Spanish (español) is a Romance language named for its origins as the native tongue of a large proportion of the inhabitants of Spain. It is also named Castilian (castellano 
listen (help·info)) after the Spanish region of Castile where it originated. Spanish is the second most natively spoken language in the world, after Mandarin Chinese.[5][6][7][8][9][10][11]
In 1999 there were, according to Ethnologue, 358 million people speaking Spanish as a native language and a total of 417 million speakers[12] worldwide. Currently these figures are up to 400[2][3] and 500[4][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27] million people respectively. Mexico contains the largest population of Spanish speakers. Spanish is one of the six official languages of the United Nations, and is used as an official language by the European Union and Mercosur.
Spanish is a part of the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several dialects of spoken Latin in central-northern Iberia around the ninth century[28] and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile (present northern Spain) into central and southern Iberia during the later Middle Ages. Early in its history, the Spanish vocabulary was enriched by its contact with Basque and Arabic, and the language continues to adopt foreign words from a variety of other languages, as well as developing new words. Spanish was taken most notably to the Americas as well as to Africa and Asia-Pacific with the expansion of the Spanish Empire between the fifteenth and nineteenth centuries, where it became the most important language for government and trade.[29]
Due to its increasing presence in the demographics and popular culture of the United States, particularly in the fast-growing states of the Sun Belt, Spanish is the most popular second language learned by native speakers of American English. The increasing political stability and economies of many larger Hispanophone nations, the language's immense geographic extent in Latin America and Europe for tourism, and the growing popularity of warmer, more affordable, and culturally vibrant retirement destinations found in the Hispanic world have contributed significantly to the growth of learning Spanish as a foreign language across the globe.
Spanish is the third most commonly used language on the Internet after English and Mandarin. It is also the second most studied language and second language in international communication, after English, in the world.[30][31][32]
Geographical distribution of the preferential use of the terms
castellano (Castilian), in red, vs.
español (Spanish), in blue.
In Spain and in some other parts of the Spanish-speaking world, Spanish is called castellano (Castilian) as well as español (Spanish), that is, the language of the region of Castile, contrasting it with other languages spoken in Spain such as Galician, Basque, and Catalan. Speakers of these regional languages prefer the term castellano, as they consider their own languages equally "Spanish". The Spanish Constitution of 1978 uses the term castellano to define the official language of the whole Spanish State, in contrast to las demás lenguas españolas (lit. the rest of the Spanish languages). Article III reads as follows:
El castellano es la lengua española oficial del Estado. (...) Las demás lenguas españolas serán también oficiales en las respectivas Comunidades Autónomas...
Castilian is the official
Spanish language of the State. (...) The rest of the Spanish languages shall also be official in their respective Autonomous Communities...
The Spanish Royal Academy, on the other hand, currently uses the term español in its publications but from 1713 to 1923 called the language castellano.
Two etymologies for español have been suggested. The Spanish Royal Academy Dictionary derives the term from the Provençal word espaignol, and that in turn from the Medieval Latin word Hispaniolus, 'from—or pertaining to—Hispania'.[33] Other authorities[34][35] attribute it to a supposed medieval Latin *hispaniōne, with the same meaning. The Diccionario panhispánico de dudas (a language guide published by the Spanish Royal Academy) states that, although the Spanish Royal Academy prefers to use the term español in its publications when referring to the Spanish language, both terms, español and castellano, are regarded as synonymous and equally valid.[36]
The name castellano is preferred in all of Spanish-speaking South America except Colombia. The term español is more commonly used to refer to the language as a whole when relating to a global context.
The first documents regarded as precursors of modern Spanish are from the ninth century. The dialects reflected in those documents emerged from the ancestral Vulgar Latin (common Latin), which had been brought to Iberia by the Romans during the Second Punic War around 210 BC, absorbing influences from the native Iberian languages such as Celtiberian, Basque and other paleohispanic languages. Later, it gained other external influences, most notably from the Arabic of the later Al-Andalus period.[37]
Local versions of Vulgar Latin evolved into Spanish in the central-north of Iberia, in an area defined by the then remote crossroad strips of Álava, Cantabria, Burgos, Soria and La Rioja, within the Kingdom of Castile (see Glosas Emilianenses). Several features from these dialects are thought to have been brought later to the city of Toledo, were the written standard of Spanish was first developed, in the 13th century.[38] In this formative stage, Spanish (Castilian) developed a strongly differing variant from its close cousin, Leonese, and, according to some authors, was distinguished by a heavy Basque influence (see Iberian Romance languages). This distinctive dialect progressively spread south with the advance of the Reconquista, and so gathered a sizable lexical influence from Al-Andalus Arabic, especially in the later Medieval period. The written standard for this new language was developed in the cities of Toledo (13th to 16th centuries) and Madrid (from the 1560s).[38]
The development of the Spanish sound system from that of Vulgar Latin exhibits most of the changes that are typical of Western Romance languages, including lenition of intervocalic consonants (thus Latin vīta > Spanish vida). The diphthongization of Latin stressed short e and o—which occurred in open syllables in French and Italian, but not at all in Catalan or Portuguese—is found in both open and closed syllables in Spanish, as shown in the following table:
| Latin |
Spanish |
Ladino |
Aragonese |
Asturian |
Galician |
Portuguese |
Catalan |
Occitan |
French |
Italian |
Romanian |
English |
| petra |
piedra |
piedra (or pyedra) |
piedra |
piedra |
pedra |
pedra |
pedra |
pedra/pèira |
pierre |
pietra |
piatrǎ |
'stone' |
| moritur |
muere |
muere |
muere |
muerre |
morre |
morre |
mor |
morís |
meurt |
muore |
moare |
'dies (v.)' |
| mortem |
muerte |
muerte |
muerte |
muerte |
morte |
morte |
mort |
mòrt |
mort |
morte |
moarte |
'death' |
| terra |
tierra |
tierra (or tyerra) |
tierra |
tierra |
terra |
terra |
terra |
tèrra |
terre |
terra |
ţară |
'land' |
Spanish is marked by the palatalization of the Latin double consonants nn and ll (thus Latin annum > Spanish año, and Latin anellum > Spanish anillo).
The consonant written ⟨u⟩ or ⟨v⟩ in Latin and pronounced [w] in Classical Latin had probably "fortified" to a bilabial fricative /β/ in Vulgar Latin. In early Spanish (but not in Catalan or Portuguese) it merged with the consonant written ⟨b⟩ (a bilabial with plosive and fricative allophones). In modern Spanish, there is no difference between the pronunciation of orthographic ⟨b⟩ and ⟨v⟩.
Peculiar to Spanish (as well as to the neighboring Gascon dialect of Occitan, and sometimes attributed to a Basque substratum) was the mutation of Latin initial f- into h- whenever it was followed by a vowel that did not diphthongize. The h-, still preserved in spelling, is now silent in most varieties of the language, although in some Andalusian and Caribbean dialects it is still aspirated in some words.
Compare the examples in the following table:
| Latin |
Spanish |
Ladino |
Aragonese |
Asturian |
Galician |
Portuguese |
Catalan |
Occitan |
French |
Italian |
Romanian |
English |
| filium |
hijo |
fijo |
fillo |
fíu |
fillo |
filho |
fill |
filh/hilh |
fils |
figlio |
fiu |
'son' |
| facere |
hacer |
fazer |
fer |
facer |
facer |
fazer |
fer |
far/faire/har (or hèr) |
faire |
fare |
face |
'to do' |
| ferrum |
hierro/fierro |
fierro |
fierro |
fierro |
ferro |
ferro |
ferro |
fèrre/hèr |
fer |
ferro |
fier |
'iron' |
| focum |
fuego |
fuego |
fuego |
fueu |
fogo |
fogo |
foc |
fuòc/fòc/huèc |
feu |
fuoco |
foc |
'fire' |
Some consonant clusters of Latin also produced characteristically different results in these languages, as shown in the examples in the following table:
| Latin |
Spanish |
Ladino |
Aragonese |
Asturian |
Galician |
Portuguese |
Catalan |
Occitan |
French |
Italian |
Romanian |
English |
| clāvem |
llave |
clave |
clau |
llave |
chave |
chave |
clau |
clau |
clé |
chiave |
cheie |
'key' |
| flamma |
llama |
flama |
flama |
llama |
chama |
chama |
flama |
flama |
flamme |
fiamma |
flacără |
'flame' |
| plēnum |
lleno |
pleno |
plen |
llenu |
cheo |
cheio |
ple |
plen |
plein |
pieno |
plin |
'full' |
| octō |
ocho |
ocho |
güeito |
ocho/oito |
oito |
oito |
vuit/huit |
uèch/uòch/uèit |
huit |
otto |
opt |
'eight' |
| multum |
mucho
muy |
muncho
muy |
muito
mui |
munchu
mui |
moito
moi |
muito
mui (arch.) |
molt |
— |
moult (arch.) |
molto |
mult |
'much'
'very'
|
In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, Spanish underwent a dramatic change in the pronunciation of its sibilant consonants, known in Spanish as the Reajuste de las sibilantes, which resulted in the distinctive velar [x] pronunciation of the letter ⟨j⟩ and—in a large part of Spain—the characteristic interdental [θ] ("th-sound") for the letter ⟨z⟩ (and for ⟨c⟩ before ⟨e⟩ or ⟨i⟩). See History of Spanish (Modern development of the Old Spanish sibilants) for details.
The Gramática de la lengua castellana, written in Salamanca in 1492 by Elio Antonio de Nebrija, was the first grammar written for a modern European language.[39] According to a popular anecdote, when Nebrija presented it to Queen Isabella I, she asked him what was the use of such a work, and he answered that language is the instrument of empire.[40] In his introduction to the grammar, dated August 18, 1492, Nebrija wrote that "... language was always the companion of empire."[41]
From the sixteenth century onwards, the language was taken to America and the Spanish East Indies via Spanish colonization of America. Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, author of Don Quixote, is such a well-known reference in the world that Spanish is often called la lengua de Cervantes ("the language of Cervantes").[42]
In the twentieth 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.
Spanish is a relatively inflected language, with a two-gender noun system and about fifty conjugated forms per verb, but with inflection of nouns, adjectives, and determiners limited to number and gender. (For a detailed overview of verbs, see Spanish verbs and Spanish irregular verbs.)
Spanish syntax is considered right-branching, meaning that subordinate or modifying constituents tend to be placed after their head words. The language uses prepositions (rather than postpositions or inflection of nouns for case), and usually—though not always—places adjectives after nouns, as do most other Romance languages. Its sentence structure is generally subject–verb–object, although variations are common. It is a "pro-drop", or "null-subject" language—that is, it allows the deletion of subject pronouns when they are pragmatically unnecessary. Spanish is described as a "verb-framed" language, meaning that the direction of motion is expressed in the verb while the mode of locomotion is expressed adverbially (e.g. subir corriendo or salir volando; the respective English equivalents of these examples—'to run up' and 'to fly out'—show that English is, by contrast, "satellite-framed", with mode of locomotion expressed in the verb and direction in an adverbial modifier).
