Name used by its speakers (Endonym): Español
Native speakers (estimated): 486 million
Total speakers, including second-language (estimated): 560 million
Where it’s spoken:
Spanish, like English, is one of the world’s most successfully exported languages (with far more native speakers outside its country of origin than within; the only other one that comes close is Portuguese.) It is by far the most widely spoken Romance language. In addition to Spain, it is the official language of 19 other countries, all former colonies within the Western Hemisphere—including the two most populous Spanish-speaking countries, Mexico and Colombia—except for the small former African colony of Equatorial Guinea. Nearly all countries in Central and South America are Spanish-speaking except for Brazil, Guyana, Suriname, and Belize; Spanish is also official in two Caribbean nations (Cuba and the Dominican Republic) and one territory (Puerto Rico). The Balearic Islands (in the Mediterranean) and Canary Islands (off the African coast) are part of Spanish territory. Spanish is also spoken widely, though not officially, in Andorra (alongside Catalan), and in Belize, Gibraltar, and the United States (in each of which it comes second after English). The US states with the highest percentage of Spanish speakers are New Mexico, Texas, California, Arizona, Florida, and Nevada, all above 15% of the population; not coincidentally, all six states have Spanish-derived names. (The seventh-highest state also counts if you call it “Nueva York”.)
Other comparisons: Spanish has more native speakers than any other language except for Mandarin Chinese; it is the second most used language in international trade (after English); the fourth most spoken language overall (after English, Chinese, and Hindi); one of the four most popular world languages to learn; and one of the six official languages of the United Nations (with English, French, Russian, Chinese, and Arabic). Historically, local dialects developed over time from Latin within the former Roman territory of Hispania, including the kingdom of Castile—ruled in the 15th century by Queen Isabella (of Ferdinand and Isabella fame, the sponsors of Columbus). Castilian thus became the national language of Spain; today the term “castellano” is still used either alongside “español” or in some places (like Argentina), in preference to it. As with English, Spanish varies somewhat in pronunciation and vocabulary between different regional dialects, but these have remained mutually intelligible.
Language family: Indo-European, Romance branch. Spanish is the most widely spoken of the Romance languages.
Related languages: Portuguese, French, Italian, other regional Romance languages (including Galician and Catalan).
Writing and pronunciation tips:
Like all other Romance languages, Spanish uses the letters of the Latin alphabet, though W and K generally appear only in loanwords. The additional letter ñ (pronounced ‘enye’) appears in words like ‘piñata’. Accent marks above vowels (á, é, í, ó, ú) indicate which syllable to stress, if it’s not otherwise obvious. Unlike English and French, but similar to Italian and Portuguese, spelling and pronunciation in Spanish generally follow consistent rules and each vowel is pronounced in only one way. The letters B and V are pronounced the same, so ‘vale’ (‘okay’) sounds nearly identical to ‘ballet’. The only silent letter is H (except for some loanwords). Several regional differences in pronunciation exist: the double LL can be pronounced either like ‘lli’ in ‘million’, or somewhere between the letters ‘y’ and ‘j’. Letters C and Z, before E and I, are pronounced like ‘s’ in Latin America but sound “lisped” in European Spanish. Also compared to Latin America, G and J in Spain sound much more like you’re clearing your throat. Finally, Spanish punctuation is unique in the use of inverted punctuation marks, as in ¡Hola! (Hi!) or ¿Dónde? (Where?)
Words exported to English:
Since Spanish is also derived ultimately from Latin, most similarities in vocabulary between Spanish and English exist because of adoption through French, following the Norman Conquest, rather than from Spanish. Words borrowed directly from Spanish include the following:
FOOD & DRINK: Many foods from Spanish or Latin American cuisines words are commonly recognized, for instance: Taco, burrito, enchilada, paella, empanada, dulce de leche, sangria, chorizo, carne asada. ‘Salsa’ (sauce) and ‘queso’ (cheese) are generic words in Spanish, but have specifically Latin American culinary implications when used in English.
