Spanish is the second most spoken language, the second most studied language, and the third most commonly used language on the Internet worldwide. Spanish, an Indo-European Romance language, developed from the common Latin spoken on the Iberian Peninsula of Europe. More than 500 million people use it as their first language today, mostly in Spain and the Americas. Twenty nations have Spanish as their official language.
Reading the following fascinating facts about the language, which is spoken in Spain and many other nations in the Western Hemisphere, may help you better grasp Latin civilization and culture if you’re presently learning Spanish. You’ll have a clearer understanding of why it is one of the languages that are most learned worldwide.
Spanish Language facts
For many people, there is a lot of amazing information about the Spanish language in general. Here are some interesting facts about this great language:
1. The second most spoken language!
About 1 million people speak Spanish in the world, making it the second most spoken language. Chinese are the first to speak about a billion people Chinese. About 3 million people use English as their third language.
2. Mother of the day!
There are about 17 tenses in Spanish for all three moods – Indicative, Subjunctive, and Imperative. Considering learning the language, if we have to get it right, it can be very useful to us!
3. This is how you start a question in Spanish!
In Spanish, while beginning a question, an inverted exclamation mark ‘¡’ or an inverted question mark ‘¿’ is used at the very beginning of the sentence. These punctuation marks do not exist in languages other than Spanish.
4. Noun conundrum!
There are various nouns in Spanish that are common in their spelling, but they mean something completely different when changing gender. For instance, el cometa means the comet, and la cometa means the kite.
5. Just one word says a lot!
The Spanish translation into English takes more words. There are several words in Spanish that cannot be translated into English in one word.
Taking the word empalagarse as an example means feeling sick for being too sweet at the same time and it is used in romantic situations at the same time. Just one word in Spanish says so much it is beautiful
6. Two types of love phrases!
The two phrases – ‘Te amo’ and ‘Te quiero’ can be used to depict the feeling of love. The former is commonly used among lovers and closest family members; The latter, however, is used in a very friendly way and not in a romantic way.
7. Spanish has Latin origins
The Spanish language derives from a selected sort of spoken Latin. This dialect developed within the central-northern area of the Iberian Peninsula following the Fifth-century demise of the Western Roman Empire.
From the 13th to the 16th centuries, Toledo developed a written language normal and Madrid adopted swimsuits in the 1500s. Over the last 1,000 years, the language has developed into extra widespread, shifting south in the direction of the Mediterranean.
It was subsequently adopted by the Spanish Empire and, simply as importantly, within the Spanish colonies established on the American continents.
8. Spanish has two names: Castellano and Español
Spanish audio systems usually confer with their language as español in addition to castellano, which is the Spanish phrase for “Castilian.”
The phrases utilized can differ from area to area, they usually also can replicate political and social views.
In English, the time period “Castilian Spanish” can be utilized to confer with particular person dialects of Spanish spoken within the northern and central components of Spain.
Sometimes, the time period is used extra loosely to confer with the Spanish spoken in Spain, versus Latin American Spanish.
9. Spanish is a phonetic language
Most individuals know a number of phrases in Spanish, resembling tapas, siesta, cava, and tortilla. Spanish has additionally borrowed a number of phrases from English, resembling los denims (denims) and el lodge (lodge).
There are, nonetheless, some huge variations between English and Spanish. As an example, there’s the truth that Spanish is a phonetic language.
Because of this, you pronounce letters persistently and every letter represents a sure sound. This additionally implies that Spanish is a reasonably easy language for novices to be taught, particularly on the subject of spelling and talking.
10. The hyperlinks between sounds and letters imply that there normally aren’t any spelling surprises
After all, you won’t get off that simple. There are a number of different tips for a native English audio system to grasp.
As Spanish originates from Latin, it has gendered language—masculine and female phrases and articles. The genders of adjectives should agree with their accompanying nouns, in addition to the articles of these nouns.
Spanish enjoys extra tenses and a larger variation in verb components in comparison with English. It additionally has 3 ways to deal with individuals: tú being the casual “you,” usted being the formal “you,” and vosotros being the casual, plural model of tú (very like “you all” or “y’all”) in Spain. These all affect verb kinds, possessives, and pronouns.
