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Spanish is also one of six official working languages of the United Nations and one of the most used global languages. It is spoken most extensively in the Americas, Spain and to a small extent in Africa and Asia Pacific. It is also the second most widely spoken language in the United States[5] and arguably the most popular foreign language for study in US schools and Universities.[6][7] Within the globalized market, there is currently an international expansion and recognition of the Spanish language in literature, the film industry, television (notably telenovelas) and music.
NamingSpanish people tend to call this language español when contrasting it with languages of foreign states, such as French and English, but call it castellano, i.e. Castilian, the language of the Castile region, when contrasting it with other languages of Spain (such as Galician, Basque, and Catalan). In this manner, the Spanish Constitution of 1978 uses the term castellano to define the official language of the whole State, opposed to las demás lenguas españolas (lit. the other Spanish languages). Article III reads as follows:
In some parts of Spain, mainly where people speak Galician, Basque and Catalan, the choice of words reveals the speakers' sense of belonging and their political views. People from bilingual areas might consider it offensive to call the language español, as that is the term that was chosen by Francisco Franco—during whose dictatorship the use of regional languages was discouraged—and because it implies that Basque, Catalan and Galician are not languages of Spain. On the other hand, more nationalist speakers (both Spanish and regional nationalists) might prefer español either to reflect their belief in the unity of the Spanish State or to denote the perceived detachment between their region and the rest of the State. However, most people in Spain, regardless of place of origin, do not distinguish between the two terms in ordinary speech.
Some Spanish speakers consider castellano a generic term with no political or ideological links, much as "Spanish" is in English. Classification and related languagesSpanish/Castilian has closest affinity to the other West Iberian Romance languages. Most are mutually intelligible among speakers without too much difficulty. It has different common features with Catalan, an East-Iberian language which exhibits many Gallo-Romance traits. Catalan is more similar to Occitan than Spanish and Portuguese are to each other.
Vocabulary comparison
CharacterizationSpanish and Italian share a very similar phonological system and do not differ very much in grammar, vocabulary and above all morphology. Speakers of both languages can communicate relatively well: at present, the lexical similarity with Italian is estimated at 82%.[8] As a result, Spanish and Italian are mutually intelligible to various degrees. Spanish is mutually intelligible with French and with Romanian to a lesser degree (lexical similarity is respectively 75% and 71%[8]). The writing systems of the four languages allow for a greater amount of interlingual reading comprehension than oral communication would. One defining characteristic of Spanish was the diphthongization of the Latin short vowels e and o into ie and ue, respectively, when they were stressed. Although similar sound changes can be found in other Romance languages, they were particularly significant in this one. Some examples:
More peculiar to early Spanish (as in the Gascon dialect of Occitan, and possibly due to a Basque substratum) was the mutation of Latin initial f- into h- whenever it was followed by a vowel which did not diphthongate. Compare for instance:
Some consonant clusters of Latin also produced characteristicaly different results in these languages, for example:
Ladino
Ladino, which is essentially medieval Castilian and closer to modern Spanish than any other language, is spoken by many descendants of the Sephardic Jews who were expelled from Spain in the 15th century. In many ways it is not a separate language but a dialect of Castilian. Ladino lacks native American vocabulary which was influential during colonial times. It does contain other vocabulary from Turkish, Hebrew and from other languages spoken wherever the Sephardic Jews settled. Portuguese
The two major Romance languages originated in the Iberian Peninsula, Spanish and Portuguese, have generally a moderate degree of mutual intelligibility in their standard spoken forms. Spanish and Portuguese share similar grammars and a majority of vocabulary as well as a common history of Arabic influence while a great part of the peninsula was under Islamic rule (both languages expanded over Islamic territories). Their lexical similarity is estimated at 89%.