Names given to the Spanish language

For personal names in the Spanish language, see Spanish naming customs.

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There are two names given to the Spanish language: Spanish (español) and Castilian (castellano). Spanish speakers from different countries or backgrounds can show a preference for one term or the other, or use them indiscriminately, but political issues or common usage might lead speakers to prefer one term over the other. This article identifies the differences between those terms, the countries or backgrounds that show a preference for one or the other, and the implications the choice of words might have for a native Spanish speaker.

Generally speaking, both terms can refer to the Spanish language as a whole, with a preference for one over the other that depends on the context or the speaker's origin. Castilian (castellano) has another, more restricted, meaning, relating either to the old romance language spoken in the Kingdom of Castile in the Middle Ages, predecessor of the modern Spanish language, or to the variation of Spanish nowadays spoken in the historical region of Castile, in central Spain.

History of the terms

See also: History of the Spanish language, Iberian Romance languages, Spanish colonization of the Americas, History of Spain, History of South America, and Kingdom of Castile

Originally Castilian (castellano) referred to the language of the Kingdom of Castile, one of several northern kingdoms that spread across the Iberian Peninsula through the Middle Ages, from about the 8th to the 15th centuries. The first recorded example of written Castilian/Spanish is the Glosas Emilianenses, a document from the eleventh century. This protoromanic language is no longer spoken, but can be read in many texts such as El cantar del Mio Cid. This language derived from Latin and evolved into the modern Spanish.

However, the term Spanish (español) is a more recent term that first referred to Spain as a country, and then to the predominant language spoken in that country. Spain as a truly unified nation appeared centuries later than the language and the Kingdom of Castile; in fact, it was only in 1469 that the marital union between the Kingdoms of Castile and Aragon gave way to the modern Kingdom of Spain. The actual legal unification date is disputed, but commonly agreed to have occurred not earlier than the eighteenth century. Only then did the Castilian language begin to be commonly called Spanish.

In 1492, the arrival of Christopher Columbus on a Castilian-paid expedition paved the way for the Spanish colonization of the Americas. As a result of this process, many countries in South America now speak the same language as Castile. Until about the eighteenth century, the Kingdom of Castile, and not Spain as a whole, was the colonizing power and the language used was called Castilian. Thus, some American countries formerly under the Spanish rule have retained the custom of calling it castellano, while others switched to calling it español at some point or the other, with many other different factors influencing the final choice.

In English, the term Spanish relates both to the language and to the nation. The noun used for a person from Spain is Spaniard, with the collective noun the Spanish. The term Castilian is much less widespread amongst English speakers than the term Spanish.

To understand how two terms can refer to the same language, imagine that the English language were sometimes called English after the historical nation whose language it is but also sometimes British after the modern state, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, of which it is the official language. To add to the complexity, former British colonies such as British North America would have had to choose a name for the language as well as the speakers of Welsh and other non-English languages in the United Kingdom. That would resemble the situation with Spain and its historical centre, Castile.

History of the term 'Castilian'

Castile (in Spanish: Castilla) means Castle-land, from castiello plus the suffix -ia, giving Castiella, a form that survives in the Leonese language and can be seen in mediaeval Castilian texts such as the Lay of the Cid. Modern Spanish has transformed all words ending in -iello, -iella into -illo, -illa. The adjective derived from Castilla is castellano, or 'Castilian', in English. Castellano also means 'castellan', i.e. a castle master. There is a comic scene based on the play on words (Castilian/castellan) in Don Quijote.

The region was thus named because it was a frontier land controlled from a series of fortified castles. It shared borders with rival Moorish Spain and the Christian kingdoms of Navarre and Aragon.