11. Over 400 million individuals communicate Spanish
Spanish is the mom tongue of an estimated 400-450 million individuals, making it the world’s second most spoken language.
Spanish solely falls in second place behind Chinese, which is spoken by over a billion individuals and much outranks some other language.
Spanish surpasses English in its variety of audio systems, as English is available in third place with 335 million native audio systems worldwide.
12. There are 21 international locations that have Spanish because of the official language
Spanish enjoys official language standing in 21 international locations throughout Europe, Africa, Central, South, and North America, making it an important international language.
Not solely is it the principal language for these 21 sovereign states, but it additionally serves as a key language in a handful of dependent territories.
For many individuals in these locations, it’s the one solution to talk and all official correspondence and paperwork are in Spanish. Spanish can be utilized in faculties to show the curricula.
Since English is spoken in 112 international locations, the English language is essentially the most widespread when it comes to the variety of international locations that talk about it.
French is second with 60 international locations talking the language and Arabic is third, with 57 international locations that talk in Arabic.
Positive, Spanish solely is available in fourth place on this site, however, that also ends in making it one of the vital languages on the planet.
Many worldwide corporations and organizations, together with the United Nations, have adopted Spanish as one of their official languages.
13. Spanish is a Romance language
Spanish belongs to the Indo-European languages, which embrace French, English, Russian, German, Slavic, and Scandinavian languages in addition to varied languages in India.
Indo-European languages initially unfold throughout Europe and plenty of areas of South Asia earlier than reaching different components of the world via colonization.
The title “Indo-European” has geography which means referring to the languages most easterly reach within the Indian subcontinent and their most westerly reaches all through Europe.
Spanish is additionally categorized as a Romance language, together with Catalan, Italian, French, Portuguese, and Romanian.
You most likely already knew about Spanish being a Romance language at some stage, however, the significance of this goes deeper than you would possibly anticipate. All these intercontinental connections give the Spanish a definite benefit.
Realizing its roots in and relationships with different languages will help you higher perceive Spanish linguistically, traditionally, and culturally.
14. Arabic influenced Spanish
Arab armies began to beat the Iberian Peninsula in 711, bringing Arabic artwork, structure, and language to the area. Arabic is regularly combined with previous Spanish to develop into the language spoken right now.
When Spain expelled the Arabs in 1492, the language retained some 8,000 Arabic phrases. Other than Latin, Arabic is the biggest contributor to Spanish.
Many phrases that you simply already know in Spanish come from Arabic, resembling el alfombra (carpet), la almendra (almond), and la almohada (pillow).
If you journey via Spain, you’ll come across many places, areas, and historic website names that come from Arabic, resembling El Alhambra.
15. The earliest Spanish texts have been written over 1000 years in the past!
Las Glosas Emilianenses (Glosses of Saint Emilianus), written in 964, have been long considered the primary written Spanish texts that survive right now. They include Spanish and Basque notes made on a nonsecular Latin manuscript.
The unknown creator is believed to have been a monk in the Suso monastery. In 2010, nonetheless, the Actual Academia Española introduced that the primary examples of written Spanish exist in Ninth-century medieval paperwork often called the “Cartularies of Valpuesta,” from the Burgos province.
16. Spanish is poetic and has long sentences
If you translate from English to Spanish, your textual content is prone to develop by 15-25%. This isn’t a result of Spanish phrases being longer than English phrases (and they’re undoubtedly not so long as German phrases maybe).
The explanation for this growth lies in the truth that Spanish is extra detailed, poetic, and expressive. It thus makes use of extra phrases to explain one thing that English would most likely sum up in only one phrase.
For instance, the phrase en el sentido de las agujas del reloj actually means “within the path of the needles of the clock,” however in English, we might merely say “clockwise.” Spanish doesn’t have a phrase for “clockwise” and has to make use of the aforementioned phrase!
17. The demand for studying Spanish is rising
Spain has all the time been a preferred journey and international research vacation spot. Learning Spanish in faculties and universities has additionally grown in reputation.
Lately, the language is changing extremely popular in Asia, signifying its significance in international financial markets.
