Spanish language

|pronunciation |familycolor Indo-European |script Latin alphabet (Spanish alphabet |region (see #Geographic distribution |speakers First language 329http://www.ethnologue.org/ethno_docs/distribution.asp?bysize Spanish language total]. Ethnologue. Retrieved 14 August 2009. million to 400http://eprints.ucm.es/8936/1/DT03-06.pdf Demografía de la lengua española] (page 38). 359.5 million people where Spanish is official and 40.5 where it is not official with native knowladges of Spanish, and another 40 million with limited knowladges. The figures of the census used are from 2000 to 2005.http://congresosdelalengua.es/cartagena/ponencias/seccion_3/36/vivanco_hiram.htm http://www.elcastellano.org/23abr.html elcastellano.org]. million.
As first or second language 450lt;/ref> million to 500http://www.krysstal.com/spoken.html krysstal.com], 5th International Congress on Spanish Language (http://www.la-moncloa.es/IDIOMAS/9/ActualidadHome/29012009_CongresoLengua.htm la-moncloa.es]), http://www.uis.edu/clas/Online/factsaboutspanish.html uis.edu], Antonio Molina, director of the Instituto Cervantes in 2006 (http://terranoticias.terra.es/cultura/articulo/espanol_sera_segunda_lengua_comunicacion_848372.htm terranoticias.es], http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2007/04/26/cultura/1177610767.html elmundo.es], http://www.fundeu.es/Noticias.aspx?frmOpcionNOTICIA&frmFontSize2&frmIdNoticia74 fundeu.es]), Luis María Anson of the Real Academia Española (http://www.elcultural.es/version_papel/OPINION/24251/Estados_Unidos-_mas_hispanohablantes_que_en_Espana elcultural.es]), http://www.congresovaloridioma.es/pag/bienvenida.html International Congress about Spanish, 2008], Mario Melgar of the México University (http://www.lllf.uam.es/~fmarcos/coloquio/Ponencias/MMelgar.doc lllf.uam.es]), Feu Rosa - Spanish in Mercosur (http://congresosdelalengua.es/valladolid/ponencias/unidad_diversidad_del_espanol/5_espanol_y_portugues/rosa_f.htm congresosdelalengua.es]), http://www.elpais.com/articulo/carreras/capital/humano/500/millones/razones/saber/espanol/elpepueconeg/20100124elpnegser_4/Tes elpais.com], http://www.eumed.net/rev/cccss/05/jrz.htm eumed.net], http://www.babel-linguistics.com/idiomas.htm babel-linguistics.com].
. |rank 2 (native speakers),http://www.ethnologue.org/ethno_docs/distribution.asp?bysize ethnologue.org], http://web.archive.org/web/19990429232804/www.sil.org/ethnologue/top100.html sil.org], https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2098.html cia.gov] (see "World" file), http://www.eldia.es/2009-11-02/cultura/3-espanol-esta-crisis-Instituto-Cervantes.htm eldia.es] (according to Ethnology (journal) , Encarta (http://uk.encarta.msn.com/dictionary_1481582983/Modern_Standard_Chinese.html Chinese 800 million], http://uk.encarta.msn.com/dictionary_1861781790/Spanish.html Spanish 358 million], http://uk.encarta.msn.com/dictionary_1861789540/English.html English 350 million]). 3 (total speakers)http://www.krysstal.com/spoken.html krysstal.com]/ Ethnologue (http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?codecmn Mandarin Chinese]: 845 mill. + 145 mill. Second language http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?codeeng English]: 328 mill. + 167 mill. Second language http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?codespa Spanish] 329 mill. + 60 mill. Second language http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?codehin Hindi] 182 mill. + 120 mill. Second language / http://www.andaman.org/BOOK/reprints/weber/rep-weber.htm George Weber] (Mandarin 1.12 billion, English 480 million, Spanish 320 million, Russian 285 million)/ http://www.oei.es/marchesiiv.htm IV Congreso Internacional de la Lengua Española] (Álvaro Marchesi Secretario General of the OEI)/ http://www.cervantes.es/sobre_instituto_cervantes/prensa/2008/noticias/noticia_08-06-17.htm cervantes.es] (Carmen Caffarel president of Instituto Cervantes)/ http://www.elcastellano.org/23abr.html elcastellano.org]. |fam2 Italic languages |fam3 Romance languages |fam4 Italo-Western languages |fam5 Gallo-Iberian |fam6 Iberian Romance languages |fam7 West Iberian languages |script Latin alphabet (Spanish alphabet |script Latin alphabet (Spanish alphabet |nation List of countries where Spanish is an official language United Nations European Union Organization of American States Organization of Ibero-American States Union of South American Nations Central American Integration System Caricom World Trade Organization North American Free Trade Agreement Andean Community of Nations Mercosur Inter-American Development Bank Latin Union Antarctic Treaty |agency Association of Spanish Language Academies (and 21 other national Spanish language academies) |iso1 es |iso2 spa |iso3 spa |map File:Map-Hispanophone World.png }} Spanish or Castilian ({{lang|es|español}}or {{lang|es|castellano}}in Spanish) is a Romance languages in the Iberian Romance languages that evolved from several dialects and languages in the northern fringes of the Iberian Peninsula during the 10th century and gradually spread through the Kingdom of Castile becoming the foremost language for government and tradelt;/ref> in the Spanish Empire Latin the basis of all Romance languages including Spanish, was introduced to the Iberian Peninsula by the Roman Empire during the Second Punic War around 210 Before Christ During the 5th century Hispania was invaded by Germanic Vandals Suevi and Visigoths and other eastern peoples (Alans , but they left few linguistic influences other than a few dozen loanwords After the Umayyad conquest of Hispania in the 8th century, Arabic became a significant influence in the evolution of Iberian languages including Castilian (see Influences on the Spanish language . Modern Spanish developed with the Readjustment of the Consonants ({{lang|es|[[:es:Reajuste de las sibilantes del idioma español|Reajuste de las sibilantes]]}} that began in 15th century The language continues to adopt foreign words from a variety of other languages, as well as developing new words. Spanish was taken most notably Spanish colonization of the Americas as well as Spanish Empire#Territories in Africa (1885–1975) Spanish East Indies with the expansion of the Spanish Empire between the fifteenth and nineteenth centuries. In 1999 there were 358 million people speaking Spanish as a native language and a total of 417 million peoplelt;/ref> worldwide. Currently these figures up to 400 and 450http://www.fundacionblu.org/actaslengua/acta_conclusiones_lengua_espanola.asp?id1 I] and http://www.fundacionblu.org/actaslengua/acta_lengua_espanola.asp?id7 IV] International minutes of the Spanish languageInstituto Cervantes (http://www.cervantes.es/sobre_instituto_cervantes/prensa/2009/noticias/caffarel_casa_america.htm cervantes.es], http://www.lavanguardia.es/cultura/noticias/20100619/53949214032/el-espanol-ya-es-el-segundo-idioma-mas-hablado-del-mundo-instituto-cervantes-eeuu-carmen-caffarel-am.html lavanguardia.es]) million people respectively. It is the List of languages by number of native speakers language in the world, after Mandarin Chinese Mexico contains the largest population of Hispanophone Spanish is one of the six official languages of the United Nations

History

Image:Page of Lay of the Cid.jpg }}, in mediaeval Castilian ]] Spanish evolved from Vulgar Latin introduced to the Iberian Peninsula by Romans during the Second Punic War around 210 BC, with influence from Arabic influence on the Spanish language during the Al-Andalus periodlt;/ref> and other surviving influences from Basque language and Celtiberian language as well as Germanic languages via the Visigoths File:Cervates jauregui.jpg ] Castilian is thought to have evolved in the northern fringes of the Iberian Peninsula during the 10th century along the remote crossroad strips among the Alava Cantabria Burgos Soria and La Rioja (autonomous community) provinces of Northern Spain (see Glosas Emilianenses , as a strongly innovative and differing variant from its nearest cousin, Leonese Language with a higher degree of Basque influence in these regions (see Iberian Romance languages . Modern Spanish developed in Castile with the Readjustment of the Consonants ({{lang|es|[[:es:Reajuste de las sibilantes del idioma español|Reajuste de las sibilantes]]}} during the 15th century. Typical features of Spanish diachronic phonology include lenition (Latin Spanish , palatalisation (Latin Spanish and Latin Spanish and Vowel breaking (stem (linguistics) changing) of stressed short eand ofrom Vulgar Latin (Latin Spanish Latin Spanish . Similar phenomena can be found in other Romance languages as well. This northern dialect from Cantabria was carried south during the The first Spanish grammar ( — and, incidentally, the first grammar of any modern European language — was written in Salamanca Spain, in 1492, by Antonio de Nebrija When he presented it to Isabella I of Castile according to anecdote, she asked him what was the use of such a work, and he answered that language is the instrument of empire.lt;/ref> In his introduction to the grammar, dated August 18, 1492, Nebrija wrote that "... language was always the companion of empire."lt;/ref> From the 16th century onwards, the language was taken to the Americas and the Spanish East Indies via Spanish colonisation of the Americas Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra s influence on the Spanish language from the 17th century has been so great that Spanish is often called la lengua de Cervantes(the language of Cervantes).lt;/ref> In the 20th century Spanish was introduced to Equatorial Guinea and the Western Sahara and to areas of the United States that had not been part of the Spanish Empire, such as Spanish Harlem in New York City For details on borrowed words and other external influences upon Spanish, see Influences on the Spanish language

