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73-711: Wager Island ( Spanish : Isla Wager ) is an uninhabited island in Guayaneco Archipelago , a remote part of western Patagonia . Located 1,600 kilometres (990 miles) south of Santiago , the island is part of Capitán Prat Province of the Aysén Region , Chile . The island was the location of the Wager Mutiny , which took place in October 1741 after the wreck of the British warship HMS Wager . The Guayaneco Archipelago
146-571: A Spanish-based creole language called Chavacano developed in the southern Philippines. However, it is not mutually intelligible with Spanish. The number of Chavacano-speakers was estimated at 1.2 million in 1996. The local languages of the Philippines also retain significant Spanish influence, with many words derived from Mexican Spanish , owing to the administration of the islands by Spain through New Spain until 1821, until direct governance from Madrid afterwards to 1898. Friar A friar
219-588: A considerable number of words from Arabic , as well as a minor influence from the Germanic Gothic language through the period of Visigoth rule in Iberia. In addition, many more words were borrowed from Latin through the influence of written language and the liturgical language of the Church. The loanwords were taken from both Classical Latin and Renaissance Latin , the form of Latin in use at that time. According to
292-517: A dramatic change in the pronunciation of its sibilant consonants , known in Spanish as the reajuste de las sibilantes , which resulted in the distinctive velar [x] pronunciation of the letter ⟨j⟩ and—in a large part of Spain—the characteristic interdental [θ] ("th-sound") for the letter ⟨z⟩ (and for ⟨c⟩ before ⟨e⟩ or ⟨i⟩ ). See History of Spanish (Modern development of
365-476: A first language by Spaniards and educated Filipinos ( Ilustrados ). Despite a public education system set up by the colonial government, by the end of Spanish rule in 1898, only about 10% of the population had knowledge of Spanish, mostly those of Spanish descent or elite standing. Spanish continued to be official and used in Philippine literature and press during the early years of American administration after
438-471: A long history in the territory of the current-day United States dating back to the 16th century. In the wake of the 1848 Guadalupe Hidalgo Treaty , hundreds of thousands of Spanish speakers became a minoritized community in the United States. The 20th century saw further massive growth of Spanish speakers in areas where they had been hitherto scarce. According to the 2020 census, over 60 million people of
511-498: A primarily Hassaniya Arabic -speaking territory, Spanish was officially spoken as the language of the colonial administration during the late 19th and 20th centuries. Today, Spanish is present in the partially-recognized Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic as its secondary official language, and in the Sahrawi refugee camps in Tindouf ( Algeria ), where the Spanish language is still taught as
584-599: A second language features characteristics involving the variability of the vowel system. While far from its heyday during the Spanish protectorate in Morocco , the Spanish language has some presence in northern Morocco , stemming for example from the availability of certain Spanish-language media. According to a 2012 survey by Morocco's Royal Institute for Strategic Studies (IRES), penetration of Spanish in Morocco reaches 4.6% of
657-518: A second language, largely by Cuban educators. The number of Spanish speakers is unknown. Spanish is also an official language of the African Union . Spanish was an official language of the Philippines from the beginning of Spanish administration in 1565 to a constitutional change in 1973. During Spanish colonization , it was the language of government, trade, and education, and was spoken as
730-438: A self-sufficient community, friars work among laypeople and are supported by donations or other charitable support. Monks or nuns make their vows and commit to a particular community in a particular place. Friars commit to a community spread across a wider geographical area known as a province and so they will typically move around, spending time in different houses of the community within their province. The English term friar
803-528: A single monastery formalized by their vow of stability. A friar may be in holy orders or be a non-ordained brother . The most significant orders of friars are the Dominicans , Franciscans , Augustinians , and Carmelites . Friars are different from monks in that they are called to the great evangelical counsels (vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience) in service to society, rather than through cloistered asceticism and devotion. Whereas monks live in