The Spanish phonemic inventory consists of five vowel phonemes (/a/, /e/, /i/, /o/, /u/) and 17 to 19 consonant phonemes (the exact number depending on the dialect). The main allophonic variation among vowels is the reduction of the high vowels /i/ and /u/ to glides—[j] and [w] respectively—when unstressed and adjacent to another vowel. Some instances of the mid vowels /e/ and /o/, determined lexically, alternate with the diphthongs [je] and [we] respectively when stressed, in a process that is better described as morphophonemic rather than phonological, as it is not predictable from phonology alone.
The Spanish consonant system is characterized by (1) three nasal phonemes, which in syllable-final position lose their contrast and are subject to assimilation to a following consonant; (2) three voiceless stops and the affricate /tʃ/; (3) three or four (depending on the dialect) voiceless fricatives; (4) a set of voiced obstruents—/b/, /d/, /ɡ/, and sometimes /ʝ/—which alternate between fricative and plosive allophones depending on the environment; and (5) a phonemic distinction between the "tapped" and "trilled" r-sounds (single ⟨r⟩ and double ⟨rr⟩ in orthography).
In the following table of consonant phonemes, /θ/ and /ʎ/ are marked with an asterisk (*) to indicate that they are preserved only in some dialects. In most dialects they have been merged, respectively, with /s/ and /ʝ/, in the mergers called, respectively, seseo and yeísmo. The phoneme /ʃ/ is in parentheses () to indicate that it appears only in loanwords. Each of the voiced obstruent phonemes /b/, /d/, /ʝ/, and /ɡ/ appears to the right of a pair of voiceless phonemes, to indicate that, while the voiceless phonemes maintain a phonemic contrast between plosive (or affricate) and fricative, the voiced ones alternate allophonically (i.e. without phonemic contrast) between plosive and fricative pronunciations.
- V and B
The letters ⟨v⟩ and ⟨b⟩ are both normally pronounced identically as /b/ or similar, and this is the only correct pronunciation. The Royal Spanish Academy considers the /v/ pronunciation for the letter ⟨v⟩ to be incorrect and affected. However, some Spanish speakers maintain the pronunciation of the /v/ sound as it is in other western European languages. The sound /v/ is used for the letter ⟨v⟩, in the Spanish language, by a few second-language speakers in Spain whose native language is Catalan, in the Balearic Islands, in the Valencian Community, and in southern Catalonia.[44] In the USA it is also common due to the proximity and influence of English phonology, and the /v/ is also occasionally used in Mexico. Some parts of Central America also use /v/, which the Royal Academy attributes to the interference of local indigenous languages.
Historically, the /v/ pronunciation was uncommon, but considered correct well into the twentieth century.
Spanish is classified by its rhythm as a syllable-timed language, meaning that each syllable has approximately the same duration regardless of stress.[45][46]
Spanish intonation varies significantly according to dialect, but generally conforms to a pattern of falling tone for declarative sentences and wh-questions (who, what, why, etc.), and rising tone for yes/no questions.[47][48] Subject/verb inversion is not required in questions, and thus the recognition of declarative or interrogative may depend entirely on intonation.
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 tendencies of stress assignment are as follows:[49]
- In words that end with a vowel, stress most often falls on the penultimate syllable.
- In words that end with a consonant, stress most often falls on the last syllable, with the following exceptions: The grammatical endings -n (for third-person-plural of verbs) and -s (whether for plural of nouns and adjectives or for second-person-singular of verbs) do not change the location of stress. Thus regular verbs ending with -n and the great majority of words ending with -s are stressed on the penult. Although a significant number of nouns and adjectives ending with -n are also stressed on the penult (e.g. joven, virgen, mitin), the great majority of nouns and adjectives ending with -n are stressed on their last syllable (e.g. capitán, almacén, jardín, corazón).
- Preantepenultimate stress (stress on the fourth-to-last syllable) occurs rarely, and only on verbs with clitic pronouns attached (e.g. guardándoselos 'saving them for him/her/them').
In addition to the many exceptions to these tendencies, there are numerous minimal pairs 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 ('liquid'), liquido ('I sell off') and liquidó ('he/she sold off').
The spelling system unambiguously reflects where the stress occurs: in the absence of an accent mark, the stress falls on the last syllable unless the last letter is ⟨n⟩, ⟨s⟩, or a vowel, in which cases the stress falls on the next-to-last syllable; if and only if the absence of an accent mark would give the wrong stress information, an acute accent mark appears over the stressed syllable.
Active learning of Spanish.
[50]
Spanish is the primary language of 20 countries worldwide. It is estimated that the combined total number of Spanish speakers is between 470 and 500 million, making it the second most widely spoken language in terms of native speakers.[51][52] Spanish is the third most spoken language by total number of speakers (after Mandarin and English). Internet usage statistics for 2007 show Spanish as the third most commonly used language on the Internet, after English and Mandarin.[53]
Knowledge of Spanish language in European Union in 2006.
Native country
More than 8.99%
Between 4% and 8.99%
Between 1% and 3.99%
Less than 1%
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, although English is the official language.[54] It is also commonly spoken in Andorra, although Catalan is the official language.[55] Spanish is also spoken by small communities in other European countries, such as the United Kingdom, France, and Germany.[56] Spanish is an official language of the European Union. In Switzerland, Spanish is the native language of 1.7% of the population, representing the largest minority after the 4 official languages of the country.[57]
Spanish is the fourth most widely studied second language in Western Europe after English, French, and German.[citation needed] In countries where those languages are natively spoken, chiefly France, the United Kingdom and Germany, Spanish is often the third most popular foreign language.[citation needed] Neighbouring Portugal and France have considerable minorities with a high degree of Spanish competency.[citation needed]
Most Spanish speakers are in Latin America; of all countries with a majority of Spanish speakers, only Spain and Equatorial Guinea are outside America. 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), Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay (co-official with Guaraní),[58] Ecuador and Peru (co-official with Quechua and, in some regions, Aymara), Uruguay, and Venezuela. Spanish is also the de facto and official language (co-official with English, although only a very small percentage know and use U.S. English) in Puerto Rico.[59]
Spanish has no official recognition in the former British colony of Belize; however, per the 2000 census, it is spoken by 43% of the population.[60][61] Mainly, it is spoken by the descendants of Hispanics who have been in the region since the seventeenth century; however, English is the official language.[62]
Spain colonized Trinidad and Tobago first in 1498, introducing the Spanish language to the Carib people. Also the Cocoa Panyols, laborers from Venezuela, took their culture and language with them; they are accredited with the music of "Parang" ("Parranda") on the island. Because of Trinidad's 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.[63] In 2004, the government launched the Spanish as a First Foreign Language (SAFFL) initiative in March 2005.[64] 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.[63]
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.[65] In 2005, the National Congress of Brazil approved a bill, signed into law by the President, making Spanish language teaching mandatory in both public and private secondary schools in Brazil.[66] In many border towns and villages (especially in the Uruguayan-Brazilian and Paraguayan-Brazilian border areas), a mixed language known as Portuñol is spoken.[67]
Spanish spoken in the United States. Darker shades of blue indicate higher percentages of Spanish speakers.
According to 2006 census data, 44.3 million people of the U.S. population were Hispanic or Latino by origin;[68] 34 million people, 12.2 percent, of the population more than five years old speak Spanish at home.[69] Spanish has a long history in the United States because many south-western states were part of Mexico, and Florida was also a colony of Spain. The language recently has been revitalized in the U.S. by an influx of 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 in addition to English. In the U.S. state of New Mexico, 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, Tampa, Las Vegas, San Francisco and Chicago, and in the twenty-first century the language has rapidly expanded in Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Charlotte, Cleveland, Dallas, Detroit, Houston, Phoenix, Philadelphia, Richmond, and Washington, DC. Spanish is the dominant spoken language in Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory. With a total of 37 million Spanish speakers, according to US Census Bureau,[70] the U.S. has the world's second-largest Spanish-speaking population.[71] Spanish ranks second, behind English, as the language spoken most widely at home.[72]
In Africa, Spanish is official in Equatorial Guinea (co-official with French and Portuguese), 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 is the most spoken language by number of native speakers.[73][74]
Today, in Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony, 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). Sahrawi Press Service, the official news service of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic of Western Sahara, has been available in Spanish since 2001,[75] the official site of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic is in Spanish[76] and RASD TV, the official television channel of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, broadcasts in Spanish.[77] The Sahara Film Festival, Western Sahara's only film festival, mainly shows Spanish-language films. Spanish is used to document Sahrawi poetry and oral traditions and has also be used in Sahrawi literature.[78] Despite Spanish having been used by the Sahrawi people for over a century due to Western Sahara's history as a former Spanish colony, the Cervantes Institute has denied support and Spanish-language education to Sahrawis in Western Sahara and the Sahrawi refugee camps in Algeria.[79] A group of Sahrawi poets known as Generación de la Amistad saharaui produces Sahrawi literature in Spanish.[80]
Spanish is also spoken in the Spanish autonomous cities of Ceuta (75,241) and Melilla (73,460) in continental North Africa, and in the autonomous community of the Canary Islands (2,117,519), a Spanish archipelago located just off the northwest coast of mainland Africa. Within Northern Morocco, a former Franco-Spanish protectorate that is also geographically close to Spain, approximately 20,000 people speak Spanish as a second language.[81] It is spoken by some communities of Angola, because of the Cuban influence from the Cold War, and in South Sudan among South Sudanese natives that relocated to Cuba during the Sudanese wars and returned in time for their country's independence.[82]
Spanish was used by the colonial governments and the educated classes in the former Spanish East Indies, namely the Philippines, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands. From 1565 to 1973 it was an official language of the Philippines. Up to 1899 it was the language of government, trade and education, and spoken as a first language by Spaniards and educated Filipinos. In the mid-nineteenth century the colonial government set up a free public school system with Spanish as the medium of instruction. This increased the use of Spanish throughout the islands and led to a class of Spanish-speaking intellectuals called the Ilustrados. Although Spanish never became the language of a majority of the population,[83] Philippine literature and press primarily used Spanish up to the 1940s. It continued as an official language until the change of Constitution in 1973. Following the U.S. occupation and administration of the islands in 1899, the American government increasingly imposed English, especially after the 1920s. The US authorities conducted a campaign of introducing English as the medium of instruction in schools, universities and public spaces, and prohibited the use of Spanish in media and educational institutions.
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 regime of Ferdinand Marcos. In 2007 the Arroyo administration announced that it would pass legislation to reintroduce Spanish in the Philippine education system. In 2010 a Memorandum was signed between Spanish and Philippine authorities to cooperate in implementing this decree. Today, Radio Manila broadcasts daily in Spanish. Worthy of mention is the Chavacano, a Spanish-Philippine pidgin, spoken by 600,000 people both in the Philippines and Sabah.
The local languages of the Philippines retain much Spanish influence, with many words being derived from Spanish from Spain and Mexican Spanish, due to the control of the islands by Spain through Mexico City until 1821, and directly from Madrid until 1898.[84]
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 and the Caroline Islands were Spanish colonial possessions until the late nineteenth 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 Hispanic American resident populations.