Geographic distribution

Spanish is recognised as one of the official languages of the United Nations the European Union the Organisation of American States the Organization of Ibero-American States the African Union the Union of South American Nations the Latin Union and the Caricom and has legal status in the North American Free Trade Agreement | class"wikitable sortable" style"font-size: 90%;" |- ! style"width:18%;"|Country ! style"width:12%;"|Population lt;/ref> ! style"width:16%;"|Spanish as a native language speakersBritannica Books of the years 2003 to 2009 :es:Anexo:Hablantes de español como lengua materna en el 2003 (según el Britannica Book) Sources used by the Encyclopaedia Britannica (Ethnologue -14th edition, Joshua Project 2000 —People’s List, U.S. Census Bureau.) lt;/ref> ! style"width:24%;"|Bilingual and as a second language speakers (in countries where Spanish is official) or as a foreign language (where it is not official)http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_243_en.pdf eurobarometer (2006)], :es:Anexo:Hablantes de español en la U.E. según el Eurobarómetro (2006) for Europe countriesSpanish students for countries out of Europe according to http://cvc.cervantes.es/lengua/anuario/anuario_06-07/pdf/cifras.pdf Instituto Cervantes 06-07] (There arent concrete sources about Spanish speakers as a second language except to Europe and Latin America countries). ! style"width:16%;"|Spanish speakers as percentage of populationhttp://eprints.ucm.es/8936/1/DT03-06.pdf Demografía de la lengua española] (page 28) to countries with official spanish status. ! style"width:14%;"|Total number of Spanish speakers |- style"background:#efefef;" | Mexico | 108,396,211 http://www.conapo.gob.mx/index.php?optioncom_content&viewarticle&id125&Itemid193 CONAPO] (2010). | 101,908,787 | 6,861,481 | 98.5% | 106,770,268 |- style"background:#fff;" | United States | 309,059,724Population figure for 2008 from http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/SAFFPopulation U.S. Population in 1990, 2000, and 2008], U.S. Census Bureau | 34,559,894 34,559,894 legal hispanics older than 5 years old (http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/STTable?_bmy&-geo_id01000US&-qr_nameACS_2008_1YR_G00_S1601&-ds_nameACS_2008_1YR_G00_&-_langen&-redoLogfalse US Census 2008])+ 8,300,000 illegal immigrants (Pew Hispanic Center 2008, http://www.impre.com/laraza/opinion/editorial/2009/4/19/palidos-de-hambre-120230-1.html impre.com], http://ecodiario.eleconomista.es/internacional/noticias/1165556/04/09/Numero-de-indocumentados-en-EEUU-se-estabilizo-en-los-ultimos-anos-estudio.html ecodiario.eleconomista.es]. They arent new generations of immigrants living in USA as many of the legal immigrants). | 7,140,106 | 15.8% Significant figure about the legal Hispanic population (48,419,324 from a total US population of 307,006,550) http://www.census.gov/popest/states/asrh/tables/SC-EST2009-04.xls Census Bureau 2009] | 50,000,000I Acta Internacional de la Lengua Española (2007): http://www.latinoamericaexterior.com/noticia.asp?ref775&pos0 noticias en latinoamericaexterior.com], Academia Norteamericana de la Lengua Española http://www.elcastellano.org/noticia.php?id1113 elcastellano.org], José Ma. Ansón: http://www.elcastellano.org/noticia.php?id685 noticias elcastellano.org], Jorge Ramos Avalos: http://www.univision.com/content/content.jhtml?cid1145765 univision.com], Vázquez Medel: http://www.casamerica.es/opinion-y-analisis-de-prensa/hispanos-en-ee-uu/el-espanol-sera-tercer-idioma-en-el-mundo casamerica.es]. + 7,820,000 studentsAccording to the U.S. census (http://www.fundacionsiglo.com/espanol/cap1.pdf fundacionsiglo.com fundacionsiglo.com]): 3,600,000 in primary school, 3,220,000 in secondary school and 1,000,000 in the University |- style"background:#efefef;" | Spain | 46,951,532 http://www.ine.es/ INE], http://www.ine.es/jax14.110.000i/menu.do?typepcaxis&path%2Ft20%2Fe260&fileinebase&L (1/1/2010)] | 41,786,863 89.0% speak Spanish as a first language (http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_243_en.pdf eurobarometer (2006)]) | 4,581,088 | 98.8% | 46,388,113 |- style"background:#efefef;" | Colombia | 45,600,000 lt;/ref> | 45,157,680 | 77,520 | 99.2% | 45,235,200 |- style"background:#efefef;" | Argentina | 40,518,951 lt;/ref> | 38,866,177 | 1,037,285 | 99.4% | 40,275,837 |- style"background:#efefef;" | Venezuela | 28,908,000 lt;/ref> | 27,890,438 | 670,666 | 98.8% | 28,561,104 |- style"background:#efefef;" | Peru | 29,461,933lt;/ref> | 23,501,784 | 2,012,250 | 86.6% | 25,514,034 |- style"background:#efefef;" | Chile | 17,094,270 lt;/ref> | 15,225,828 | 1,600,024 | 99.3% | 16,974,610 |- style"background:#efefef;" | Ecuador | 14,238,000 lt;/ref> | 13,226,349 | 731,319 | 98.1% | 13,957,668 |- style"background:#efefef;" | Guatemala | 14,027,000 | 9,075,469 | 3,043,859 | 86.4% | 12,119,328 |- style"background:#efefef;" | Cuba | 11,204,000 | 11,136,776 | | 99.4% | 11,136,776 |- style"background:#efefef;" | Dominican Republic | 10,090,000 | 9,987,082 | 62,558 | 99.6% | 10,049,640 |- style"background:#efefef;" | Bolivia | 10,426,154lt;/ref> | 4,350,833 | 4,813,756 | 87.9% | 9,164,589 |- style"background:#efefef;" | Honduras | 7,876,197lt;/ref> | 7,652,513 | 144,922 | 99.0% | 7,797,435 |- style"background:#fff;" | Morocco | 29,680,069 According to the Morocco Census of 2004 (http://www.hcp.ma/ hcp.ma]) | 20,000 lt;/ref> | 6,479,935 | 21.9% According to a survey made in 2005 by CIDOB (http://www.realinstitutoelcano.org/wps/portal/rielcano/contenido?WCM_GLOBAL_CONTEXT/elcano/elcano_es/zonas_es/lengua+y+cultura/ari116-2008 realinstitutoelcano.org], http://www.afapredesa.org/index.php?optioncom_content&taskview&id195&Itemid2 afapredesa.org]). Another source says that there are between 4 and 7 million Spanish speakers in Morocco (Ammadi, 2002) http://www.educacion.es/exterior/ma/es/File/MI%20ARTICULO%20PDF%20OK.pdf educacion.es] | 6,499,935 |- style"background:#efefef;" | El Salvador | 6,183,002http://www.digestyc.gob.sv/Portada/Presentacion%20Poblacion.pdf Census 2010 estimation] (page 32) | 6,164,451 | | 99.7% | 6,164,451 |- style"background:#fff;" | France | 64,057,790 | 440,106 1% of 44,010,619 (population of France older than 15 years in 2005). Source: Eurobarometer 2006. There are 179,678 immigrants from Spain according to INE (1/1/2009) | 5,721,380 | 9.6% | 6,161,486 |- style"background:#efefef;" | Nicaragua | 5,743,000 | 5,019,382 | 551,328 | 97.0% | 5,570,710 |- style"background:#efefef;" | Costa Rica | 4,549,903 | 4,345,130 | 87,126 | 99.2% | 4,432,256 |- style"background:#efefef;" | Paraguay | 6,349,000 | 369,000 | 4,043,555 | 69.5% | 4,412,555 |- style"background:#efefef;" | Puerto Rico | 3,982,000 | 3,786,882 95,10% of the population speaks Spanish (http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/GRTTable?_bmy&-geo_id01000US&-_box_head_nbrR1602&-ds_nameACS_2007_1YR_G00_&-_langen&-redoLogtrue&-formatUS-30&-mt_nameACS_2005_EST_G00_R0504_US30&-CONTEXTgrt U.S. Census Bureau]) | 147,334 | 98.8% | 3,934,216 |- style"background:#fff;" | United Kingdom | 60,943,912 | 107,654 59,017 immigrants from Spain (Spanish census 2001) + 48,637 immigrants from Colombia. http://www.bolpress.com/art.php?Cod2002068592 Open Channels and Colombian consul (1999)] | 3,814,846 | 6.4% | 3,922,500 |- style"background:#efefef;" | Uruguay | 3,361,000 | 3,246,726 | 77,303 | 98.9 | 3,324,029 |- style"background:#efefef;" | Panama | 3,454,000 | 2,652,672 | 476,419 | 93.1% | 3,129,091 |- style"background:#fff;" | Philippines | 96,061,683 | 2,660 http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?namePH Ethnologue]. There are 2,532 immigrants from Spain according to http://www.ine.es/jaxi/menu.do?typepcaxis&path%2Ft20%2Fp85001&fileinebase&L INE] (1/1/2009) | 3,014,115 | 3.1% | 3,016,773 1,816,773 Spanish + 1,200,000 Spanish creole: Antonio Quilis "La lengua española en Filipinas", 1996 pag.234 http://www.cervantesvirtual.com/servlet/SirveObras/01350553135573500088680/209438_0013.pdf cervantesvirtual.com], http://www.mepsyd.es/exterior/au/es/File/Ten_Reasons_low-res(1).pdf mepsyd.es] (page 23), http://www.mepsyd.es/redele/Biblioteca2006/DavidSanchez/Memoria.pdf mepsyd.es] (page 249), http://spanish-differences.com/Spanish/Philippines-Spanish.php spanish-differences.com], http://www.aresprensa.com/cms/cms/front_content.php?idart208 aresprensa.com]. The figure 2,900,000 Spanish speakers, we can find in http://books.google.es/books?eivCXASpS0LqXkmwO0lZnlBg&ctresult&qPluricentric+languages%3A+differing+norms+in+different+nations+spanish+philippines+speakers&btnGBuscar+libros "Pluricentric languages: differing norms in different nations"] (page 45 by R.W.Thompson), or in http://www.sispain.org/spanish/language/worldwid.html sispain.org]./ More than 2 million Spanish speakers and around 3 million with Chavacano speakers according to "Instituto Cervantes de Manila" (http://www.elcastellano.org/noticia.php?id505 elcastellano.org]) |- style"background:#fff;" | Germany | 82,369,548 | 140,000 Britannica Book of the Year 1998 http://cvc.cervantes.es/lengua/anuario/anuario_99/otero/p03.htm#7]. There are 103,063 immigrants from Spain according to INE (1/1/2009) | 2,566,972 | 3.2% | 2,706,972 |- style"background:#fff;" | Italy | 58,145,321 | 89,905 lt;/ref> | 1,968,320 | 3.5% | 2,058,225 |- style"background:#efefef;" | Equatorial Guinea | 1,153,915 lt;/ref> | n.a. | 1,044,293 | 90.5% Pages 28 and 23 in http://www.ucm.es/info/icei/pdf/DT%2003-06.pdf Demografía de la lengua española]. 