- Template:Cite journal
- Template:Cite book
- Template:Cite journal
- Template:Cite book
- Template:Cite journal
- Template:Cite book
- Template:Cite book
- Template:Cite book
- Template:Cite web
- Template:Cite book
- Template:Cite journal
- Template:Cite book
Notes
[edit]External links
[edit]- Real Academia Española (RAE), Royal Spanish Academy. Spain's official institution, with a mission to ensure the stability of the Spanish language
- Instituto Cervantes, Cervantes Institute. A Spanish government agency, responsible for promoting the study and the teaching of the Spanish language and culture.
- FundéuRAE, Foundation of Emerging Spanish. A non-profit organization with collaboration of the RAE which mission is to clarify doubts and ambiguities of Spanish.
Template:Sister bar Template:Spanish variants by continent Template:Romance languages Template:Authority control
- Pages with non-numeric formatnum arguments
- Pages with broken file links
- Spanish language
- Fusional languages
- Languages of Argentina
- Languages of Bolivia
- Languages of Chile
- Languages of Colombia
- Languages of Costa Rica
- Languages of Cuba
- Languages of the Dominican Republic
- Languages of Ecuador
- Languages of El Salvador
- Languages of Equatorial Guinea
- Languages of Guatemala
- Languages of Honduras
- Languages of Mexico
- Languages of Nicaragua
- Languages of Panama
- Languages of Paraguay
- Languages of Peru
- Languages of Puerto Rico
- Languages of Spain
- Languages of the United States
- Languages of Uruguay
- Languages of Venezuela
- Lingua francas
- Subject–verb–object languages
- Syllable-timed languages