Languages Are Us: Spanish Language & Culture

Spanish lanuage (formerly called Castellano) is the second official world language after English language which is the first; it tripped French language in number of speakers and projections of demolinguistics. Spanish is a homogenous language, compact and in expansion; is homogeneity came as a result of simplicity of its vowel system, comprehensiveness of is consonant, a very easy syntax to recognize and a extensive lexicon. Geographically is compact as a result of is grouping and contiguity of the countries where is an official language, this makes is linguistic area extensive, is high communicativeness strengthens and ensures is expansion now and in the future. It was mainly spoken by the Spanish people before it spread to other nations. The people from these countries welcome Spanish language and they were willing to learn the language, by XVI and XVII Spanish dictionary and other books were in foreign lands.

Due to discovery of America by Colon and the consequence colonization, Spanish language spread to America continent. This discovery opened door to propagation of Spanish language, the process began when essential language characteristics were already consolidated. In the constitution of the colonial society there was room for the natives to retain their native languages as well as Spanish language but modifications were made according to the pronunciation habits of the natives.

As a result of historical expansion, Spanish language is spoken in different geographical locations.

The two main Spanish blocks are the Spanish spoken in Spain and that of America. In Spain apart from the official language (Castellano) there are three others in co-existence, Gallego, Vasco and Catalán. The three do have their own characteristics also they are co-official languages with Spanish in the region where they belong to. The Spanish spoken by Galacian, Catalan and Basque present very peculiar features and easily identified.

Another variety of Spanish language is that of Guinea Equtorial in West Africa which started around 1858 as a result of colonization. Around 1887 Spanish language was developed by the Spanish people.

Also is that of the Philippines where it was formerly the official language. Magallanes made the first journey of discovery to The Philipines Islands in 1521; as a result of poverty and lack of means it was difficult to make education compulsory until 1815. 
 

The Spanish language in The Philippines collapsed as a result of British influence, but it didn’t disapper completely. In XX century English became the order of the day and Spanish language was disappering slowly but both were official languages until The Philippines constitution made Tagalo the official language. Spanish was removed as official language of the Phillippines in 1973, and was removed from being a compulsory subject in 1987, on the 8^th of August 2007; President Gloria Macapagal-Arroye announced that the Philippine asked help from the Spanish Government in her plan to reintroduce the Spanish as a required subject in Philippine school system. It is estimated that in 1996 there were 1,816,389 Spanish speakers in the Philippines.

In Andorra, Gibralter and the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic Spanish is used for international commerce. In Brazil Spanish is spoken as a result of being surrounded by Spanish speaking countries, and Spanish widely taught as a foreign language.

Spanish is widely spoken in the United States of America with over 50, 000, 000 native speakers and second language speakers, the United States now has the second largest Spanish-speaking population in the world after Mexico. Spanish is the second most used language in the United States. Most official public documents are published in both English and Spanish. Spanish is also de facto official in the U.S state of New Mexico along with English, and is increasingly used alongside English nationwide in business and politics. Due to its history, and the significant numbers of Spanish speakers, the Spanish language can be considered to be a national, although minority language of the United States.

Spanish language spread to the United States of America as early as the 16^th and 17^th centuries with the arrival of Spanish colonists in areas that became the states of Florida, Texas, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Nevada and California. The spread of Spanish is acknowledged to a Spaniard Ponce de León around 1513. Also Spanish was the language spoken by the first European settlers in the North America.

The Spanish-based creole language of Papiamento is official in Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao. Chavacano is spoken in the Philippines and Palenquero is spoken in Colombia but both are not official.

The following are the countries where Spanish is the official language:

COUNTRY EXTD. POPULATION

• Argentina 41, 000 000
• Bolivia 10, 500 000
• Chile 17, 000 000
• Colombia 45, 000 00
• Costa Rica 4, 600 000
• Cuba 11, 200 000
• Ecuador 15, 200 000
• El Salvador 6, 500 000
• Spain 47, 000 000
• Guatemala 14, 000 000
• Guinea Equatorial 668, 500
• Honduras 8, 500500
• Mexico 113, 800 000
• Nicaragua 5, 666500
• Panama 3, 500 000
• Paraguay 6, 459 058
• Peru 29, 500 000
• Puerto Rico 4, 000 000
• Dominican Republic 10 ,000 00
• Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic 500, 000
• Uruguay 3, 308 535
• Venezuela 28, 000 000

Spanish language strength, continuity and permanence in the world is fundamental due to her characteristics of homogeneity, closeness in geographical distribution, at the same time been a cultural vehicle and prestigious language. It’s a language in constant expansion (the figure of Spanish speakers is not accurate, because of daily expansion).

The following are the countries where Spanish language is spoken, not has the official language but it holds special status (in the education system, media, and some official documents:

• United States of America
• The Philippines
• Antillas
• Brazil
• Andorra

With what we have read above it is so obvious that Spanish language is a very strong and useful tool in today’s job market, education institutions, politics, actually Spanish revolves around all aspects of life.

So let’s go Spanish language and culture.