[8] HistoryImage:Page of Lay of the Cid.jpg A page of Cantar de Mio Cid, in medieval Castilian. The Spanish language developed from Vulgar Latin, with influence from Celtiberian, Basque and Arabic, in the north of the Iberian Peninsula (see Iberian Romance languages). Typical features of Spanish diachronical phonology include lenition (Latin vita, Spanish vida), palatalization (Latin annum, Spanish año) and diphthongation (stem-changing) of short e and o from Vulgar Latin (Latin terra, Spanish tierra; Latin novus, Spanish nuevo). Similar phenomena can be found in other Romance languages as well. During the Reconquista, this northern dialect from Cantabria was carried south, and indeed is still a minority language in the northern coastal regions of Morocco. The first Latin to Spanish grammar (Gramática de la Lengua Castellana) was written in Salamanca, Spain, in 1492 by Elio Antonio de Nebrija. When Isabella of Castile was presented with the book, she asked, What do I want a work like this for, if I already know the language?, to which he replied, Your highness, the language is the instrument of the Empire. From the 16th century onwards, the language was brought to the Americas, Federated States of Micronesia, Guam, Marianas, Palau, and the Philippines by Spanish colonization. Also in this epoch, Spanish became the main language of Politics and Art across the major part of Europe. In the 18th century, French took its place. In the 20th century, Spanish was introduced in Equatorial Guinea and Western Sahara and parts of the United States, such as Spanish Harlem in New York City, that had not been part of the Spanish Empire. For details on borrowed words and other external influences in Spanish, see Influences on the Spanish language. Geographic distribution
Spanish is one of the official languages of the Organization of American States, the United Nations, the South American Community of Nations, and the European Union. With approximately 106 million first-language and second-language speakers, Mexico boasts the largest population of Spanish-speakers in the world. The three next largest Spanish-speaking populations reside in Colombia, Spain and Argentina. Spanish is the official language in 21 countries: Argentina, Bolivia (co-official Quechua and Aymara), Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea (co-official French), Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama , Paraguay (co-official Guaraní), Peru (co-official Quechua and Aymara), Puerto Rico (co-official English), Spain (co-official in some regions with Catalan, Galician and Basque), Uruguay, and Venezuela. The vast majority of its speakers are located in Spain and the Western Hemisphere. The non-Spanish speaking AmericasSpanish holds no official recognition in the former British colony of Belize. However, it is the native tongue of about 40% of the population, and is spoken as a second language by another 15%.[9]Belize Population and Housing Census 2000</ref> It is mainly spoken by Hispanic descendants who have remained in the region since the 17th century. However, English remains the sole official language.[10] Spanish has become increasingly important in Brazil due to proximity and increased trade with its Spanish-speaking neighbors (for example, as a member of the Mercosur trading bloc).[11] In 2005, the National Congress of Brazil approved a bill, signed into law by the President, that makes Spanish available as a foreign language in the country's secondary schools.[12] In many border towns and villages (especially along the Uruguayan-Brazilian border) a mixed language commonly known as Portunhol is also spoken.[13] In the United States, 42.7 Million people are Hispanics according to the 2005 census. Some 32 million people (12% of the whole population) aged 5 years or older speak Spanish at home.[14] While this may be due to immigration, Spanish is also the most widely taught foreign language.[15] In total, the U.S. contains the world's fifth-largest Spanish speaking population.[16] EuropeSpanish is an official language of the European Union. In European countries other than Spain, it is spoken in communities in the United Kingdom, France, and Germany, and an important language of business communication for those countries as well.[17][18] It is also spoken widely in Gibraltar, although English is used for official purposes.[19] Likewise, it is spoken in Andorra though Catalan is the official language.[20][21] Spanish also shares a strong lexical similarity with its sister Romance languages of Italian and Portuguese, and may be mutually intelligible on a small scale with those languages within Italy and Portugal.[22] AsiaAlthough Spanish was an official language in the Philippines for over three centuries, it was never spoken by the majority of the population. Its importance fell in the first half of the 20th century following the US occupation and administration of the islands. The introduction of the English language in the Filipino government system put an end to use of Spanish as the official language. The language lost its status in 1987, during the Corazon Aquino administration. According to the 1990 census, there were 2,658 native speakers of Spanish.[23] The number of Spanish speakers, however, are not available in the ensuing 1995 and 2000 censuses. Additionally, according to the 2000 census, there are over 600,000 native speakers of Chavacano, a Spanish based creole spoken in Cavite and Zamboanga. Many Philippine languages have numerous Spanish loanwords. See Also: Spanish language in the Philippines. Spanish is also spoken by about 50,000 Japanese Peruvian expatriates living in Japan.