13,7% of the population speaks Spanish with native knowladge and other 74% as a second language http://cvc.cervantes.es/lengua/anuario/anuario_06-07/pdf/paises_08.pdf cvc.cervantes.es]. | 1,044,293 |- style"background:#fff;" | Canada | 33,212,696 | 909,000 PMB Statistics http://factorhispano.net/portal/index.php?optioncom_content&taskview&id14&Itemid33 factorhispano.net]. Although Canada Census told about 345,345 people who speaks Spanish in 2006, Hispanic organizations claim about 520,260 Hispanics in 2001, and more than 700,000 in 2006 (http://hispanosencanada.ca/portal/content/view/651/ hispanosencanada.ca], http://dialogos.ca/revista/numero3/articulo2.htm dialogos.ca]), and currently there are near 1 million: (http://www.tlntv.com/pressReleases/2007/TLN%20EN%20ESPANOL%20is%20born.pdf tlntv.com], http://www.broadcastdialogue.com/pdfs/newsletters/2007/nl20070308_14_38.pdf broadcastdialogue.com]). | 92,853 | 3% | 1,001,853 |- style"background:#fff;" | Portugal | 10,676,910 | 9,744 | 727,282 | 6.9% | 737,026 |- style"background:#fff;" | Netherlands | 16,645,313 | 19,978 Spanish (census 2001) | 662,116 | 4.1% | 682,094 |- style"background:#fff;" | Belgium | 10,403,951 | 85,990 1% of 8,598,982 (population of Belgium older than 15 years in 2005). Source: Eurobarometer 2006 | 515,939 | 5.8% | 601,929 |- style"background:#fff;" | Romania | 22,246,862 | | 544,531 | 2.4% | 544,531 |- style"background:#fff;" | Sweden | 9,045,389 | 101,472 Sweden Census SCB (2002) | 442,601 | 6% | 544,073 |- style"background:#fff;" | Australia | 21,007,310 | 106,517 Page 32 of the http://www.ucm.es/info/icei/pdf/DT%2003-06.pdf "Demogeafía de la lengua española"]. 104,000 according to Britannica Book of the Year 2003 | 374,571 Page 32 of the http://www.ucm.es/info/icei/pdf/DT%2003-06.pdf "Demografía de la lengua española"] + 33,913 students according to http://cvc.cervantes.es/lengua/anuario/anuario_06-07/pdf/cifras.pdf Anuario Instituto Cervantes 06-07] | 2.3% | 481,088 Page 32 of "Demogeafía de la lengua española" |- style"background:#fff;" | Brazil | 196,342,587 | 445,005 50% of 733,000 foreigners in Brazil are from Mercosur (Page 32 http://www.ucm.es/info/icei/pdf/DT%2003-06.pdfucm.es]) + 78,505 spanish immigrants (http://www.ine.es/prensa/np549.pdf INE (1/1/2009)]). | More than 5 million studentshttp://www.elcastellano.org/noticia.php?id775 elcastellano.org],http://editor.elespectador.com/brasil/articulo43526-presidente-brasileno-espera-los-ninos-hablen-espanol elespectador.com], http://www.oei.org.co/noticias/noticia12042007_1.htm oei.org.co]: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, president of Brazil: Near 9 million students are learning Spanish and the forecast is 12 million in 2010./http://www.cervantes.es/docs/Espanol_en_Brasil.pdf Instituto Cervantes]: More than 1 million of spanish students in the private school and almost 11 million estimated for 2010 in the public school. http://www.cervantes.es/imagenes/File/prensa/anuario2009.pdf 2009 Annuary of the Instituto Cervantes]: More than 5 million students are learning Spanish. | | unknown |- style"background:#fff;" | Poland | 38,500,696 | | 316,104 | 0.8% | 316,104 |- style"background:#fff;" | Austria | 8,205,533 | | 267,177 | 3.3% | 267,177 |- style"background:#fff;" | Ivory Coast | 20,179,602 | | 235,806 students according to http://cvc.cervantes.es/lengua/anuario/anuario_06-07/pdf/cifras.pdf Anuario Instituto Cervantes 06-07] | 1.2% | 235,806 |- style"background:#fff;" | Algeria | 33,769,669 | | 223,000 Between 150,000 and 200,000 in Tinduf (http://www.aprendemas.com/Noticias/html/N1960_F17012007.HTML aprendemas.com]) + 48,000 in Wilaya of Oran (page 31 of http://www.ucm.es/info/icei/pdf/DT%2003-06.pdf Demografía de la lengua española]) | 0.7% | 223,379 |- style"background:#fff;" | Denmark | 5,484,723 | | 219,003 | 4% | 219,003 |- style"background:#fff;" | Israel | 7,112,359 | 130,000 50,000 sefardíes (Britannica Book of the Year 1998)http://cvc.cervantes.es/obref/anuario/anuario_99/otero/p03.htm] + 80,000 from Iberoamerica http://cvc.cervantes.es/obref/congresos/sevilla/comunicacion/ponenc_shadas.htm] | 45,231 | 2.5% | 175,231 Pages 34, 35 of the http://www.ucm.es/info/icei/pdf/DT%2003-06.pdf "Demografía de la lengua española"]. |- style"background:#fff;" | Switzerland | 7,581,520 | 123,000 lt;/ref> | 14,420 | 1.7% lt;/ref> | 137,420 |- style"background:#fff;" | Japan | 127,288,419 | 76,565 http://n.girasol.googlepages.com/dato_c.html Immigrants from Spanish speaking countries]lt;/ref> | 60,000 | 0.1% | 136,565 |- style"background:#fff;" | Bulgaria | 7,262,675 | | 133,910 | 1.8% | 133,910 |- style"background:#fff;" | Belize | 301,270 | 106,795 Page 32 of http://www.ucm.es/info/icei/pdf/DT%2003-06.pdf Demografía de la lengua española] | 21,848 | 42.7% | 128,643 |- style"background:#fff;" | Netherlands Antilles | 223,652 | 10,699 | 114,835 | 56.1% | 125,534 |- style"background:#fff;" | Ireland | 4,156,119 | | 123,591 | 3% | 123,591 |- style"background:#fff;" | Senegal | 12,853,259 | | 101,455 | 0.8% | 101,455 |- style"background:#fff;" | Greece | 10,722,816 | | 86,742 | 0.8% | 86,742 |- style"background:#fff;" | Finland | 5,244,749 | | 85,586 | 1.6% | 85,586 |- style"background:#fff;" | Hungary | 9,930,915 | | 85,034 | 0.9% | 85,034 |- style"background:#fff;" | Aruba | 100,018 | 6,800 | 68,602 | 75.3% | 75,402 |- style"background:#fff;" | Croatia | 4,491,543 | | 73,656 | 1.6% | 73,656 |- style"background:#fff;" | Andorra | 84,484 | 29,907 35.4% speak Spanish as a first language http://www.iea.ad/cres/observatori/temes/llengua3trimestre2005.htm www.iea.ad] | 25,356 | 68.7% lt;/ref> | 58,040 |- style"background:#fff;" | Slovakia | 5,455,407 | | 43,164 | 0.8% | 43,164 |- style"background:#fff;" | Norway | 4,644,457 | 12,573 | 23,677 | 0.8% | 36,250 |- style"background:#fff;" | Russia | 140,702,094 | 3,320 | 20,000 http://www.cervantes.es/imagenes/File/prensa/anuario2009.pdf | 0.01% | 23,320 |- style"background:#fff;" | New Zealand | 4,173,460 | 21,645 New Zealand census (2006) | | 0.5% | 21,645 |- style"background:#fff;" | Guam | 154,805 | | 19,092 | 12.3% | 19,092 |- style"background:#fff;" | Virgin Islands | 108,612 | 16,788 | | 15.5% | 16,788 |- style"background:#fff;" | China | 1,345,751,000 | 2,292Spanish residents in China (http://www.ine.es/jaxi/menu.do?typepcaxis&path%2Ft20%2Fp85001&fileinebase&L INE, 2009]) | 12,835 | 0.001124% | 15,127 |- style"background:#fff;" | Lithuania | 3,565,205 | | 13,943 | 0.4% | 13,943 |- style"background:#fff;" | Gibraltar | 27,967 | 13,857 | | 49.5% | 13,857 |- style"background:#fff;" | Cyprus | 792,604 | | | 1.4% | 11,044 |- style"background:#fff;" | Turkey | 71,892,807 | 380 | 8,000 Page 37 of the http://www.ucm.es/info/icei/pdf/DT%2003-06.pdf Demografía de la lengua española] | 0.01% | 8,380 |- style"background:#fff;" | Jamaica | 2,804,322 | 8,000 | | 0.3% | 8,000 |- style"background:#fff;" | Luxembourg | 486,006 | 3,000 | 4,344 | 1.5% | 7,344 |- style"background:#fff;" | Malta | 403,532 | 6,458 | | 1.6% | 6,458 |- style"background:#fff;" | Trinidad and Tobago | 1,047,366 | 4,100 | | 0.4% | 4,100 |- style"background:#fff;" | Western Sahara | 513,000 | n.a.The Spanish 1970 census claims 16.648 Spanish speakers in Western Sahara ( http://cvc.cervantes.es/lengua/anuario/anuario_99/otero/p03.htm#7]) but probably most of them were people born in Spain who left after the Moroccan annexation | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. |- style"background:#fff;" | Other immigrants in the E.U. | | 1,399,531 There are 2,397,380 immigrants from Spain and Latin America according to the page 37 of the http://www.ucm.es/info/icei/pdf/DT%2003-06.pdf "Demografía de la lengua española"] (997,849 already counted) | | | 1,399,531 |- style"background:#fff;" | Other students of Spanish | | | 2,895,562 According to the Instituto Cervantes, there are 14 million of Spanish students. But there are already counted students from U.S. (6,000,000) because it is considered the current 7,820,000 students, E.U (3,385,000) because they are considered in the eurobarometer figures (http://www.ucm.es/info/icei/pdf/DT%2003-06.pdf demografía del español (page 37)], Brazil (1 mill.) with 11 million new students in the public schools, Morocco (58.382) and Philippines (20,492), Canada (92,853), Australia (33,913), Ivory Coast (235,806), Switzerland (14,420), Japan (60,000), Senegal (101.455), Occ. Sáhara (25,800), Norway (23,677), Russia (13,122) and China (12,835). | | 2,895,562 |- style"background:#efefef;" | Total native speakers in the world + bilingual and as a second language where Spanish is official: | |rowspan2| 420,775,480 | 32,443,699 | | 453,219,179 http://www.fundacionblu.org/actaslengua/acta_conclusiones_lengua_espanola.asp?id1 I] and http://www.fundacionblu.org/actaslengua/acta_lengua_espanola.asp?id7 IV] International minutes of the Spanish language, and Instituto Cervantes: http://www.cervantes.es/sobre_instituto_cervantes/prensa/2009/noticias/caffarel_casa_america.htm cervantes.es], http://www.lavanguardia.es/cultura/noticias/20100619/53949214032/el-espanol-ya-es-el-segundo-idioma-mas-hablado-del-mundo-instituto-cervantes-eeuu-carmen-caffarel-am.html lavanguardia.es] (450 million people speak Spanish). |- style"background:#fff;" | Total with Spanish speakers as a foreign language: | | 90,407,106 | | 511,182,586 lt;ref>In adition to more than 450 million Spanish speakers, there are people who speak Spanish with limited knowladges. Main figures: 15,615,000 in the E.U. according to the Eurobarometer, 2006 (http://eprints.ucm.es/8936/1/DT03-06.pdf (page 37)]). 7,820,000 of students in USA and 6,405,000 among the Hispanic people in USA (http://eprints.ucm.es/8936/1/DT03-06.pdf page 33], and according to http://www.hispanicmarketadvisors.com/english-to-spanish-translation.html Synovate, 2006], 18% of the Hispanic people in USA speak better English than Spanish and the other 82% speak better Spanish than English or they are bilinguals). It is estimated 12 million of Spanish students in Brazil in 2010 (http://www.elcastellano.org/noticia.php?id775]). Between 4 and 7 million people with Spanish knowladges in Morocco (http://www.educacion.es/exterior/ma/es/File/MI%20ARTICULO%20PDF%20OK.pdf Ammadi, 2002]). |}

