Spanish is an Indo-European language, belonging to the Ibero-Romanesque group, which evolved from various dialects of Vulgar Latin in the Iberian Peninsula after the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century. from the ninth century. The first systematic written use of the language took place in Toledo, a prominent city in the Kingdom of Castile, in the 13th century. From 1492, the Spanish language was taken to the viceroyalties of the Spanish Empire, mainly to the Americas, as well as territories in Africa, Oceania and the Philippines.
Also known as Castilian, Spanish is currently a global language with nearly 500 million native speakers, mainly in Spain and the Americas. It is the second most-spoken native language in the world, after Mandarin, and the fourth most-spoken language in the world, after English, Mandarin and Hindi.
Being a pluricentric language, it is quite natural that Spanish has variations from one place to another. As a language with a centuries-old literary tradition, it is also natural that it bears traces of the changes it has undergone over time. Putting these two factors together, we have a somewhat scary scenario when trying to define standards and parameters for the Spanish language, establishing what is correct (from a descriptive point of view) or acceptable.
There is also the factor of contact with other languages, especially local languages, such as Basque in Spain, Quechua, Aymará and others in Peru, Bolivia &c., Nahuatl in Mexico &c. These languages have a clear influence on the vocabulary of local variants of Spanish, but occasionally this influence is also felt in grammar or pronunciation.
In other words, when talking about the "Spanish language", we now have to determine which "language" we are, in fact, talking about. The formal or literary Spanish of Argentina is considerably different from the informal and colloquial Spanish of Spain, for example. And formal Spanish in Spain is considerably different from the colloquial Spanish spoken in Venezuela or Mexico, p. ex.
When we decide to describe the grammar of the Spanish language, we need to make a choice: which language variant are we going to address? The most common choice is to deal only with the formal variant, standard, from Spain, according to the standards defined by the Real Academia Española. Or follow the standards of one of the other Academies de la Lengua Española (Colombiana, Ecuatoriana, Mexicana &c.). This approach has the advantage of dealing with an internationally recognized variant of the Spanish language, being ideal for communicating in formal situations, for accessing most literary production in the Spanish language, and giving access to a form of the language that can be used in any Spanish speaking community.
A disadvantage of this decision is that, by addressing only one formal variant of the language, we leave aside an immense wealth of forms of expression that are used by millions of people around the world. This is much more visible in the vocabulary: for many concepts, each community adopts a different word and often a word that is used with a meaning in one country has a very different meaning in another.
Considering these factors, for this work we decided to adopt a mixed approach: we will deal with the formal, standard variant of Spanish, according to the Real Academia Española, and we will indicate, where appropriate, some of the most relevant variants, from the point of view of a foreign student. Of course it is not possible, or at least practicable, to indicate all the existing variants for each grammatical point, or to give all the equivalences of each word in the vocabulary. But we'll do our best to give you a general idea of the variants you're most likely to encounter when traveling or conversing with Spanish speakers from different countries.
Also known as Castilian, Spanish is currently a global language with nearly 500 million native speakers, mainly in Spain and the Americas. It is the second most-spoken native language in the world, after Mandarin, and the fourth most-spoken language in the world, after English, Mandarin and Hindi.
Being a pluricentric language, it is quite natural that Spanish has variations from one place to another. As a language with a centuries-old literary tradition, it is also natural that it bears traces of the changes it has undergone over time. Putting these two factors together, we have a somewhat scary scenario when trying to define standards and parameters for the Spanish language, establishing what is correct (from a descriptive point of view) or acceptable.
There is also the factor of contact with other languages, especially local languages, such as Basque in Spain, Quechua, Aymará and others in Peru, Bolivia &c., Nahuatl in Mexico &c. These languages have a clear influence on the vocabulary of local variants of Spanish, but occasionally this influence is also felt in grammar or pronunciation.
In other words, when talking about the "Spanish language", we now have to determine which "language" we are, in fact, talking about. The formal or literary Spanish of Argentina is considerably different from the informal and colloquial Spanish of Spain, for example. And formal Spanish in Spain is considerably different from the colloquial Spanish spoken in Venezuela or Mexico, p. ex.
When we decide to describe the grammar of the Spanish language, we need to make a choice: which language variant are we going to address? The most common choice is to deal only with the formal variant, standard, from Spain, according to the standards defined by the Real Academia Española. Or follow the standards of one of the other Academies de la Lengua Española (Colombiana, Ecuatoriana, Mexicana &c.). This approach has the advantage of dealing with an internationally recognized variant of the Spanish language, being ideal for communicating in formal situations, for accessing most literary production in the Spanish language, and giving access to a form of the language that can be used in any Spanish speaking community.
A disadvantage of this decision is that, by addressing only one formal variant of the language, we leave aside an immense wealth of forms of expression that are used by millions of people around the world. This is much more visible in the vocabulary: for many concepts, each community adopts a different word and often a word that is used with a meaning in one country has a very different meaning in another.
Considering these factors, for this work we decided to adopt a mixed approach: we will deal with the formal, standard variant of Spanish, according to the Real Academia Española, and we will indicate, where appropriate, some of the most relevant variants, from the point of view of a foreign student. Of course it is not possible, or at least practicable, to indicate all the existing variants for each grammatical point, or to give all the equivalences of each word in the vocabulary. But we'll do our best to give you a general idea of the variants you're most likely to encounter when traveling or conversing with Spanish speakers from different countries.
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