Language/Spanish/Culture/History
Since when do we speak Spanish? Has Spanish always been spoken? The answer is no. Spanish is a so-called Romance or Latin language because it comes from Latin, just like French, Italian, Romanian, Portuguese. It was the Romans from Italy who introduced it to Europe.
The Iberian Peninsula is the first country to be invaded by the Romans, long before Gaul for example: we therefore speak a Latin qualified as archaic. It is from this archaic spoken Latin that the Spanish language derives. It is referred to as vulgar Latin because it is spoken by the people (vulgus in Latin). It is said to be archaic because it is a Latin exported quite early and which has therefore hardly evolved, unlike the Latin spoken in Gaul which, having been exported much later (in 58 BC), had renewed its lexicon . This difference between archaic Latin and late Latin manifests itself in the vocabulary: we say table in French (Latin TABULA) but mesa in Spanish (lat. MENSA), we say to speak in French (lat. PARABOLARE) but hablar in Spanish (lat. FABULARE), we say hallar in Spanish (lat. AFFLARE) but to find in French (lat. TROPARE, the origin of which is also very controversial). In the other European countries, different vulgar Latins will develop in parallel: it is from these Latins that the Romance languages will be born: French, Italian, Portuguese, and Romanian. The breakup and then the fall of the Roman Empire is at the origin of this linguistic explosion.
It was in the 5th century AD that Spanish began to take shape as Latin began to decline. Germanic peoples are sweeping across Europe and invading the Iberian Peninsula. They speak a Germanic language that no Romanized native understands and whose harshness of sounds resembles a continuous "barabara", which earned them the name of "barbarians". Between the 5th and the 8th century in the Iberian Peninsula under the reign of the Visigoths, spoken Latin and Germanic languages mingle. These last leave traces in the Spanish language: these traces are called the "Germanic superstrate". Words such as guerra (WERRA), estribo (STREUP), jabón (SAIPO), falda (FALDA), or even ropa (RAUPA) are words of barbaric origin… The word Andalucía itself derives from Al-Andalus. This word originates from "al-vandalus" (al, Arabic article and vandalo, vandals, people of Germanic origin), Arabic adaptation of Portus Vandalusius, originally designating the port from which the vandals left.
Also read: Some good reasons to learn the Spanish language! In the 8th century, more precisely in 711, the Arabs invaded the Iberian Peninsula which they occupied until the 15th century. Arabic is establishing itself as a language of culture and as an administrative language. However, the Spanish, known as romance, is already well established. It becomes Arabian and eventually forms what is called Mozarabic. Mozarabic is spoken by everyone, including the Arabs themselves who know the language and use it orally, although they prefer Arabic to the written word. Among the first texts written in the Spanish language, we find small poems Las Jarchas, dating from the 11th century, written in fact in Mozarabic.
Arabic has a significant influence on Spanish: words beginning with al or a incorporate the Arabic article al into the word. They are found in the vocabulary of the house (azotea, alcantarilla), food (arroz (rice without article in French), azúcar (sugar), algodón (cotton), aceituna), commerce (aduana, almacén, zoco, maravedí ), administration (alcalde, alguacil), professions (albañil), clothing (almohada, alfombra), play (ajedrez, azar, naipe). Many place names are formed from Guad, wadi ‘the river’: Guadalquivir, Guadalajara.
It was under Arab occupation that Spanish as such was born. The first text written in the Spanish language dates from the 10th century. These are "glosses" that can be found in the margins of Latin manuscripts copied by the monks. The latter, judging that the readers of the time no longer understood Latin, had placed in the margin the translation of certain passages into a new language which was none other than ... Spanish. These Glosses are called Glosas Silenses and Glosas Emilianenses: the first emanate from the Monastery of Silos located in the region of Burgos and the second from San Millán de la Cogolla located in the region of La Rioja.
Finally, it was in the 12th century that the first great text of Spanish literature saw the light of day: the Cantar by Mio Çid, song of gestures, written in verse which retraces the exploits of Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, known as the Çid, who went to the reconquest of the Peninsula. Its name, written at the time with a ç and pronounced "ts", derives from the Arabic Said which means "my master". Spanish was born and was to experience the development and destiny we know: to be one of the most widely spoken languages in the world today.
Source[edit | edit source]
https://telemartin.tv/origines-espagnol/
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