Spanish Speaking Countries and Spanish Dialects
Is Spanish better than English?
Where is Spanish spoken and is this language also used in Africa?
Popularity of Spanish
Interest in Spanish is gaining more and more popularity with each year. No wonder – according to data – this is one of the most important languages in the world, and the importance of Spanish is constantly increasing. Currently, this is the second most commonly used language, right after Chinese. Interestingly, English has long been exceeded in terms of users a long time ago. But so how many people speak in this language?
How many people speak Spanish? The number of speaking in this language as the native language is over 500 million. Another 100 million users speak it as the second language, and the number of people simply using Spanish in the world has already exceeded one and half a billion. Knowledge of Spanish allows not only for free communication with the inhabitants of Spanish, but also with citizens of many Latin American countries – the region referred to as Hispano America. The question arises – actually where Spanish is and why there?
Beginnings and development of Spanish
The beginnings of Spanish language are closely related to the development of Latin on the Iberian Peninsula. Local Latin varieties were gradually developed, which in time gave rise to new Romance languages. This is for this reason that the origin of Spanish language is rooted in folk language that has developed from spoken Latin. After looking at both of these languages closer, you can see that they are actually very similar. The history of Spanish language leads us to an important moment when the Castilian dialect separated from other dialects and was beginning to dominate them. Currently, this is the most ‘standard’ version of Spanish, which is used in most Spain, and which they teach in schools. This success was due to the standardisation of Spanish grammar, which in this variety tries to focus on simple and not very complicated sentences. The accessibility of Spanish language vocabulary, derived mainly from Latin and later enriched with borrowings from Arabic, also had an impact on such a great popularity of this dialect. The variety of Spanish language began to increase especially after geographical discoveries. The colonization of America has contributed to the creation of numerous regional varieties, enriched with local influence. Travelling and conquering other areas favoured further expansion of Spanish language into new areas. In this way, Spanish has reached many regions of the world, becoming one of the most commonly used languages in history, and the number of people speaking since then is constantly increasing.
Spanish as the official language
What is the actual number of people speaking in this language shows us Hispanophony – the word meaning the analysis of the arrangement of all Spanish users in the world. If Europe, in addition to the obvious Spain, is taken into account, Spanish is the first native language in Andorra, and the second native language in Gibraltar (although in none of these countries fully official language). The Vatican uses Spanish in the media and documents, but there Spanish language also does not function as the official language – instead it is Latin and Italian. To sum up, Spain is the only place in Europe where Spanish dominates and where it has been the official language for centuries. Thanks to this, the situation of Spanish in this country remains stable, it enjoys great prestige and there are almost 46 million Spanish – speaking people. For most residents, it is the native language, which is crucial for the development of education, culture and everyday life on the Iberian Peninsula.
What are the languages in Spain except Spanish? In this country, there are also other native languages - in Basque, Catalan or Galician. They should not be confused with dialects, because they are separate full -fledged languages, not Spanish varieties. However, Spanish also has many dialects in itself depending on the region of its use. The European Spanish variety is distinguished by such dialects as: Andalusian, Castilian, Churro (from Valencia) and Isleño (from the Canary Islands). In America, however, there are expressive dialects in such countries as: Argentina, Peru, Colombia, Dominican Republic and Kuba.
Latin America and other Spanish - speaking countries - where do people speak Spanish?
The beginnings of Spanish language on the continents of the Americas date back to the times of colonialism. Hence the huge variety of Spanish language – because this is scattered all over the world. Latin America is a vast area of the world where Spanish remains extremely important because of the number of people speaking in this language so Spanish dialects should not be underestimated. However, apart from European countries, in how many countries is Spanish spoken? And in which countries is Spanish used as the official language? Among the Latin American countries officially using Spanish language are, among others: Mexico, Argentina, Peru, Colombia, Kuba, Venezuela, Dominican Republic, Chile, Ecuador, Uruguay, Honduras, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Salvador, Panama, Puerto Rico and Paraguay. In most of them, Spanish is the official language. This situation makes native Spanish users extremely many. The cultures of these countries mingle, and the common language serves to combine societies and maintain bonding throughout the region.
