The name of Castile, in turn, is usually assumed to be derived from castillo ('castle'). The term castellano is related to Castile ( Castilla or archaically Castiella), the kingdom where the language was originally spoken. The Diccionario panhispánico de dudas (a language guide published by the Royal Spanish Academy) states that, although the Royal Spanish Academy prefers to use the term español in its publications when referring to the Spanish language, both terms- español and castellano-are regarded as synonymous and equally valid. However, from 1713 to 1923, it called the language castellano. The Royal Spanish Academy ( Real Academia Española), on the other hand, currently uses the term español in its publications. The other Spanish languages shall also be official in their respective Autonomous Communities. Las demás lenguas españolas serán también oficiales en las respectivas Comunidades Autónomas.Ĭastilian is the official Spanish language of the State. . Article III reads as follows:Įl castellano es la lengua española oficial del Estado. . The Spanish Constitution of 1978 uses the term castellano to define the official language of the whole Spanish State, in contrast to las demás lenguas españolas (lit. In Spain and in some other parts of the Spanish-speaking world, Spanish is called not only español but also castellano (Castilian), the language from the Kingdom of Castile, contrasting it with other languages spoken in Spain such as Galician, Basque, Asturian, Catalan, Aragonese and Occitan. Map indicating places where the language is called castellano (in red) or español (in blue) Name of the language Spanish is one of the six official languages of the United Nations, and it is also used as an official language by the European Union, Organization of American States, Union of South American Nations, Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, African Union and many other international organizations. Spanish is also the third most used language on internet websites after English and Chinese. Spanish does not feature prominently as a scientific language however, it is better represented in areas like humanities and social sciences. Alongside English and French, it is also one of the most taught foreign languages throughout the world. Around 75% of modern Spanish vocabulary is derived from Latin, including Latin borrowings from Ancient Greek.

Īs a Romance language, Spanish is a descendant of Latin, and has one of the smaller degrees of difference from it (about 20%) alongside Sardinian and Italian. Spanish colonialism in the early modern period spurred on the introduction of the language to overseas locations, most notably to the Americas. The oldest Latin texts with traces of Spanish come from mid-northern Iberia in the 9th century, 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 is part of the Ibero-Romance group of languages, which evolved from several dialects of Vulgar Latin in Iberia after the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century. The largest population of native speakers is in Mexico. It is the world's second-most spoken native language after Mandarin Chinese 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. Spanish is the official language of 20 countries. Today, it is a global language with about 486 million native speakers, mainly in the Americas and Spain. Spanish is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from colloquial Latin spoken on the Iberian Peninsula. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.

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