History of the Spanish Language
The Spanish language developed from Vulgar Latin (from the word
vulgaris meaning of the people) in the Castilian region of what is
now northern Spain and spread south to the Mediterranean. Arabic
also had a significant effect on the development of the Spanish
language mainly due to the Islamic presence in the Iberian
Peninsula following the Moors invasion in 711 until the fall of the
Emirate of Grenada in 1492 AD.
As a result, many words in modern Spanish have Latin and Arabic
derived alternatives. For example:
- scorpion: alacrán and scorpion
- olive: aceituna and oliva
The extent of the Arabic influence is such that there are well
over 4000 Arabic loanwords used in Spanish today, and many Spanish
place names bear the hallmarks of their Arabic history.
- Albacete from Arabic Al Basit meaning 'the plain'
- Almería from Al Meraya meaning the 'watchtower'
- Madrid derived from its original Arabic name al-MagrīT
meaning 'source of water'
- Valladolid derived from Balad al-Walid meaning 'Land of
Walid'
The Romance Language Family
Spanish Colonization
Following Christopher Columbus's expedition to the Americas in
1492, the Spanish expanded their empire across America over 300
years of colonization. This was initiated by the first colonizers
whose descendents continued to speak Spanish and was spread as the
colonizers mixed with the Amerindian natives.
As the Spanish colonies grew and eventually became the ruling
elite, Spanish was made the official language across most of
Central and South America. Even after most of America had won
independence from European colonizers in the 1800s, Spanish was
maintained as the language of choice.
The Spanish that evolved in each country differed from the
language that was introduced from Europe. Each language borrowed
words from the local indigenous population, especially nouns for
which there was no Spanish alternative such as plants, geographical
features and place names.