Castilian Or...

Spanish is spoken by more than 250 million people in Spain, the Americas, and Africa. Spanish is also known as Castilian after a dialect from which the modern standard Spanish language developed. That dialect formed in the 9th century around the town of Burgos, in north central Spain (Old Castile) and, as Spain was re-conquered from the Moors, spread southward to central Spain (New Castile) around Madrid and Toledo by the 11th century. In the late 15th century the kingdoms of Castile and Leon merged with that of Aragon, and Castilian became the official language of all Spain. Castilian contains a large number of words of Arabic origin.

Outside the Iberian Peninsula, Spanish is spoken in virtually all of Central and South America except Brazil (where the closely-related Portuguese language is spoken), as well as in the Canary Islands, parts of Morocco, and the Philippines. Latin-American Spanish has a number of regional dialects; all are derived from Castilian but differ in several points from European Spanish.

Catalan, modified French, is spoken in the north east along with Valenciano, Basque and Galician. To be absolutely correct, Catalan, Basque and Galician are recognised languages, whereas Valenciano is a regional dialect. All of these languages except Euskera (Basque) are Romance languages, i.e. they evolved from Latin. Euskera is what is known as a language isolate; it is totally unrelated to these or any other languages of the world.

In today’s Spain the Constitution grants the autonomous regions of Cataluna, Galicia and the Basque country control over their own languages, cultural identity and education. The result is that there are three official Spanish languages recognised in different parts of Spain alongside that of Castilian, which foreigners recognise simply as Spanish. The alternative languages are recognised by local government as equal to Castilian. Local officials are also trying, with some success, to turn Valenciano into an official language.

Many people who encounter the Catalan and Galician languages for the first time immediately see a close similarity with Castilian Spanish and jump to the conclusion they are regional dialects blending with French and Portuguese respectively. Nothing is calculated to infuriate their speakers more, who point out they are official Spanish languages, designated by law and on an equal footing with Castilian.

Spain has always been a multi-lingual country and always subject to continual controversy over the language issue, even although the Castilian language abroad continues its rapid growth. Tension exists between the centralised state and autonomous regions and this has led to conflicts over the degree of local autonomy. The Spanish constitution is liberal, according a large measure of autonomy to the autonomous comunidades and in the cases of Cataluna, Galicia, the Basque Country and Valencia, special privileges designed to enhance cultural identity.

Children acquire regional languages or dialects in the first few years. The town in which the author lives has two primary schools; one teaches in Castilian with the compulsory second dialect Valenciano and the other teaches in Valenciano with a second language Castilian.

A good example of the complexities of a regional dialect and its pronunciation is given below:

• Jalon –the name of a town spelt in Castilian and written on national maps;
• Xalon –the same town spelt in Valenciano dialect seen on signposts;
• Halon –how to pronounce it in any dialect.

English is the business language of Madrid and Barcelona, but is rarely spoken or understood in rural mainland Spain. English is understood on the Costas and Islands where waiters and shop assistants often manage some English words which they have been taught at school. Builders, repairmen, installation engineers, petrol attendants, postmen, policemen and nurses generally speak only Spanish, or Catalan, or Valenciano or...