BUILDINGS & ENVIRONMENT: Mesa, canyon (from Spanish cañón), plaza, pueblo, hacienda, patio, adobe. In some cities with Spanish historic ties, street names may include Calle, Avenida, Paseo, or Camino.
ARTS & MUSIC: Mostly from culture-specific musical styles: Salsa, merengue, mariachi, tango, flamenco. Guitar comes from the Spanish ‘guitarra’ (which, going back further, ultimately originates from Greek.) The cajon (‘box’) is a wooden box drum of likely Afro-Peruvian origin, also adopted into flamenco music.
NATURE: Tornado, hurricane (via Spanish from the Taino language), vanilla. Animals: armadillo (“little armored one”), barracuda, pompano, mosquito (“little fly”). Alligator comes from ‘el lagarto’ meaning “the lizard”; cockroach comes from the Spanish ‘cucaracha’.
WAR & POLITICS: Junta, armada, guerilla, embargo.
OTHER: Cargo, siesta, rodeo, bonanza, poncho, sombrero.
PLACE NAMES: Due to its history of mixed colonization, the United States has a large number of Spanish-derived place names, more than for any non-Spanish-majority country. Five state names come from Spanish directly: Florida, Colorado, Montana, Nevada, California (the first four being adjectives, the last from a fictional Spanish novel. It’s as if a state were named after Lilliput or Narnia.) The states of Texas, New Mexico, and (maybe) Arizona have names of Native origin indirectly via Spanish: “Texas” comes from the Caddo word for ‘friend’, and “Mexico” from the Nahuatl language, both of which terms were adopted by the governments of New Spain and later independent Mexico. For Arizona, most sources credit the O’odham name for ‘small spring’ which was adopted by Spanish settlers and eventually the US government (but another possible origin is from Basque.)
In any case, many American place names (primarily in these states) have Spanish names—including San Francisco, San Diego, Sacramento, Santa Cruz, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Las Cruces, Santa Fe, Mesa, Nogales, Pueblo, San Antonio, Amarillo, El Paso, Boca Raton, and the Rio Grande (‘Big River’). Also in Florida, St. Augustine, Key Largo, and Key West have Anglified their original Spanish names (San Agustín, Cayo Largo, and Cayo Hueso), and the rocket-launch site Cape Canaveral was named for the Spanish ‘cañaveral’, which means ‘reed bed’.
Culture & Pop Culture:
Spanish and Latin American contributions to art include painters Diego Velázquez, Francisco Goya, Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dalí, and Joan Miró (though the latter two were from Catalonia and spoke Catalan as a first language). The renowned architect Antoni Gaudí, creator of Barcelona’s Sagrada Familia, was also Catalan. Prominent Latin American artists include Mexican painters Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo and Colombian painter and sculptor Fernando Botero; both Rufino Tamayo (Mexico) and Wilfredo Lam (Cuba) mixed both modern art and Latin cultural influences. Spanish literature is well-represented by Miguel de Cervantes, author of “Don Quixote of La Mancha”; poets Federico García Lorca (Spain) and Pablo Neruda (Chile); novelists Carlos Fuentes (Mexico), Isabel Allende (Chile), Jorge Luis Borges (Argentina), Mario Vargas Llosa (Peru), and Gabriel García Márquez (Colombia), best known for the masterpiece “One Hundred Years of Solitude”. Neruda, Vargas Llosa, and García Márquez are each recipients of the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Music: Because of the guitar’s deep Spanish roots, the best-known Spanish composers wrote for guitar, including Manuel de Falla, Enrique Granados, Isaac Albéniz, and Joaquín Rodrigo. Andrés Segovia (for classical guitar) and Paco de Lucia (for flamenco guitar) were standard-setters in their fields. Fellow Spaniard Plácido Domingo has achieved fame as both an opera singer and conductor.
