View source for Influences on the Spanish language

{{Spanish language}}
Spanish is a [[Romance language]] which developed from [[Vulgar Latin]] in central areas of the [[Iberian Peninsula]] and has absorbed many loanwords from other [[Romance languages]] like [[French language|French]], [[Occitan language|Occitan]], [[Catalan language|Catalan]], [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]], and [[Italian language|Italian]].<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Penny|2002|p=272-284}}</ref> Spanish also has lexical influences from [[Arabic language|Arabic]] and from  [[Paleohispanic languages]] such as [[Iberian language|Iberian]], [[Celtiberian language|Celtiberian]] and [[Basque language|Basque]]. 

In [[the Americas]], Spanish is now spoken by people of a great variety of cultural backgrounds, including those of [[Amerindian]] and [[African people|African]] heritage. The extensive contact with [[Indigenous languages of the Americas|native American languages]] especially has resulted in the adoption of many lexical items from these languages, not only in local dialects of Spanish, but throughout the language as a whole.

==Formative influences==
As Spanish went through its first stages of development in Spain, it probably received influences from neighbouring Romance languages, and also from [[Basque language|Basque]], which is a [[language isolate]] and thus completely unrelated to Spanish in origin. [[Umbrian language|Umbrian]] and [[Oscan language|Oscan]] influences have also been postulated for the [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] colonization period.

===Celtiberian influence===
Two specific types of [[lenition]], the [[voiced consonant|voicing]] of [[voiceless consonant]]s and the [[elision]] of [[voiced consonant]]s (both of which are discussed at greater length below), are the [[phonology|phonological]] changes of Spanish that are most often attributed to the influence of [[Celtic language]]s; they have also been attributed to the influence of the Basque language.  While examples of these two types of lenition are ubiquitous and well-documented in Spanish, two assumptions need to be made if these two types of lenition are to be attributed to patterns of lenition in Celtic languages.  The first assumption is that a population of [[bilingualism|bilingual]] [[Celtiberian language|Celtiberian]]&ndash;[[Vulgar Latin]] speakers existed long enough to have had an influence on the development of [[Old Spanish]]. The second assumption is that [[Continental Celtic languages|Continental Celtic]], an [[extinction|extinct]] branch of [[Celtic languages|Celtic]], did indeed exhibit the types of lenition that are known to exist in modern [[Insular Celtic languages]]. Alternatively, the Spanish development may therefore just be a natural internal process, not due to outside influence.

===Basque influence===
Many Castilians who took part in the [[Reconquista]] and later repopulation [[military campaign|campaigns]] of Muslim Iberia were of [[Basque people|Basque]] lineage and this is evidenced by many [[place name]]s throughout Spain. The change from [[History of Spanish#Latin f- to Spanish h-|Latin 'f-' to Spanish 'h-']] was once commonly ascribed to the influence of [[Basque language|Basque]] speakers for a few reasons. The change from [f] to [h] was first documented in the areas around northern [[Castile (historical region)|Castile]] and [[La Rioja (autonomous community)|La Rioja]], areas that are close to the Basque-speaking area. The change to [h] took place to a greater degree in the [[Gascon language]] in [[Gascony]], in southwestern France, an area that is close to the Basque Country too. The claim is that the [[Basque language]] lacked the [f] sound and thus substituted it with [h], the closest thing to [f] in that language.

There are some difficulties with attributing this change to Basque, however. There is no hard evidence that [[medieval]] Basque did or did not have an [f] sound. Presumably early borrowings of forms with initial [f] into Basque were usually received as [p] or [b] (e.g. FESTA > Basque ''pesta'' or ''besta'', depending on the dialect), rather than [h]. Adding to this is the fact that the f-to-h [[lenition]] is not peculiar to Spanish. In fact, the change from [f] to [h] is one of the most common [[phonology|phonological]] changes in all kinds of world languages. According to the explanations that negate or downplay Basque influence, the change occurred in the affected dialects wholly independent of each other as the result of internal change (i.e. linguistic factors, not outside influence). It is also possible that the two forces worked in concert and reinforced each other.

Another claim of Basque influence in Spanish is the [[voiceless alveolar retracted sibilant]] [{{IPAlink|s̺}}], a sound roughly intermediate between [[Laminal consonant|laminodental]] [{{IPAlink|s}}] and [[Palatal consonant|palatal]] [{{IPAlink|ʃ}}]; this sound also appears in other [[Ibero-Romance languages]] and in [[Catalan language|Catalan]]. The apico-alveolar retracted sibilant might be a result of [[bilingualism]] of speakers of Basque and [[Vulgar Latin]].

