A brief history of Spanish - Ilan Stavans

TED-Ed

2 Aug 202205:22

EducationalLearning

32 Likes 10 Comments

TLDRThe script traces the evolution of the Spanish language from its roots in the 3rd century when the Romans conquered the Iberian Peninsula, leading to the mixing of Vulgar Latin with indigenous languages. This linguistic blend laid the foundation for modern Spanish, which shares around 75% of its vocabulary and syntactic rules with Latin. The language further evolved with influences from the Visigoths and the Umayyad Caliphate, contributing Germanic and Arabic elements respectively. The consolidation of power by the Catholic Church under Isabella and Ferdinand in 1492 marked a significant shift, as Castilian became the official state language, later known as Español. The Spanish conquest of the Americas introduced indigenous words into the language, and by the time of 'Don Quixote' in 1605, Spanish had become more standardized. Despite the influence of French in the 18th century and the independence movements in the 19th century, Spanish has managed to maintain its unity across various nations. Today, it stands as the official language of 21 countries and is spoken by approximately 415 million people worldwide, making it one of the most widely spoken languages without significant fragmentation.

Takeaways

🇪🇸 The Iberian Peninsula was conquered by the Romans in the 3rd century BCE, introducing Vulgar Latin, which heavily influenced the formation of several regional languages including what would become Spanish.
🌍 Modern Spanish derives about 75% of its structure and vocabulary from Latin, maintaining similar syntactic rules such as verb conjugations and noun genders.
🇮🇹 After the fall of the Roman Empire, the Visigoths and later the Umayyad Caliphate dominated the region, introducing words from Germanic origins and significantly from Arabic, impacting the Spanish vocabulary.
🌊 The consolidation of Spain under Isabella and Ferdinand in 1492 centralized Castilian (from the Kingdom of Castile) as the official language, which evolved into modern Spanish.
🇧🇴 Christopher Columbus' voyage in 1492 also marked the beginning of the Spanish conquest of the Americas, where Spanish began to amalgamate with numerous Indigenous languages.
🏃 Words from Nahuatl and Quechua, such as 'chapulin', 'coyote', and 'poncho', entered Spanish during the colonial period, enriching its vocabulary with terms specific to American realities.
🇬🇧 Influences from French in the 18th century further enriched Spanish during a time when French culture and language were fashionable in Spain and its colonies.
🇪🇸 Spanish survived the political upheavals of the 19th century in Latin America, where former Spanish colonies gained independence but continued to use Spanish as a primary language.
🌏 Today, Spanish is a global language with official status in 21 countries plus Puerto Rico, making it one of the most spoken languages worldwide, surpassed only by English, Mandarin, and Hindi.
🌐 Despite regional variations and the emergence of Spanglish, Spanish maintains a cohesive structure across different continents, which helps prevent it from fragmenting into distinct languages like Vulgar Latin did.

Q & A

Which historical event marked the beginning of the development of several regional languages in the Iberian Peninsula, including Spanish?
-The conquest of the Iberian Peninsula by the Romans in the 3rd century BC marked the beginning of the development of several regional languages in the area that is now Spain, including Castilian, Catalan, and Galician.
What is the approximate percentage of modern Spanish that comes from Latin, and what are some syntactic similarities?
-Approximately 75% of modern Spanish comes from Latin, including syntactic rules such as verb conjugation, which is similar to how it is done in Latin.
How did the Visigoths influence the development of the Spanish language?
-The Visigoths, who conquered the region starting in the 5th century CE, spoke an eastern Germanic language that would eventually become part of German, and they lent a few words to the language that would become Spanish.
What is the significance of the year 1492 in the history of the Spanish language?
-The year 1492 is significant because it marks the Catholic Church's consolidation of power through Isabella and Ferdinand, the expulsion of Muslims and Jews, and the adoption of Castellano (Castilian) as the official state language, which would later become Español (Spanish).
How did the Indigenous population of the Americas influence the Spanish language?
-The Indigenous population of the Americas, who spoke an estimated 2,000 different languages, were mostly forced to adopt Spanish, and words from Indigenous languages like Nahuatl and Quechua became part of Spanish, enriching its lexicon.
What cultural influence led to the incorporation of French words into Spanish in the 18th century?
-In the 18th century, French language and culture were extremely fashionable in Spain and later Hispanic America, leading to the incorporation of French words into Spanish during this period.
How did the Spanish language maintain its unity despite being spoken in many different regions and countries?
-Spanish has maintained enough unity of syntax, grammar, and vocabulary to remain one language, even though there are regional variations and influences from other languages.
What is the estimated number of Spanish speakers worldwide as of 2021?
-As of 2021, there are approximately 415 million Spanish speakers in Hispanic America and around the world.
Which languages have more speakers worldwide than Spanish?
-As of 2021, only English, Mandarin, and Hindi have more speakers worldwide than Spanish.
What is the argument regarding Spanglish as a distinct language or on its way to becoming one?
-Some argue that Spanglish, a mixture of Spanish and English, is a distinct language or on its way to becoming one, due to the use of words that may not be fully intelligible to speakers of standard Spanish in different regions.
What factors have contributed to the Spanish language not breaking apart into new languages like Vulgar Latin did?
-The Spanish language has not broken apart into new languages due to factors such as the continued use of a common syntax, grammar, and vocabulary across different regions and countries, despite regional variations and influences from other languages.

