Learn how Spanish developed from earlier languages, especially Latin, and is continuing to evolve today.
A collection of basic but interesting fact about the world's No. 2 language.
Linguists classify languages in many ways. This article explains three ways that languages are classified and how Spanish fits in them.
Discussion of whether words such as 'emails' are legitimate Spanish.
The Spanish equivalent of James is usually given as Diego, yet the two names don't seem at all alike. Here's why.
Find out why Spanish-language Web sites have so many words in English.
It's common knowledge that Spanish is the language of most of Spain and most of Latin America. But there are other places where Spanish is spoken as well.
After Latin and English, Arabic is probably the biggest contributor of words to the Spanish language.
English words are rapidly becoming part of the Spanish language.
The names of most of the days of the week in both English and Spanish come from the names of planets and the Roman gods.
Although the abbreviation
Ud. is most commonly used for
usted in Spanish, sometimes you'll see the abbreviation
Vd. Here's why.
Do you know some interesting facts about Spanish? If so, it may help you with this quiz.
Here are some facts about Spanish you may be interested in knowing.
Although Spanish is recognized as a single language, there are differences from country to country.
One characteristic of Spanish you may have noticed is that many words that are similar to English and start with letter combination such as "sp" or "sc" start with an
e in Spanish. For example, "school" in English is
escuela in Spanish and "special" becomes
especial. Why is that?
Sometimes Spanish is known as Castilian. This article explains why there are two names for the language and what the differences are between the two terms.
The
ñ is the only Spanish letter of Spanish origins.
Glossary definition of "homonym" with examples in Spanish and English.
Definition of the linguistic term 'calque' with examples in Spanish and English
A look at the origins of the English word "alphabet" and the Spanish word
alfabeto.
Although Spanish speakers have far fewer words at their disposal than English speakers do, the smaller vocabulary of the language shouldn't be seen as a sign of inferiority.
Ladino had its origins in 1492, when Jews were expelled from Spain. Today, somewhere between 100,000 and 200,000 people speak Ladino, most of them in Israel, although very few of the people who use it are monolingual.
Once upon a time there was a Spanish king who had a lisp, and so many Spaniards copied him that there mispronunciation because the norm — or so the story goes. But don't believe it.
Like it or not, many English words, especially those relating to technology, are becoming part of the Spanish language.
What now exist as two alternate forms of the imperfect subjunctive used to be two separate tenses.
Promotes greater understanding of languages and cultures.
Advancing the scientific study of language.
This site emphasizes the regional variations of Spanish, with several articles on the evolution of Spanish in the United States. In Spanish.
An excellent overview of how Latin vocabulary and grammar changed as they morphed into Spanish.
Academic articles explain how Spanish pronunciation and grammar have changed over the centuries.
Click on the examples to hear how Spanish was pronounced hundreds of years ago.
"Everything you always wanted to know about the history of Spanish and never dared to ask." In Spanish.