Using Spanish online has risen by an unbelievable 800% lately and this implies it’s the third hottest language on the Web, not far behind Mandarin and English.
An estimated 18 million college students are at the moment finding out Spanish as an international language.
Forecasts point out that, in a number of generations from now, 10% of the world’s inhabitants will perceive Spanish—whereas the quantity is at the moment 6%. That’s an enormous leap coming!
That being said, it’s wise to think about learning Spanish soon, and by learning with teachers online, you can also pick up a dialect you’ll be more interested in.
18. The Royal Spanish Academy is “in cost” of the language
The Royal Spanish Academy is formally accountable for being the custodian of the Spanish language.
It has its residence in Madrid and operates quite a few language academies via the Affiliation of Spanish Language Academies within the 21 different international locations that talk Spanish.
The Academy started its life in the 18th century and since then has revealed dictionaries and grammar rule books, which have been formally adopted in Spain and different Spanish-speaking international locations.
The Academy prides itself on inventing using the inverted query and exclamation marks, which are distinctive to the Spanish language.
One other distinctive function it’s accountable for is the letter ñ, which was launched to the alphabet in the 18th century.
19. There are lots of regional nuances in Spanish
We all know that the Spanish descended from Latin and unfold from the Iberian Peninsula to Latin America via colonization.
It’s fascinating to know that there are various discrepancies between the Spanish of Spain and that of Latin America. There are additionally numerous variations within the Spanish language inside Latin America itself!
That being mentioned, the comparatively minor vocabulary, grammar, and punctuation variations aren’t terribly excessive, and communication continues to be very simple.
You need to have the ability to journey the Spanish-speaking world with “impartial” Spanish and handle communication with practically anyone.
20. The variations initially arose as a result of the colonies developing considerably independently from each other, and even from Spain itself.
Since communication was restricted, with no telephones, airplanes, emails, WhatsApp, or Skype, some parts of older Spanish have been retained and others deserted.
Plus, you’ll discover that many areas have invented their very own distinctive vocabulary, slang, accents, and language utilization quirks over time.
A superb instance is the best way vos is utilized in Paraguay, Uruguay, and Argentina. That is used by the Spanish from Spain, and so it was transferred to the Americas.
As alluded to earlier, vosotros means “you” or “you all,” and thus is the second-person plural in Spain, because it was initially supposed for use.
Nevertheless, vos is now used as a well-mannered, second-person singular pronoun within the above three international locations.
Spain has long since stopped utilizing it on this means, however, should you go to Buenos Aires you’re fairly prone to be requested “¿de dónde sos?” (the place are you from?) versus “¿de dónde eres?”.
21. False knowledge
There are many words that are similar in Spanish and English, but their meaning is different, so we call them misleaders or misleading friends.
For instance, embarazada is similar to embarrassed in English but it means pregnant in Spanish.
22. Native language on the continent!
Spanish is the official language of 22 regions of four continents, which is the most widely publicized.
Europe: Spain. United States: Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, and Puerto Rico.
Africa: Ceuta, Canary Islands, Melilla, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon (Coco beach area), Western Sahara.
Oceania: Eastern Island.
23. Now we know what these signs are!
No, they are not just for decoration. The use of accent marks in Spanish has two distinct purposes – to show that a certain word is emphasized after an accent.
The difference between the same spelling words is the second. For example camino (way, road) and caminó (past tense for caminar-walk). Also, Accent marks are only used above vowels (á, é, í, ó, ú).
24. Favorite language of the Nobel Prize!
Nobel Prize Spanish is a favorite language and so far eleven Nobel laureates for Spanish literature.
25. Spain doesn’t have the most speakers!
Most Spanish speakers are in Spain, not in Mexico.
26. Names of the Spanish Months
Here is the list of Spanish Months:
Enero, febrero, marzo, abril, mayo, junio, julio, agosto, septiembre, octubure, noviembre, diciembre
27. Spanish Letters
Here is the official Spanish alphabet: a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, ñ, o, p, q, r, s, t, u, v, w, x, y, z
28. Basic Spanish Words
There are many others, but you learn these basic Spanish words in a wink:
Hola = Hello
Adiós = Goodbye
Por favor = Please
Gracias = Thank you
Lo siento = Sorry
Salud = Bless you
Bienvenidas= Welcome
Sí = Yes
No = No
¿Quién? = Who?