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#1733085140967876-416: Is cognate to the root word of satisfacer ("to satisfy"), and hecho ("made") is similarly cognate to the root word of satisfecho ("satisfied"). Compare the examples in the following table: Some consonant clusters of Latin also produced characteristically different results in these languages, as shown in the examples in the following table: In the 15th and 16th centuries, Spanish underwent
949-589: Is a member of one of the mendicant orders in the Roman Catholic Church . There are also friars outside of the Roman Catholic Church, such as within the Anglican Communion . The term, first used in the 12th or 13th century, distinguishes the mendicants' itinerant apostolic character, exercised broadly under the jurisdiction of a superior general , from the older monastic orders ' allegiance to
1022-893: Is derived from the Norman French word frere (brother), from the Latin frater (brother), which was widely used in the Latin New Testament to refer to members of the Christian community. Fray is sometimes used in Spain and former Spanish colonies such as the Philippines or the American Southwest as a title, such as in Fray Juan de Torquemada . In the Roman Catholic church, there are two classes of orders known as friars, or mendicant orders:
1095-449: Is estimated that about 486 million people speak Spanish as a native language , making it the second most spoken language by number of native speakers . An additional 75 million speak Spanish as a second or foreign language , making it the fourth most spoken language in the world overall after English, Mandarin Chinese, and Hindi with a total number of 538 million speakers. Spanish is also
1168-740: Is heavily influenced by Venezuelan Spanish. In addition to sharing most of its borders with Spanish-speaking countries, the creation of Mercosur in the early 1990s induced a favorable situation for the promotion of Spanish language teaching in Brazil . In 2005, the National Congress of Brazil approved a bill, signed into law by the President , making it mandatory for schools to offer Spanish as an alternative foreign language course in both public and private secondary schools in Brazil. In September 2016 this law
1241-721: Is related to Castile ( Castilla or archaically Castiella ), the kingdom where the language was originally spoken. The name Castile , in turn, is usually assumed to be derived from castillo ('castle'). In the Middle Ages , the language spoken in Castile was generically referred to as Romance and later also as Lengua vulgar . Later in the period, it gained geographical specification as Romance castellano ( romanz castellano , romanz de Castiella ), lenguaje de Castiella , and ultimately simply as castellano (noun). Different etymologies have been suggested for
1314-806: Is spoken by very small communities in Angola due to Cuban influence from the Cold War and in South Sudan among South Sudanese natives that relocated to Cuba during the Sudanese wars and returned for their country's independence. Spanish is also spoken in the integral territories of Spain in Africa, namely the cities of Ceuta and Melilla and the Canary Islands , located in the Atlantic Ocean some 100 km (62 mi) off
1387-804: Is the de facto national language of the country, Spanish is often used in public services and notices at the federal and state levels. Spanish is also used in administration in the state of New Mexico . The language has a strong influence in major metropolitan areas such as those of Los Angeles , Miami , San Antonio , New York , San Francisco , Dallas , Tucson and Phoenix of the Arizona Sun Corridor , as well as more recently, Chicago , Las Vegas , Boston , Denver , Houston , Indianapolis , Philadelphia , Cleveland , Salt Lake City , Atlanta , Nashville , Orlando , Tampa , Raleigh and Baltimore-Washington, D.C. due to 20th- and 21st-century immigration. Although Spanish has no official recognition in
1460-419: Is the village of Caleta Tortel , which is situated 107 kilometres (66 miles) to the east, while the nearest airport is Caleta Tortel Airport . Apart from Caleta Tortel, the next closest settlement is the village of Villa Puerto Edén , 165 kilometres (103 miles) to the south. Villa Puerto Edén is among the most remote villages of southern Chile. Wager Island is one of a series of islands and deep bays that are
1533-481: Is thought to have been a cohabitational contact zone between different canoe-faring indigenous peoples living north and south of it. Anthropologist John Montgomery Cooper points out that it possibly made up a "meeting ground of quasi-friendly bilingual tribes". European explorers began to map this area after the discovery of the Strait of Magellan in 1520. Members of the 1553 naval expedition of Francisco de Ulloa were