Hispanosphere

File:Study of spanish.svg It is estimated that the combined total number of Spanish speakers is between 470 and 500 million, making it the third most spoken language by total number of speakers (after Chinese language and English language . Spanish is the second most-widely spoken language in terms of native speakers.lt;/ref>https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/us.html CIA The World Factbook United States] Global internet usage statistics for 2007 show Spanish as the third most commonly used language on the Internet, after English and Chinese language lt;/ref>

Europe

File:Conocimiento de español en la U.E..PNG In Europe Spanish is an official language of Spain, the country after which it is named and from which it originated. It is widely spoken in Gibraltar though English is the official language.https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/gi.html CIA World Factbook — Gibraltar] It is the most spoken language in Andorra though Catalan language is the official language.lt;/ref>lt;/ref> Spanish is spoken in 20 different countries worldwide. It is also spoken by small communities in other European countries, such as the United Kingdom France and Germany http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/european_languages/languages/spanish.shtml BBC Education — Languages], Languages Across Europe — Spanish. Spanish is an official language of the European Union In Switzerland Spanish is the first language of 1.7% of the population, representing the largest minority after the 4 official languages of the country.lt;/ref>

Spain

In Spain and in some parts of the Spanish speaking world, but not all, Spanish is called {{lang|es|[[wikt:castellano#Spanish|castellano]]}}(Castilian) as well as {{lang|es|[[wikt:español#Spanish|español]]}}(Spanish), that is, the language of the Castile (historical region) region, contrasting it with other three languages of Spain such as Galician language (proto-Portuguese), Basque language and Catalan language In this manner, the Spanish Constitution of 1978 uses the term to define the official language of the whole Spanish State, as opposed to (lit. the rest of the Spanish languages. Article III reads as follows: Castilian is the official Spanish language of the State. (…) The rest of the Spanish languages shall also be official in their respective Autonomous Communities…}} However, to some in other linguistic regions, this term considered demeaning to them, or alienating, and will therefore use the term españolexclusively. The Spanish Royal Academy uses the term español(rather than "castellano") in its publications, due to the fact that "the term derives from the Provenzal word espaignol which in turn derives from the Medieval Latin word Hispaniolus which means from -- or pertaining to -- Hispania"http://buscon.rae.es/draeI/ Diccionario de la lengua española. The Diccionario Panhispánico de Dudas(a linguistic guide published by the Spanish Royal Academy) states that, although the Spanish Royal Academy prefers to use the term españolin its publications when referring to the Spanish language, both terms (españoland castellano are regarded as synonymous and equally validDiccionario Panhispánico de Dudas, 2005, pg. 271-272.. Currently, the name castellano which refers directly to the sociopolitical context in which it was introduced in the Americas, is preferred particularly in the Spanish regions where other languages are spoken (Catalonia, Basque Country, Valencian Community, Balearic Islands and Galicia) as well as in Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Chile, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela, instead of {{lang|es|español}} which is more commonly used to refer to the language as a whole in the rest of Latin America and Spain. There is a degree of controversy in some regions of Spain revolving around the use of the terms españolor castellanowhen referring to the Spanish language, which is linked to a greater political controversy about Catalan, Basque and Galician nationalisms. The origins of the castellano language is really not in the "Castilla" but in "Cantabria", with other languages running south during the "Reconquista", as Gallego-Portuguese, Astur, Astur-Leones, Aragones and Catalán).

