Sass, flair and elegance: these are words that people commonly associate with the Spanish language, but there is so much to this language that makes it so special. Spoken by 400-450 million people across four continents, Spanish is the second most spoken language in the world behind only Mandarin. Around 18 million students are currently studying Spanish as a foreign language and this number keeps growing through the generations. In this blog, we will share 5 fascinating facts about the Spanish language:
Did you know that Spanish…
…is heavily influenced by Arabic.
Following the Moorish conquer of the Iberian Peninsula in the 8th century, Arabic art, architecture, food, culture and language was brought to the region. Consequently, Arabic terms, phrases and vocabulary gradually were incorporated into the old local dialect, which evolved into the Spanish we know today. Despite the Moorish influence coming to an end towards the end of the 15th century, around 8,000 Arabic words remained and are still used today, like el alfombra (carpet), el limón (lemon) and la zanahoria (carrot). Discover other Spanish words that derive from Arabic in this blog.
…uses long sentences.
Translating from English to Spanish, you’ll find that sentences are likely to grow by 15-25%, but not for the reasons you expect. Spanish words aren’t typically any longer than English words and they share the same word order of Subject-Verb-Object (SVO). Spanish is more expressive than English with more nuanced descriptions and idioms weaved into language (more on this later!).
…shares 3000 words with English.
You already know about the link between Spanish and Arabic, but you might be surprised to hear that Spanish and English also share a lot of vocabulary and cognates. For instance, almost any word ending in –tion, such as ‘preparation’ or ‘attraction’, have a respective ending of –ción in Spanish, like preparación or atracción. Watch the video below for more examples and explanations about the similarities between the two:
…is protected by The Royal Spanish Academy.
Similar to the Académie Française, the Royal Spanish Academy, or the Real Academia Española (REA) as it’s known in Spanish, is officially responsible for the protection, evolution and development of the Spanish language and has numerous language academies in the 21 other countries that speak Spanish. The Academy was formed in the 18th century and is charged with publishing modern dictionaries and grammar rule books. The institution prides itself on the creation of the inverted question/exclamation marks (¿? and ¡!) and the letter ñ, which are both unique to the Spanish language.
…is an idiomatic language.
Spanish is known for being an incredibly idiomatic language with funny expressions, interesting sayings and imaginative idioms that used in every-day conversations. Some examples include: dar la vuelta a la tortilla (literal translation: ‘to turn the omelette around’), which the equivalent in English would be ‘to turn the tables’, no tener ni pies ni cabeza (literal transaltion: without feet or a head), which means ‘without rhyme or reason’, and tener sangre azul (literal translation: to have blue blood), that means to ‘be born with a silver spoon in your mouth’. Without context, they may not mean much so make sure to pick up a few idioms to weave into your language and impress any native speakers. Discover more quirky idioms in this blog.
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