Outlines

00:00

🏛 The Birth of Spanish from Roman Conquest

The script begins by discussing the Roman conquest of the Iberian Peninsula in the 3rd century, which led to the emergence of several regional languages, including Castilian, Catalan, and Galician. Spanish evolved from one of these languages over a period of 1,500 years. During the Roman occupation, 'Vulgar Latin' mixed with indigenous languages, and about 75% of modern Spanish is derived from Latin, including its syntactic rules. The script also highlights the gendered nature of nouns in Spanish, similar to Latin.

🏺 Influence of Visigoths and Umayyad Caliphate

After the fall of the Roman Empire, the Visigoths, who spoke an eastern Germanic language, conquered the region in the 5th century. Their language contributed some words to the evolving Spanish language. Subsequently, the Umayyad Caliphate overthrew the Visigoths, and Arabic significantly influenced modern Spanish, with over a thousand words of Arabic origin, often characterized by an initial 'a' or 'z' sound and sometimes including an 'h'.

👑 The Unification of Spain and Adoption of Castilian

In 1492, the Catholic Church, under the rule of Isabella and Ferdinand, consolidated power by expelling Muslims and Jews, uniting the regional kingdoms into one nation, and choosing Castilian, from the Kingdom of Castile, as the official state language. This language, spoken in a central region of Spain and associated with Madrid, became known as Español or Spanish. However, the Spanish of that time, known as Old Spanish, was quite different from the Spanish spoken today.

🌐 Spanish Expansion and Influence on the Americas

The same year, 1492, marked the beginning of the Spanish conquest of the Americas with Christopher Columbus's voyage. The indigenous population of the Americas, with an estimated 2,000 different languages, were largely forced to adopt Spanish, leading to the incorporation of indigenous words into the Spanish language. Words from Nahuatl and Quechua, for instance, enriched Spanish with new vocabulary and even replaced some existing words.

📚 The Evolution of Spanish Towards Modernity

By the time 'Don Quixote' was published in 1605 by Miguel de Cervantes, Spanish had evolved to be more similar to its modern form than contemporary English works were to modern English. The 18th century saw the influence of French language and culture on Spain and later Hispanic America, leading to the adoption of new French words into Spanish. Despite revolts in the 19th century leading to independence in Central and South America, the newly sovereign nations continued to speak Spanish, which remains the official language in 21 countries and Puerto Rico. With approximately 415 million speakers, Spanish is the second most spoken language in the world by number of native speakers, after Mandarin.

🌟 The Unity of Spanish in a Multilingual World

The script ponders why Spanish, with its vast number of speakers globally, has not fragmented into new languages as Vulgar Latin did. It contrasts this with other colonial languages like French, which mixed with indigenous languages to form new ones. The concept of Spanglish, a blend of Spanish and English, is mentioned as a possible distinct language. Despite regional variations and the use of some non-intelligible words in different regions, Spanish maintains a unified syntax, grammar, and vocabulary, preserving its identity as a single language.

Mindmap

Keywords

💡Iberian Peninsula

The Iberian Peninsula is a large landmass in the southwest corner of Europe, comprising modern-day Spain, Portugal, Andorra, and a small part of France. In the context of the video, it is significant as the region where the Romans conquered and began the linguistic evolution that would eventually lead to the formation of the Spanish language.

