Evolution of Languages in Spain: A Historical Perspective

The Evolution of Languages in Spain

Articulation:

• Bilabial: p, b, m
• Labiodental: f
• Interdental: z
• Dental: t, d
• Alveolar: s, l, r, n
• Palatal: c
• Velar: k, g, j

Articulatory Section Modification:

• Occlusive: p, b, t, d, k, g
• Fricatives: f, z, s, y, j
• Affricates: c
• Lateral: L
• Vibrant: r
• Nasal: n, m

Vowel Sounds:

• Central, Open: a
• Anterior, Middle: e
• Above, Closed: i
• Later, Media: o
• Back, Close: o

Sonority:

• Sonorous: b, d, g, m, n, l, r
• Deaf: k, c, d, f, j, p, s, t, z

1. Pre-Roman Languages

Before the advent of different languages, Latin was spoken in the Iberian Peninsula. With the invasions came different languages. With Romanization, these languages, except Euskera (Basque), were disappearing.

2. Romanization Process

A process of Romanization arose. When the Romans arrived, they imposed their culture and language, the written variety used for administration and worship (Latin). Vulgar Latin was spoken.

3. Barbarian Invasions

When the Roman Empire was dismembered (5th century), barbarian invasions (Suebi, Alans, Vandals, Visigoths) were favored, bringing their languages. This represents a break in cultural unity and the various evolutions of the inherited Latin depending on the area. With the invasion of the Arabs, fragmentation of the peninsula ultimately occurred, but the Arabs did not conquer the northern zone and their influence did not reach it.

4. The Reconquista

The political and territorial fragmentation of the peninsula, and the features peculiar to each region, favored the development of different dialects. The expansion of Castilian (Castilla) prevented Aragonese and Leonese from imposing themselves.

5. The Language of the Empire

With the Reconquista completed, a heyday began for Spain, which became an empire motivated by discovery and colonization. Adding this factor to the territorial and political unity that had been achieved and the quality of the literary creation of the Golden Age, we see the blossoming and rise of Castilian.

6. The Modern State (18th Century)

The creation of a modern state involved a policy of administrative and linguistic unification, which was the imposition of Castilian in education and in legal and administrative matters. This imposition of Castilian collided with strong resistance centered in the Basque Country and Catalonia.

7. The 20th Century

In the Second Republic (1931), statutes approving the Basque Country and Catalonia were established. Galician was approved before the Spanish Civil War. The statute promoted the language. Franco won the war, relegating the other languages to the family of languages and slang. The arrival of democracy implies the recognition of the multilingual reality of Spain.

Galician Language

This Romance language extends through Galicia, penetrates Asturias to the Navia River, to the Sil River in León, and Zamora to the area of Sanabria. Galician arises in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula, with close ties to Portuguese. During the Middle Ages, it lived up to its peak. In the fifteenth century, Castilian was introduced in the Galician hinterland. The imposition of Castilian reduced Galician to rural areas and to an unwritten and family context. In the nineteenth century, the Real Academia Galega was established. During the Second Republic, Galicia acquired the status of autonomy, but the Spanish Civil War frustrated that recovery. Currently, the Galician language is present in the political and cultural life of Galicia.

Catalan Language

Catalan is a Romance language spoken in Catalonia, Valencia, the Balearic Islands, some border areas of Aragon, Alghero (Sardinia), in Roussillon (southern France), and Andorra (where it is official). It arose in the northwestern Iberian Peninsula. In the nineteenth century, there was a resurgence of the Catalan language and literature. Early in the 20th century (1919), the Institute of Catalan Studies was established. With the Second Republic, Catalan was the official language, but it lost its privileges with the outbreak of the Civil War. From the 1950s, its cultural recovery began. Today, in democracy, it is an official language.