History of the term 'Spanish'

Hispania was the name given to the Iberian Peninsula by the Romans when they discovered and later subjugated it. The name was previously Canaanite אי שפנים (ʾî šəpānîm), meaning 'island of hyraxes', named by Canaanite-speaking Phoenicians who mistook Spain's large rabbit population for hyraxes that roamed the Iberian Peninsula in ancient times^{[dubious – discuss]} (although today, the Spanish population of wild rabbits is not quite as abundant as it was then due to the introduction of the myxomatosis virus to mainland Europe in 1950). The Romans called its inhabitants hispani (singular: hispanus), and the relevant adjective was hispanicus. These terms would naturally have developed into España, *espanos (singular: *espano) and *espánego in Castilian. In reality, only the first term exists in modern Castilian, as it seems that the Spanish borrowed the Occitan name for themselves, which was the name España plus the diminutive suffix -ol, from the Latin -ulus or -olus. We can see this because if the native Castilian suffix had been used this would have given us *españuelo rather than español.

The term español, which was adopted by several languages — and transformed according to their own phonology and grammar rules — to designate the Spanish people and their language, is from medieval Latin Hispaniolus (literally, "little Hispanian"), a form that evolved later, by hypercorrection, to the written form Spaniolus (note that, by that time, the Latin h had become silent, causing the word to be pronounced [ispaˈnjolu]), and the prosthetic vowel [i] (used in spoken Latin for euphonic reasons) opened to [e], giving the present word.^[1]

As the branches of Vulgar Latin began to evolve into separate Romance languages, the term that would evolve into español began to be used to refer to these derivative languages (especially as opposed to the Arabic and Hebrew of the Moorish and Jewish inhabitants of Iberia). It was at first a general term that embraced the various dialects of Iberian Romance spoken in the area, including the forebears of modern Portuguese, Galician, Castilian and Catalan. However, with the rise of Castile as a power, and its absorption of all surrounding regions into an ever-growing empire that eventually spread to the New World, the term España was eventually equated with the peninsular territories ruled by the Crown. With this, the break with the Roman concept of Hispania was complete, and the term acquired its modern meaning of 'all of Iberia except for Portugal and Andorra'. Similarly, español came to be used to refer to the common language of this new country: Castilian.

The terms España and español spread to other languages. The English name 'Spain' is from the French Espagne. 'Spanish' is 'Spain' plus the English suffix -ish. The term continues evolving as other languages adapt these words to form their own name for Spain — for example, Japanese スペイン語 (Supein-go), 'Spanish language', and スペイン人 (Supein-jin), 'Spaniard', derives from the Japanese word for Spain, スペイン (Supein), which, in turn, derives from English 'Spain'. In Chinese though, the word is directly taken from Spanish (or perhaps even Latin) rather than English: they say 西班牙 (Pinyin phonetic symbols: xībānyá) for Spain and 西班牙语 (Pinyin: xībānyá yǔ) , or the abbreviation 西語 (Pinyin: xī yǔ) for the Spanish language. The Arabic إسبانية (isbāniya) for Spain derives directly from the word España: the absence of "p" in the Arabic alphabet makes it a "b", and the sound "ñ" is transformed into "n". إسباني (isbāni) is the name for Spanish, with the same end of عربي ('arabī that means "Arabic").

In Guatemala, although Spanish is the official language, the Mayans, the original inhabitants of the region, call it "la castilla", keeping the original name from colonial times. Mayans speak at least 22 different "Mayan" languages and dialects (Mam, Pocomam, cak'chikel, tzu'tuhil, kek'chi, ki'che, etc.).

While Espanyol is used in Tagalog and other languages of the Philippines, the word Kastilà is more frequently used. Furthermore Katsila is also used among those who speak Visayan languages like Cebuano.

* denotes an unattested or hypothetical form.

Usage of the term "cristiano" (Christian)

During the presence of Moors in Hispania, Spanish was sometimes given the name cristiano to distinguish it from the Arabic and Hebrew languages. Spanish also marked Christians from Amerindians. This term is still used today to refer to the language, though usually jocularly.

