The Linguistic Landscape of the Iberian Peninsula

Key Linguistic Concepts

• Hyponymy: The meaning of one word is included within that of another, more general word.
• Substrate words: These are words from languages spoken in the Iberian Peninsula before the arrival of Latin that have survived to the present day.
• Pidgin languages (Sabir): When languages mix to give rise to a new, simplified language that facilitates communication between small groups.
• Foreignisms: These are words from another language incorporated into Castilian that supersede an existing word. A foreignism can be seen as impoverishing the language when it designates a reality that already had a name.
• Loanwords: These are words from other languages whose speakers have coexisted with speakers on the Peninsula. Loanwords are used to name previously unknown realities and thus enrich the language.

Historical Development of Castilian

• 3rd Century BC: Roman colonization begins. Classical Latin displaces indigenous languages (except Basque). The general populace spoke Vulgar Latin.
• 5th Century AD: Germanic peoples end Roman rule. Latin undergoes fragmentation, resulting in the Romance languages (dialects of Vulgar Latin).
• 711 AD: The Arab invasion begins, leading to contact with Arabic and Hebrew. Over the centuries, Vulgar Latin continued to evolve. Romance languages emerged and fragmented into several distinct languages.
• Middle Ages: Each region of the peninsula develops its own Romance language: Galician-Portuguese, Astur-Leonese, Castilian, Navarro-Aragonese, Catalan, and Mozarabic in the south.
• 1492: Castilian becomes the official language under the Catholic Monarchs.

Languages of Spain Today

Castilian (Spanish)

• Spoken by over 400 million people worldwide.
• The official language in Spain and 19 Latin American countries.
• The second most spoken language in the United States.
• An official or significant language in Andorra, Equatorial Guinea, Western Sahara, and the Philippines.
• Spoken by Sephardic Jewish communities in Asia Minor, the Balkans, and North Africa (as Ladino or Judaeo-Spanish).

Galician

• Spoken by approximately 3 million people.
• Spoken in Galicia, western Asturias, and parts of León and Zamora.

Catalan

• Spoken by approximately 6.5 million people.
• Spoken in Catalonia, the Valencian Community, the Balearic Islands, parts of eastern France, and the city of Alghero in Sardinia.

Basque

• Spoken by approximately 600,000 people.
• Spoken in the Basque Country, Navarre, and the Northern Basque Country in southwestern France.