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#17330851409671606-653: The Chile Triple Junction (CTJ), near the Taitao Peninsula. The Nazca and Antarctic plates are moving to the east, while the South American plate is moving to the west. This situation has resulted in the subsidence of the western edge of the South American plate, lowering it to its current level and resulting in the large number of islands that exists today at that location. Subduction of the Chile Ridge beneath
1679-906: The Gulf of Penas just south of the Taitao Peninsula , Wager ran aground at what would become known as Wager Island on 14 May 1741. Initially, about 140 men survived, making it to the island in ship's boats . By the end of June, many of these men had died on the island from starvation, drowning, hypothermia and trauma. After many arduous months, two groups of castaways eventually departed Wager Island. The first group, consisting of 81 mutineers , departed Wager Island on 13 October 1741. Of this group, 30 men arrived in Río Grande, Brazil , on 28 January 1742. One of these men died shortly after arriving at Río Grande. A second group of men (11 castaways and one Indian guide) departed Wager Island on 6 March 1742. Guided by
1752-720: The Order of Lutheran Franciscans , the Order of Ecumenical Franciscans and the Order of Lesser Sisters and Brothers. In the Anglican Communion there are also a number of mendicant groups such as the Anglican Friars Preachers , the Society of Saint Francis and the Order of St Francis. Several high schools , as well as Providence College , use friars as their school mascot . The Major League Baseball team San Diego Padres have
1825-557: The Spanish as a First Foreign Language (SAFFL) initiative in March 2005. Spanish has historically had a significant presence on the Dutch Caribbean islands of Aruba , Bonaire and Curaçao ( ABC Islands ) throughout the centuries and in present times. The majority of the populations of each island (especially Aruba) speaking Spanish at varying although often high degrees of fluency. The local language Papiamentu (Papiamento on Aruba)
1898-508: The Spanish–American War but was eventually replaced by English as the primary language of administration and education by the 1920s. Nevertheless, despite a significant decrease in influence and speakers, Spanish remained an official language of the Philippines upon independence in 1946, alongside English and Filipino , a standardized version of Tagalog . Spanish was briefly removed from official status in 1973 but reimplemented under
1971-456: The Swinging Friar ("padre" is also a Spanish word for the priestly title "father"; in 1769 San Diego was founded by Spanish Franciscan friars under Junípero Serra ). The University of Michigan 's oldest a cappella group is a male octet known as The Friars. The University of Pennsylvania has a senior honor society known as Friars. Sports teams at Father Dueñas Memorial School on
2044-670: The Vulgar Latin spoken on the Iberian Peninsula of Europe . Today, it is a global language with about 500 million native speakers, mainly in the Americas and Spain , and about 600 million when including second language speakers. Spanish is the official language of 20 countries , as well as one of the six official languages of the United Nations . Spanish is the world's second-most spoken native language after Mandarin Chinese ;
2117-590: The collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century. The oldest Latin texts with traces of Spanish come from mid-northern Iberia in the 9th century, and the first systematic written use of the language happened in Toledo , a prominent city of the Kingdom of Castile , in the 13th century. Spanish colonialism in the early modern period spurred the introduction of the language to overseas locations, most notably to
2190-504: The terrestrial ecoregion known as the Magellanic subpolar forests . This is a temperate broadleaf and mixed forests ecoregion within the neotropical realm . Due to its climate and recent glaciation, biodiversity on the island is somewhat limited. Environmental conditions on the island are characterized by cool temperatures, high rainfall, strong subpolar winds, and rocky ground with generally thin soil and poor drainage. Accordingly, most of
2263-404: The 2021–2022 school year alone. The local business process outsourcing industry has also helped boost the language's economic prospects. Today, while the actual number of proficient Spanish speakers is around 400,000, or under 0.5% of the population, a new generation of Spanish speakers in the Philippines has likewise emerged, though speaker estimates vary widely. Aside from standard Spanish,
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2336-574: The 20th century, Spanish was introduced to Equatorial Guinea and the Western Sahara , and to areas of the United States that had not been part of the Spanish Empire, such as Spanish Harlem in New York City . For details on borrowed words and other external influences upon Spanish, see Influences on the Spanish language . Spanish is the primary language in 20 countries worldwide. As of 2023, it