The Antarctic Treaty regulates international relations with respect to Antarctica. Argentina and Chile, both Spanish-speaking countries, claim territories according to this treaty. The Argentine Antarctica sector had a winter population of 169 in 1999, and in the Chilean Antarctic Territory, according to the national census of 2002, the population was 130 (115 male, 15 female).[85]
The following table shows the number of Spanish speakers in some 70 countries.
| Country |
Population[86] |
Spanish as a native language speakers[87][88][89][90][91] |
Bilingual and as a second language speakers (in countries where Spanish is official)[92][93] or as a foreign language (where it is not official)[94] |
Spanish speakers as percentage of population[95] |
Total number of Spanish speakers |
 Mexico |
116,147,000[96][97] |
107,668,269[98] |
6,736,526 |
98.5%[95] |
114,404,795 |
 United States |
313,640,000[99] |
36,995,602[100] |
13,004,398 |
15.9% |
50,000,000[101][102][103][104][105][106][107] |
 Spain |
47,212,990[108] |
42,019,561[109] |
4,646,895 |
98.8%[95] |
46,646,434 |
 Colombia |
46,535,000[110] |
46,035,000[111] |
130,080 |
99.2%[95] |
46,162,720 |
 Argentina |
41,119,000[112][113] |
36,552,109[114] |
4,321,488 |
99.4%[95] |
40,872,286 |
 Venezuela |
29,821,000[115] |
28,744,047[116] |
753,397 |
98.8%[95] |
29,463,148 |
 Peru |
30,135,875[117] |
25,344,271[118] |
744,942 |
86.6%[95] |
26,097,668 |
 Chile |
17,402,630[119] |
17,153,127[120] |
85,914 |
99.3%[95] |
17,280,812 |
 Ecuador |
14,865,000[121] |
12,466,200[122] |
2,126,986 |
98.1%[95] |
14,582,565 |
 Guatemala |
15,073,375[123] |
9,044,025[124] |
3,503,591 |
86.4%[95] |
13,023,396 |
 Cuba |
11,235,863[125] |
11,235,863[126] |
|
99.4%[95] |
11,168,448 |
 Dominican Republic |
10,225,000[125] |
10,006,500[127] |
177,600 |
99.6%[95] |
10,184,100 |
 Bolivia |
10,426,154[128] |
6,047,169[129] |
3,117,420 |
87.9%[95] |
9,164,589 |
 Honduras |
8,215,313[130] |
8,007,563[131] |
125,597 |
99.0%[95] |
8,133,160 |
 El Salvador |
6,183,002[132] |
6,168,902[133] |
|
99.7%[95] |
6,164,453 |
 France |
65,821,885[134] |
440,106[135] |
5,721,380 |
9.4% |
6,161,486[92] |
 Nicaragua |
5,822,000[125] |
5,331,876[136] |
315,464 |
97.0%[95] |
5,647,340 |
 Morocco |
31,759,997[137] |
20,000[138] |
5,480,000 |
17.32% |
5,500,000[139][140] |
 Brazil |
190,732,694[141] |
460,018[142][143] |
5,000,000[144] |
2.86% |
5,460,018 |
 Costa Rica |
4,615,646[145] |
4,530,228[146] |
48,493 |
99.2%[95] |
4,578,721 |
 Paraguay |
6,337,127[147] |
3,612,162[148] |
446,145 |
69.5%[95] |
4,404,303 |
 Puerto Rico |
3,998,000[125] |
3,802,098[149] |
147,926 |
98.8%[95] |
3,950,024 |
 United Kingdom |
62,041,708[150] |
184,867[151] |
3,737,633 |
6.4% |
3,922,500[92] |
 Uruguay |
3,372,000[125] |
3,221,800[152] |
113,108 |
98.9%[95] |
3,334,908 |
 Panama |
3,508,000[125] |
3,006,957[153] |
258,991 |
93.1%[95] |
3,265,948 |
 Philippines |
94,013,200[154] |
2,930[155] |
3,013,843 |
3.2% |
3,016,773[156][157][158][159][160][161][162][163] |
 Germany |
81,802,000[164] |
178,976[165] |
2,527,996 |
3.3% |
2,706,972[92] |
 Italy |
60,605,053[166] |
422,249[167] |
1,968,320 |
3.5% |
1,635,976[92] |
 Equatorial Guinea |
1,170,308[168] |
1,683[169] |
1,057,446 |
90.5%[95][170] |
1,059,129 |
 Canada |
34,605,346[171] |
909,000[172][173][174] |
92,853[94] |
2.9% |
1,001,853 |
 Portugal |
10,636,888[175] |
9,570[176] |
727,282 |
6.9% |
737,026[92] |
 Netherlands |
16,665,900[177] |
59,578[178] |
622,516 |
4.1% |
682,094[92] |
 Belgium |
10,918,405[179] |
85,990[180] |
515,939 |
5.5% |
601,929[92] |
 Romania |
22,246,862 |
|
544,531 |
2.4% |
544,531[92] |
 Sweden |
9,045,389 |
101,472[181] |
442,601 |
6% |
544,073[92] |
 Australia |
21,007,310 |
106,517[182] |
374,571[183] |
2.3% |
481,088[94] |
 Poland |
38,500,696 |
|
316,104 |
0.8% |
316,104[92] |
 Austria |
8,205,533 |
|
267,177 |
3.3% |
267,177[92] |
 Ivory Coast |
20,179,602 |
|
235,806 [94] |
1.2% |
235,806 |
 Algeria |
33,769,669 |
|
223,000[184] |
0.7% |
223,379 |
 Denmark |
5,484,723 |
|
219,003 |
4% |
219,003[92] |
 Israel |
7,112,359 |
130,000[185] |
45,231 |
2.5% |
175,231[186] |
 Japan |
127,288,419 |
78,952[187] |
60,000[94] |
0.1% |
138,952 |
 Switzerland |
7,581,520 |
123,000[188] |
14,420 |
1.7%[189] |
137,420 |
 Bulgaria |
7,262,675 |
|
133,910 |
1.8% |
133,910[92] |
 Belize |
301,270 |
106,795[190] |
21,848 |
42.7% |
128,643[190] |
 Netherlands Antilles |
223,652 |
10,699 |
114,835 |
56.1% |
125,534 |
 Ireland |
4,156,119 |
|
123,591 |
3% |
123,591[92] |
 Senegal |
12,853,259 |
|
101,455[94] |
0.8% |
101,455 |
 Greece |
10,722,816 |
|
86,742 |
0.8% |
86,742[92] |
 Finland |
5,244,749 |
|
85,586 |
1.6% |
85,586[92] |
 Hungary |
9,930,915 |
|
85,034 |
0.9% |
85,034[92] |
 Aruba |
101,484[191] |
6,800 |
68,602 |
75.3% |
75,402[192] |
 Croatia |
4,491,543 |
|
73,656 |
1.6% |
73,656[92] |
 Trinidad and Tobago |
1,317,714[193] |
4,100[194] |
61,786 |
5%[195] |
65,886 |
 Andorra |
84,484 |
29,907[196] |
25,356 |
68.7%[197] |
58,040 |
 Slovakia |
5,455,407 |
|
43,164 |
0.8% |
43,164[92] |
 Norway |
4,644,457 |
12,573 |
23,677 |
0.8% |
36,250[92] |
 Russia |
140,702,094 |
3,320 |
20,000[198] |
0.01% |
23,320 |
 China |
1,339,724,852[199] |
3,055[200] |
20,000[201] |
0.002% |
23,055 |
 New Zealand |
4,173,460 |
21,645[202] |
|
0.5% |
21,645 |
 Guam |
154,805 |
|
19,092 |
12.3% |
19,092[203] |
 US Virgin Islands |
108,612 |
16,788 |
|
15.5% |
16,788 |
 Lithuania |
3,565,205 |
|
13,943 |
0.4% |
13,943[92] |
 Gibraltar |
27,967 |
13,857 |
|
49.5% |
13,857 |
 Turkey |
73,722,988[204] |
1,134[205] |
12,346[206] |
0.031% |
13,480 |
 Cyprus |
792,604 |
|
|
1.4% |
11,044[92] |
 Jamaica |
2,804,322 |
8,000 |
|
0.3% |
8,000 |
 Luxembourg |
486,006 |
3,000 |
4,344 |
1.5% |
7,344[92] |
 Malta |
403,532 |
6,458 |
|
1.6% |
6,458[92] |
 Western Sahara |
513,000[86] |
n.a.[207] |
n.a. |
n.a. |
n.a. |
| Other immigrants in the E.U. |
|
906,816[208] |
|
|
|
| Other Spanish students |
|
|
|
|
4,861,027[209] |
| Total native speakers in the world + bilingual and as a second language where Spanish is official: |
7,000,000,000 (Total World Population)[210] |
431,330,859 [1] |
30,578,092 |
6.6% |
462,212,669 [211] |
| Total with Spanish speakers as a foreign language: |
78,693,433 |
7.29% |
510,328,010 [4][212] |
There are important variations—phonological, grammatical, and lexical—in the spoken Spanish of the various regions of Spain and throughout the Spanish-speaking areas of the Americas.
The variety with the most speakers is Mexican Spanish. It is spoken by more than twenty percent of the world's Spanish speakers (107 million of the total 494 million, according to the table above). One of its main features is the reduction or loss of unstressed vowels, mainly when they are in contact with the sound /s/.[213][214]
In Spain, northern dialects are popularly thought of as closer to the standard, although positive attitudes toward southern dialects have increased significantly in the last 50 years. Even so, the speech of Madrid, which has typically southern features such as yeísmo and s-aspiration, is the standard variety for use on radio and television,[215][216][217][218] and is the variety that has most influenced the written standard for Spanish.[219]
Three of the main phonological divisions are based respectively on (1) the phoneme /θ/ ("theta"), (2) the phoneme /ʎ/ ("turned y"),[220] and (3) the "debuccalization" (also frequently called "aspiration") of syllable-final /s/. The phoneme /θ/ (spelled ⟨z⟩, or ⟨c⟩ before ⟨e⟩ or ⟨i⟩)—a voiceless dental fricative as in English thing—is maintained in northern and central Spain, but is merged with the sibilant /s/ in southern Spain, the Canary Islands, and all of American Spanish.[221] This merger is called seseo in Spanish. The phoneme /ʎ/ (spelled ⟨ll⟩)—a palatal lateral consonant sometimes compared in sound to the lli of English million—tends to be maintained in less-urbanized areas of northern Spain and in highland areas of South America, but in the speech of most other Spanish-speakers it is merged with /ʝ/ ("curly-tail j")—a non-lateral, usually voiced, usually fricative, palatal consonant—sometimes compared to English /j/ (yod) as in yacht, and spelled y in Spanish. This merger is called yeísmo in Spanish. And the debuccalization (pronunciation as [h], or loss) of syllable-final /s/ is associated with southern Spain, the Caribbean, and coastal areas of South America.
The main grammatical variations between dialects of Spanish involve differing uses of pronouns: especially those of the second person and, to a lesser extent, the object pronouns of the third person.
An examination of the dominance and stress of the voseo dialect in Latin America. Data generated as illustrated by the
Association of Spanish Language Academies. The darker the country, the stronger its dominance.
