Evolution of the Spanish Language: From Latin Roots to Modern Spanish

Posted on Sep 23, 2024 in History

Evolution of the Spanish Language

Latinization of the Iberian Peninsula

Languages like Basque, Celtic, and Iberian were spoken in the Iberian Peninsula. In 218 BC, the Romans arrived (Ampurias), starting the Romanization process. The inhabitants adopted Latin, leading to the Romanization of the peninsula’s culture.

The Visigothic Kingdom

In the 5th century, Germanic tribes invaded the peninsula. Initially, they maintained their religion but eventually adopted Latin and Christianity.

Arab Invasion

In 711 AD, a long and complex phase began, during which the lexicon was enriched by Arabic. Arabic words entered fields like war (e.g., “watchman”), agriculture (e.g., “artichoke”), gardening (e.g., “lily”), and the city (e.g., “suburb”). The prefix “al-” became common, as did the decimal system in mathematics.

Peninsular Romance Languages in the 9th-11th Centuries

Location of the Peninsular Kingdoms and Linguistics

In the south and center (Al-Andalus), bilingualism thrived, with Mozarabs speaking Arabic and Andalusian.

  • Kingdom of León: Galician and Astur-Leonese
  • Castile: Castilian
  • Navarre and Aragon: Navarro-Aragonese
  • Catalonia: Catalan

Early Written Records

  • Code 46 of the Royal Academy of History (964): Contains Latin vocabulary.
  • Emilian Glosses (10th century): Phrases that translate Latin words and passages.
  • Jarchas (first literary evidence in a Romance language): Love poems.

Characteristics of Peninsular Romance Languages:

  • Declension cases of Latin words disappeared, leaving only one form regardless of function.
  • More rigid word order.
  • Changes in certain sounds.

Castilian in the 12th-15th Centuries

Territorial and Linguistic Expansion

This period culminated in the political unification of the peninsula (excluding Portugal). Arabic disappeared, as did Mozarabic. Catalan and Galician consolidated their presence. Castilian expanded south into the reconquered territories of Aragon and León (Castilian was the most innovative language).

First Evidence of the Castilian Language

  • Cantar de Mio Cid (1150)
  • Auto de los Reyes Magos (mid-12th century)
  • Early 13th-century prose texts, including legal, historical, and narrative texts.

Medieval Castilian Characteristics

Phonological Level

  • Phonemes unknown in Latin appeared, some of which are absent today.
  • The “x” was pronounced as “sh” (like the English “sh” in “gentle” and “jury”).
  • The “c” before “e” and “i” was pronounced as “ts” (e.g., “braço”).
  • The “z” was pronounced as “dz”.
  • Two different “s” sounds existed.
  • The final “f” was aspirated.

Grammatical Level

  • The definite and indefinite articles and demonstrative pronouns emerged from Latin.
  • Some intransitive verbs used the auxiliary verb “ser” (to be).
  • Periphrastic forms of the future and conditional appeared.
  • The preposition “a” was used before the direct object of a person.
  • Passive reflexive constructions with inanimate subjects were used.

Lexical Level

New words appeared (e.g., “pot” for head, “switch” for leg, “matino” for tomorrow).

Classical Spanish (16th-17th Centuries)

Expansion and Influence

The conquest and colonization of the Americas led to the spread of Spanish. Jews expelled from Spain also brought the language to new areas. Spanish became a prominent language in Europe for cultural and political relations.

Classical Spanish Characteristics

  • A new standard emerged, contributing to the homogeneity of the language.

Phonological Level

  • The initial “f” sound in words like “pot” disappeared, becoming “h”.
  • The two “s” sounds were reduced to one.
  • The “ts” and “dz” sounds disappeared, merging into “z”.
  • “x”, “g”, and “j” came to represent the current “j” sound.

Grammatical Level

  • The system of auxiliary verbs was reorganized, with “haber” (to have) becoming more prominent.
  • “Haber” stopped being used as an auxiliary for some intransitive verbs.
  • The use of “le” and “lo” as direct object pronouns began (leísmo and loísmo).

Lexical Level

  • Cultivated forms from Greek and Latin were adopted, along with Gallicisms.
  • Words of American origin entered the language (e.g., “potato”, “canoe”, “snuff”).

Modern Spanish (18th-19th Centuries)

Standardization

In 1713, the Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) was founded. The RAE published a dictionary (1725-1739), an orthography (1741), and a grammar (1771). The orthography fixed the spelling of consonant groups and simplified the writing system.

Language Studies

Manuscripts of ancient works (e.g., the Cantar de Mio Cid and poems by Gonzalo de Berceo) were edited. This interest in older works led to important grammatical studies.

Current Spanish

Phonology and Spelling

  • Vowels: a, e, i, o, u
  • Consonantal system: Presents complexities in the “s” sounds, with seseo and ceceo varieties.
  • Spelling system: Relatively faithful to pronunciation.

Morphology and Syntax

  • Morphology: Rich and complex verbal morphology and inflection.
  • Personal pronouns: Distinguish between stressed and unstressed forms.
  • Two copulative verbs: “ser” and “estar”.
  • Implicit or tacit subject.
  • Direct object with animate entities.

Lexicon

  • Words from Latin.
  • Arabic and Amerindian words.
  • Loanwords from other sources, especially English.
  • Word formation mechanisms, including derivation with suffixes.

Subordinate Relative Clauses

Relative clauses are introduced by a relative pronoun (e.g., “que”, “quien”, “como”, “donde”, “cuando”, “cuanto”). They function as subordinate elements and introduce subordinate clauses. They have pronominal or adverbial grammatical features and meanings. They are anaphoric, containing the word or phrase that complements the main clause. They perform a syntactic function.

Restrictive and Non-Restrictive Relative Clauses

Restrictive relative clauses:

  • Form a single unit with their antecedent, without any pauses.
  • Restrict the meaning of the antecedent (e.g., “The students who passed the exam are outstanding.”).

Non-restrictive relative clauses:

  • Add information that is not essential to identify the antecedent.
  • Are separated by commas (e.g., “The students, who passed the exam, are outstanding.”).

Differences Between Restrictive and Non-Restrictive Relative Clauses

  • Personal pronouns can be used as antecedents in non-restrictive clauses but not in restrictive clauses.
  • Only non-restrictive clauses can have a whole clause as their antecedent.
  • The verb in a non-restrictive clause is always in the indicative mood. The verb in a restrictive clause can be in the indicative or subjunctive mood.

Relative Clauses with an Elliptical Antecedent

This occurs when:

  • There is an article before the relative pronoun.
  • The relative pronoun has inherent semantic features that allow it to function without an explicit antecedent.

Periphrasis with Relative Clauses

This construction consists of the copulative verb “ser” (to be), a relative clause as the subject, and an implicit antecedent whose referent is the subject of the copulative clause.