Americas

Latin America

Most Spanish speakers are in Latin America of all countries with a majority of Spanish speakers, only Spain and Equatorial Guinea are outside the Americas Mexico has the most native speakers of any country. Nationally, Spanish is the official language—either [[de facto]]or [[de jure]]of Argentina Bolivia (co-official with Quechua and Aymara language , Chile Colombia Costa Rica Cuba Dominican Republic Ecuador El Salvador Guatemala Honduras Mexico , Nicaragua Panama Paraguay (co-official with Guarani language lt;ref>http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?namePY Ethnologue – Paraguay(2000)]. Guaraní is also the most-spoken language in Paraguay by its native speakers.), Peru (co-official with Quechua and, in some regions, Aymara language , Uruguay and Venezuela Spanish is also the official language (co-official with English language in the U.S. commonwealth of Puerto Rico lt;/ref> Spanish has no official recognition in the former British overseas territories of Belize however, per the 2000 census, it is spoken by 43% of the population.lt;/ref>lt;/ref> Mainly, it is spoken by the descendants of Hispanics who have been in the region since the 17th century; however, English is the official language.https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/bh.html CIA World Factbook — Belize] Spain colonized Trinidad and Tobago first in 1498, introducing the Spanish language to the Carib people. Also the Cocoa Panyol , laborers from Venezuela, took their culture and language with them; they are accredited with the music of "Parang ("Parranda ) on the island. Because of Trinidads location on the South American coast, the country is greatly influenced by its Spanish-speaking neighbors. A recent census shows that more than 1 500 inhabitants speak Spanish.lt;/ref> In 2004, the government launched the Spanish as a First Foreign Language(SAFFL) initiative in March 2005.lt;/ref> Government regulations require Spanish to be taught, beginning in primary school, while thirty percent of public employees are to be linguistically competent within five years. Spanish is important in Brazil because of its proximity to and increased trade with its Spanish-speaking neighbors, and because of its membership in the Mercosur trading bloc and the Union of South American Nations http://www.mercosur.int/msweb/portal%20intermediario/pt/index.htm Mercosul, Portal Oficial] (Portuguese) In 2005, the National Congress of Brazil approved a bill, signed into law by the President of Brazil making Spanish language teaching mandatory in both public and private secondary schools in Brazil.http://en.mercopress.com/2005/07/08/spanish-becomes-second-language-in-brazil Spanish becomes second language in Brazil, Mercopress] In many border towns and villages (especially in the Uruguayan-Brazilian and Paraguayan-Brazilian border areas), a mixed language known as Riverense Portuñol is spoken.

United States

File:Spanish_In_America.svg According to 2006 census data, 44.3 million people of the U.S. population were Hispanic or Latino by origin;http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/ACSSAFFPeople?_event&geo_id01000US&_geoContext01000US&_street&_county&_cityTown&_state&_zip&_langen&_sseon&ActiveGeoDiv&_useEV&pctxtfph&pgsl010&_submenuIdpeople_10&ds_namenull&_ci_nbrnull&qr_namenull®null%3Anull&_keyword&_industry U.S. Census Bureau] Hispanic or Latino by specific origin. 34 million people, 12.2 percent, of the population more than five years old speak Spanish at home.http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/GRTTable?_bmy&-_box_head_nbrR1602&-ds_nameACS_2006_EST_G00_&-formatUS-30 U.S. Census Bureau 1.] Percent of People 5 Years and Over Who Speak Spanish at Home: 2006, http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/STTable?_bmy&-geo_id01000US&-qr_nameACS_2006_EST_G00_S1601&-ds_nameACS_2006_EST_G00_&-_langen&-redoLogfalse U.S. Census Bureau 2.] 34,044,945 People 5 Years and Over Who Speak Spanish at Home: 2006 Spanish has a long history in the United States because many south-western states were part of Mexico, and Florida was also part of Spain, and it recently has been revitalized by Hispanic immigrants. Spanish is the most widely taught language in the country after English. Although the United States has no formally designated "official languages," Spanish is formally recognized at the state level in various states besides English; in the U.S. state of New Mexico for instance, 40% of the population speaks the language. It also has strong influence in metropolitan areas such as Los Angeles Miami San Antonio New York City and Chicago and in the last decade, the language has rapidly expanded in Atlanta Baltimore Boston Charlotte Cleveland Dallas Detroit Houston Phoenix, Arizona Richmond-Petersburg Washington, DC and Missouri Spanish is the dominant spoken language in Puerto Rico a U.S. territory. With a total of 33,701,181 Spanish (Castilian) speakers, according to US Census Bureau,lt;/ref> the U.S. has the worlds second-largest Spanish-speaking population.http://www.elpais.com/articulo/cultura/speak/spanish/Espana/elpepucul/20081006elpepicul_1/Tes El País] lt;/ref> Spanish ranks second, behind English, as the language spoken most widely at home. Statistical Abstract of the United States: page 47: Table 47: Languages Spoken at Home by Language: 2003

Africa

In Africa Spanish is official in Equatorial Guinea (co-official with French language and Portuguese language , as well as an official language of the African Union In Equatorial Guinea, Spanish is the predominant language when native and non-native speakers (around 500,000 people) are counted, while Fang language is the most spoken language by number of native speakers.lt;/ref>https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ek.html CIA World Factbook – Equatorial Guinea (Last updated 20 September 2007)] Today, in Western Sahara an unknown number of Sahrawis are able to read and write in Spanish, and several thousands have received university education in foreign countries as part of aid packages (mainly in Cuba and Spain . It is also spoken in the Spanish cities in Plazas de soberanía (Ceuta and Melilla and in the autonomous community of Canary Islands (143,000 and 1,995,833 people, respectively). Within Northern Morocco, a former History of Morocco#European influence that is also geographically close to Spain, approximately 20,000 people speak Spanish as a second language.http://www.morocco.com/culture/language/ Morocco.com], The Languages of Morocco. It is spoken by some communities of Angola because of the Cuban influence from the Cold War and in Nigeria by the descendants of Afro-Cuban ex-slaves.

Asia

Spanish was used by the colonial governments, at different times, in United States territories such as, Guam and Northern Mariana Islands and in the country of the Philippines During Spanish control, it was an official language of the Philippines, although it was never spoken by the majority of the people http://buscoenlaces.es/kaibigankastila/rivera4.html. It continued as an official language until the change of Constitution in 1973. During most of the colonial period it was the language of government, trade and education, and spoken mainly by Spaniards and Latin American groups as a first language and less significantly as a second language by other populations. However, by the mid 19th century a free public school system in Spanish was established throughout the islands, which increased the numbers of Spanish speakers. Following the U.S. occupation and administration of the islands, the strong Spanish influence amongst the Philippine population proved to be a major foe against the imposition of English by the American government, especially after the 1920s. The US authorities conducted a campaign of solidifying English as the medium of instruction in schools, universities, and public spaces and prohibited the use of Spanish in media and educational institutions which gradually reduced the importance of the language generation after generation. After the country became independent in 1946, Spanish remained an official language along with English and Tagalog-based Filipino. However, the language lost its official status in 1973 during the Ferdinand Marcos administration. The Arroyo government reintroduced Spanish into the education system in 2010.Radio Manila also broadcasts daily in Spanish. Worthy of mention is the Chabacano language spoken by 600,000 people both in the Philippines and Sabah. Chabacano, a Spanish pidgin, initially sounds strange to Spanish speakers but is mutually intelligible. The local languages of the Philippines retain much Spanish influence, with many words coming from or being derived from Castilian Spanish and Mexican Spanish due to the control of the islands by Madrid through Mexico City (See Article XV, Section 3(3))

Oceania

Among the countries and territories in Oceania Spanish is also spoken in Easter Island a territorial possession of Chile. The U.S. Territories of Guam and Northern Marianas and the independent states of Palau Marshall Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia all once had majority Spanish speakers, since the Marianas Islands and the Caroline Islands were Spanish colonial possessions until the late 19th century (see Spanish-American War , but Spanish is no longer used by the masses but there are still native and second-language speakers. It also exists as an influence on the local native languages and is spoken by Hispanics in the United States resident populations.