2409-460: The Americas. As a Romance language, Spanish is a descendant of Latin. Around 75% of modern Spanish vocabulary is Latin in origin, including Latin borrowings from Ancient Greek. Alongside English and French , it is also one of the most taught foreign languages throughout the world. Spanish is well represented in the humanities and social sciences . Spanish is also the third most used language on
2482-636: The Chono cheftain Martín Olleta , the group navigated through Presidente Ríos Lake in the interior of Taitao Peninsula instead of rounding to the west of the treacherous Tres Montes Peninsula . Of this group, three survivors (Captain David Cheap , midshipman John Byron , and midshipman Alexander Campbell) arrived in Chiloé Island , Chile, in early June 1742. One final survivor (Marine Lieutenant Thomas Hamilton)
2555-639: The Equatoguinean education system and is the primary language used in government and business. Whereas it is not the mother tongue of virtually any of its speakers, the vast majority of the population is proficient in Spanish. The Instituto Cervantes estimates that 87.7% of the population is fluent in Spanish. The proportion of proficient Spanish speakers in Equatorial Guinea exceeds the proportion of proficient speakers in other West and Central African nations of their respective colonial languages. Spanish
2628-691: The Iberian Peninsula. These languages included Proto-Basque , Iberian , Lusitanian , Celtiberian and Gallaecian . The first documents to show traces of what is today regarded as the precursor of modern Spanish are from the 9th century. Throughout the Middle Ages and into the modern era , the most important influences on the Spanish lexicon came from neighboring Romance languages — Mozarabic ( Andalusi Romance ), Navarro-Aragonese , Leonese , Catalan/Valencian , Portuguese , Galician , Occitan , and later, French and Italian . Spanish also borrowed
2701-529: The Old Spanish sibilants) for details. The Gramática de la lengua castellana , written in Salamanca in 1492 by Elio Antonio de Nebrija , was the first grammar written for a modern European language. According to a popular anecdote, when Nebrija presented it to Queen Isabella I , she asked him what was the use of such a work, and he answered that language is the instrument of empire. In his introduction to
2774-688: The South American plate at the CTJ has caused a sequence of three ridge –continent collisions, starting about 5 million years ago. During the Llanquihue glaciation , the Guayaneco Archipelago was covered with glaciers , which carved deep valleys into the islands. Today these glacial troughs are deep channels (such as the Messier Channel and the Fallos Channel ) and fjords . Wager Island falls within
2847-483: The Spanish-speaking world, Spanish is called not only español but also castellano (Castilian), the language from the Kingdom of Castile , contrasting it with other languages spoken in Spain such as Galician , Basque , Asturian , Catalan/Valencian , Aragonese , Occitan and other minor languages. The Spanish Constitution of 1978 uses the term castellano to define the official language of
2920-502: The U.S. population were of Hispanic or Hispanic American by origin. In turn, 41.8 million people in the United States aged five or older speak Spanish at home, or about 13% of the population. Spanish predominates in the unincorporated territory of Puerto Rico , where it is also an official language along with English. Spanish is by far the most common second language in the country, with over 50 million total speakers if non-native or second-language speakers are included. While English
2993-451: The administration of Ferdinand Marcos two months later. It remained an official language until the ratification of the present constitution in 1987, in which it was re-designated as a voluntary and optional auxiliary language. Additionally, the constitution, in its Article XIV, stipulates that the Government shall provide the people of the Philippines with a Spanish-language translation of
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3066-435: The beach close to the site of the wreck. The Scientific Exploration Society mounted an expedition in 2006 to attempt to locate what was left of the wreck. The team found, in shallow water, a 5 square metres (54 square feet) piece of wooden hull planking that appeared to be consistent with the construction of Wager . Wager Island is located in the Guayaneco Archipelago , 1,600 kilometres (990 miles) south of Santiago , in