💡Vulgar Latin

Vulgar Latin refers to the colloquial spoken form of Latin used by the common people as opposed to the formal written Latin used by the educated elite. It is key to understanding the evolution of Spanish because it mixed with indigenous languages and is the precursor to the modern Spanish language, contributing approximately 75% of its vocabulary and syntactic rules.

💡Castilian

Castilian is a regional language that originated in the region of Castile in Spain. It is the precursor to modern Spanish. The video highlights that Castilian became the official state language after the Catholic Church, under the rule of Isabella and Ferdinand, consolidated power and unified the distinct regional kingdoms.

💡Umayyad Caliphate

The Umayyad Caliphate was an Islamic caliphate that conquered the Iberian Peninsula after the Visigoths. The influence of Arabic, spoken by the Umayyad Caliphate, had a profound impact on the development of Spanish, with over a thousand words in modern Spanish having Arabic origins. This is evident in words that often start with 'a' or 'z' sounds and sometimes include an 'h'.

💡Indigenous languages of the Americas

The indigenous languages of the Americas refer to the estimated 2,000 different languages spoken by the native populations before the arrival of Europeans. Spanish colonization led to the forced adoption of Spanish, but not before words from these indigenous languages, such as Nahuatl and Quechua, became part of the Spanish lexicon, enriching it with new terms and concepts.

💡Don Quixote

Don Quixote, written by Miguel de Cervantes and published in 1605, is a seminal work in the Spanish language. The video uses it as a marker for the maturation of Spanish, suggesting that by the time of its publication, Spanish had evolved to a form more closely resembling modern Spanish than the works of Shakespeare did to modern English.

💡French influence

In the 18th century, French language and culture became highly fashionable in Spain and later in Hispanic America. This cultural influence led to the incorporation of French words into the Spanish language, further enriching its vocabulary and demonstrating the language's ability to absorb external influences while maintaining its core identity.

💡Central and South American Independence

The 19th-century revolts in Central and South America resulted in these regions gaining independence from Spanish rule. Despite the political shift, the newly sovereign nations continued to speak Spanish, illustrating the language's resilience and its deep cultural roots in the region.

💡Hispanic America

Hispanic America refers to the countries in the Americas where Spanish is the primary language, encompassing approximately 415 million inhabitants as of the video's knowledge cutoff in 2021. It highlights the vast geographical spread of the Spanish language and its status as a lingua franca in the region.

💡Syntactic rules

Syntactic rules are the structural regulations governing the order and combination of words and phrases to form sentences in a language. The video emphasizes that modern Spanish's syntactic rules are largely derived from Latin, which has influenced how verbs are conjugated and nouns are gendered in the language.

💡Gendered nouns

Gendered nouns are a grammatical feature in which nouns are assigned a gender, typically masculine or feminine. In the context of the video, it is shown that Spanish, like other Romance languages, retains the gendered nature of nouns from its Latin roots, with examples given such as 'el sol' (the sun) being masculine and 'la luna' (the moon) being feminine.

Highlights

Romans conquered the Iberian Peninsula beginning in the 3rd century BCE, leading to the rise of regional languages such as Castilian, Catalan, and Galician.

Vulgar Latin mixed with indigenous languages during Roman occupation, forming the basis of modern Spanish.

Approximately 75% of modern Spanish vocabulary and syntactic rules derive from Latin.

The Visigoths, speaking an eastern Germanic language, influenced Spanish with a few words after the fall of the Roman Empire.

The Umayyad Caliphate's Arabic language strongly influenced Spanish, contributing over a thousand words.

In 1492, the Catholic Church unified Spain under Castilian as the official state language, which evolved into modern Spanish.

Christopher Columbus' voyage in 1492 marked the beginning of the Spanish conquest of the Americas and the spread of Spanish.

Indigenous languages in the Americas contributed words to Spanish, particularly from Nahuatl and Quechua.

By 1605, when Miguel de Cervantes published 'Don Quixote,' Spanish was more similar to its modern form than contemporary English was to modern English.

In the 18th century, French influence introduced new words into Spanish due to cultural trends.

Following independence movements in the 19th century, Spanish remained the lingua franca in Central and South America.

Today, Spanish is the official language of 21 countries and Puerto Rico, making it one of the most spoken languages globally.

Despite widespread global use, Spanish retains enough syntactic and grammatical unity to remain a single language.

Spanglish, a mixture of Spanish and English, is argued by some to be on its way to becoming a distinct language.

Spanish's ability to remain unified as a language contrasts with Vulgar Latin, which fragmented into various Romance languages.

Transcripts

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