A Brief History of the Spanish LanguageSpanish is the fourth most widely spoken language in the world and a language of ever-increasing importance in the United States. In what will likely become the introduction to the history of the Spanish language, David Pharies clearly and concisely charts the evolution of Spanish from its Indo-European roots to its present form. An internationally recognized expert on the history and development of this language, Pharies brings to his subject a precise sense of what students of Spanish linguistics need to know. After introductory chapters on what it means to study the history of a language, the concept of linguistic change, and the nature of language families, Pharies traces the development of Spanish from its Latin roots, all with the minimum amount of technical language possible. In the core sections of the book, readers are treated to an engaging and remarkably succinct presentation of the genealogy and development of the language, including accounts of the structures and peculiarities of Latin, the historical and cultural events that deeply influenced the shaping of the language, the nature of Medieval Spanish, the language myths that have become attached to Spanish, and the development of the language beyond the Iberian Peninsula, especially in the Americas. Focusing on the most important facets of the language’s evolution, this compact work makes the history of Spanish accessible to anyone with a knowledge of Spanish and a readiness to grasp basic linguistic concepts. Available in both English and Spanish editions, A Brief History of the Spanish Language provides a truly outstanding introduction to the exciting story of one of the world’s great languages. |
Contents
Introduction | 1 |
1 Language Change | 7 |
2 The Genealogy of Spanish | 19 |
3 External History of the Iberian Peninsula up to the Thirteenth Century | 31 |
4 The Latin Language | 51 |
Phonology | 75 |
Morphology and Syntax | 101 |
7 From Medieval Castilian to Modern Spanish | 141 |
Preface | 310 |
Abbreviations | 314 |
Introduction | 1 |
1 Language Change | 7 |
2 The Genealogy of Spanish | 19 |
3 External History of the Iberian Peninsula up to the Thirteenth Century | 31 |
4 The Latin Language | 51 |
Phonology | 75 |
8 History of the Spanish Lexicon | 169 |
9 Spanish Dialectology | 191 |
Rudiments of Spanish Phonetics and Phonology | 233 |
Glossary of Linguistic Terms | 239 |
Works Cited | 261 |
Index of Spanish Words Cited | 267 |
Subject Index | 285 |
Contents | 304 |
Authors Note | 308 |
Morphology and Syntax | 101 |
7 From Medieval Castilian to Modern Spanish | 141 |
8 History of the Spanish Lexicon | 169 |
9 Spanish Dialectology | 191 |
Rudiments of Spanish Phonetics and Phonology | 233 |
Glossary of Linguistic Terms | 239 |
| 261 | |
Index of Spanish Words Cited | 267 |
| 285 | |
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Common terms and phrases
1st decl According accusative adjectives alveolar amado American Spanish Andalusian Andean Spanish Arabic aspiration Basque become beginning bilingualism called Canary Island Cast Castile century chapter cited clitic clitic pronouns clusters CONJ conjugations consonant consonantal culture dative declension devoicing dialect diglossia English español evolution example feminine fricative function gemination grammatical Hispano-Romance Iberian Peninsula Ibero-Romance illō implosive indicative initial Juan language change language family lengua lenition lexical linguistic loanwords loss of final loss of intertonics Medieval Castilian mergers Modern Spanish morphemes morphological Mozarabic Muslim nominative nouns origin palatal phonemes phonological changes place of articulation plural pronouns Reconquest region Roman s/he second-person semantic seseo sibilants singular sound Spain Spanish language speakers speech spoken Latin subjunctive suffix syllable syntactic tendency tenses tion unvoiced variant varieties velar vernacular Visigoths vocabulary vocalic voiced voseo vowel vowel reduction words yeísmo