A Brief History of the Spanish Language
- Paravoz.es
- Apr 17
- 3 min read
Origin and History of the Spanish Language
The history of the Spanish language is a fascinating journey from its Latin roots through Arabic and Visigothic influences to its modern world language. Spanish (Castilian, castellano) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family and descends from the Vulgar Latin spoken in the Roman Empire.
In 218 BC, the Romans began their conquest of the Iberian Peninsula (modern Spain and Portugal), spreading Latin. Over time, a simplified version, Vulgar Latin, developed and became the base of the Spanish language.
Local Languages Before the Romans
Before Roman rule, the Iberian Peninsula had many native languages, most of which disappeared under Latin influence:
Iberian – spoken on the eastern coast (Catalonia, Valencia, Andalusia), of uncertain origin, and its script remains partially undeciphered.
Celtiberian – a Celtic language in central and northern Spain, vanished after Romanization but left traces in toponyms and words like camisa (shirt).
Basque (Euskera) – the only pre-Roman language still spoken today. It is unrelated to other languages but influenced Spanish in words (izquierda – left) and place names (Navarra, Ebro).
Visigothic Influence (5th–8th centuries)
After the fall of Rome, the Visigoths, a Germanic tribe, ruled the peninsula. They soon adopted Latin but contributed:
New words: guerra (war), robar (to steal), guardar (to guard), espía (spy).
Surname endings like -ez (Fernández, Rodríguez).
Sound changes like f → h (ferrum → hierro).
Arabic Influence (8th–15th centuries)
In 711, Arabs conquered much of Spain, ruling for around 800 years and leaving a deep linguistic mark:
Around 4,000 Arabic words entered Spanish, especially in science, trade, and daily life: almohada (pillow), azúcar (sugar), alcázar (fortress), álgebra, cifra (number).
Many Spanish words of Arabic origin start with al-, the Arabic definite article.
The expression ojalá comes from In shaa Allah ("if God wills") and expresses hope or desire:
¡Ojalá venga! – I hope he comes!
Ojalá no llueva mañana. – I hope it doesn’t rain tomorrow.
Ojalá pudiera ayudarte. – If only I could help you.
Formation of Castilian (10th–15th centuries)
During the Reconquista (Christian wars against the Moors), the Castilian dialect spread and became the foundation of modern Spanish.Interestingly, Portuguese was once preferred by the nobility, while Castilian was the language of commoners and soldiers.In the 13th century, King Alfonso X the Wise made Castilian the official administrative language.In 1492, three major events occurred:
The end of the Reconquista (fall of Granada).
Columbus's discovery of America.
Publication of the first Spanish grammar by Antonio de Nebrija.
Spanish Expansion (16th–18th centuries)
From the 16th century, Spanish spread to Latin America. Local dialects emerged, but in 1713 the Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) was founded to standardize the language.
Modern Spanish (19th–21st centuries)
Today, Spanish is one of the most spoken languages globally:
Over 580 million speakers.
Official language in 21 countries.
One of the 6 official UN languages.Despite regional variation, media and the RAE help maintain a common literary standard.
Spanish is the second most spoken language by native speakers (after Mandarin Chinese).
Over 50 million people speak Spanish in the U.S.
One of the fastest-growing languages worldwide.Spanish is the result of centuries of evolution, influenced by Latin, Arabic, Visigothic, and native languages — and continues evolving with English and technology.