Virtually all dialects of Spanish make the distinction between a formal and a familiar register in the second-person singular, and thus have two different pronouns meaning "you": usted in the formal, and either tú or vos in the familiar (and each of these three pronouns has its associated verb forms), with the choice of tú or vos varying from one dialect to another. The use of vos (and/or its verb forms) is called voseo. In a few dialects, all three pronouns are used—usted, tú, and vos—denoting respectively formality, familiarity, and intimacy.[222]
In voseo, vos is the subject form (vos decís, "you say") and the form for the object of a preposition (Voy con vos, "I'm going with you"), while the direct and indirect object forms, and the possessives, are the same as those associated with tú: Vos sabés que tus amigos te respetan ("You know your friends respect you"). Additional examples: "Vos te acostaste con el tuerto" (Gené Ulf [Arg. 1988]); "Lugar que odio [...] como te odio a vos" (Rossi María [C. Rica 1985]); "No cerrés tus ojos" (Flores Siguamonta [Guat. 1993]).
The verb forms of voseo are the same as those used with tú except in the present tense (indicative and subjunctive) of -ar and -er verbs, and in the present subjunctive of -ir verbs. The forms for vos generally can be derived from those of vosotros (the traditional second-person familiar plural) by deleting the glide /j/ where it appears in the ending: vosotros pensáis > vos pensás; vosotros queréis > vos querés.
The use of the pronoun vos with the verb forms of tú (e.g. vos piensas) is called "pronominal voseo". And conversely, the use of the verb forms of vos with the pronoun tú (e.g. tú pensás) is called "verbal voseo".
- Distribution in Spanish America
Although vos is not used in Spain, in large areas of Spanish America it occurs as the primary spoken form of the second-person singular familiar pronoun, although with wide differences in social consideration. Generally, it can be said that there are zones of exclusive use of tuteo in the following areas: almost all of Mexico, the West Indies, Panama, most of Peru and Venezuela, coastal Ecuador and the Pacific coast of Colombia.
Tuteo (the use of tú) as a cultured form alternates with voseo as a popular or rural form in Bolivia, in the north and south of Peru, in Andean Ecuador, in small zones of the Venezuelan Andes (and most notably in the Venezuelan state of Zulia), and in a large part of Colombia. Some researchers claim that voseo can be heard in some parts of eastern Cuba, while others assert that it is absent from the island.[223]
Tuteo exists as the second-person usage with an intermediate degree of formality alongside the more familiar voseo in Chile, in the Venezuelan state of Zulia, on the Pacific coast of Colombia, in the Azuero Peninsula in Panama, in the Mexican state of Chiapas, and in parts of Guatemala.
Areas of generalized voseo include Argentina, Costa Rica, eastern Bolivia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Uruguay and the Colombian departments of Valle del Cauca and Antioquia.[222]
The second person plural maintains the formal/familiar distinction with ustedes and vosotros respectively in most of Spain, but in areas of Andalusia, in the Canary Islands, and in all of Spanish America, both functions are merged in the use of ustedes, regardless of familiarity. In Seville, Cadiz, and other parts of western Andalusia, the familiar form is constructed as ustedes vais, using the traditional second-person plural form of the verb.
Usted is the usual second-person singular pronoun in a formal context, used to portray respect toward someone who is a generation older or is of higher authority ("you, sir"/"you, ma'am"). It is also used in a familiar context by many speakers in Colombia and Costa Rica, and in parts of Ecuador and Panama, to the exclusion of tú or vos. This usage is sometimes called ustedeo in Spanish.
In Central America, especially in Honduras, usted is often used as a formal pronoun to portray respect between the members of a romantic couple. Usted is also used in this way, as well as between parents and children, in the Andean regions of Colombia and Venezuela.
Most speakers use (and the Real Academia Española prefers) the pronouns lo and la for direct objects (masculine and feminine respectively, regardless of animacy, meaning "him", "her", or "it"), and le for indirect objects (regardless of gender or animacy, meaning "to him", "to her", or "to it"). This usage is sometimes called "etymological", as these direct and indirect object pronouns are a continuation, respectively, of the accusative and dative pronouns of Latin, the ancestor language of Spanish.
Deviations from this norm (more common in Spain than in the Americas) are called "leísmo", "loísmo", or "laísmo", according to which respective pronoun—le, lo, or la—has expanded beyond the etymological usage (i.e. le as a direct object, or lo or la as an indirect object).
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, aguacate and albaricoque (respectively, 'butter', 'avocado', 'apricot') correspond to manteca, palta, and damasco, respectively, in Argentina, Chile (except manteca), Paraguay, Peru (except manteca and 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 coger and pisar is also 'to have sex' and concha means '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, 'traffic jam' in Chile and 'heels' (shoe) in Peru but is known to the rest of the world as a Mexican dish. Pija in 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' or 'pushchair', while carro means 'car' in some Latin American countries and 'cart' in others, as well as in Spain. Papaya is the slang term for 'vagina' in parts of Cuba and Venezuela, where the fruit is instead called fruta bomba and lechosa, respectively.[224][225]
Spanish is closely related to the other Iberian Romance languages: Asturian, Aragonese, Catalan, Galician, Ladino, Leonese, Mirandese and Portuguese.
It should be noted that although Portuguese and Spanish are very closely related, particularly in vocabulary (89% lexically similar according to the Ethnologue of Languages), syntax and grammar, there are also some differences that don't exist between Catalan and Portuguese. Although Spanish and Portuguese are widely considered to be mutually intelligible, it has been noted that while most Portuguese speakers can understand spoken Spanish with little difficulty, Spanish speakers face more difficulty in understanding spoken Portuguese. The written forms are considered to be equally intelligible, however.
Spanish and Italian share a similar phonological system. At present, the lexical similarity with Italian is estimated at 82%.[226] The lexical similarity with Portuguese is greater at 89%. Mutual intelligibility between Spanish and French or Romanian is lower (lexical similarity being respectively 75% and 71%):[226] 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.
| Latin |
Spanish |
Galician |
Portuguese |
Astur-Leonese |
Aragonese |
Catalan |
French |
Italian |
Romanian |
English |
| nos |
nosotros |
nós1 |
nós1 |
nós, nosotros |
nusatros |
nosaltres
(arch. nós) |
nous2 |
noi3 |
noi |
we |
frater germanum
(lit. "true brother") |
hermano |
irmán |
irmão |
hermanu |
chirmán |
germà
(arch. frare)5 |
frère |
fratello |
frate |
brother |
dies martis (Classical)
feria tertia (Ecclesiastical) |
martes |
martes |
terça-feira |
martes |
martes |
dimarts |
mardi |
martedì |
marţi |
Tuesday |
cantiō(nem)
canticum |
canción |
canción/cançom4 |
canção |
canción
(or canciu) |
canta |
cançó |
chanson |
canzone |
cântec |
song |
magis
plus |
más
(arch. plus) |
máis |
mais
(arch. chus or plus) |
más |
más
(or més) |
més
(arch. pus or plus) |
plus |
più |
mai/plus |
more |
| manum sinistram |
mano izquierda
(arch. mano siniestra) |
man esquerda |
mão esquerda
(arch. mão sẽestra) |
manu izquierda
(or esquierda;
also manzorga) |
man cucha |
mà esquerra
(arch. mà sinistra) |
main gauche |
mano sinistra |
mâna stângă |
left hand |
nihil
nullam rem natam
(lit. "no thing born") |
nada |
nada
(also ren) |
nada
(neca and nula rés
in some expressions; arch. rem) |
nada
(also un res) |
cosa |
res |
rien/nul |
niente/nulla |
nimic/nul |
nothing |
| cāseus formaticus |
queso |
queixo |
queijo |
quesu |
queso |
formatge |
fromage |
formaggio |
caș6 |
cheese |
1. Also nós outros in early modern Portuguese (e.g. The Lusiads).
2. Alternatively nous autres in French.
3. Also noi altri in Southern Italian dialects and languages.
4. Depending on the written norm used (see Reintegracionism).
5. Medieval Catalan (e.g. Llibre dels fets).
6. Note that Romanian caș (from Latin cāsevs) means a type of cheese. The universal term for cheese in Romanian is brânză (from unknown etymology).[227]
Judaeo-Spanish (also known as Ladino),[228] 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 expelled from Spain in the fifteenth century.[228] Therefore, its relationship to Spanish is comparable with that of the Yiddish language to German. Ladino speakers are currently almost exclusively Sephardi 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.[228] It lacks the Native American vocabulary which was influential during the Spanish colonial period, 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 Spanish, including vocabulary from Hebrew, French, Greek and Turkish, 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.
Spanish is written in the Latin script, with the addition of the character ⟨ñ⟩ (eñe, representing the phoneme /ɲ/, a letter distinct from ⟨n⟩, although typographically composed of an ⟨n⟩ with a tilde) and the digraphs ⟨ch⟩ (che, representing the phoneme /t͡ʃ/) and ⟨ll⟩ (elle, representing the phoneme /ʎ/). However, the digraph ⟨rr⟩ (erre fuerte, 'strong r', erre doble, 'double r', or simply erre), which also represents a distinct phoneme /r/, 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 ⟨cg⟩ and ⟨ci⟩, instead of following ⟨cz⟩ as they used to. The situation is similar for ⟨ll⟩.[229][230]
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.[231]
- Ch,[232] Ll.[233]
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 an ⟨s⟩; it is stressed on the last syllable otherwise. Exceptions to this rule are indicated by placing an acute accent on the stressed vowel.
The acute accent is used, in addition, to distinguish between certain homophones, especially when one of them is a stressed word and the other one is a clitic: compare el ('the', masculine singular definite article) with él ('he' or 'it'), or te ('you', object pronoun), de (preposition 'of'), and se (reflexive pronoun) with té ('tea'), dé ('give' [formal imperative/third-person present subjunctive]) and sé ('I know' or imperative 'be').
The interrogative pronouns (qué, cuál, dónde, quién, etc.) also receive accents in direct or indirect questions, and some demonstratives (ése, éste, aquél, etc.) can be accented when used as pronouns. Accent marks are frequently omitted in capital letters (a widespread practice in the days of typewriters 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 g" pronunciation. A diaeresis ⟨ü⟩ indicates that it is not silent as it normally would be (e.g., cigüeña, 'stork', is pronounced [θiˈɣweɲa]; if it were written *cigueña, it would be pronounced *[θiˈɣeɲa]).
Interrogative and exclamatory clauses are introduced with inverted question and exclamation marks (⟨¿⟩ and ⟨¡⟩, respectively).
The Real Academia Española (Royal Spanish Academy), founded in 1713,[234] 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.[235] 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.[citation needed]
Countries members of the ASALE.
[236]
The Association of Spanish Language Academies (Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española, or ASALE) is the entity which regulates the Spanish language. It comprises the academies of 22 countries, ordered by date of Academy foundation: Spain (1713),[237] Colombia (1871),[238] Ecuador (1874),[239] Mexico (1875),[240] El Salvador (1876),[241] Venezuela (1883),[242] Chile (1885),[243] Peru (1887),[244] Guatemala (1887),[245] Costa Rica (1923),[246] Philippines (1924),[247] Panama (1926),[248] Cuba (1926),[249] Paraguay (1927),[250] Dominican Republic (1927),[251] Bolivia (1927),[252] Nicaragua (1928),[253] Argentina (1931),[254] Uruguay (1943),[255] Honduras (1949),[256] Puerto Rico (1955),[257] and United States (1973).[258]
The Instituto Cervantes (Cervantes Institute) is a worldwide non-profit organization created by the Spanish government in 1991. This organization has branched out in over 20 different countries with 54 centres devoted to the Spanish and Hispanic American culture and Spanish Language. The ultimate goals of the Institute are to promote the education, the study and the use of Spanish universally as a second language, to support the methods and activities that would help the process of Spanish language education, and to contribute to the advancement of the Spanish and Hispanic American cultures throughout non-Spanish-speaking countries.