The expression Hábleme en cristiano "talk to me in Christian", uttered to people not speaking Spanish at the moment, is used in opposition of the other Spanish languages, which is felt as annoying by them (Catalonia, Galicia and the Basque Country, but not in America). "Háblame en cristiano" is also a phrase used for ask for clarification in a conversation, when the topic/point of the discussion is not clear or is vaguely (hesitantly) hinted by one of the speakers.

History of the term 'Language of Cervantes'

Spanish is often referred to in educated circles as 'the Language of Cervantes' or la lengua de Cervantes, in reference to Don Quixote author Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, a usage akin to that of Shakespeare for English, Dante for Italian, etc.

Academic choice of words

In Spain, the Royal Spanish Academy is recognized as a normative body that rules on the orthography and general usage rules of the language. The Academy used el castellano from the 18th century, but since 1923 its dictionary and grammar are de la lengua española ("of the Spanish language"). The Academy's usage of one term is not necessarily a condemnation of the other.

There are many other Academies (grouped under the Association of Spanish Language Academies) that may or may not have an official normative recognition, but nevertheless cooperate in the creation of the Diccionario Panhispánico de Dudas (a compendium of corrected typical mistakes and doubts). In this dictionary, whose production was agreed upon by the 22 different Spanish Language Academies, we are told:

Para designar la lengua común de España y de muchas naciones de América, y que también se habla como propia en otras partes del mundo, son válidos los términos castellano y español. La polémica sobre cuál de estas denominaciones resulta más apropiada está hoy superada. [...] Aun siendo sinónimo de español, resulta preferible reservar el término castellano para referirse al dialecto románico nacido en el Reino de Castilla durante la Edad Media, o al dialecto del español que se habla actualmente en esa región. When naming the common language of Spain and of many American nations, which is also spoken as a first language in other parts of the world, the terms Castilian and Spanish are [both] valid. The debate on which of these designations is more appropriate is nowadays overcome. [...] Although it is a synonym of Spanish, it is preferable to keep the term Castilian to refer to the Romance dialect born in the Kingdom of Castile during the Middle Ages, or to the dialect of Spanish currently spoken in that region.

—Diccionario Panhispánico de Dudas, 2005

Thus, even if both terms are allowed in Spanish, the usage of el español is recommended for the language as a whole. However, popular choice of terms is not so clear, with other factors such as customs or politics coming in.

Usage in Spain

Spaniards tend to call the language el español (Spanish) when contrasting it to languages of other states, such as in a list with French (francés), Chinese (chino), etc. El castellano (Castilian) by contrast, is more often used when contrasting the language with other regional languages of Spain: official languages like Basque, Catalan and Galician or unofficial ones like Aragonese, Asturian, Extremaduran, Leonese and so on. In this manner, the Spanish Constitution of 1978 uses the term el castellano to define the official language of the whole State, opposed to las demás lenguas españolas (lit. the other Spanish languages). Article III reads in part:

El castellano es la lengua española oficial del Estado. Todos los españoles tienen el deber de conocerla y el derecho a usarla. Las demás lenguas españolas serán también oficiales en las respectivas Comunidades Autónomas... Castilian is the official Spanish language of the State. All Spaniards have the duty to know it and the right to use it. The other Spanish languages shall also be official in their respective Autonomous Communities...

—Spanish Constitution of 1978

This choice of words can however vary depending on many factors, including the origin of the speaker or some political nuances.

Bilingual and multilingual regions of Spain

In the regions where regional languages are spoken, there is obviously a daily need to make the contrast between the national language and the regional language, and so the national language is most often referred to as Castilian, particularly in the regional languages themselves (e.g. espanyol is virtually never used to refer to the Spanish language in Catalan: castellà is used instead.) This usage is often mirrored by educated English speakers when referring to the linguistic situation in Spain.

For some, this use of the term castellano is a political or cultural statement that Spanish is only the language of Castile and perhaps some areas that Castile colonised, but not the language of their region, where they consider the only legitimate language to be the regional one, i.e. Catalan, Basque, Galician, etc. This stance is common in regionalist circles.