Accent variation

File:CAspanish Voseo Analysis.png The darker the country, the stronger its dominance.]] File:Banco Español del Río de la Plata (Madrid) 05.jpg in Madrid Spain ] There are important variations spoken among the regions of Spain and throughout Spanish-speaking America. One major phonological difference between Castilian Spanish broadly speaking, the accents spoken in most of Spain, and the accent of some parts of southern Spain and all the Latin American accents of Spanish, is the absence of a voiceless dental fricative (as in English th ing) in the latter.{{Harvcoltxt|Harris|1969|p=538}} In Spain, the Castilian accent is commonly regarded as the standard variety used on radio and television,{{cite book |title=Random House Unabridged Dictionary |year=2006 |publisher= Random House Inc. }}{{cite book |title=The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language |year=2006 |edition=4th |publisher= Houghton Mifflin Company }}{{cite book |title=Websters Revised Unabridged Dictionary |year=1998 |publisher= MICRA, Inc. }}{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_1861595345/Castilian.html |title=Encarta World English Dictionary |accessdate=2008-08-05 |year=2007|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing Plc. }} although attitudes towards southern accents have changed significantly in the last 50 years. In addition to variations in pronunciation, minor lexical and grammatical differences exist. For example, {{lang|es|[[Loísmo|loísmo]]}} is the use of slightly different pronouns and differs from the standard. The variety with the most speakers is [[Mexican Spanish]]. It is spoken by more than the twenty percent of the Spanish speakers (107 million of the total 494 million, according to the table above). One of its main features is the [[vowel reduction|reduction]] or loss of the [[unstressed vowel]]s, mainly when they are in contact with the sound /s/.Eleanor Greet Cotton, John M. Sharp (1988) panish in the Americas, Volumen 2, pp.154-155, [http://books.google.com.mx/books?id=89KX2RC6Gx0C&pg=PA154&dq=Mexican+vowels&client=firefox-a#v=onepage&q=Mexican%20vowels&f=false URL]Lope Blanch, Juan M. (1972) n torno a las vocales caedizas del español mexicano, pp.53 a 73, Estudios sobre el español de México, editorial Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México [http://www.filos.unam.mx/LICENCIATURA/Pagina_FyF_2004/introduccion/Lope_Vocales_caedizas.pdf URL]. ===Voseo=== {{Main|Voseo}} Spanish has three [[grammatical person|second-person]] [[grammatical number|singular]] [[pronoun]]s: {{lang|es|ú}}, {{lang|es|sted}}, and {{lang|es|os}}. The use of the pronoun {{lang|es|os}} and/or its verb forms is called {{lang|es|oseo}}. ====Grammar==== {{lang|es|os}} is the subject form {{lang|es|(os decís)}} [you say] and object of a preposition ( vos digo) [to you I say], while "os" is the direct object form {{lang|es|(s vi)}} [I saw you (all)] and indirect object without express preposition {{lang|es|(s digo)}} [I say to you (all)].{{cite web|url=http://buscon.rae.es/dpdI/ |title=Real Academia Española |language={{es icon}} |publisher=Buscon.rae.es |date= |accessdate=2010-04-21}} Since ose is historically the [[grammatical person|2nd-person]] plural, verbs are conjugated as such despite the fact the word now refers to a single person:
{{lang|es|«Han luchado, añadió dirigiéndose a Tarradellas, [...] por mantenerse fieles a las instituciones que vos representáis» (GaCandau Madrid-Barça [Esp. 1996])}}.
The possessive form is {{lang|es|uestro}}: {{lang|es|dmiro vuestra valentía, señora}}. Adjectives, when used in conjunction with os, do not agree with the pronoun but instead with the real referents in gender and number: {{lang|es|os, don Pedro, sois caritativo; Vos, bellas damas, sois ingeniosas}}. Two main types of {{lang|es|oseo}} may be distinguished: reverential and American dialectal. In archaic solemn usage, {{lang|es|oseo}} expressed special reverence and could be used to address both the second person singular and the second person plural. In contrast, the more commonly known American form of {{lang|es|oseo}} is always used to address only one speaker and implies closeness and familiarity. Unlike the first type, the second one need not involve os and may instead be expressed simply in the use of the plural form of the verb (even in combination with the pronoun ú). The ronominal employs the use of as a pronoun to replace and which are grammatical person grammatical number informal.
* As a subject employs: instead of * As a vocative: instead of * As a term of preposition: instead of * And as a term of comparison: instead of lt;br /> However, for the that which uses the pronominal verbs and its complements without preposition) and for the possessive, they employ the forms of respectively: In other words, in the previous examples the authors conjugate the pronoun subject with the pronominal verbs and its complements of The verbal consists of the use of the second person plural, more or less modified, for the conjugated forms of the second person singular: The verbal paradigm of is characterized by its complexity. On the one hand, it affects, to a distinct extent, each verbal tense. On the other hand, it varies in functions of geographic and social factors and not all the forms are accepted in cultured norms.

Extension in Latin America

File:Nicaragua Voseo Aeropuerto C Sandino.jpg more frequently than in neighboring countries.]] is used extensively as the primary spoken form of the second-person singular pronoun, although with wide differences in social consideration. Generally, it can be said that there are zones of exclusive use of in the following areas: almost all of Mexico the West Indies, Panama the majority of Peru and Venezuela Coastal Ecuador and the Atlantic coast of Colombia They alternate as a cultured form and as a popular or rural form in: Bolivia north and south of Peru, Andean Ecuador, small zones of the Venezuelan Andes, a great part of Colombia, and the oriental border of Cuba exists as an intermediate formality of treatment and as a familiar treatment in: Chile the Venezuelan Zulia State the Pacific coast of Colombia, and the Mexican state of Chiapas Areas of generalized include Argentina Costa Rica East of Bolivia, El Salvador Guatemala Honduras Nicaragua Paraguay Uruguay and the Colombian region of Valle and Antioquia

Ustedes

Spanish forms also differ regarding second-person plural pronouns. "Usted" (Ud.) was initially the written abbreviation of "vuestra merced" (your grace). The Spanish accents of Latin America have only one form of the second-person plural for daily use, (formal or familiar, as the case may be, though non-formal usage can sometimes appear in poetry and rhetorical or literary style). In Spain there are two forms — (formal) and (familiar). The pronoun is the plural form of in most of Spain, but in the Americas (and in certain southern Spanish cities such as Cádiz and in the Canary Islands it is replaced with It is notable that the use of for the informal plural "you" in southern Spain does not follow the usual rule for pronoun–verb agreement (linguistics) e.g., while the formal form for "you go", uses the third-person plural form of the verb, in Cádiz or Seville the informal form is constructed as using the second-person plural of the verb. In the Canary Islands, though, the usual pronoun–verb agreement is preserved in most cases. The ustedeo is mainly used in Costa Rica and Colombia

Vocabulary

Some words can be different, even significantly so, in different Hispanophone countries. Most Spanish speakers can recognize other Spanish forms, even in places where they are not commonly used, but Spaniards generally do not recognize specifically American usages. For example, Spanish mantequilla aguacateand albaricoque(respectively, butter, avocado, apricot) correspond to manteca palta and damasco respectively, in Argentina, Chile (except manteca, Paraguay, Peru (except mantecaand damasco, and Uruguay. The everyday Spanish words coger(to take), pisar(to step on) and concha(seashell) are considered extremely rude in parts of Latin America, where the meaning of cogerand pisaris also "to have sex" and conchameans "vulva". The Puerto Rican word for "bobby pin" (pinche is an obscenity in Mexico, but in Nicaragua it simply means "stingy", and in Spain refers to a chef s helper. Other examples include [[taco]] which means "swearword" (among other meanings) in Spain and "traffic jam" in Chile, but is known to the rest of the world as a Mexican dish. Pijain many countries of Latin America and Spain itself is an obscene slang word for "penis", while in Spain the word also signifies "posh girl" or "snobby". Coche which means "car" in Spain, central Mexico and Argentina, for the vast majority of Spanish-speakers actually means "baby-stroller", while carromeans "car" in some Latin American countries and "cart" in others, as well as in Spain. Papaya is the slang term for "vagina" in the western part of Cuba, where the fruit is called fruta bombainstead.lt;/ref>lt;/ref>

Royal Spanish Academy

File:Academia de la Lengua.jpg Spain ] The (Royal Spanish Academy), together with the 21 other national ones (see Association of Spanish Language Academies , exercises a standardizing influence through its publication of dictionaries and widely respected grammar and style guides. Because of influence and for other sociohistorical reasons, a standardized form of the language (Standard Spanish is widely acknowledged for use in literature, academic contexts and the media.

Classification and related languages

Spanish is closely related to the other West Iberian languages Romance languages: Asturian language Galician language Ladino language Leonese Language and Portuguese language Catalan language an Iberian Romance languages which exhibits many Gallo-Romance traits, is more similar to Occitan language to the east than to Spanish or Portuguese. Spanish and Portuguese have similar grammars and vocabularies as well as a common history of Influence of Arabic on other languages while a great part of the peninsula was under Timeline of the Muslim presence in the Iberian peninsula (both languages expanded over Reconquista . Their lexical similarity has been estimated as 89%.lt;/ref> See Differences between Spanish and Portuguese for further information.

Judaeo-Spanish

Judaeo-Spanish (also known as Ladino),lt;/ref> which is essentially medieval Spanish and closer to modern Spanish than any other language, is spoken by many descendants of the Sephardi Jews who were Alhambra decree Therefore, its relationship to Spanish is comparable with that of the Yiddish language to German language Ladino speakers are currently almost exclusively Sephardim Jews, with family roots in Turkey, Greece or the Balkans: current speakers mostly live in Israel and Turkey, and the United States, with a few pockets in Latin America. It lacks the Amerindian languages which was influential during the Spanish Empire and it retains many archaic features which have since been lost in standard Spanish. It contains, however, other vocabulary which is not found in standard Castilian, including vocabulary from Hebrew language French, Greek and Turkish language and other languages spoken where the Sephardim settled. Judaeo-Spanish is in serious danger of extinction because many native speakers today are elderly as well as elderly olim(immigrants to Israel who have not transmitted the language to their children or grandchildren. However, it is experiencing a minor revival among Sephardi communities, especially in music. In the case of the Latin American communities, the danger of extinction is also due to the risk of assimilation by modern Castilian. A related dialect is Haketia the Judaeo-Spanish of northern Morocco. This too tended to assimilate with modern Spanish, during the Spanish occupation of the region.