===Gothic===
Spain was controlled by the [[Visigoth]]s between the 5th and 8th centuries. However, the influence of the [[Gothic language]] (an East Germanic language) on Spanish was minimal because the invaders were already somewhat Romanized, were secluded in the upper echelons of society, and generally did not intermarry with the natives. Besides a few military words, Spanish borrowed the following from Gothic:<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Penny|2002|p=14–16}}</ref>

*A new noun [[declension]] (nominative ''-ā'', oblique ''-āne''), which originated from the Gothic n-stem declension. This was used mostly with proper names, e.g., Old Spanish ''Fruela'' ~ ''Froilán'' (for the same person) and also ''guardia'' "guard" ~ ''guardián'' "guardian" (from Gothic nominative ''wardja'', accusative ''wardjan'').
*The originally adjectivizing [[Affix|suffix]] ''-engo'' (Germanic ''-ing''), as in ''abolengo'' 'ancestry' (cf. ''abuelo'' 'grandfather'), ''abadengo'' 'abbatial', ''realengo'' 'belonging to the Crown', ''camarlengo'' 'chamberlain'.
* Perhaps the originally patronymic [[Spanish naming customs|surname]] suffixes in ''-z'' (as in ''Díaz'', ''Pérez'', ''López'', ''Ruiz'', ''Muñoz'', etc.) is from numerous Latinized Gothic [[Genitive case|genitives]] in ''-īcī'', from original -''iks''. Thus, ''Roderic(us)'' (→ ''Ruy'') → ''Roderīcī'' 'son of Roderick' → ''Rodriz'' → ''Ruiz''.
*A few words of Gothic origin, e.g., ''ganso'' 'goose' (← *''gans''), ''rueca'' 'distaff' (← *''rokko''), ''tascar'' 'to beat hemp or flax' (← *''taskōn''), ''triscar'' 'to set, tease' (← ''þriskan'' 'to thresh'), ''ataviar'' 'to attire, adorn' (← *''attaujan'' 'to mend').

Although [[Germanic languages]] by most accounts affected the [[phonology|phonological]] development very little, [[List of Spanish words of Germanic origin|Spanish words of Germanic origin]] are present in all [[dialect|varieties]] of Modern Spanish.  Many of the Spanish words of Germanic origin were already present in [[Vulgar Latin]], and so they are shared with other Romance languages.<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Spaulding|1971|pp=49–51}}</ref>  Other Germanic words were borrowed in more recent times; for example, the words for the [[cardinal directions]] (''norte'', ''este'', ''sur'', ''oeste'' — 'north', 'east', 'south', 'west') are not documented until late in the 15th century.  These direction words are thought to be from [[Old English]], probably by way of French.<ref name="Breve">{{Harvcoltxt|Corominas|1973}}</ref>

=== Arabic ===
{{main|Arabic influence on the Spanish language}}
In 711 AD, most of the Iberian Peninsula was [[Umayyad conquest of Hispania|conquered]] by [[Arabic language|Arabic-speaking]] [[Muslims]], who had recently also conquered a large part of northwest Africa. [[Loanwords]] from [[Arabic language|Arabic]] thus entered Castilian from a very early period. This lexical influence reached its greatest level during the Christian [[Reconquista]], when the emerging [[Kingdom of Castile]] conquered large territories from [[Moors|Moorish]] rulers in the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries. These territories had large numbers of speakers of Arabic, as well as many who spoke local Romance dialects ([[Mozarabic language]]) that were heavily influenced by Arabic, both influencing Castilian. Arabic words and their derivatives were also brought into Spanish by [[Mozarab]] Christians who emigrated northwards from [[Al-Andalus]] in times of [[sectarian violence]], particularly during the times of [[Almohad]] and [[Almoravid]] rule in the 12th and 13th centuries. Due to the long-lasting presence and influence of [[Arabic language|Arabic]], mainly in southern Iberia, Spanish has a significant lexical component from that language, constituting some 8% of its vocabulary according to some estimates.<ref name="Dworkin83">{{Harvcoltxt|Dworkin|2012|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=V4f8ZpJAhgIC&pg=PA83 83]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Macpherson|first=I. R.|title=Spanish phonology.|year=1980|publisher=Manchester University Press|location=Manchester|isbn=0-7190-0788-7|page=93|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9VrpAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA93}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Martínez Egido|first=José Joaquín|title=Constitución del léxico español|year=2007|page=15|publisher=Liceus, Servicios de Gestió |isbn=9788498226539|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cbVIY4qAA9cC&pg=PA15}}</ref><ref>[http://www.alhambra-patronato.es/elblogdelmuseo/index.php/arabe_lengua_espanola Patronato de la Alhambra y Generalife: ''La influencia árabe en la lengua española'']</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=Ma Asmaa |url=https://www.academia.edu/5200405 |title=Al-Ándalus: El legado lingüístico árabe en el castellano |via=academia.edu}}</ref>                       