Spanish is recognised as one of the official languages of the United Nations, the European Union, the Organization of American States, the Organization of Ibero-American States, the African Union, the Union of South American Nations, the Antarctic Treaty Secretariat, the Latin Union, the Caricom and the North American Free Trade Agreement.
- Spanish language institutions
- Spanish-speaking world
- Romance languages
|
- Influences on the Spanish language
- Dialects and languages influenced by Spanish
|
- Spanish dialects and varieties
|
|
- ^ a b 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.
- ^ a b Vivanco Torres, Hiram. "IV CILE. Paneles y ponencias" (in Castilian). ES: Congresos de la lengua. http://congresosdelalengua.es/cartagena/ponencias/seccion_3/36/vivanco_hiram.htm. Retrieved 2010-11-06.
- ^ a b El Castellano, http://www.elcastellano.org/23abr.html .
- ^ a b c Spoken, Krysstal, http://www.krysstal.com/spoken.html .
- ^ Distribution by size, Ethnologue.org, http://www.ethnologue.org/ethno_docs/distribution.asp?by=size .
- ^ SIL, http://web.archive.org/web/19990429232804/www.sil.org/ethnologue/top100.html .
- ^ The World Factbook, CIA, https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2098.html .
- ^ (in Castilian) Español está en crisis, ES: El Dia, 2009‐11‐2, http://www.eldia.es/2009-11-02/cultura/3-espanol-esta-crisis-Instituto-Cervantes.htm (according to Ethnology (journal).
- ^ "Modern Standard Chinese", Encarta, Microsoft, http://uk.encarta.msn.com/dictionary_1481582983/Modern_Standard_Chinese.html, "800 million" .
- ^ "Spanish", Encarta, Microsoft, http://uk.encarta.msn.com/dictionary_1861781790/Spanish.html, "358 million" .
- ^ "English", Encarta, Microsoft, http://uk.encarta.msn.com/dictionary_1861789540/English.html, "350 million" .
- ^ "Spanish: a language of Spain". Ethnologue. http://www.ethnologue.com/14/show_language.asp?code=spn. Retrieved 2010-04-21.
- ^ El País, 2011‐6‐18, http://www.elpais.com/articulo/cultura/Queretaro/palabra/bonita/espanol/elpepucul/20110618elpepucul_2/Tes .
- ^ La Moncloa, ES, 2009‐1‐29, http://www.la-moncloa.es/IDIOMAS/9/ActualidadHome/29012009_CongresoLengua.htm .
- ^ , UK: Top Language Community, http://www.toplanguagecommunity.co.uk/spanish-portal/ .
- ^ Fact about Spanish, UIS, http://www.uis.edu/clas/continuingeducation/spanish/factsaboutspanish.html .
- ^ Molina, Antonio (in Castilian), Español sera segunda lengua de comunicación, ES: Terra notícias, http://terranoticias.terra.es/cultura/articulo/espanol_sera_segunda_lengua_comunicacion_848372.htm .
- ^ El mundo, ES, 2007‐4‐26, http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2007/04/26/cultura/1177610767.html .
- ^ Anson, Luis María, "Estados Unidos: más hispanohablantes que en España" (in Castilian), El cultural, ES, http://www.elcultural.es/version_papel/OPINION/24251/Estados_Unidos-_mas_hispanohablantes_que_en_Espana .
- ^ International Congress about Spanish, 2008, http://www.congresovaloridioma.es/pag/bienvenida.html .
- ^ Melgar, Mario, ES: UAM, http://www.lllf.uam.es/~fmarcos/coloquio/Ponencias/MMelgar.doc .
- ^ Díaz de Liaño Argüelles, Enrique, "El español es actualmente la lengua común de casi 500 millones de personas y la lengua oficial de 21 países" (in Castilian), El intercultural, http://www.elintercultural.net/2010090632796/Industrias-Culturales/Noticias/qel-espanol-es-actualmente-la-lengua-comun-de-casi-500-millones-de-personas-y-la-lengua-oficial-de-21-paisesq.html .
- ^ Rosa, Feu, Spanish in Mercosur, ES: Congresos de la lengua, http://congresosdelalengua.es/valladolid/ponencias/unidad_diversidad_del_espanol/5_espanol_y_portugues/rosa_f.htm .
- ^ El país, 2010‐1‐24, http://www.elpais.com/articulo/carreras/capital/humano/500/millones/razones/saber/espanol/elpepueconeg/20100124elpnegser_4/Tes .
- ^ eumed, http://www.eumed.net/rev/cccss/05/jrz.htm .
- ^ Spain’s king praises Nobel winning Vargas Llosa, EFE America, http://www.efeamerica.com/309_hispanic-world/879407_spain-s-king-praises-nobel-winning-vargas-llosa.html .
- ^ Idiomas, Babel linguistics, http://www.babel-linguistics.com/idiomas.htm .
- ^ (in Castilian) La RAE avala que Burgos acoge las primeras palabras escritas en castellano, ES: El mundo, 2010‐11‐7, http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2010/11/07/castillayleon/1289123856.html .
- ^ "Spanish languages "Becoming the language for trade" in Spain and". sejours-linguistiques-en-espagne.com/index.html. http://sejours-linguistiques-en-espagne.com/index.html. Retrieved 2010-05-11.
- ^ Reasons to Learn Spanish
- ^ <La Vanguardia.com El español ya es el segundo idioma más hablado del mundo
- ^ guardian.co.uk Do you speak Spanish?
- ^ "Diccionario de la lengua española" (in (Spanish)). Buscon.rae.es. http://buscon.rae.es/draeI/. Retrieved 2010-11-06.
- ^ Ramón Menéndez Pidal, Manual de gramática histórica española (Espasa-Calpe, 1968), §66.2
- ^ Lloyd A. Kasten and Florian J. Cody, Tentative Dictionary of Medieval Spanish (2nd ed., Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, 2001)
- ^ Diccionario Panhispánico de Dudas, 2005, pg. 271-272.
- ^ "Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language". Oxford University Press. http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O29-SPANISH.html. Retrieved 24 July 2008.
- ^ a b Penny, Ralph (2002). A History Of The Spanish Language (2 ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 20–21.
- ^ "Spanish Language Facts". Encyclopedia.com. http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Spanish_language.aspx#1O29-SPANISH. Retrieved 2010-11-06.
- ^ Crow, John A. (2005). Spain: the root and the flower. University of California Press. p. 151. ISBN 978-0-520-24496-2. http://books.google.com/?id=g2NKy8QCxw4C&pg=PA151&dq=Nebrija+first+spanish+grammar+Isabel&cd=5#v=onepage&q=.
- ^ Thomas, Hugh (2005). Rivers of Gold: the rise of the Spanish empire, from Columbus to Magellan. Random House Inc.. p. 78. ISBN 978-0-8129-7055-5. http://books.google.com/?id=b38f7b1WmOwC&pg=PA78&dq=Nebrija+first+spanish+grammar+Isabel&d=5#v=onepage&q=.
- ^ (in Spanish) (PDF) La lengua de Cervantes. Ministerio de la Presidencia de España. http://www.cepc.es/rap/Publicaciones/Revistas/2/REP_031-032_288.pdf. Retrieved 2008-08-24. [dead link]
- ^ Martínez-Celdrán, Fernández-Planas & Carrera-Sabaté (2003:255)
- ^ "Se da de forma espontánea en hablantes valencianos o mallorquines y en los de algunas zonas del sur de Cataluña". Diccionario panhispánico de dudas. 1st Ed. (Octobre 2005). Grapheme v.
- ^ Cressey (1978:152)
- ^ Abercrombie (1967:98)
- ^ John B. Dabor, Spanish Pronunciation: Theory and Practice (3rd ed.: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1997), Ch. 7
- ^ "John B. Dalbor's Voice Files to Accompany Spanish Pronunciation
- ^ Eddington (2000:96)
- ^ "Instituto Cervantes 06-07" (PDF). http://cvc.cervantes.es/lengua/anuario/anuario_06-07/pdf/cifras.pdf. Retrieved 2010-04-21.
- ^ "Most widely spoken Languages in the World". Nations Online. http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/most_spoken_languages.htm. Retrieved 2009-08-27.
- ^ "CIA The World Factbook United States". Cia.gov. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/us.html. Retrieved 2011-02-05.
- ^ "Internet World Users by Language". Miniwatts Marketing Group. 2008. http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats7.htm.
- ^ "CIA World Factbook — Gibraltar". Cia.gov. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/gi.html. Retrieved 2011-02-05.
- ^ "Background Note: Andorra". U.S. Department of State: Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs. January 2007. http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/3164.htm. Retrieved 2007-08-20.
- ^ BBC Education — Languages, Languages Across Europe — Spanish.
- ^ "Switzerland's Four National Languages". all-about-switzerland.info. http://web.archive.org/web/20110721184001/http://official-swiss-national-languages.all-about-switzerland.info/index.html. Retrieved 2007-09-19.
- ^ "Paraguay", Ethnologue, 2000, http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=PY . Guaraní is also the most-spoken language in Paraguay by its native speakers.
- ^ "Puerto Rico Elevates English". the New York Times. 29 January 1993. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE1D8163AF93AA15752C0A965958260&n=Top%2fReference%2fTimes%20Topics%2fSubjects%2fE%2fEnglish%20Language. Retrieved 2007-10-06.
- ^ "Population Census, Major Findings" (PDF). Belize: Central Statistical Office, Ministry of Budget Management. 2000. Archived from the original on 2007-06-21. http://web.archive.org/web/20070621080522/http://www.cso.gov.bz/publications/MF2000.pdf. Retrieved 2007-12-20.
- ^ "Belize Population and Housing Census 2000". CR: UCR. http://censos.ccp.ucr.ac.cr/. Retrieved 2010-04-21.
- ^ "Belize". World Factbook. CIA. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/bh.html. Retrieved 2011-02-05.
- ^ a b Williams, Carol J (2005-08-30). "Trinidad Says It Needs Spanish to Talk Business". Los Angeles Times. p. A3. http://articles.latimes.com/2005/aug/30/world/fg-spanish30. Retrieved 2009-09-10.
- ^ "FAQ". The Secretariat for The Implementation of Spanish. Trinidad and Tobago: Government of the Republic. http://web.archive.org/web/20101103080637/http://www.tradeind.gov.tt/SIS/FAQ.htm. Retrieved 2012-01-10.
- ^ (in Portuguese) Mercosul, http://www.mercosur.int/msweb/portal%20intermediario/pt/ .
- ^ "Spanish becomes second language in Brazil". Mercopress. 2005-07-08. http://en.mercopress.com/2005/07/08/spanish-becomes-second-language-in-brazil. Retrieved 2010-11-06.
- ^ Lipski, John M (2006). Face, Timothy L; Klee, Carol A. eds. "Too close for comfort? the genesis of "portuñol/portunhol"" (PDF). Selected Proceedings of the 8th Hispanic Linguistics Symposium (Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project): 1–22. http://www.lingref.com/cpp/hls/8/paper1251.pdf. Retrieved 2008-12-29.
- ^ U.S. Census Bureau Hispanic or Latino by specific origin.