Conversely, some nationalist circles prefer the term español because they perceive their ethnic community to be distinct from that of Spain, and therefore do not object to the language of Spain being called Spanish. In Basque-speaking regions, where the language is not of Romance origin — Basque is considered by many scholars to be a language isolate — some Basque speakers might even use the term erdara^[2] (lit. foreign) specifically for Spanish, since for them it is the prevalent foreign language - just as in the French Basque Country, "French language" is the usual meaning of erdara.

Monolingual regions of Spain

In monolingual regions, the implications are a little different. In these regions, there is no identity implication, but still they must choose one of the two terms. Castilians usually use the term el español, thus legitimately presenting it as the national language. However, they also frequently call it el castellano, either to assert their ownership or to distinguish it from the regional languages.

Monolingual regions outside of Castile include, mainly, Andalusia, but also other regions where the regional languages are not developed enough to be widely spoken by the majority of the population; this is the case of Extremadura, Cantabria or Aragon, for example. There, español may be used as in Castile to stress the national nature of the language, but with a slightly different nuance: they are accepting another region's historical language as their own. However, one must not forget that if Spanish is spoken in these regions it is due to the Reconquista.

Concept of a standard

The term castellano is occasionally used to imply more of a standard form than español does. For example, if someone mispronounces a word, they might be told ¡hable castellano!, i.e. 'Speak Castilian!', 'Speak properly!'. However, this nuance is not to be exaggerated, as it is perfectly possible that the term español or even, jocularly, cristiano ('Christian') could be used instead. Moreover, the term castellano is also commonly and correctly used to refer to dialects of Spanish that deviate dramatically from the standard.

Usage and implications in former colonies

Geographic distribution of the preferential use of terms castellano ("Castilian") vs. español ("Spanish").

Both names are commonly used in parts of the world colonized by Spanish speakers, such as Latin America and the Canary Islands. As in Spain, the implications are complex. The most common term used in Latin America is español, generally considered to be a neutral term simply reflecting the country the language came from. For people who use this term, castellano may possibly imply greater correctness as it sometimes does in Spain, or it may merely be an alien term, referring to a region in a far-off country.

However, some Latin Americans prefer the word castellano, especially in Argentina, Chile, and Peru. One reason for this is that many of the early Argentine settlers were Galicians,^[3] so castellano had the special connotation of standard Spanish as opposed to Galician. Reasons given generally include the idea that Spanish is an international language with historical origins in the old kingdom of Castile, and that the term español is imperialist, implying it is the language of Spain. One criticism of this reasoning is that Castile is the imperialist heart of Spain, and the engine that drove the colonization of the Americas, so castellano is just as 'bad' in these terms as español. However, the fact that Spain is still a major nation-state, whereas Castile is now a region buried within Spain and internationally forgotten, is the deciding psychological factor.

In practice, the use of one term or the other tends to be a matter of local customs, rather than reflecting any philosophical or political ideas.

However, in some Latin American nations, castellano may be used to specifically describe the variation(s) of the language spoken in the castellano speaking regions of Spain, while español would generally refer to Standard Spanish.

Some constitutions avoid the issue by talking about "the national language".

Castellano ('Castilian') is generally preferred in

• Argentina
• Colombia: the Colombian Constitution of 1991 uses the term ‘el castellano’ to define the official language of the State: “El castellano es el idioma oficial de Colombia.” (“Castilian is the official language of Colombia..)”
• El Salvador Castellano is used in Salvadoran Constitution.
• Paraguay
• Peru
• Uruguay

Alternation between both names

• Spain
• Bolivia: The Constitution Revision says castellano, a term schools also use, though español is still quite common in common speech.
• Chile: the media use the word español but schools officially teach castellano.
• Ecuador
• Venezuela
• Panama: the national constitution admits the use of any of the words.