Spanish borrowed words from Arabic in many semantic fields:

*Military and administrative terms such as ''[[alcázar]]'' "fortress" (from Latin ''[[Castra|castrum]]'' "encampment, castle", through Arabic),<ref name="Breve"/> ''alcalde'' "mayor", ''barrio'' "ward, neighborhood", ''aldea'' "village";
*Leisure and comfort items such as ''alfombra'' "carpet", ''almohada'' "pillow", ''guitarra'' "guitar" (from Greek ''kithāra'' "[[zither]], [[cithara]]", through Arabic);<ref name="Breve"/>
*Legal terms such as ''asesino'' "assassin, murderer", ''rehén'' "hostage", ''tarifa'' "tariff, fee", ''arancel'' "fee";
*Food and beverage names such as ''aceite'' "oil", ''arroz'' "rice", ''espinaca'' "spinach" and ''naranja'' "orange" (both from Persian, through Arabic),<ref name="Breve"/> ''café'' "coffee" (from Arabic through Turkish and then Italian),<ref name="Breve"/> ''azúcar'' "sugar";
*Terms of architecture and craftsmanship such as ''alcoba'' "[[alcove (architecture)|alcove]], room", ''azotea'' "flat roof", ''albañil'' "mason", ''tabique'' "dividing wall", ''adoquín'' "paving stone", ''adobe'' "[[adobe]]", ''alfarero'' "potter", ''taza'' "cup", ''jarra'' "pitcher";
*Chemical substances and materials such as ''alcohol'' "alcohol", ''álcali'' "alkali" (through [[Late Latin]], hence the initial stress),<ref name="Breve"/> ''laca'' "lacquer"(from Sanskrit through Persian and then Arabic);<ref name="Breve"/>
*Mathematical and astronomical terms such as ''cero'' "zero" (through [[Late Latin]] and then Italian),<ref name="Breve"/> ''cifra'' "cipher, figure", ''álgebra'' "[[algebra]]" (through [[Late Latin]], hence the initial stress),<ref name="Breve"/> ''cenit'' "[[zenith]]" (Arabic ''semt ar-ra's'', with an apparent misreading of ''-m-'' as ''-ni-'' in 13th-century manuscripts),<ref name="Breve"/> ''guarismo'' "number, figure";
*Interjections such as ''ojalá'' ("may it be that. ..", originally "May Allah want. .."), ''olé'', and ''albricias'' "joy!".

Many of these borrowings (especially in the scientific field) were then passed on to other languages (English acquired most of them through [[French language|French]]).

Most Spanish nouns beginning with the letters ''al-'' (from the Arabic definite article) have their origin in Arabic.<ref>For example, 152 (72%) of the 210 nouns in ''al-'' listed in {{Harvcoltxt|Corominas|1973}}, are of Arabic origin.</ref>

As to how many words in Modern Spanish are of Arabic origin, the estimates vary widely, depending largely on whether the count includes derived forms and place names.  One respected authority<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Lapesa|1981}} §33, n. 5 bis</ref> suggests that they number more than 4,000, based on estimates of 850 of known etymology, 780 forms derived from them, 1,000 place names, 500 additional place names of "probable" Arabic origin, and "very numerous" Arabic-looking words whose affiliation has not yet been established.  The largest Spanish etymological dictionary — the ''[[Diccionario crítico etimológico de la lengua castellana]]'', by [[Joan Coromines|Joan Corominas]]<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Corominas|1980–1991}}.  The first edition, {{Harvcoltxt|Corominas|1954–1957}} contains an appendix in which words are grouped by language of origin.</ref> — lists slightly over 1,000 words of Arabic origin, while Wikipedia's own [[List of Spanish words of Arabic origin]], based on etymologies given by the [[Real Academia Española]] so far includes 1,200 confirmed Arabisms, excluding place names and derivatives.

[[Morphology (linguistics)|Morphological]] borrowing was scarce. The suffíx ''-í'' (deriving adjectives from place names, as in ''Marbellí'', ''Ceutí'' or ''Iraní'', "from [[Marbella]]", "from [[Ceuta]]", or "from [[Iran]]" respectively)  is an example.

==Influences from Native American languages==
{{More citations needed section|date=August 2019}}

In October 1492 [[Christopher Columbus]] made his first landfall in the [[Americas]], and thereafter Spanish settlers began to come into contact with a host of [[native American languages]]. Most of these were wiped out or severely reduced in number of speakers and distribution area during the [[Spanish colonization of the Americas|colonization]], but Spanish [[List of Spanish words of Indigenous American Indian origin|adopted a number of words from some of them]]. The following list is by no means exhaustive.

