History of Spanish

Spanish began as spoken Latin (Vulgar Latin) brought by Roman soldiers and settlers after their 3rd-century BCE conquest of Hispania. Local Celtiberian and Basque languages influenced its early sound and vocabulary.

The Visigoths, a Germanic tribe, ruled Hispania from the 5th to 8th centuries and added some vocabulary and names, though their linguistic impact was limited.

From 711 to 1492, much of Iberia was under Muslim Al-Andalus. Arabic enriched Spanish with thousands of loanwords in science, agriculture, and administration, while Mozarabic dialects bridged Latin and Arabic influence.

As Christian kingdoms reconquered territory, Castilian (from the Kingdom of Castile) became dominant. The 13th-century standardization under Alfonso X helped shape its grammar and vocabulary.

From the late 15th century, Spain's global empire spread the language to the Americas, Africa, and Asia. Colonial administrations and missionaries promoted Spanish, which mixed with indigenous languages.

In the 16th and 17th centuries, writers like Cervantes and Lope de Vega elevated Spanish through masterpieces that reflected and refined the language’s expressive power during Spain’s imperial peak.

In 1713 the Real Academia Española was founded to regulate the language. Its dictionaries and grammar guides promote a standardized Spanish used in education and media.

Spanish today includes many regional dialects in Spain and the Americas, shaped by history, contact with other languages, and local innovation. Standard Spanish coexists with vibrant local speech.

Spanish evolved from Latin through layers of local and foreign influence—Roman, Germanic, Arabic—and was shaped by medieval kings and early modern empire. Today it is a global language with a rich literary heritage and many vibrant dialects.

After the Roman Empire fell, Germanic groups like the Visigoths and Sueves ruled parts of Hispania from the 5th to 8th centuries. They left some names and military terms but relatively few everyday words.

Christian kingdoms gradually retook territory from Muslim rulers between the 8th and 15th centuries. Castilian (Old Spanish) expanded as scribes standardized its use in courts and chronicles during this Reconquista process.

King Alfonso X of Castile (13th century) promoted Castilian for law, history, and science, commissioning translations and original works. His court helped fix grammar and vocabulary that shaped the emerging standard.

The 15th-century printing press spread Spanish texts widely, and Columbus’s 1492 voyage launched Spain’s Americas empire. Colonial administration and missionaries carried Spanish across the New World, mixing it with indigenous languages.

From the 18th century onward, institutions like the Real Academia Española codified grammar and dictionary norms to unify Spanish across Spain and colonies. Spanish remains dynamic, influenced by regional dialects and global media.