- ^ U.S. Census Bureau 1. Percent of People 5 Years and Over Who Speak Spanish at Home: 2006, U.S. Census Bureau 2. 34,044,945 People 5 Years and Over Who Speak Spanish at Home: 2006
- ^ U.S. Census Bureau (2007). "United States. S1601. Language Spoken at Home". 2005-2007 American Community Survey 3-Year Estimates. http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/STTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=01000US&-qr_name=ACS_2007_3YR_G00_S1601&-ds_name=ACS_2007_3YR_G00_. Retrieved September 3, 2009.
- ^ El País (Spanish)
- ^ United States Census BureauPDF (1.86 MB), Statistical Abstract of the United States: page 47: Table 47: Languages Spoken at Home by Language: 2003
- ^ "Equatorial Guinea (2000)". Ethnologue. http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=Equatorial+Guinea. Retrieved 2010-04-21.
- ^ "CIA World Factbook - Equatorial Guinea". CIA. 20 September 2007. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ek.html. Retrieved 2011-02-05.
- ^ (in Castilian) Quienes somos, Sahrawi Press Service, http://www.spsrasd.info/es/content/quienes-somos .
- ^ (official government site) Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, http://www.rasdstate.info/
- ^ Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic TV, http://www.rasd-tv.com/ .
- ^ Western Sahara: Poetry and Spanish — The Permanent Links, Global voices online, 2008‐7‐14, http://globalvoicesonline.org/2008/07/14/western-sahara-poetry-and-spanish-the-permanent-link/ .
- ^ "El Instituto Cervantes sigue ignorando a los saharauis" (in Castilian) (blog), Hazlo que debas, Google, 10 2007, http://hazloquedebas.blogspot.com/2007/10/el-instituto-cervantes-sigue-ignorando.html .
- ^ (blog) Generación de la Amistad saharaui, Google, http://www.generaciondelaamistad.blogspot.com/ .
- ^ The Languages of Morocco, Morocco.com, http://www.morocco.com/culture/language/ .
- ^ (in Castilian) Los cubanos, la élite de Sudán del Sur, FR: Radio France International, 2011‐7‐6, http://www.espanol.rfi.fr/africa/20110706-los-cubanos-la-elite-del-sudan-del-sur, retrieved 20 December 2011 .
- ^ "Estadisticas: El idioma español en Filipinas" (in Castilian). ES: Busco enlaces. 2000-11-15. http://buscoenlaces.es/kaibigankastila/rivera4.html. Retrieved 2010-11-06.
- ^ 1973 Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines, The corpus juris, Article XV, Section 3(3), http://www.thecorpusjuris.com/laws/constitutions/8-philippineconstitutions/68-1973-constitution.html, retrieved 2008-04-06
- ^ (Spanish) Instituto Nacional de Estadísticas
- ^ a b "2009 estimate" (PDF). UN. 2008. http://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/wpp2008/wpp2008_text_tables.pdf. Retrieved 2010-04-21.
- ^ Books of the year, Britannica, 2003—9 .
- ^ es:Anexo:Hablantes de español como lengua materna en el 2003 (según el Britannica Book).
- ^ Ethnologue (14th ed.) .
- ^ Joshua Project, 2000 .
- ^ People's List, US: Census Bureau .[unreliable source?]
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y (PDF) Eurobarometer, EU: Europa, 2006, http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_243_en.pdf .
- ^ es:Anexo:Hablantes de español en la U.E. según el Eurobarómetro (2006) for Europe countries
- ^ a b c d e f Spanish students for countries out of Europe according to "Cifras" (in Castilian) (PDF), Anuario, ES: Instituto Cervantes, http://cvc.cervantes.es/lengua/anuario/anuario_06-07/pdf/cifras.pdf (there aren't concrete sources about Spanish speakers as a second language except to Europe and Latin America countries).
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v (in Castilian) Demografía de la lengua española, ES, p. 28, http://eprints.ucm.es/8936/1/DT03-06.pdf , to countries with official spanish status.
- ^ (MS Excel) Estimate for 2012, UN, http://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp/Excel-Data/DB04_Population_ByAgeSex_Annual/WPP2010_DB4_F1B_POPULATION_BY_AGE_BOTH_SEXES_ANNUAL_2011-2100.XLS , formula used to sum population figures by age = SUMA (G445:W445).
- ^ 112,336,538 is the census population for 2010 (in Castilian) Comunicado de prensa, MX: INEGI, http://www.inegi.org.mx/inegi/contenidos/espanol/prensa/comunicados/rpcpyv10.asp .
- ^ "MX", The World Factbook, USA: CIA, https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/mx.html : Spanish only 92.7%
- ^ Population clock, US: Census Bureau, http://www.census.gov/population/www/popclockus.html .
- ^ Hispanics older than 5 years old ( Table, US: Census Bureau, 2010, http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_10_1YR_S1601&prodType=table )
- ^ Academia Norteamericana de la Lengua Española, El castellano, http://www.elcastellano.org/noticia.php?id=1113 .
- ^ Ansón, José Ma, José Ma. Ansón: "Casi cincuenta millones" hablan español en EE. UU., El Castellano, http://www.elcastellano.org/noticia.php?id=685 .
- ^ Ramos Avalos, Jorge, Univisión, http://www.univision.com/content/content.jhtml?cid=1145765 .
- ^ Rodríguez Barilari, Elbio (in Castilian), Congresos de la lengua, ES, http://congresosdelalengua.es/valparaiso/ponencias/lengua_comunicacion/rodriguez_elbio.htm .
- ^ (in Castilian) Más de 70 expertos participaran en la III Acta Internacional de la Lengua Española, ES: ABC de Sevilla, 2008‐3‐29, http://www.abcdesevilla.es/hemeroteca/historico-29-03-2008/sevilla/Cultura/mas-de-70-expertos-participaran-en-la-iii-acta-internacional-de-la-lengua-espa%C3%B1ola-en-la-rabida_1641753752939.html .
- ^ CNN en español restructures its programming, The New York Times, 2011‐3‐13, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/13/arts/television/cnn-en-espanol-restructures-its-programming.html (The United States is now the second-largest Spanish-speaking country in the world, with more Spanish speakers than Spain, and exceeded only by Mexico).
- ^ There are 50,477,594 Hispanic people from a total US population of more than 308 million according to the (table) Population estimate, US: Census Bureau, 2010, http://www.census.gov/popest/states/asrh/tables/SC-EST2009-04.xls . Almost 37 million Hispanics older than 5 speak Spanish at home, so there are 13.5 million posible Spanish speakers as a second language with differents knowladges. In addition, there are 6 ( (in Castilian) (PDF) Enciclopedia del español en el mundo, ES: Cervantes, http://www.cervantes.es/docs/Enciclopedia_del_espa%C3%B1ol_en_el_mundo.pdf ) or 7.8 ("1", Español, Fundacion Siglo, http://www.fundacionsiglo.com/espanol/cap1.pdf ) million Spanish students in USA, many of them are not Hispanics. Finally, there are 9 million illegal Hispanics in USA, some of them aren't in the census ( (in Castilian) (editorial) Pálidos de hambre, Impre, 2009‐4‐19, http://www.impre.com/laraza/opinion/editorial/2009/4/19/palidos-de-hambre-120230-1.html ).
- ^ "Datos básicos" (in Spanish). ES: INE. 2001-05-28. http://www.ine.es/. Retrieved 2012.
- ^ 89.0% speak Spanish as a first language ( (PDF) Eurobarometer, Europa, 2006, http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_243_en.pdf )
- ^ "Reloj animado" (in Castilian). CO: DANE. http://www.dane.gov.co/reloj/reloj_animado.php. Retrieved 2010-09-01.
- ^ There are 500,000 speakers of American Indian languages ("CO", Ethnologue, http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=CO )
- ^ (MS Excel) Estimate for 2012, UN, http://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp/Excel-Data/DB04_Population_ByAgeSex_Annual/WPP2010_DB4_F1B_POPULATION_BY_AGE_BOTH_SEXES_ANNUAL_2011-2100.XLS — formula used to sum population figures by age =SUM (G449:W449)).
- ^ 40,872,286 is the census population for 2010 Censo, AR: INDEC, 2010, http://www.censo2010.indec.gov.ar/ .
- ^ There are 4,566,891 people who speak other language as their mother tongue (main languages: 1,500,000 Italian, 1,000,000 Arabic, 855,000 Quechua, 400,000 German, 200,000 Paraguayan Guaraní, 200,000 Eastern Yiddish): "AR", Ethnologue, http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=AR . Spanish is the only official language and is spoken by nearly all the population. Italian, Arabic and the indigenous South American language Quechua are also spoken by about 1 million or more people each. "Argentina", Spanish, About, http://spanish.about.com/cs/culture/p/argentinapr.htm .
- ^ UN estimate for 2012 (excel formula used to sum population figures by age =SUMA(G461:W461)).
- ^ There are 1,076,953 people who speak other language as their mother tongue (main languages: Chinese 400,000, Portuguese 254,000, Wayuu 170,000, Arabic 110,000): Ethnologue.
- ^ Ezio Quispe Fernández. "(2012)". INEI. http://www.inei.gob.pe/perucifrasHTM/inf-dem/cuadro.asp?cod=11228&name=po16&ext=gif. Retrieved 2010-04-21.
- ^ Spanish (official) 84.1%, Quechua (official) 13%, Aymara 1.7%, Ashaninka 0.3%, other native languages (includes a large number of minor Amazonian languages) 0.7%, other 0.2% (2007 Census): cia.gov. There are 5,782,260 people who speak other language as mother tongue (main languages: Quechua (among 32 Quechua's varieties) 4,773,900 , Aymara (2 varieties) 661 000, Chinese 100,000). Ethnologue
- ^ "INE (Chile - 2012, page 36)" (PDF). http://www.ine.cl/canales/chile_estadistico/demografia_y_vitales/proyecciones/Informes/Microsoft%20Word%20-%20InforP_T.pdf. Retrieved 2010-04-21.
- ^ There are 249,503 people who speak another language, mainly Mapudungun (200.000): Ethnologue
- ^ UN estimate for 2012 (excel formula used to sum population figures by age =SUMA(G454:W454)). 14,483,499 is the census population for 2010 (INEC).
- ^ There are 2,398,800 people who speak another language, mainly American Indian languages (2,300,000).: Ethnologue
- ^ "People to 2012 in Guatemala ("Proyección de Población por municipio 2008-2020")". INE. 2007-09-21. http://www.ine.gob.gt/np/poblacion/index.htm. Retrieved 2011-02-05.
- ^ Spanish (official) 60%, Amerindian languages 40%: cia.gov
- ^ a b c d e f "UN (2010)". http://www.one.cu/aec2009/datos/3.1.xls. Retrieved 2011-02-05.
- ^ ethnologue.com
- ^ There are 218,500 people who speak other language as mother tongue (main language: Haitian with 159,000 speakers). Ethnologue
- ^ "(2010)". INE. http://www.ine.gov.bo/indice/visualizador.aspx?ah=PC20410.HTM. Retrieved 2010-04-21.
- ^ According to the 1992 Census, 58 per cent of the population speaks Spanish as its mother tongue. unicef.org
- ^ "INE (2011)". http://www.ine.gob.hn/drupal/sites/default/files/Resumen%20de%20la%20Proyeccion%20de%20Poblacion%20de%20Honduras%202001-2015_0.xls. Retrieved 2011-02-05.
