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| How many languages are spoken in Spain? |
Linguistic diversity in Spain:
The 17 communities that make up Spain represent culturally diverse regions, each with unique languages and traditions. Physical geography in the form of mountain ranges from the Pyrennes in the northeast to the Cantabrian mountains in the northwest have isolated the Catalans, Basques and Galicians from each other in the north as well as from the rest of Spain via the Iberian mountains. These barriers witnessed the passage of different peoples throughout time who helped shape the various northern regional languages from west to east: Gallego, Asturiano, Cántabro, Euskera, Aranés, Aragonés and Catalán. Of these, Euskera, which has been spoken by the Basques since 1000 BC, and the Iberian language, which was spoken by the coastal Iberians since 3000 BC, were both non-Indo-European languages in contrast to the Indo-European language of the Celts who had come to the peninsula in 900 BC.
There are numerous theories about the origins of Euskera. One that I find particularly interesting is that it may date back to survivors of Magdalenian cave dwellers whose art has decorated nearby Altamira in Cantábria for 17 000 years. Cántabro, the current dialect of that area, however, is an Indo-European Astur-Leonese language, suggesting the settlement of peoples after the fall of the Roman Empire in Cantábria who remained isolated enough from the Basque regions, Euskadi and Navarra, to allow for the survival of Euskera. Prior to that, Latin gradually replaced the Iberian and Celtiberian languages by 100 AD. In contrast to this fate Euskera survived due to the strong alliance and mutual respect between the Basque people and the Romans in Vascona.
Valencia, south of Cataluña, boasts it’s own language, Valenciano, while Mallorquín is spoken in the Balearic Islands. Some people might consider both of these to be dialects of Catalán, however, native speakers would definitely not agree! Other Spanish languages are not as commonly used. My grandmother, who came from Murcia, never spoke Murciano, however her Castilian Spanish differed in many ways from that of my aunt’s. Burgos, in Castilla y León, hometown of my aunt, was also home to: homo antecessor 800 000 years ago, Celtic speaking Celtiberians in 600 BC, and as she would proudly remind us, home to the very first words of Castellano in 900 AD. It would be interesting to study linguistic changes resulting from the geographical pattern of invasions of the Iberian Peninsula by other cultural groups following the collapse of the Roman Empire.
Hi Rita
ReplyDeleteI found that theory of Euskera very interesting as well, as it has no linguistic relationship to any contemporary dialects in the region other than a few words here and there.
This is a very good elaboration on what we talked about in class the first day, about the diversity of Spain and also the historical conflict between the impulse towards unification (Roman Hispania, the Visigothic Kingdoms and later the Reconquista and the Catholic Kings' attempt to create a unified system of politics, language, culture and identity in the region) and the impulse towards localism. The profusion of languages in Spain and their relationship to "castellano" expresses this tension very well.
Finally, I am glad you describe your own personal connection with the region, it shows how history is both something abstract and something intimate.