[24] AfricaIn Africa, Spanish is spoken in Canary Islands, an autonomous community of Spain. It is also spoken in the Spanish territories of Peñón de Alhucemas, Isla Perejil , Ceuta, the Chafarinas Islands, Melilla, and Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera, some of which are contested with Morocco. It is co-official with French in Equatorial Guinea, a small country of 500,000 people, where it is the prevalent language.[25]. In Morocco, a former Spanish colony that is also geographically close to Spain, approximately 20,000 people speak Spanish.[26] OceaniaAmong the countries and territories in Oceania, Spanish is also spoken by 3,000 inhabitants of Easter Island, a territorial possession of Chile. According to the 2001 census, there are approximately 95,000 speakers of Spanish in Australia, 44,000 of which live in Greater Sydney.[27] The island nations of Guam, Palau, Northern Marianas, Marshall Islands and Federated States of Micronesia all once had Spanish speakers, since Marianas and Caroline Islands were Hispanic colonial possesions until late 19th century (see Spanish-American War), but Spanish has long since been forgotten. It now only exists as an influence on the local native languages. AntarcticaIn Antarctica, the territorial claims and permanent bases made by Argentina and Chile also place Spanish as the official and working language of these exclaves.[citation needed] Total number of Spanish speakersHispanic countries
a) Estimated statistics provided on behalf of the "Instituto Cervantes de Manila", "Education Council and Embassy of Spain in Manila" (Consejería de Educación de la Embajada de España en Manila) in 2006 and the "Philippine Academy of the Spanish Language " (Academia Filipina de Lengua Española) in 2006. Non-Hispanic countries
(b) Only includes people of 5 years of age and older. Also, people who use the language at work or other settings but not at home are not included[14] (c) Although part of the Spanish Empire, Arabic language and Arabic culture remains the dominant cultural production in Western Sahara. Spanish is only spoken by Hispanic expatriates and peoples of Spanish ancestry. VariationsImage:Dialectos del castellano en España.png Dialectal map of Castilian Spanish in Spain. There are important variations among the regions of Spain and throughout Spanish-speaking America. In Spain the Castilian dialect pronunciation is commonly taken as the national standard (although the characteristic weak pronouns usage or laísmo of this dialect is deprecated). Anyway, one has to be aware that for most people, nearly for everyone in Spain, "standard Spanish" means "pronouncing everything exactly as it is written",[citation needed] which of course doesn't correspond to any real dialect, though it's closer to northern dialects. In practice, the standard way of speaking Spanish in the media is "written Spanish" for formal speech, "Madrilenian dialect" (one of the transitional variants between Castilian and Andalusian) for informal speech.[citation needed] Spanish has three second-person singular pronouns: tú, usted, and in some parts of Latin America, vos (the use of this form is called voseo). Generally speaking, tú and vos are informal and used with friends (though in Spain vos is considered an archaic form for address of exalted personages, its use now mainly confined to the liturgy). Usted is universally regarded as the formal form (derived from vuestra merced, "your mercy") , and is used as a mark of respect, as when addressing one's elders or strangers. The pronoun vosotros is the plural form of tú in most of Spain, although in the Americas (and certain southern Spanish cities such as Cádiz, and in the Canary Islands) it is replaced with ustedes. It is remarkable that the use of ustedes for the informal plural "you" in southern Spain does not follow the usual rule for pronoun-verb agreement; e.g., while the formal form for "you go", ustedes van, uses the third-person plural form of the verb, in Cádiz the informal form is constructed as ustedes vais, using the second-person plural of the verb. In the Canary Islands, though, the usual pronoun-verb agreement is preserved in most cases. Image:Mapa - Paises voseantes.png Countries that feature voseo. In blue, countries that use vos as the primary spoken form. In green countries that feature voseo as a regionalism or non-mainstream practice. Vos (see Voseo) is used extensively as the primary spoken form of the second-person singular pronoun in many countries of Latin America, including Argentina, Costa Rica, Ecuador[citation needed], El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Uruguay, the Antioquia and Valle del Cauca states of Colombia and the State of Zulia in Venezuela. In Argentina, Uruguay, and increasingly in Paraguay, it is also the standard form used in the media, but media in other voseante countries generally continue to use usted or tú except in advertisements, for instance. Vos may also be used regionally in other countries. Depending on country or