- ^ There are 207,750 people who speak another language, mainly Garifuna (98,000).: Ethnologue
- ^ Census 2010 estimation (page 32)
- ^ There are 14,100 people who speak other language as their mother tongue (main language, Kekchí with 12,300 speakers): Ethnologue.
- ^ Official INSEE estimate to 1/1/2011
- ^ 1% of 44,010,619 (population of France older than 15 years in 2005). Source: Eurobarometer 2006. There are 189,909 immigrants from Spain according to INE (1/1/2011)
- ^ There are 490,124 people who speak another language, mainly Mískito (154,000).: Ethnologue
- ^ Morocco census
- ^ "ethnologue.com". ethnologue.com. http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=MA. Retrieved 2010-04-21.
- ^ there are between 4 and 7 million Spanish speakers in Morocco (Ammadi, 2002) educacion.es
- ^ According to a survey made in 2005 by CIDOB, 21.6% of the population speak Spanish (realinstitutoelcano.org, afapredesa.org). According to the Morocco Census of 2004, the Morocco population is 29,680,069 (hcp.ma)
- ^ IBGE, BR, 2010, http://www.ibge.gov.br/home/presidencia/noticias/noticia_visualiza.php?id_noticia=1766&id_pagina=1 .
- ^ (PDF) UCM, p. 32, http://eprints.ucm.es/8936/1/DT03-06.pdf, "50% of 733,000 foreigners in Brazil are from Mercosur" .
- ^ 92,260 spanish immigrants (INE (1/1/2011)) + 1,258 (in 2000).
- ^ 2009 Annuary of the Instituto Cervantes: More than 5 million students are learning Spanish. elcastellano.org,elespectador.com, 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. Instituto Cervantes: More than 1 million of spanish students in the private school and almost 11 million estimated for 2010 in the public school.
- ^ "Primera variación del año registró un 0,68%". INEC. http://www.inec.go.cr/Web/Home/GeneradorPagina.aspx. Retrieved 2011-02-05.
- ^ [There are 85,418 people who speak another language.: http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=CR Ethnologue]
- ^ dgeec.gov.py (July 1, 2010)
- ^ According to the 1992 census, 50% use both Spanish and the indigenous language Guarani at home, 37% speak Guarani only, 7% speak Spanish only.findarticles.com. About 75 percent can speak Spanish.pressreference.com
- ^ 95.10% of the population speaks Spanish (U.S. Census Bureau)
- ^ Eurostat 2010
- ^ 90,000 Colombians in 2003, Migration information, http://www.migrationinformation.org/Profiles/display.cfm?ID=344 + 64,317 Spanish in 2011, INE, ES, http://www.ine.es/jaxi/tabla.do?path=/t20/p85001/a2011/l0/&file=01001.px&type=pcaxis&L=0 + 10,455 Mexicans in 2009, "Update 2006–9" (PDF), Facs and figures, ENG, UK: London government, http://www.london.gov.uk/gla/publications/factsandfigures/dmag-update-2006-09.pdf | + 7,554 Argentinians in 2008, Argentina profile, IOM, http://publications.iom.int/bookstore/free/argentina_profile.pdf + 5,131 Chileans in 2004 "Registro de chilenos", Chile somos todos, CL: Chile government, http://www.chilesomostodos.gov.cl/descargas/cat_view/50-registro-de-chilenos.html + 7,410 Peruvians in 2008 Registro peruanos, Boletin de New York, http://www.boletindenewyork.com/registroperuanos.htm
- ^ There are 150,200 people who speak another language as mother tongue, UY, Ethnologue, http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=UY .
- ^ There are 501,043 people who speak another language as mother tongue: PA, Ethnologue, http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=PA .
- ^ Medium projection, PH: National Statistics Office, Mid-2010, http://www.census.gov.ph/data/sectordata/popproj_tab1r.html .
- ^ There are 2,930 immigrants from Spain according to INE, 2011-01-01, http://www.ine.es/jaxi/tabla.do?path=/t20/p85001/a2011/l0/&file=01001.px&type=pcaxis&L=0 .
- ^ 1,816,773 Spanish + 1,200,000 Spanish creole: Quilis, Antonio (1996) (PDF), La lengua española en Filipinas, Cervantes virtual, p. 234, http://www.cervantesvirtual.com/servlet/SirveObras/01350553135573500088680/209438_0013.pdf .
- ^ Ten Reasons, ES: Mepsyd, p. 23, http://www.mepsyd.es/exterior/au/es/File/Ten_Reasons_low-res(1).pdf .
- ^ Sanchez, David (2006), "Memória", Memória, ES: Mepsyd, p. 249, http://www.mepsyd.es/redele/Biblioteca2006/DavidSanchez/Memoria.pdf .
- ^ Philippines, Spanish differences, http://spanish-differences.com/Spanish/Philippines-Spanish.php .
- ^ Ares prensa, http://www.aresprensa.com/cms/cms/front_content.php?idart=208 .
- ^ The figure of 2 900 000 Spanish speakers is in Thompson, RW, Pluricentric languages: differing norms in different nations, p. 45, http://books.google.es/books?ei=vCXASpS0LqXkmwO0lZnlBg&ct=result&q=Pluricentric+languages%3A+differing+norms+in+different+nations+spanish+philippines+speakers&btnG=Buscar+libros .
- ^ World wide Spanish language, Sispain, http://www.sispain.org/spanish/language/worldwid.html .
- ^ More than 2 million Spanish speakers and around 3 million with Chavacano speakers according to Instituto Cervantes de Manila, El castellano, http://www.elcastellano.org/noticia.php?id=505 .
- ^ German census, DE: Destatis, 2011-01-01, http://www.destatis.de/jetspeed/portal/cms/Sites/destatis/Internet/DE/Content/Statistiken/Zeitreihen/LangeReihen/Bevoelkerung/Content75/lrbev03a,templateId=renderPrint.psml .
- ^ 108,469 Spanish ( Tabla, INE, 2011-01-01, http://www.ine.es/jaxi/tabla.do?path=/t20/p85001/a2011/l0/&file=01001.px&type=pcaxis&L=0 ) + 27,108 Peruvians ( (in Castilian) Registro peruanos, Boletín de New York, 2008, http://www.boletindenewyork.com/registroperuanos.htm ) + 13,313 Colombians ( Profile, Migration information, 2003, http://www.migrationinformation.org/Profiles/display.cfm?ID=344 ) + 12,520 Mexicans ([1]) + 7,140 Argentinians (in 2008) + 6,704 chileans ([2]) + 3,724 Ecuatorians ([3])
- ^ ISTAT 1/1/2011
- ^ 201,934 Peruvians (in 2008) + 120,000 Ecuatorians ([4]) + 64,000 Colombians (en 2003) + 18,116 Spanish (INE 2011) + 11,576 Argentinians (en 2008) + 3,485 Mexicanos + 3,138 Chileans
- ^ "Equatorial Guinea census". Population statistics. 2010. http://www.population-statistics.com/wg.php?x=&men=gpro&lng=es&dat=32&srt=pnan&col=dq&geo=-91. Retrieved 2010-04-21.
- ^ Spanish according to INE 2011
- ^ 13,7% of the population speaks Spanish natively and other 74% as a second language: "Anuario" (in Castilian) (PDF), CVC, ES: Cervantes, 2007–7, http://cvc.cervantes.es/lengua/anuario/anuario_06-07/pdf/paises_08.pdf .
- ^ Statcan, CA: GC, http://www.statcan.gc.ca/start-debut-eng.html .
- ^ PMB Statistics, Media in Canada, 2006‐10‐11, p. 2, http://www.mediaincanada.com/articles/mic/20061011/profile.html?page=2 (Spanish-speaking people over the age of 12). 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 ( Hispanos en Canada, CA, http://hispanosencanada.ca/portal/content/view/651/ )[dead link].
- ^ "2" (in Castilian) (article), Dialogos (CA) (3), http://dialogos.ca/revista/numero3/articulo2.htm .
- ^ Currently there are near 1 million: (press release) TLN en español is born, TLNTV, 2007, http://www.tlntv.com/pressReleases/2007/TLN%20EN%20ESPANOL%20is%20born.pdf .
- ^ Eurostat 1/1/2010
- ^ Spanish immigrants (INE 1/1/2011)
- ^ Netherland Census ClockPop
- ^ 30,300 colombians (in 2003), Spanish residents (INE 1/1/2011) + 7.804 Peruvians (en 2008 + 1.206 mexicans + 918 Chileans)
- ^ Eurostat estimate to 1/1/2011
- ^ 1% of 8,598,982 (population of Belgium older than 15 years in 2005). Source: Eurobarometer 2006
- ^ Sweden Census SCB (2002)
- ^ Page 32 of the "Demogeafía de la lengua española". 104,000 according to Britannica Book of the Year 2003
- ^ Page 32 of the Demografía de la lengua española "Demografía de la lengua española"
- ^ Between 150,000 and 200,000 in Tinduf (aprendemas.com) + 48,000 in Wilaya of Oran (page 31 of Demografía de la lengua española)
- ^ 50,000 sefardíes (Britannica Book of the Year 1998)[5] + 80,000 from Iberoamerica [6]
- ^ Pages 34, 35 of the "Demografía de la lengua española".
- ^ enlatino.com (There are in 2009 344,932 immigrants from latin america - 267,456 from Brazil + 1,476 from Spain in 2010 accordind to INE)
- ^ Centro Virtual Cervantes. "Britannica Book of the Year 1998". Cvc.cervantes.es. http://cvc.cervantes.es/lengua/anuario/anuario_99/otero/p03.htm#7. Retrieved 2010-04-21.
- ^ "all-about-switzerland.info". all-about-switzerland.info. http://www.all-about-switzerland.info/swiss-population-languages.html. Retrieved 2010-04-21.
- ^ a b Page 32 of Demografía de la lengua española
- ^ censo2010.aw
- ^ Page 32
- ^ cso.gov.tt (2010)
- ^ ethnologue.com
- ^ cervantes.es
- ^ 35.4% speak Spanish as a first language www.iea.ad
- ^ "www.iea.ad". www.iea.ad. http://www.iea.ad/cres/observatori/temes/llengua3trimestre2005.htm. Retrieved 2010-04-21.
- ^ "ANUARIO IC 2009" (PDF). http://www.cervantes.es/imagenes/File/prensa/anuario2009.pdf. Retrieved 2010-11-06.