People who have started learning Spanish often mistakenly consider one of the accents or dialects to be more correct than the other. Most often, this belief refers to the superiority of the Castilian dialect above others. This phenomenon can be called eurocentrism. It involves the treatment of American varieties of Spanish for irrelevant or even incorrect, in the most extreme cases, despite the fact that there are also a lot of native Spanish users in America. Interestingly, this assumption seems to be even more flawed when we compare the numbers – less than 46 million people speak the European Spanish, while in North America, Central and South Spanish as many as 420 million people – so this is almost ten times more. The assumption of superiority of the Castilian dialect is completely wrong because Spanish is the polycentric language. This means that in the Spanish – speaking world there is no one dialect that is superior to others, and dialects emerge in different regions characterized by different phonology, vocabulary or sometimes even grammar rules. However, due to the fact that there are many Spanish varieties and dialects, how do you know which varieties of Spanish to learn? And does knowledge of one dialect also allow us to understand others?
Hispanic America and Latin American varieties of Spanish
Spanish vocabulary and regional differences
Is Spanish in America diverse and how great are these differences between individual dialects? The noticeable differences between dialects are seen mainly in the lexical layer, which is the fastest and easiest to be transformed – e.g. by borrowing from English or other languages. This may also happen that the same objects or concepts will be called completely different in Europe than in America. An example here is the word ‘Bus’, which is called differently in Spain – ‘Autobús’, and differently in Mexico – ‘Guagua’. Sometimes one word that works in both of these varieties can mean something different in each of them. Argentina is one of the examples of many Spanish – speaking countries in which they do not use the second person plural ‘You’ or ‘Vosotros’. To turn to ‘You’ you simply use the third person plural – ‘Ubedes’ (they or the state).
Spanglish
An interesting Spanish variety also functions in the Dominican Republic, where the so – called Spanglish or the combination of Spanish and English, such as the verb ‘Chequear’, which is simply the English word ‘Check’ with the added suffix ‘-ar’ characteristic of Spanish verbs. Generally, Spanish from America is richer in more words borrowed from native Indian and English languages, while the Spanish Castilian undergoes more Arabic influence.
Grammar varieties
Although grammatical differences between dialects also exist, they are not significant enough to hinder communication. Grammar usually changes much slower than vocabulary so there is a really long period of time for dialects to evolve to such an extent that they are incomprehensible to each other. The history of Spanish language is a great confirmation of this rule – in addition to minor modifications, Spanish grammar is mostly the same in different regions. However, the biggest difference can be seen in accents. What is the difference between Spanish accents used, e.g. in Mexico, Colombia, Argentina and many other countries?
- The Andean accent is spoken among others, in Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. This accent is distinguished by the fact that ‘S’ is pronounced like aspirated ‘H’, and often ignored almost completely in the final position of words. Among these Latin American countries which use this variety it is common to talk about the ‘stretched’ accent, because they usually do not pronounce the letter ‘R’ with intensive vibration typical of Spanish but in whispery voice.
- The Central American accent is spoken i.e. in Mexico, Guatemala and Costa Rica. The characteristic feature of this variety is a large number of unique expressions specific to these countries and a strong impact of native languages (e.g. in the case of Mexico – Nahuatl) on Spanish vocabulary. This accent can be more melodic and clear.
- Accents in Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Venezuela and Puerto Rico – In Argentina there is the phenomenon called ‘Žeismo’ – replacing the sound ‘LL’, which is read like Polish ‘J’ in the Castilian dialect, a sound reminiscent of Polish ‘Ź’. In the Caribbean dialect occuring, among others, in Venezuela, and Puerto Rico, ‘R’ turns into ‘L’ when at the end of the syllables. For Polish users, this accent may sound like lisping – even the name of one of these countries is pronounced ‘Puelto Rico’. In Chile and Uruguay, however, the letter ‘D’ is not pronounced. However, the most characteristic feature for all accents in America is the so – called Seseo, which requires pronouncing ‘C’ as ‘S’ before the letters ‘E’ and ‘I’. In Castilian, on the other hand, ‘C’ in front of the same letters is said as English ‘Th’.