In pop music, due to the size and global reach of the Spanish language, many Spanish-speaking artists and musicians have achieved international success. They include Spanish father and son Julio and Enrique Iglesias, Cuba’s Celia Cruz, Colombian superstar Shakira, and Dominican salsa star Juan Luis Guerra, while Puerto Rico is amply represented by artists like Marc Anthony, Ricky Martin, Luis Fonsi, Daddy Yankee and Bad Bunny. Cuban-American Gloria Estefan’s biggest hits have been in English but she also sings in Spanish, as did the Mexican-American singer Selena, known as the “Queen of Tejano Music”.
Film and TV: One of the earliest Spanish movies is also one of the weirdest: the bizarre short “Un chien andalou” (1929), a collaboration between director Luis Buñuel and surrealist painter Salvador Dalí (see above). As with music, Spanish-language movies and TV enjoy broad international appeal. Some highlights include: “Like Water For Chocolate” (Mexico, 1992); period comedy “Belle Époque” (Spain, 1992); urban drama “Amores Perros” by Alfonso Cuarón (Mexico, 2000); the Che Guevara biopic “The Motorcycle Diaries” (2004); and the dark fantasy “Pan’s Labyrinth” (2006), set in Franco-era Spain and directed by visionary Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro. The eclectic Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar is an industry unto himself, with films such as “Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown” (1988), “All About My Mother” (1999), and “Volver” (2006). Spanish actors Penelope Cruz and Antonio Banderas, and Mexican actors Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna, each starred in one or more of the above films and are known for both Spanish- and English-language projects. Almodóvar’s “Women on the Verge”, as well as Cuarón’s 2018 film “Roma”, both earned the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.
While there are major networks like Univision and Telemundo which broadcast exclusively in Spanish, a great deal of Spanish content is accessible on other platforms as well. Recent works include the dystopian thriller film “The Platform” (2019) and its sequel; the sci-fi romance “Orbiter 9” (2017); the crime series “Money Heist”; “Alta Mar”, a period mystery series set aboard an ocean liner; and a serial adaptation of “One Hundred Years of Solitude” (all available on Netflix). Other shows include “El Cid”, a historical action series based on the real-life 11th-century Castilian knight, and “The Unit (La Unidad)”, a contemporary police drama (both available on Prime). By the way: There exists a Colombian TV remake of “Breaking Bad” called “Metástasis”. In it, the Walter White character is renamed “Walter Blanco” and his sidekick Jesse Pinkman becomes “José Rosas” (really!) Based on reviews, it appears not to be breaking bad… just bad.
Other fun facts:
As with French, and in contrast to German, names for Spain in the majority of world languages derive from the same source—Hispania, the Roman name for the region of the Iberian peninsula. However, due to gradual sound shifts over the centuries, first the “H” sound was lost, then the following vowel sound either lost or retained. Languages keeping the vowel include Spanish (español), French (espagnol), Russian (ispanskiy), Greek (ispaniká), Tagalog (Espanyol) and Arabic (isbaniya, since Arabic lacks the letter P). More languages seem to lose the vowel and start with S: Besides English, also German (Spanisch), Dutch (Spaans), Irish (Spáinnis), Czech (španělština), Hungarian (spanyolul), Hindi and Tamil (spanish), Malay (Sepanyol), Japanese (supein-go), and Chinese (xībānyá yǔ, where the odd letter X also represents a type of S-sound). Actually, as it turns out some languages even kept the original H sound: the Polish word is ‘hiszpański’, and the Swahili word is ‘Kihispania’ (because ‘ki-’ appears before all language names). Conversely, in Māori the name went the other way, dropping everything up to the S and becoming ‘Paniora’.
Of course, some languages went a different way. Based on its origin as the language of Castile, many speakers of Maya and Quechua use ‘kastilla’ instead of ‘español’, while the Basque word for ‘Spanish’ is ‘gaztelania’, which also derives from the name Castilla. In Hebrew, the language is ‘spardit’—the same etymology as the name for Sephardic Jews. Meanwhile, in the Navajo language, Spanish is ‘Naakaii bizaad’—the first word meaning ‘gypsy, nomad, or traveler’, which must have been their impression of the Europeans upon first contact.