3139-672: The classic hispanus or hispanicus took the suffix -one from Vulgar Latin , as happened with other words such as bretón (Breton) or sajón (Saxon). Like the other Romance languages , the Spanish language evolved from Vulgar Latin , which was brought to the Iberian Peninsula by the Romans during the Second Punic War , beginning in 210 BC. Several pre-Roman languages (also called Paleohispanic languages )—some distantly related to Latin as Indo-European languages , and some that are not related at all—were previously spoken in
3212-495: The consonant written b (a bilabial with plosive and fricative allophones). In modern Spanish, there is no difference between the pronunciation of orthographic b and v . Typical of Spanish (as also of neighboring Gascon extending as far north as the Gironde estuary , and found in a small area of Calabria ), attributed by some scholars to a Basque substratum was the mutation of Latin initial f into h- whenever it
3285-404: The country's constitution. In recent years changing attitudes among non-Spanish speaking Filipinos have helped spur a revival of the language, and starting in 2009 Spanish was reintroduced as part of the basic education curriculum in a number of public high schools, becoming the largest foreign language program offered by the public school system, with over 7,000 students studying the language in
3358-679: The first Europeans to encounter the Chono people . The islands were first reached by Jesuits based in Chiloé in 1613. False rumors of European settlements near the Straits of Magellan prompted the Spanish to send an expedition led by Bartolomé Gallardo in 1674–1675, and later the Antonio de Vea expedition of 1675–1676. Northern tribes such as the Chonos , Huilliche and the Spanish of Chiloé called in colonial times
3431-450: The following table: Spanish is marked by palatalization of the Latin double consonants ( geminates ) nn and ll (thus Latin annum > Spanish año , and Latin anellum > Spanish anillo ). The consonant written u or v in Latin and pronounced [w] in Classical Latin had probably " fortified " to a bilabial fricative /β/ in Vulgar Latin. In early Spanish (but not in Catalan or Portuguese) it merged with
3504-580: The forests to retreat far to the north. The region was gradually reforested starting about 10,000 years ago as the climate warmed and the glaciers retreated. Deglaciation was almost complete around 14,000 years ago. Today, Wager Island consists of a series of highlands and ravines and has many steep headlands and promontories. Notable peaks include Monte Anson, with its summit at 377 metres (1,237 feet), and Monte Wager, with its summit at 586 metres (1,923 feet). The lower slopes of these mountains are covered with Magellanic subpolar forests . The nearest settlement
3577-466: The former British colony of Belize (known until 1973 as British Honduras ) where English is the sole official language, according to the 2022 census, 54% of the total population are able to speak the language. Due to its proximity to Spanish-speaking countries and small existing native Spanish speaking minority, Trinidad and Tobago has implemented Spanish language teaching into its education system. The Trinidadian and Tobagonian government launched
3650-451: The four great orders and the so-called lesser orders. The four great orders were mentioned by the Second Council of Lyons (1274): Some of the lesser orders are: In the Sovereign Military Order of Malta the term Fra' (an abbreviation for the Latin word "frater" meaning "brother") is used when addressing the professed Knights of Justice who have taken vows. Orders of friars (and sisters) exist in other Christian traditions, including
3723-454: The grammar, dated 18 August 1492, Nebrija wrote that "... language was always the companion of empire." From the 16th century onwards, the language was taken to the Spanish-discovered America and the Spanish East Indies via Spanish colonization of America . Miguel de Cervantes , author of Don Quixote , is such a well-known reference in the world that Spanish is often called la lengua de Cervantes ("the language of Cervantes"). In
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#17330851409673796-450: The internet by number of users after English and Chinese and the second most used language by number of websites after English. Spanish is used as an official language by many international organizations , including the United Nations , European Union , Organization of American States , Union of South American Nations , Community of Latin American and Caribbean States , African Union , among others. In Spain and some other parts of
3869-423: The language's hegemony in an intensely centralising Spanish state were established from the 18th century onward. Other European territories in which it is also widely spoken include Gibraltar and Andorra . Spanish is also spoken by immigrant communities in other European countries, such as the United Kingdom , France , Italy , and Germany . Spanish is an official language of the European Union . Today,