Further information: https://idiomatyczny.com/dialekty-hiszpanskiego/
The United States and Spanish in North America
Not only, is Spanish so popular in Central and South America. In North America there are also people using Spanish and there are quite a lot of them. In addition to Mexico, where Spanish is the prevalent langauge, it also exists in the USA. However, do people speak Spanish in the United States? Can the United States be called the Spanish – speaking country and how many Spanish users are actually there? As the USA is the culturally diverse country, this language is also developing dynamically. The presence of Spanish language is clear, which is largely due to high knowledge of Spanish among citizens of Latin origin, of which there are as many as 48 million (it is even more than the number of Spanish – speaking people in Spain!). Learning Spanish is becoming more and more popular here in schools and universities, and growing interest in this language is also due to economic and cultural contacts with Spanish – language countries. As a result, Spanish is sometimes considered one of the most important languages (of course right after English) in this multicultural society.
Spanish in the world - Africa and Asia
People who use Spanish are the most numerous in Europe and America. No wonder that when it comes to this language, the references of Latin American or Europe come to mind. However, it is worth remembering about the expansion of Spanish language, which has also reached other, many further areas of the world. Migrations and colonial history have made it recognizable on almost all continents. This is evidenced by the fact that in various parts of the globe you can meet communities using Spanish every day, maintaining their own pronunciation variants and vocabulary. Although this may seem incredible countries also exist in Africa and Asia, where Spanish is the prevalent language and has been or even still is the official language for many years.
An example is Equatorial Guinea in Africa, in which Spanish as the official language performs an important function in administration and education. His presence is derived from colonial times, when this area (then called Spanish Guinea) was under the Spanish rule for years. After independence in 1968, Spanish remained the most important language of administration, education and media. The inhabitants of the country also speak other languages, but this is Spanish who serves as a connector, facilitating communication in public life and influencing the culture of Equatorial Guinea. Also in the Philippines, in Asia, Spanish as the official language was shaping culture and state structures for a long time (over 300 years), and although today its role has decreased, numerous borrowings and names derived from Spanish can still be seen.
Perspectives on development and the future of Spanish
The modern situation of Spanish language is conducive to its further development, and knowledge of this language is an increasingly desirable skill in many areas of life. Interest in Spanish is also growing and Spanish learning is developing dynamically on all continents. Such a wide expansion of Spanish language results, among others, from the fact that this is characterized by a large variety and that this is the second most commonly used language in the world. Currently, it is used by hundreds of millions of users, and their number is increasing systematically. So, returning to the initial question – where do people speak in Spanish – the answer sounds: almost everywhere! Even the outside countries where Spanish is the official language, popularity of this language is huge. Therefore, in today’s world, even in non – Spanish – speaking countries, such as Poland, we will find a lot of people with less or least knowledge of Spanish.
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Popularity of Spanish
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Spanish - most common questions
Where is Spanish spoken?
In fact, there are people speaking Spanish on all continents, although the largest clusters of these societies are Spanish – speaking and Latin American countries (except Brazil).
Spanish - the official language - in how many countries?
Spanish is the official language in 21 countries and these are: Spain, Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Costa Rica, Argentina, Venezuela, Chile, Guatemala, Kuba, Ecuador, Dominican Republic, Honduras, Bolivia, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Portoryko, Uruguay, Panama and Equatorial Gwinea. In addition, there are large Spanish – speaking immigrant communities in other countries, such as the United States.
How many people speak Spanish in today's world?
Spanish is spoken by about 500 million people as the native language, and by another 100 million as the second language. The number of people simply using Spanish in the world already exceeds one and half a billion.
Except Europe and America, where can people speaking Spanish be met?
Spanish is spoken in Africa, Equatorial Guinea, Asia and in the Philippines, although in the latter country not as the official language.
Is Spanish difficult to Poles?
Spanish is relatively easy because it involves simple pronunciation and similar grammar to other Romanian languages. However, it can be a little more difficult than English in terms of grammar, because there are more varieties.
Which of the Spanish dialects is the best?
Spanish Castilian is certainly the most standard dialect, which is also taught in Polish schools, but no other dialect is in any way worse. It all depends on what you learn Spanish for and whether you intend to travel more to Spain or Latin America in the future.
Why is learning Spanish so important?
This is the second most commonly used language in the world, which has already marginalised English. This is important in business and makes communication with many people easier during travel.
How does knowledge of Spanish influence travelling and communication with foreigners?
Knowledge of Spanish makes travelling easier, especially in Spain, Latin America and many parts of the USA. In Spanish – language countries, knowledge of this language allows for free communication with residents, avoiding misunderstandings.