From Latin to Modern Castilian: A Linguistic Journey

Origins of Romance Languages and Pre-Roman Influence

The Romance languages are derived from Latin. Before the Roman arrival, the Iberian Peninsula was inhabited by pre-Roman peoples, each speaking their own language. The Basque language is the only pre-Roman language of the peninsula that is still preserved; it provided words to the Spanish language called vasquismos.

The Impact of Romanization and Vulgar Latin

In the year 218 BC, the Romans arrived. They spoke a popular variant of Latin known as Vulgar Latin, which differed from the Classical Latin used in the literature of the time. Romanization was the historical process whereby Rome imposed its language and culture on the Iberian Peninsula.

Germanic Invasions and the Visigothic Era

The Germanic invasions led to the fall of the Roman Empire and the linguistic division of its people. After their arrival, the evolution of Latin changed, a process that culminated in the appearance of the Romance languages. Germanic peoples arrived in the 5th century. In the 6th century, the Visigoths arrived; they were the most civilized among the Germanic tribes and transformed the customs of the Latins.

The Arabic Influence and the Reconquista

In 711, the first Arabs entered Spain and conquered the peninsula and southern France. Cordoba was the capital of the Caliphate, which became the center of Islamic civilization. The Christians completed the process of conquest in 1492, when the Catholic Monarchs entered the Kingdom of Granada and dominated the Arabs. The Arabs left many traces in the language, with approximately 4,000 Arabic words remaining today.

The Birth and Expansion of Castilian

The Origin of Castilian: The Castilian language was born in Cantabria. The Glosas, written in the 10th and 11th centuries, are brief annotations in Romance written in the margins of ecclesiastical texts in Latin to facilitate comprehension.

Early Records and Linguistic Varieties

In addition to Castilian, four other varieties of language derived from Latin were spoken:

• Galician-Portuguese
• Asturian-Leonese
• Navarro-Aragonese
• Catalan

These evolved differently over time. In the south, they spoke Mozarabic, which disappeared with the advance of the Reconquista. Political power helped Castilian extend as a common language, with the exception of specific linguistic domains.

Alfonso X and the Standardization of Spanish

From Latin to Castilian, a number of changes in pronunciation were produced. These changes were not equal; hence, the Latin outcome is different in various Romance languages. In the 13th century, King Alfonso X promoted the work of the Toledo School of Translators to translate works written in other languages into Castilian. In this era, literature written in Castilian began to develop, including epic poetry (Mester de Juglaría) and learned narrative poetry (Mester de Clerecía). Castilian extended its vocabulary thanks to numerous lexical cultisms from Latin.

The Golden Age and Modern Spanish

Spanish literature in the 16th and 17th centuries reached its moments of splendor during the Golden Age, which brought great linguistic changes. In the 18th century, the Spanish Royal Academy (RAE) was created. Although most of the Castilian lexicon is of Latin origin, throughout history, words of Germanic, Arabic, Columbian (Amerindian), Italian, French, and English origin have been incorporated into our language.