Español ('Spanish') is generally preferred in

• United States
• Mexico
• Central America except El Salvador and Panama
• Cuba
• Dominican Republic
• Puerto Rico

Español castellano ('Castillian Spanish') is generally preferred in

• Philippines - a number of Spanish-speaking Filipinos considered their language as "Castillian Spanish" because this was the standard in Spanish language schools and colleges and since their independence from Spain. They treat regional languages in Spain as the following: Galician Spanish, Leonese Spanish, and others.
  • The general population has their own naming for Spanish: Kastila (Tagalog) and Kastila-on/Katsila (Cebuano and other Visayan languages). Philippine languages continue to employ the term Katsila or Kastila to refer to a Spaniard, and to the Spanish language.
  • The Philippines has their own Creole Spanish, Chavacano, and has regional varieties but not mutually intelligible to each other yet mutually intelligible to Spanish. The name itself in Spanish means "poor taste", "tacky", "coarse", and "low quality", as named for its poor Spanish grammar and lack of grammar conjugation.
    • Chavacano Zamboangueño - in Zamboanga City
    • Chavacano Caviteño - in Cavite City
    • Chavacano di (de) Ternate - in Ternate, Cavite
    • Chavacano de Davao - known as "Castellano Abakay" in Davao provinces and Davao City. Usually spoken in 2 styles:
      • "Chino" - Chinese style because it is spoken with Chinese accent, and
      • "Japones" - Japanese style because it is spoken with some Spanish words replaced with Japanese ones.

Usage and misconceptions abroad

This complex linguistic situation is obviously not always grasped by non-Spanish speakers (or even by Spanish speakers themselves). Some^[who?] believe that the term español is not used in Spanish, or only in Spain, and that the term Spanish is therefore wrong. So, it is not uncommon in some politically correct circles to write Castilian or even Castellano in English texts, calling Spanish incorrect or imperialist. This can even lead to their rejecting the official ISO 639 code for Spanish (es) in favor of ca, with the consequence that Catalan then would have to be given ct.^{[citation needed]}

Some philologists use "Castilian" only when speaking of the language spoken in Castile during the Middle Ages, stating that it is preferable to use "Spanish" for its modern form. The dialect of Spanish spoken in northern parts of modern Castile may also be called "Castilian." This dialect differs from those of other regions of Spain (Andalusia for example); the Castilian dialect is conventionally considered in Spain to be the same as standard Spanish.

Another use of Castilian in English is to distinguish between standard Spanish and regional dialects. As noted above, this distinction is made to some extent in Spanish, but not as far as some English speakers go — for example, websites with language selection screens giving the choice between Castilian Spanish and Latin American Spanish among other languages.

In the Americas, where Spanish is the native language of 20 countries, usage of castellano and español is sometimes reversed when referring to another nation. For example, a Peruvian, talking about a Uruguayan, might say Yo hablo en español peruano, él habla en español uruguayo, pero los dos hablamos castellano ("I speak Peruvian Spanish, he speaks Uruguayan Spanish, but we both speak Castilian"). This usage comes from the historical association of español with the language that was brought to America by conquistadores, and later transformed in each nation through daily usage, and castellano as the basis for all variants.

Other terms

Gonzalo de Berceo, one of the earlier authors in Castilian, named his language román paladino (i.e., "palace's romance") "in which a person talks to his neighbor", that is, direct talking, without affectation, in the most clear way someway can express (as good as in the palace or court).

See also

• Castilian Spanish
• Iberian languages
• Languages of Spain
• Iberian Romance languages

References

• Gerald Erichsen, About.com: "Why Is Spanish Sometimes Called Castilian?"

1. ^ Rafael Cano (coord.): Historia de la lengua española, Ariel Lingüística, Barcelona, 2005.
2. ^ erdara in the Morris Student Plus Basque-English dictionary.
3. ^ Another relic of this fact is the Argentine use of gallegos to mean recent immigrants from Spain, cf. the Australian use of pommy.

External links

• Detailed linguistic map of Spain
• La lengua de Castilla ya tiene nombre: ¡Castellano y no Español!. Castilian nationalist writing about the name of the language. (Spanish)