3942-628: The majority of the Spanish speakers live in Hispanic America . Nationally, Spanish is the official language—either de facto or de jure —of Argentina , Bolivia (co-official with 36 indigenous languages), Chile , Colombia , Costa Rica , Cuba , Dominican Republic , Ecuador , El Salvador , Guatemala , Honduras , Mexico (co-official with 63 indigenous languages), Nicaragua , Panama , Paraguay (co-official with Guaraní ), Peru (co-official with Quechua , Aymara , and "the other indigenous languages"), Puerto Rico (co-official with English), Uruguay , and Venezuela . Spanish language has
4015-498: The northwest of the African mainland. The Spanish spoken in the Canary Islands traces its origins back to the Castilian conquest in the 15th century , and, in addition to a resemblance to Western Andalusian speech patterns, it also features strong influence from the Spanish varieties spoken in the Americas, which in turn have also been influenced historically by Canarian Spanish. The Spanish spoken in North Africa by native bilingual speakers of Arabic or Berber who also speak Spanish as
4088-444: The northwestern terminus of the Messier Channel , while the Larenas Peninsula forms the northeastern terminus. There is a lighthouse ( NGA 2044) on Islote San Pedro. The Messier Channel is regularly traversed by large cargo ships and cruiseferries . Because the island is located between 46° and 60° south of the equator , it is classified as a subantarctic island . During the Llanquihue glaciation , advancing glaciers caused
4161-508: The other hand, currently uses the term español in its publications. However, from 1713 to 1923, it called the language castellano . The Diccionario panhispánico de dudas (a language guide published by the Royal Spanish Academy) states that, although the Royal Spanish Academy prefers to use the term español in its publications when referring to the Spanish language, both terms— español and castellano —are regarded as synonymous and equally valid. The term castellano
4234-481: The population. Many northern Moroccans have rudimentary knowledge of Spanish, with Spanish being particularly significant in areas adjacent to Ceuta and Melilla. Spanish also has a presence in the education system of the country (through either selected education centers implementing Spain's education system, primarily located in the North, or the availability of Spanish as foreign language subject in secondary education). In Western Sahara , formerly Spanish Sahara ,
4307-499: The remnants of a now-submerged coastal range . The island is of igneous origin, and dates from the tertiary period . It is the product of the same geological phenomenon that caused the development of the Chilean Coast Range and the Andes . Passing through Paso Suroeste—off the southern coast of Wager Island— is the Liquiñe-Ofqui Fault system, a major geological fault that exhibits current seismicity . Three tectonic plates (the Antarctica , South America and Nazca ) meet at
4380-448: The sea-faring people of the area of Wager Island " Caucahue ". They spoke a language different from Chono and according to historian Ximena Urbina and co-workers, the Caucahue are essentially ancient Kawésqar . On 18 September 1740, the British warship HMS Wager (a part of Commodore George Anson's squadron ) departed St Helens with a crew of 160 men along with a large number of invalids and marines. After becoming embayed in
4453-430: The southern part of the Gulf of Penas of the southern Pacific Ocean . It is 18 kilometres (11 miles) long on its NW-SE axis and 10 kilometres (6.2 miles) wide. Of the two main islands that make up the Guayaneco Archipelago, Byron Island is the larger, and Wager Island is the smaller. It is separated from Byron Island by Paso Rundle, and separated from Islote San Pedro by Bahía Acosta. Wager Island and Islote San Pedro form
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#17330851409674526-431: The term español (Spanish). According to the Royal Spanish Academy, español derives from the Occitan word espaignol and that, in turn, derives from the Vulgar Latin * hispaniolus ('of Hispania'). Hispania was the Roman name for the entire Iberian Peninsula . There are other hypotheses apart from the one suggested by the Royal Spanish Academy. Spanish philologist Ramón Menéndez Pidal suggested that
4599-413: The terrain is Magellanic moorland , peatlands and bogs consisting of mosses , grasses, cushion plants , and dwarf shrubs . Depending on which criteria are used, Magellanic moorland may be classified as either tundra or heathland . Spanish language Spanish ( español ) or Castilian ( castellano ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from
