Spanish Language: Definitions, History, Phonetics
Key Terms
- Sultan
- Sovereign Muslim ruler.
- Dynasty
- Series of kings of a country belonging to the same family.
- Cutlass
- Short, broad, curved blade, sharp on one side only, used by Muslims.
- Congoja
- Grief, anguish.
- Petrified
- Turned to stone, paralyzed with terror.
- Prophet
- A person who predicts the future by divine inspiration.
- Inexorable
- Implacable, not softened by entreaties.
- Sharpen
- Fanning, awakening (metaphorical context).
- Stratagem
- Ardid, trick.
- Trivial
- Of little importance; not protruding from the ordinary.
- Paradox
- An idea strange or opposite to the common opinion of people; here refers to a contradiction.
- Magnitud
- Greatness or importance of something.
- Vertigo
- Feeling of insecurity and fear of jumping from a certain height.
- Malaise
- Physical discomfort, annoyance, or concern.
- Squawk
- To issue cries, the cry of some birds, like the crow, raven, goose, etc.
- Hypnosis
- State produced by hypnotism, a method for producing artificial sleep by personal influence or through appropriate equipment.
History of the Castilian Language
The Castilian language originated in Spain alongside other languages: Castilian, Catalan, Galician, and Basque. Except for Basque, the rest are derived from Latin (Romance languages). The primitive peninsular languages, also called pre-Roman, gradually disappeared in favor of official Latin.
In 218 BC, Romans arrived in the peninsula. They brought Vulgar Latin. The evolution resulted from the Vulgar Latin spoken in the Roman Empire. After the collapse of the Roman Empire and Germanic invasions, in the 8th century, the Arabs conquered the peninsula and lived there for eight centuries. The Arabic and Romance languages coexisted.
Castilian is the language from Latin that arose in Castile, initially a small territory south of the Cantabrian Mountains. The first written records in Castilian are from the tenth century: the Glosas Emilianenses and Glosas Silenses, which constitute documents of great importance for dating the origins of Castilian.
In the tenth century, the peninsula was divided into differentiated language areas. The first extant literary work is an epic poem from the twelfth century. In the thirteenth century, King Alfonso X the Wise was the founder of Castilian prose.
In the fifteenth century, the first Castilian grammar was written. In 1492, Antonio de Nebrija wrote the first Castilian grammar. The 16th and 17th Centuries are known as the Golden Age. Notable authors include Garcilaso de la Vega, Luis de Góngora, Francisco de Quevedo, and Lope de Vega. A key work is Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes.
Spanish Phonetics: Diphthongs, Triphthongs, Hiatuses
Understanding how vowels combine is crucial for pronunciation and accentuation.
Diphthong
A diphthong is the pronunciation of two vowels together in the same syllable. One of the two (or both) is a weak vowel (i, u). Examples: deu-da, ai-re.
Triphthong
A triphthong is the pronunciation of three vowels together in one syllable (typically weak vowel + strong vowel + weak vowel). Example: a-pre-ciéis. This word has an accent because it is acute and ends in -s.
Hiatus
A hiatus is the pronunciation of two (or three) vowels together in different syllables. Examples: po-e-ta, a-é-re-o.
Note: A hiatus is formed when a weak vowel (i, u) next to a strong vowel (a, e, o) is stressed and carries a written accent (tilde), breaking what would otherwise be a diphthong. Example: cre-í-a (cre-í-a, 3 syllables, hiatus on í).