. . . The Spanish
language has its origins in the Iberian Peninsula, having evolved from several
dialects of Latin. It is part of the Ibero-Romance language group, along with
Castilian (another word for Spanish)*, Portuguese, Catalan, and Galician. It is
also part of the Romance language group, along with French, Portuguese,
Italian, and Romanian.
Spanish,
or Castilian, became more widespread through the expansion of the Kingdom
of Castile, that unified northern Spain with central and southern Iberia in the
late Middle Ages. The unification of the kingdoms of Castile and Leon under the
Reyes Católicos (Catholic Monarchs) Ferdinand and Isabel, along with the rise
of the Spanish Empire, solidified the place of Spanish among the top
three languages spoken in the world.
Castilian and Spanish are
synonyms for the Spanish language. However, the usage of Castilian is
due to the fact that there are many different languages spoken in Spain; thus,
to call one of the many other languages "Spanish" would
assume that none of the other languages spoken in Spain are also Spanish or
of Spanish origin. The other languages of Spain, both official and
unofficial, are Galician, Basque, Catalan, Aranese, Asturian, Aragonese,
Extremaduran, and Fala.
* Castilian in Spanish is castellano.