4672-444: The theories of Ramón Menéndez Pidal , local sociolects of Vulgar Latin evolved into Spanish, in the north of Iberia, in an area centered in the city of Burgos , and this dialect was later brought to the city of Toledo , where the written standard of Spanish was first developed, in the 13th century. In this formative stage, Spanish developed a strongly differing variant from its close cousin, Leonese , and, according to some authors,
4745-465: The third most used language on the Internet , after English and Chinese. Spanish is the official language of Spain . Upon the emergence of the Castilian Crown as the dominant power in the Iberian Peninsula by the end of the Middle Ages, the Romance vernacular associated with this polity became increasingly used in instances of prestige and influence, and the distinction between "Castilian" and "Spanish" started to become blurred. Hard policies imposing
4818-533: The whole of Spain, in contrast to las demás lenguas españolas (lit. "the other Spanish languages "). Article III reads as follows: El castellano es la lengua española oficial del Estado. ... Las demás lenguas españolas serán también oficiales en las respectivas Comunidades Autónomas... Castilian is the official Spanish language of the State. ... The other Spanish languages shall also be official in their respective Autonomous Communities... The Royal Spanish Academy ( Real Academia Española ), on
4891-444: The world's fourth-most spoken language overall after English , Mandarin Chinese, and Hindustani ( Hindi - Urdu ); and the world's most widely spoken Romance language. The country with the largest population of native speakers is Mexico . Spanish is part of the Ibero-Romance language group , in which the language is also known as Castilian ( castellano ). The group evolved from several dialects of Vulgar Latin in Iberia after
4964-581: Was developed in the cities of Toledo , in the 13th to 16th centuries, and Madrid , from the 1570s. The development of the Spanish sound system from that of Vulgar Latin exhibits most of the changes that are typical of Western Romance languages , including lenition of intervocalic consonants (thus Latin vīta > Spanish vida ). The diphthongization of Latin stressed short e and o —which occurred in open syllables in French and Italian, but not at all in Catalan or Portuguese—is found in both open and closed syllables in Spanish, as shown in
5037-446: Was distinguished by a heavy Basque influence (see Iberian Romance languages ). This distinctive dialect spread to southern Spain with the advance of the Reconquista , and meanwhile gathered a sizable lexical influence from the Arabic of Al-Andalus , much of it indirectly, through the Romance Mozarabic dialects (some 4,000 Arabic -derived words, make up around 8% of the language today). The written standard for this new language
5110-713: Was followed by a vowel that did not diphthongize. The h- , still preserved in spelling, is now silent in most varieties of the language, although in some Andalusian and Caribbean dialects, it is still aspirated in some words. Because of borrowings from Latin and neighboring Romance languages, there are many f -/ h - doublets in modern Spanish: Fernando and Hernando (both Spanish for "Ferdinand"), ferrero and herrero (both Spanish for "smith"), fierro and hierro (both Spanish for "iron"), and fondo and hondo (both words pertaining to depth in Spanish, though fondo means "bottom", while hondo means "deep"); additionally, hacer ("to make")
5183-538: Was rescued and brought to Chiloé Island by a Spanish search party about three months later. Altogether, only 36 men returned alive to Britain, according to The Wager Disaster (2015) by Rear Admiral C. H. Layman. From late 1742 to 1769, the Spanish and the local indigenous people conducted multiple salvage expeditions on the wreck of HMS Wager . A Jesuit priest named Pedro Flores conducted a small salvage operation in late 1742, in which he recovered nearly 100 kg (220 lb) of iron. The first large-scale salvage effort
5256-462: Was revoked by Michel Temer after the impeachment of Dilma Rousseff . In many border towns and villages along Paraguay and Uruguay, a mixed language known as Portuñol is spoken. Equatorial Guinea is the only Spanish-speaking country located entirely in Africa, with the language introduced during the Spanish colonial period . Enshrined in the constitution as an official language (alongside French and Portuguese), Spanish features prominently in
5329-431: Was the expedition of Mateo Abraham Evrard, which took place in 1743. Among the items recovered from this operation were ten iron six-pound cannons, four bronze three-pound cannons, an anchor, more than 100 cannonballs and 1000 musket balls, and three copper cauldrons. In 1779, Spanish missionaries Fray Benito Marín and Fray Julián Real found an indigenous settlement consisting of four dwellings that had been constructed on
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