Vocabulary comparison

Spanish and Italian language share a similar phonological system. At present, the lexical similarity with Italian is estimated at 82%. The lexical similarity with Portuguese language is greater at 89%. Mutual intelligibility between Spanish and French language or Romanian language is lower (lexical similarity being respectively 75% and 71%): comprehension of Spanish by French speakers who have not studied the language is low at an estimated 45% – the same as English. The common features of the writing systems of the Romance languages allow for a greater amount of interlingual reading comprehension than oral communication would. | class"wikitable" |- ! Latin ! Spanish ! Galician language ! Portuguese language ! Astur-Leonese linguistic group ! Aragonese language ! Catalan language ! Italian language ! French language ! Romanian language ! English language |- | | | | (outros^¹ | | |
(archaically also | (altri^² | (autres^³ | | we |- | (lit. "true brother") | | | | | |
(archaically also ⁵ | | | | brother |- | (Classical Latin (Ecclesiastical Latin | | | | | | | | | | Tuesday |- | | | cançomlt;sup>4 | | | | | | | | song |- | or |
(archaically also | |
(archaically also | | |
(archaically also | | | | more |- | |
(also | |
(also and archaically also | | | | | | | left hand |- | or
(lit. "no thing born") | | |
(necaand nula résin some expressions; archaically also | | | | | | | nothing |} 1. also in early modern Portuguese (e.g. [[The Lusiads]]
2. in Southern List of languages of Italy lt;br /> 3. Alternatively lt;br /> 4. Depending on the written norm used. See Reintegracionismo lt;br /> 5. Medieval Catalan, e.g. [[Llibre dels fets|Llibre dels feits del rei en Jacme]]lt;br />

Characterisation

A defining feature of Spanish was the diphthong zation of the Latin short vowels eand ointo ieand ue respectively, when they were stressed. Similar sound law are found in other Romance languages, but in Spanish, they were significant. Some examples: * Lat. > Sp. It. Fr. Rom. Port./Gal. Ar. Ast. Cat. "stone". * Lat. > Sp. It. Fr. / Rom. Port./Gal. Ar. Ast. Cat. "die". Peculiar to early Spanish (as in the Gascon language dialect of Occitan, and possibly due to a Basque substratum was the mutation of Latin initial f-into h-whenever it was followed by a vowel that did not diphthongize. Compare for instance: * Lat. > It. Port. Ar. Gal. Ast. Fr. Cat. Occitan (but Gascon Sp. (but Ladino ; * Lat. > Lad. Port./Gal. Ar. Ast. Sp. * but Lat. > It. Port./Gal. Ar. Ast. Cat. Sp./Lad. Some consonant cluster of Latin also produced characteristically different results in these languages, for example: * Lat. acc. > Lad. Sp. However, in Spanish there are also the forms Port. Gal. Ast. * Lat. acc. > Lad. Sp. Port. Gal. Ast. By the 16th century, the consonant system of Spanish underwent the following important changes that differentiated it from Iberian Romance languages such as Portuguese language and Catalan language * Initial when it had evolved into a vacillating was lost in most words (although this etymological h-is preserved in spelling and in some Andalusian and Caribbean dialects it is still aspirated in some words). * The consonant written ‹u› or ‹v› (in Latin, this was at the time of the merger it may have been a bilabial fricative merged with the consonant written ‹b› (a voiced bilabial plosive . In contemporary Spanish, there is no difference between the pronunciation of orthographic ‹b› and ‹v›, excepting emphatic pronunciations that cannot be considered standard or natural. * The voiced alveolar fricative which existed as a separate phoneme in medieval Spanish merged with its voiceless counterpart The phoneme which resulted from this merger is currently spelled s * The voiced postalveolar fricative merged with its voiceless counterpart which evolved into the modern velar sound by the 17th century, now written with j or gbefore e, i Nevertheless, in most parts of Argentina and in Uruguay, yand llhave both evolved to or * The voiced alveolar affricate merged with its voiceless counterpart which then developed into the interdental now written z or cbefore e, i But in Andalusia the Canary Islands and the Americas this sound merged with as well. See [[Ceceo]] for further information. The consonant system of Mediaeval Spanish has been better preserved in Ladino language and in Portuguese, neither of which underwent these shifts

Writing system

Spanish is written in the Latin alphabet with the addition of the character ‹ñ ( representing the phoneme a letter distinct from ‹n›, although typographically composed of an ‹n› with a tilde and the digraph (orthography) ‹ch› ( representing the phoneme and ‹ll› ( representing the phoneme . However, the digraph ‹rr› ( strong r", double r, or simply , which also represents a distinct phoneme is not similarly regarded as a single letter. Since 1994 ‹ch› and ‹ll› have been treated as letter pairs for collation purposes, though they remain a part of the alphabet. Words with ‹ch› are now alphabetically sorted between those with ‹ce› and ‹ci› , instead of following ‹cz› as they used to. The situation is similar for ‹ll›.http://buscon.rae.es/dpdI/SrvltConsulta?lemach Diccionario Panhispánico de Dudas], 1st ed.http://www.rae.es/ Real Academia Española], http://www.spanishpronto.com/spanishpronto/spanishalphabet.html Explanation] at http://www.spanishpronto.com/ Spanish Pronto] lt;/ref> Thus, the Spanish alphabet has the following 27 letters and 2 digraphs: :a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, ñ, o, p, q, r, s, t, u, v, w, x, y, z.}} :ch,http://buscon.rae.es/draeI/SrvltConsulta?TIPO_BUS3&LEMAch Ch], en Diccionario de la lengua española de la Real Academia Española lt;/ref> llhttp://buscon.rae.es/draeI/SrvltConsulta?TIPO_BUS3&LEMAll Ll], en Diccionario de la lengua española de la Real Academia Española lt;/ref>. The letters "k" and "w" are used only in words and names coming from foreign languages (kilo, folklore, whiskey, William, etc.). With the exclusion of a very small number of regional terms such as México(see Toponymy of Mexico , pronunciation can be entirely determined from spelling. Under the orthographic conventions, a typical Spanish word is stressed on the syllable before the last if it ends with a vowel (not including ‹y›) or with a vowel followed by ‹n› or ‹s›; it is stressed on the last syllable otherwise. Exceptions to this rule are indicated by placing an acute accent on the stress (linguistics) The acute accent is used, in addition, to distinguish between certain homophone , especially when one of them is a stressed word and the other one is a clitic compare (the, masculine singular definite article) with (he or it), or (you, object pronoun), (preposition of), and (reflexive pronoun) with (tea), (give formal imperative/third-person present subjunctive]) and (I know or imperative be). The interrogative pronouns ( etc.) also receive accents in direct or indirect questions, and some demonstratives ( etc.) can be accented when used as pronouns. The conjunction (or) is written with an accent between numerals so as not to be confused with a zero: e.g., should be read as rather than (10,020). Accent marks are frequently omitted in capital letters (a widespread practice in the days of typewriter and the early days of computers when only lowercase vowels were available with accents), although the [[Real Academia Española]]advises against this. When ‹u› is written between ‹g› and a front vowel (‹e i›), it indicates a "Hard and soft G pronunciation. A diaeresis (‹ü›) indicates that it is not silent as it normally would be (e.g., cigüeña stork, is pronounced if it were written ‹cigueña›, it would be pronounced Interrogative and exclamatory clauses are introduced with inverted question and exclamation marks (‹¿› and ‹¡›, respectively).

Phonology

The phonemic inventory listed in the following table includes phoneme that are preserved only in some accents, other accents having merged them (such as [[yeísmo]]; these are marked with an asterisk (*). Sounds in parentheses are allophone . Where symbols appear in pairs, the symbol to the right represents a voiced consonant | class"wikitable" style"margin:auto;" |+caption | Table of Spanish consonants lt;ref>lt;/ref> |- ! ! Bilabial consonant ! Labiodental ! Dental consonant ! Alveolar consonant ! Palatal consonant ! Velar consonant |- style"text-align:center;" ! Nasal consonant | | | | | | |- style"text-align:center;" ! Stop consonant | | | colspan2| | | |- style"text-align:center;" ! Fricative consonant | | | | | | |- style"text-align:center;" ! Trill consonant | | | | | | |- style"text-align:center;" ! Flap consonant | | | | | | |- style"text-align:center;" ! Lateral consonant | | | | | | |}

Lexical stress

Spanish is a syllable-timed language so each syllable has the same duration regardless of stress.lt;/ref>lt;/ref> Stress most often occurs on any of the last three syllables of a word, with some rare exceptions at the fourth last or earlier syllables. The tendenciesof stress assignment are as follows:lt;/ref> * In words ending in vowels and stress most often falls on the penultimate syllable. * In words ending in all other consonants, the stress more often falls on the last syllable. * Preantepenultimate stress (stress on the syllable that comes three before the last in a word) occurs rarely and only in words like guardándoselos(saving them for him/her/them) where clitic follow certain verbal forms. In addition to the many exceptions to these tendencies, there are numerous minimal pair which contrast solely on stress such as sábana(sheet) and sabana(savannah), as well as límite(boundary), limite(that] he/she limits) and limité(I limited), or also "líquido", "liquido" and "liquidó". An amusing example of the significance of intonation in Spanish is the phrase {{lang|es|¿Cómo "¿cómo como?"? ¡Como como como!}}(What do you mean, how do I eat? I eat the way I eat!).