- ^ stats.gov.cn
- ^ Spanish residents in China (INE, 2011)
- ^ cervantes.es (2011)
- ^ New Zealand census (2006)
- ^ Page 34 of the Demografía de la Lengua Española
- ^ turkstat.gov.tr
- ^ Spanish immigrants (INE (1/1/2011))
- ^ 8,000 (Page 37 of the Demografía de la lengua española) + 4,346 Spanish Students (according to the Instituto Cervantes)
- ^ The Spanish 1970 census claims 16.648 Spanish speakers in Western Sahara ([7]) but probably most of them were people born in Spain who left after the Moroccan annexation
- ^ According to Demografía de la lengua española (page 37), there are 2,397,380 Spanish or Latinoamerican immigrants in the E.U., but 1,490,564 are already counted
- ^ According to the Instituto Cervantes, there are 20,000,000 Spanish students (cervantes.es, elpais.com), but 15,138,973 are already counted, like 5 million students in Brazil. To avoid double counting, 6,000,000 students from U.S. are cosidered into the 14,531,499 second language speakers, 3,385,000 students are considered into the 18,922,281 speakers in the EU out of Spain according to the Eurobarometer, and 58,382 and 20,492 students are considered counted into the Morocco and Philippines Spanish speakers as a secondary language. 1,006 students in Trinidad and Tobago are also considered counted. es:Anexo:Estudiantes de español
- ^ census.gov
- ^ 450 million Spanish speakers ( (in Castilian) (acta) Conclusiones lengua española, Fundación Blu, I, http://www.fundacionblu.org/actaslengua/acta_conclusiones_lengua_espanola.asp?id=1 and (in Castilian) (acta) Lengua española, Fundación Blu, IV, http://www.fundacionblu.org/actaslengua/acta_lengua_espanola.asp?id=7 — International minutes of the Spanish language —, and Caffarel Casa América, ES: Instituto Cervantes, 2009, http://www.cervantes.es/sobre_instituto_cervantes/prensa/2009/noticias/caffarel_casa_america.htm ). 460 million Spanish speakers ( (PDF) Diario Hoy, 2007‐3‐25, http://pdf.diariohoy.net/2007/03/25/pdf/10-c.pdf , (in Castilian) Colombia conviertese en capital de la lengua española, ES: LNE, http://www.lne.es/sociedad-cultura/1583/colombia-convierte-capital-lengua-espanola/503977.html )
- ^ In addition to 462 million speakers with native knowledges, there are other Spanish speakers as a second language: 13 million speakers as a second language in USA. There are 18,922,281 speakers in the EU without Spain (es:Anexo:Hablantes de español en la U.E. según el Eurobarómetro (2006)), but 2,397,380 as a first language ( (PDF) ePrints, ES: UCM, p. 37, http://eprints.ucm.es/8936/1/DT03-06.pdf ) are already counted. There are 5,480,000 and 3,014,115 speakers as a secondary language in Morocco and Philippines. There are 20,000,000 students according to the Instituto Cervantes ( (nota resumen) Conferencia Sevilla, ES: Cervantes, 20011, http://www.cervantes.es/sobre_instituto_cervantes/prensa/2011/noticias/nota_resumen_conferencia_sevilla.htm ).
- ^ Eleanor Greet Cotton, John M. Sharp (1988) Spanish in the Americas, Volume 2, pp.154-155, URL
- ^ Lope Blanch, Juan M. (1972) En 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 URL.
- ^ Random House Unabridged Dictionary. Random House Inc.. 2006.
- ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (4th ed.). Houghton Mifflin Company. 2006.
- ^ Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary. MICRA, Inc.. 1998.
- ^ "Encarta World English Dictionary". Encarta World English Dictionary. Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.. 2007. http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_1861595345/Castilian.html. Retrieved 2008-08-05.
- ^ Penny, Ralph (2000). Variation and Change in Spanish. Cambridge University Press. p. 199. ISBN 0-521-78045-4. "whatever might be claimed by other centres, such as Valladolid, it was educated varieties of Madrid Spanish that were mostly regularly reflected in the written standard.."
- ^ The IPA symbol "turned y" (ʎ), with its "tail" leaning to the right, resembles, but is technically different from, the Greek letter lambda (λ), whose tail leans to the left.
- ^ Harris (1969:538)
- ^ a b "Real Academia Española" (in (Spanish)). Buscon.rae.es. http://buscon.rae.es/dpdI/. Retrieved 2010-04-21.
- ^ Katia Salamanca de Abreu, review of Humberto López Morales, Estudios sobre el español de Cuba (New York: Editorial Las Américas, 1970), in Thesaurus, 28 (1973), 138-146.
- ^ "3 Guys From Miami: Fruta Bomba". Cuban-food-usa.com. http://cuban-food-usa.com/terms/fruta-bomba.html. Retrieved 2010-04-21.
- ^ "papaya". Urban Dictionary. http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=papaya&defid=151242. Retrieved 2010-04-21.
- ^ a b "Spanish". ethnologue. http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=spa.
- ^ Often considered to be a substratum word. Other theories suggest, on the basis of what is used to make cheese, a derivation from Latin brandeum (originally meaning a linen covering, later a thin cloth for relic storage) through an intermediate root *brandea. For the development of the meaning, cf. Spanish manteca, Portuguese manteiga, probably from Latin mantica ('sack'), Italian formaggio and French fromage from formaticus. Romanian Explanatory Dictionary
- ^ a b c Alfassa, Shelomo (December 1999). "Ladinokomunita". Foundation for the Advancement of Sephardic Studies and Culture. http://www.sephardicstudies.org/quickladino.html. Retrieved 4 February 2010.
- ^ Diccionario Panhispánico de Dudas, 1st ed.
- ^ Real Academia Española, Explanation at Spanish Pronto (Spanish), (English)
- ^ "Abecedario" (in (Spanish)). Diccionario panhispánico de dudas. Real Academia Española. 2005. http://buscon.rae.es/dpdI/SrvltConsulta?lema=abecedario. Retrieved 2008-06-23.
- ^ Ch, en Diccionario de la lengua española de la Real Academia Española
- ^ Ll, en Diccionario de la lengua española de la Real Academia Española
- ^ "Scholarly Societies Project". Lib.uwaterloo.ca. http://www.lib.uwaterloo.ca/society/history/1713rae.html. Retrieved 2010-11-06.
- ^ Batchelor, Ronald Ernest (1992). Using Spanish: a guide to contemporary usage. Cambridge University Press. pp. 318. ISBN 0-521-26987-3. http://books.google.com.mx/books?id=eEWZL1j9ig8C&pg=PA4&dq=real+academia+espa%C3%B1ola+recognized&hl=en&sa=X&ei=tXQFT6TLHOTW2AWEjfm2Ag&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false.
- ^ "Association of Spanish Language Academies" (in Spanish). Asale. http://www.asale.org/ASALE/asale.html. Retrieved 2011-02-05.
- ^ "Real Academia Española". Spain: RAE. http://www.rae.es/rae/gestores/gespub000001.nsf/voTodosporId/CEDF300E8D943D3FC12571360037CC94?OpenDocument&i=0. Retrieved 2010-11-06.
- ^ "Academia Colombiana de la Lengua" (in Spanish). Colombia. http://www.asale.org/ASALE/ConAALEBD?IDDOC=30202&menu=2. Retrieved 2011-02-05.
- ^ "Academia Ecuatoriana de la Lengua" (in Spanish). Ecuador. http://www.asale.org/ASALE/ConAALEBD?IDDOC=30302&menu=2. Retrieved 2011-02-05.
- ^ "Academia Mexicana de la Lengua". Mexico. 2010-09-22. http://www.academia.org.mx/historia.php. Retrieved 2010-11-06.
- ^ "Academia Salvadoreña de la Lengua". El Salvador. http://www.asl.org.sv/Informacion%20institucional.htm. Retrieved 2011-02-05.
- ^ "Academia Venezolana de la Lengua" (in Spanish). Venezuela. http://www.asale.org/ASALE/ConAALEBD?IDDOC=30602&menu=2. Retrieved 2011-02-05.
- ^ "Academia Chilena de la Lengua". Chile. http://www.institutodechile.cl/lengua/resena.htm. Retrieved 2010-11-06.
- ^ "Academia Peruana de la Lengua". Peru. http://www.academiaperuanadelalengua.org/academia/historia. Retrieved 2010-11-06.
- ^ "Academia Guatemalteca de la Lengua" (in Spanish). Guatemala. http://www.asale.org/ASALE/ConAALEBD?IDDOC=30902&menu=2. Retrieved 2011-02-05.
- ^ "Academia Costarricense de la Lengua". Costa Rica. http://www.acl.ac.cr/i_q.php. Retrieved 2010-11-06.
- ^ "Academia Filipina de la Lengua Española" (in Spanish). Philippines. http://www.asale.org/ASALE/ConAALEBD?IDDOC=31102&menu=2. Retrieved 2011-02-05.
- ^ "Academia Panameña de la Lengua". Panama. http://apalengua.apalengua.org/historia. Retrieved 2010-11-06.
- ^ "Academia Cubana de la Lengua". Cuba. http://www.acul.ohc.cu/. Retrieved 2010-11-06.
- ^ "Academia Paraguaya de la Lengua Española". Paraguay. http://www.aparle.org/origenes.asp. Retrieved 2011-02-05.
- ^ "Academia Dominicana de la Lengua". República Dominicana. http://www.academia.org.do/content/blogsection/12/46/. Retrieved 2011-02-05.
- ^ "Academia Boliviana de la Lengua". Bolivia. http://www.abolen.org/Historia.html. Retrieved 2011-02-05.
- ^ "Academia Nicaragüense de la Lengua" (in Spanish). Nicaragua. http://www.asale.org/ASALE/ConAALEBD?IDDOC=31702&menu=2. Retrieved 2011-02-05.
- ^ "Academia Argentina de Letras". Argentina. 2010-03-25. http://www.letras.edu.ar/. Retrieved 2011-02-05.
- ^ "Academia Nacional de Letras del Uruguay". Uruguay. http://www.mec.gub.uy/academiadeletras/MarcoPrincipal.htm. Retrieved 2011-02-05.
- ^ "Academia Hondureña de la Lengua" (in Spanish). Honduras. http://www.asale.org/ASALE/ConAALEBD?IDDOC=32002&menu=2. Retrieved 2011-02-05.
- ^ "Academia Puertorriqueña de la Lengua Española". Puerto Rico. http://www.academiapr.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=35&Itemid=61. Retrieved 2011-02-05.
- ^ "Academia Norteamericana de la Lengua Española". United States. http://www.anle.us/. Retrieved 2011-02-05.
- ^ A First Spanish Reader, by Erwin W. Roessler and Alfred Remy
260. ^ http://www.onetoonespanish.co.uk/
- Abercrombie, David (1967). Elements of General Phonetics. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
- Cressey, William Whitney (1978). Spanish Phonology and Morphology: A Generative View. Georgetown University Press. ISBN 0‐87840‐045‐1.
- Eddington, David (2000). "Spanish Stress Assignment within the Analogical Modeling of Language". Language (Language) 76 (1): 92–109. DOI:10.2307/417394. JSTOR 417394. http://linguistics.byu.edu/faculty/eddingtond/STRESS.pdf.
- Harris, James (1967). "Sound Change in Spanish and the Theory of Markedness". Language (Language) 45 (3): 538–52. DOI:10.2307/411438. JSTOR 411438.
- Martínez-Celdrán, Eugenio; Fernández-Planas, Ana Ma.; Carrera-Sabaté, Josefina (2003). "Castilian Spanish". Journal of the International Phonetic Association 33 (2): 255–59. DOI:10.1017/S0025100303001373.
- (XLS) Population by age, both sexes, annual; estimate for 2012, UN, http://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp/Excel-Data/DB04_Population_ByAgeSex_Annual/WPP2010_DB4_F1B_POPULATION_BY_AGE_BOTH_SEXES_ANNUAL_2011-2100.XLS .
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Articles related to the Spanish language
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Linguistics
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Dialects and accents of Spanish (Castilian) by continent
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