Grammarama - Articles on Spanish

Over the 13 years that I have been teaching Spanish as a second language, I have noted that students from various nationalities often have a type of question which, at first, seems unanswerable. Contact with different people and material presented in class doesn´t offer clarification. ´Is Castilian Spanish spoken in Argentina?´ ´Is Spanish spoken in Spain?´ ´Are Castilian Spanish and Spanish different?´ The confusion presented by these questions grows.

It is at moments like these that every teacher would like to have a primeval model of the expressive and communicative features of language to show how it began and continues to change in a clear and convincing way like structured programming languages provide.

But these thoughts are abandoned for the sake of conversation. More than one of them quotes that special someone, born in and still residing in Buenos Aires, motivated to stay in this city to learn the Spanish language. ¨My girlfriend told me that Castilian Spanish is spoken here. It is the same as Spain’s Spanish language but at the same time it is different´, more than one student has said.

Perhaps trying to imitate programming language and its unambiguousness, a Spanish teacher might answer: ´It is a matter of naming. There is only one Spanish language. All Spanish-speakers speak the same language and are able to communicate each other very well. While the official name of the language is ´Spanish`, ´Castilian` is used in some areas of Spain and several Latin American countries.´

This explanation satisfies many students but in others doubts persist. Then the conversation might take the following course.

'Do you know about Queen Isabella of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragón, also known as the Catholic Monarchs, who governed Spain in part of the 15th century and the beginning of the 16th and supported the voyages of Cristoforo (Christopher) Columbus to America?'

‘Yes‘, the students, whose nationalities are very different and are aged over 22, might answer.

'The kingdoms of Castile and León and Aragón were merged through their marriage creating a powerful administration that promoted, among other things, the formation of colonies in America. Do you know about Castile?'

‘No‘, the students usually answer.

'It is a vast region in Spain that takes up a third of the country. Castilian is the name for people born in Castile. Their language was called Castilian, even before colonial times. This is the earliest name the language ever had. Since any Spanish people from Castile settled in the Spanish colonies in America the word ´Castilian´ is still prevalent in Latin America to name the language. This name continues to be used in Spain, although the word ´Spanish´ is more common.'

‘Now I understand’, the students say.

Using resources about the etymology of language and history I propose a pausible explanation of why many American and Spanish people continue to use the word ´Castilian´ for the name of the language that originated in Spain.

Spanish classes. Material: Regional Autonomies of Spain (Map).