Grammar

Spanish is a relatively inflected language, with a two-Grammatical gender system and about fifty Grammatical conjugation forms per verb but limited inflection of noun , adjective , and determiner (linguistics) (For a detailed overview of verbs, see Spanish verbs and Spanish irregular verbs ) It is branching (linguistics) uses preposition , and usually, though not always, places adjective after noun , as do most other Romance languages. Its syntax is generally Subject Verb Object though variations are common. It is a pro-drop language (or null subject language (that is, it allows the deletion of pronouns which are pragmatically unnecessary) and is verb framing

References

Bibliography

* * * * *

External links

* {{es icon}} [http://buscon.rae.es/draeI/ Dictionary of the RAE] [[Real Academia Española]]'s official Spanish language dictionary * [http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/spanish/ Spanish] – [[BBC]] Languages * [http://mertsahinoglu.com/research/spanish-for-speakers-of-latin/ Spanish evolution from Latin] * [http://www.languagebyvideo.com Different Spanish Accents Demonstrated] Short educational videos. * [[WikiTravel:Spanish phrasebook|Spanish phrasebook]] on [[WikiTravel]] {{Official UN languages}} {{Official EU languages}} {{Romance languages}} {{Languages of Europe}} {{Languages of South America}} {{Spanish variants by continent}} {{Latinunion}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Spanish Language}} [[Category:Spanish language]] [[Category:Languages of Spain]] [[Category:Languages of Andorra]] [[Category:Languages of Argentina]] [[Category:Languages of Belize]] [[Category:Languages of Bolivia]] [[Category:Languages of Chile]] [[Category:Languages of Colombia]] [[Category:Languages of Costa Rica]] [[Category:Languages of the Dominican Republic]] [[Category:Languages of Ecuador]] [[Category:Languages of El Salvador]] [[Category:Languages of Equatorial Guinea]] [[Category:Languages of Guatemala]] [[Category:Languages of Honduras]] [[Category:Languages of Mexico]] [[Category:Languages of Nicaragua]] [[Category:Languages of Panama]] [[Category:Languages of Paraguay]] [[Category:Languages of Peru]] [[Category:Languages of the Philippines]] [[Category:Languages of the United States]] [[Category:Languages of Uruguay]] [[Category:Languages of Venezuela]] [[Category:Languages of South America]] {{link FA|hu}} {{link FA|ro}} [[ace:Bahsa Seupanyo]] [[af:Spaans]] [[als:Spanische Sprache]] [[ang:Spēonisc sprǣc]] [[ar:لغة إسبانية]] [[an:Idioma castellán]] [[arc:ܠܫܢܐ ܐܣܦܢܝܐ]] [[frp:Castilyan]] [[ast:Castellanu]] [[gn:Karaiñe'ẽ]] [[ay:Kastilla aru]] [[az:İspan dili]] [[bn:স্পেনীয় ভাষা]] [[zh-min-nan:Se-pan-gâ-gí]] [[be:Іспанская мова]] [[be-x-old:Гішпанская мова]] [[bcl:Tataramon na Espanyol]] [[bar:Schbanisch]] [[bo:སེ་པན་སྐད།]] [[bs:Španski jezik]] [[br:Spagnoleg]] [[bg:Испански език]] [[ca:Castellà]] [[cv:Испан чĕлхи]] [[ceb:Kinatsila]] [[cs:Španělština]] [[co:Lingua spagnola]] [[cy:Sbaeneg]] [[da:Spansk (sprog)]] [[de:Spanische Sprache]] [[dv:އިސްޕެނިޝް]] [[nv:Naakaii bizaad]] [[dsb:Špańšćina]] [[et:Hispaania keel]] [[el:Ισπανική γλώσσα]] [[eml:Spagnôl]] [[es:Idioma español]] [[eo:Hispana lingvo]] [[ext:Luenga española]] [[eu:Gaztelania]] [[ee:Spangbe]] [[fa:زبان اسپانیایی]] [[hif:Spanish bhasa]] [[fo:Spanskt mál]] [[fr:Espagnol]] [[fy:Spaansk]] [[fur:Lenghe spagnole]] [[ga:An Spáinnis]] [[gv:Spaainish]] [[gd:Spàinntis]] [[gl:Lingua castelá]] [[gan:西班牙語]] [[got:𐌷𐌴𐌹𐍃𐍀𐌰𐌽𐍃𐌺𐍃]] [[hak:Sî-pân-ngà-ngî]] [[xal:Эспанмудин келн]] [[ko:스페인어]] [[haw:‘Ōlelo Sepania]] [[hy:Իսպաներեն]] [[hi:स्पेनिश भाषा]] [[hsb:Španišćina]] [[hr:Španjolski jezik]] [[io:Hispaniana linguo]] [[ilo:Pagsasao nga Espaniol]] [[id:Bahasa Spanyol]] [[ia:Lingua espaniol]] [[iu:ᓯᐸᐃᓂᑎᑐᑦ/sipainititut]] [[os:Испайнаг æвзаг]] [[is:Spænska]] [[it:Lingua spagnola]] [[he:ספרדית]] [[jv:Basa Spanyol]] [[kn:ಸ್ಪ್ಯಾನಿಷ್ ಭಾಷೆ]] [[pam:Castila (amanu)]] [[krc:Испан тил]] [[ka:ესპანური ენა]] [[kk:Испан тілі]] [[kw:Spaynek]] [[sw:Kihispania]] [[ht:Panyòl]] [[ku:Zimanê spanî]] [[lad:Lingua castilyana]] [[la:Lingua Hispanica]] [[lv:Spāņu valoda]] [[lb:Spuenesch]] [[lt:Ispanų kalba]] [[lij:Lengua spagnòlla]] [[li:Castiliaans]] [[ln:Lispanyoli]] [[jbo:sanbau]] [[lmo:Lengua spagnöla]] [[hu:Spanyol nyelv]] [[mk:Шпански јазик]] [[mg:Fiteny espaniola]] [[ml:സ്പാനിഷ്‌ ഭാഷ]] [[mt:Lingwa Spanjola]] [[mi:Reo Pāniora]] [[mr:स्पॅनिश भाषा]] [[arz:لغه اسبانى]] [[ms:Bahasa Sepanyol]] [[mdf:Испанонь кяль]] [[mn:Испани хэл]] [[nah:Caxtillāntlahtōlli]] [[nl:Spaans]] [[nds-nl:Spaans]] [[ne:स्पेनी भाषा]] [[ja:スペイン語]] [[no:Spansk]] [[nn:Spansk språk]] [[nov:Spanum]] [[oc:Espanhòu]] [[mhr:Испан йылме]] [[pnb:ہسپانوی]] [[pap:Spaño]] [[km:ភាសាអេស្ប៉ាញ]] [[pms:Lenga spagneula]] [[tpi:Tok Spen]] [[nds:Spaansche Spraak]] [[pl:Język hiszpański]] [[pt:Língua castelhana]] [[crh:İspan tili]] [[ty:Reo Paniora]] [[ro:Limba spaniolă]] [[rm:Lingua spagnola]] [[qu:Kastilla simi]] [[ru:Испанский язык]] [[sah:Испан тыла]] [[se:Spánskagiella]] [[sm:Gagana spaniolo]] [[sc:Limba ispagnola]] [[sco:Spainyie leid]] [[sq:Gjuha spanjolle]] [[scn:Lingua spagnola]] [[simple:Spanish language]] [[ss:Sipanishi]] [[sk:Španielčina]] [[sl:Španščina]] [[szl:Szpańelsko godka]] [[sr:Шпански језик]] [[sh:Španski jezik]] [[fi:Espanjan kieli]] [[sv:Spanska]] [[tl:Wikang Kastila]] [[ta:எசுப்பானியம்]] [[tt:Испан теле]] [[te:స్పానిష్ భాష]] [[tet:Lia-español]] [[th:ภาษาสเปน]] [[tg:Забони испанӣ]] [[chr:ᏍᏆᏂ ᎧᏬᏂᎯᏍᏗ]] [[tr:İspanyolca]] [[uk:Іспанська мова]] [[ug:ئىسپان تىلى]] [[vec:Łéngoa spagnoła]] [[vi:Tiếng Tây Ban Nha]] [[vo:Spanyänapük]] [[wa:Espagnol (lingaedje)]] [[zh-classical:西班牙語]] [[vls:Spoans]] [[war:Kinatsila]] [[wuu:西班牙语]] [[yi:שפאניש]] [[yo:Èdè Spéìn]] [[zh-yue:西班牙話]] [[bat-smg:Ėspanu kalba]] [[zh:西班牙语]]

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