region, usage may be considered standard or (by better educated speakers) to be unrefined. Interpersonal situations in which the use of vos is acceptable may also differ considerably between regions. Spanish forms also differ regarding second-person plural pronouns. The Spanish dialects of Latin America have only one form of the second-person plural, ustedes (formal or familiar, as the case may be). In Spain there are two forms — ustedes (formal) and vosotros (familiar). The Real Academia Española (Royal Spanish Academy), 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. Due to this 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. Some words can be different, even embarrassingly so, 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 recognise specifically American usages. For example, Spanish mantequilla, aguacate and albaricoque (respectively, "butter", "avocado", "apricot") correspond to manteca, palta, and damasco, respectively, in Argentina, Chile and Uruguay. The everyday Spanish words coger (to catch, get, or pick up), pisar (to step on) and concha (seashell) are considered extremely rude in parts of Latin America, where the meaning of coger and pisar is also "to have sex" and concha means "vagina". The Puerto Rican word for "bobby pin" (pinche) is an obscenity in Mexico, and in Nicaragua simply means stingy. Other examples include taco, which means "swearword" in Spain but is known to the rest of the world as the Mexican foodstuff. Pija in many countries of Latin America is an obscene slang word for penis, while in Spain the word signifies "posh girl" or "snobby". Coche, which means car in Spain, means pig in Guatemala[citation needed] while carro means "car" in some Latin American countries and "cart" in others as well as in Spain. Writing systemSpanish is written using the Latin alphabet, with the addition of the character "ñ" (eñe), which represents the phoneme (ɲ) and is regarded as a letter of its own distinct from "n", despite being typographically an "n" with a tilde. Historically, the digraphs "ch" (che) and "ll" (elle), were regarded as single letters, with their own names and places in the alphabet, because each represents a single phoneme (/tʃ/ and /ʎ/, respectively). However, the digraph "rr" (erre doble, double "r", or simply erre as opposed to ere), which also represents a single phoneme (/r/), was not similarly regarded as a single letter and was collated as two r's. Thus, the traditional Spanish alphabet had 28 letters, 29 if one counts "w" which is only used in foreign names and loanwords: a, b, c, ch, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, ll, m, n, ñ, o, p, q, r, s, t, u, v, (w,) x, y, z. Since 1994, these two former letters are to be replaced with the appropriate letter pair in collation. Spelling remains visually unchanged, but words with "ch" are now alphabetically sorted between those with "ce" and "ci", instead of following "cz", and similarly for "ll". However, the names che, and elle are still used colloquially. Excluding a very small number of regional terms such as México, pronunciation can be entirely determined from spelling (see Mexico: Origin and history of the name). A typical Spanish word is stressed on the syllable before the last if it ends with a vowel (not including "y") or with a vowel followed by "n" or "s", and 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 additionally used to distinguish certain homophones, especially when one of them is a stressed word and the other one is a clitic: compare el ("the" before a masculine singular noun) with él ("he" or "it"), or té ("tea"), dé ("give") and sé ("I know", or imperative "be") with te ("you", object pronoun), de (preposition "of" or "from"), and se (reflexive pronoun). Interrogative pronouns (que, cual, donde, quien, etc.) receive accents in direct or indirect questions, and some demonstratives (ese, este, aquel, etc.) are accented when used as pronouns. The conjunction o ("or") is written with an accent between numerals so as not to be confused with a zero: e.g., 10 ó 20 should be read as diez o veinte rather than diez mil veinte ("10, 020"). In practice, those errors usually go unnoticed (or are ignored altogether) except for the distinction between si (if), and sí (yes). Accent marks are frequently omitted in capital letters (aggravated in the early days of computers where only lowercase vowels were available with accents), but that is wrong according to RAE rules. In rare cases, "u" is written with a diaresis ("ü") when it comes between "g" or "c" and a front vowel, to indicate that the "u" should be pronounced (e.g., cigüeña, "stork", is pronounced /siˈɰweɲa/; if it were written cigueña, it would be pronounced /siˈɰeɲa/). Interrogative and exclamatory clauses are introduced with inverted question ( ¿ ) and exclamation marks ( ¡ ). SoundsThe phonemic inventory listed in the following table includes phonemes that are preserved only in some dialects, other dialects have merged them (see seseo, ceceo and yeísmo); these are marked with an asterisk (*). Sounds in parentheses are allophones or dialectal variants.
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