¿Qué? = What?
¿Por qué? = Why?
¿Dónde? = Where?
Here are some more basic Spanish words for you:
¡De nada! You’re welcome! / No problem! ; Por favor, Please ; ¡Perdon! Excuse me! ; ¡Disculpe! Excuse me!; el sol — the sun; las nubes — the clouds; la niebla — the fog; la neblina — the mist; la lluvia — the rain; la llovizna — the drizzle; Claro (Of course); Amor (Love); ¿Qué tal? – How are you?; Nos vemos – See you; Todo – All/every; Alguno – Some; Más – More; Menos – Less; Muy – Very; Mucho – A lot; Otro – Other
29. At Least 44 Countries Speak Spanish
Spanish is the fourth most geographically spoken language after English (112 countries), French (60 nations), and Arabic, with at least 3 million native speakers in 44 countries (57). The majority of these nations are located in Latin America, which has excellent commercial prospects.
30. In the 18th century, the Royal Spanish Academy was established
The Royal Spanish Academy (Real Academia Espaola), which was established in the 18th century, is widely acknowledged as the language’s arbiter. It gathers and publishes official dictionaries and grammar manuals that are extensively used in Latin America and Spain.
The institute documented the widespread use of the letter “,” which has been incorporated into a few other non-Spanish languages of Spain, as well as the inverted exclamation point, question mark, and letter ( and ). These symbols were first introduced to the language sometime around the 14th century.
31. Spanish Originates in the Thirteenth Century
The precise century, when the Castilian Latin of north-central Spain evolved into Spanish, has not been determined by experts. There is consensus, however, that the legislation King Alfonso established in the 13th century designating Castilian as a distinct official language of the government contributed to the language’s development. Spanish had advanced to the point that current Spanish speakers could readily understand it by the time Columbus arrived in the Americas in 1492.
32. The third most used language on the internet is Spanish
7.9% of Internet users communicate in the Latin language, making Spanish the third most used language online. However, among the huge social media platforms Twitter and Facebook, Spanish is the second most often used language. In terms of the number of visitors that frequent the website, it is also the second most important language for Wikipedia.
33. Learning Spanish is Generally Simple
Spanish is a reasonably simple language for English native speakers to learn. An English native speaker needs around 22 to 24 weeks of training to become proficient in speaking and reading in general.
However, general social competence is gained sooner, and this is the level required to travel and have varied-topic talks with natives. If you have the time, taking immersion lessons in a Spanish-speaking nation is the greatest approach to learning the language.
34. The largest Spanish-speaking nation is Mexico
Mexico is the biggest Spanish-speaking nation geographically, with a population of about 121 million people. The United States has the second-largest Spanish-speaking population in the world, behind Colombia, Spain, and Argentina, with a population of just under 53 million.
A variety of Spanish dialects are used around the world; for instance, the dialect spoken in Buenos Aires, Argentina, differs greatly from that used in certain Patagonian settlements.
35. Spanish is a member of the Indo-European language family
Moreover, a third of the world’s population speaks a language that is a member of the Indo-European family, which includes Spanish.
French, English, German, Slavic, Scandinavian, and a number of Indian languages are also included in this family of languages. The Romance language family, which includes Portuguese, French, Catalan, Italian, and Romanian, includes Spanish as a subclass.
36. The Western Hemisphere’s dominant language is Spanish
The third most spoken language in the world after Chinese (1.2 billion) and English is the Latin language with 329 million native speakers who do so as their first language (328 million). Compared to other languages, it is growing quickly. There will be 600 million Spanish speakers worldwide by 2050.
37. The most common letter in Spanish is the vowel “e”
The preposition “de” is the word that is used the most frequently in Spanish, yet the longest word in the language, the infrequently used medical term “esternocleidomastoiditis,” has 25 letters. “Electroencefalografistas” (electroencephalographists), a 24-letter word, was once believed to be the longest word in Spanish.
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