THE SPANISH LANGUAGE

 In the last post, I described the United States' aggressions and acts of discrimination against Spanish-speaking communities. In this post, I tried to explore everything about the Spanish language, from its roots to which countries recognize it as an official language.

WHAT IS IT A LANGUAGE?

To begin with, there are several definitions of what a language is. However, in this section, I shall define a language as a means of communication. A language, according to Merriam Webster, is the words, their pronunciation, and the means of combining them that a society uses and understands. Having said that, it is a shared system which allows a community to communicate with one another.

ORIGINS OFTHE  SPANISH LANGUAGE 

After defining a language and noting that it is a resource or system that members of a community or population share, let us look at the roots of a language that is highly prevalent over the world: Castilian, mostly known as "the Spanish language".

The earliest version of the Spanish language arose, based on the Castilian dialect of Castilla. It drew on Vulgar Latin and Mozarabic elements. Scholars were able to create literary masterpieces due to the language's broad use. The Spanish Kingdom of Isabel and Fernando granted an Italian adventurer named Christopher Columbus authority to investigate alternate ways to Asia in 1492. The Royal Spanish Academy (La Real Academia Española) was founded in 1713.

Its objective was and still is to develop regulations that govern the usage of the Spanish language. As the Viceroyalty of New Spain began to disintegrate in Latin America, new states began to emerge and achieve independence from Spain. Each of these Spanish-speaking countries developed its own local language, grammatical standards, and accents.

WHERE IS SPANISH SPOKEN

With nearly a half-billion people speaking it, Spanish is one of the world's most widely spoken languages. It is the official or de facto national language of 20 countries and is gaining popularity in several more, including the United States. The list below includes countries where Spanish is the most frequently spoken language. I have not included the United States or the Philippines on this list because Spanish is a significant but not an official language in those countries. Over 20 million people in the United States speak Spanish as their first language, as opposed to the majority who are bilingual. It is a language spoken in the Philippines because Spanish was originally the official language of the nation.

LIST OF THE COUNTRIES WHERE SPANISH IS AN OFFICIAL LANGUAGE 

Andorra: French and Catalan are other commonly spoken languages in tiny nation, which is one of Europe's smallest.

Argentina: Argentina is the largest country in terms of land area where Spanish is the official language. Argentina's Spanish is differentiated by the usage of vos and the pronunciation of the ll and y sounds.

Bolivia: Although virtually all Bolivians speak Spanish, over half do so as a second language.

Chile: Spanish is widely spoken across this little nation, with minimal difference from north to south.

Colombia:  Colombia, with a population of almost 50 million people, is the most populous Spanish-speaking country in South America and has grown linguistically prominent due to its television and film industries. English is co-official in the Nicaraguan departments of San Andrés, Providencia, and Santa Catalina.

Costa Rica: In this calm Central American country, indigenous languages have all but vanished. Costa Ricans are sometimes referred to as ticos due to the usage of the diminutive suffix -ico.

Cuba: The Spanish of this island nation, like other Caribbean Spanish, is distinguished by the weakening of consonant sounds, particularly the -s at the end of a syllable.

Dominican Republic: Consonant weakening is widespread in Dominican Spanish, such as the removal of the d sound in past participles and other nouns ending in -ado.

Ecuador: Despite its modest size, the Spanish of this equatorial country is distinguished by significant regional variances.

El Salvador: In this Central American country, the usage of vos as the second-person singular pronoun is fairly prevalent.

Equatorial Guinea: In this African country, Spanish is spoken by over 70% of the population, while French and Portuguese are also official but considerably less generally spoken. The indigenous Fang language is spoken by around 500,000 people.

Guatemala: Although Spanish is the major language of Guatemala, over 20 indigenous languages are spoken by a population of several million people.

Mexico: Mexico is the most populous Spanish-speaking country in the world. The accent spoken in Mexico City is sometimes considered "standard" Latin American Spanish and is occasionally replicated for films and television in other countries.

Nicaragua: Despite the fact that Spanish is the official language, creole English and indigenous languages such as Miskito are commonly spoken throughout the Atlantic Coast.

Panama: Because to the former Panama Canal Zone's impact, imported English terms are quite widespread in Panamanian Spanish.

Paraguay: This little country's Spanish is comparable to that of Argentina. The indigenous Guaran language is recognised as a co-official language.

Peru: The indigenous Quechua and Ayamara languages are co-official with Spanish in most regions of the nation.

Spain: Spanish is one of four official languages in Spain's birthplace, the others being Catalan, Galician, and Euskara (often known as Basque). Catalan and Galician have close ties to Spanish, having evolved from Latin, but Euskara is unconnected to any other European language.

Uruguay: The Spanish of this small country is similar to that of Argentina.

Venezuela: Although dozens of indigenous languages have legal recognition in Venezuela, only Spanish is used as a national language.

Lastly, the Spanish language is a language that is spoken all over the world, making it a highly significant language. It is a simple and enjoyable language to learn. It helps you in the job market and keeps your brain healthy. As a result, we should value the Spanish language and strive to study and comprehend it.

SOURCES 

-In What Countries Is Spanish Spoken?. (2019, September 15). ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/where-is-spanish-spoken-3079198.

-The History And Origin Of the Spanish Language. (2021, August 30). Homeschool Spanish Academy. https://www.spanish.academy/blog/history-of-spanish/.

-Definition Of LANGUAGE. (2022, February 28). Language Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/language.