*From [[Nahuatl]]: ''tomate'' "[[tomato]]", ''chocolate'' "[[chocolate]]", ''ajolote'' "[[axolotl]]", ''cacao'' "[[cocoa bean|cocoa]]", ''coyote'' "[[coyote]]", ''zapote'' "{{Interlanguage link|Zapote (fruta)|es|lt=zapotl}}", ''cuate'' (friend or twin) "[[wikt:coatl|coatl]]" (snake), ''mecate'', "[[wikt:mecatl|mecatl]]" (rope), ''aguacate'' "[[ahuacatl]]" (avocado) and [[List of Spanish words of Nahuatl origin|hundreds or thousand more words]], even reaching the [[List of English words from indigenous languages of the Americas#Words from Nahuatl|English language]].
*From [[Quechua language|Quechua]]: ''cóndor'' (from ''kuntur'') "[[condor]]", ''cancha'' (from ''[[Inca kancha|kancha]]'') "playing field", ''[[alpaca]]'' (from ''allpaqa''), ''caucho'' (from ''k'awchu'') "[[Natural rubber|rubber]]", ''[[coca]]'' (from ''kuka''), ''[[guano]]'' (from ''wanu''), ''[[gaucho]]'' (orig. ''wakcha'' "poor person"), ''[[guanaco]]'' (from ''wanaku''), ''[[llama]]'', ''[[cougar|puma]]'', ''[[pampa]]'' "plains, flat terrain".<ref>Teofilo Laime Ajacopa, Diccionario Bilingüe Iskay simipi yuyayk'ancha, La Paz, 2007 (Quechua-Spanish dictionary)</ref>
*From [[Guaraní language|Guaraní]]: ''caracú'' "[[bone marrow]]", ''catinga'' "body odor", ''[[chamamé]]'' (a folk music genre), ''tapera'' "ruins", ''jaguar'', ''yaguareté'' "[[jaguar]]", ''[[Yerba mate|mate]]'' (an infusion, orig. ''mati'' "pumpkin").
*From [[Taino language|Taino]]: ''caimán'' "[[caiman]]", ''huracán'' "[[Tropical cyclone|hurricane]]", ''hamaca'' "[[hammock]]", ''canoa'' "[[canoe]]" (through [[Arawakan languages|Arawak]]).
*From [[Tupi language|Tupi]]: ''[[capibara]]'' (the largest [[rodent]] on Earth), ''[[jacarandá]]'' (a tree).

Those words referring to local features or animals might be limited to regional usage, but many others like ''cóndor'', ''canoa'' or ''chocolate'' are extended even to other languages.

== Modern borrowings ==
Spanish borrowed many words from other European languages: its close neighbors such as [[Catalan language|Catalan]] or [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]], other [[Romance language]]s such as [[Italian language|Italian]] and [[French language|French]] (this particularly during the Neoclassicist to Napoleonic periods, when French language and culture became the fashion at the royal court), and [[Germanic language]]s like English. For example:

*''chao'', ''chau'' "bye" from Italian [[ciao]] (sometimes co-existing with ''adiós'')
*''chofer'' "chauffeur" from French (co-existing with "conductor")
*''elenco'' "team" or "cast" from Italian (co-existing with ''equipo'', when used as team, and ''reparto'')
*''sándwich'', from English (co-existing with "emparedado" and sometimes with "bocadillo")
*''briquet'' from French (used in Colombia, co-existing with ''encendedor'')
*''capot'' from French
*''carnet'' from French (identification card)
*''fútbol'' from English (football) (originally ''balompié'')
*''gendarme'' from French (prison guards).
*''coche'' from Hungarian ''kocsi''.
*''pistola'' from German ''Pistole''.

{{Expand section|date=June 2008}}

==Recent borrowings==
In recent times, Spanish has borrowed many words and expressions from English, especially in the fields of computers and the Internet. In many cases, technical expressions that superficially employ common Spanish words are in fact [[calque]]s from English equivalents.  For example, ''disco duro'' is a literal translation of "hard disk".  Words like [[blog]], [[Online chat|chat]], and [[weblog]] are used, though ''[[:es:Bitácora|bitácora]]'' (from ''cuaderno de bitácora'', the [[captain's log]] on a boat) is also common.

{{Expand section|date=June 2008}}

==Words of non-Latin origin==
Some authors estimate that seventy-five percent of Spanish words have come from Latin<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Chandler|Schwartz|1991|p=2}}</ref> and were in use in Spain before the time of [[Christ]].  The remaining 25 percent come from other languages. Of these [[language]]s (and [[language family|language families]]), the four that have contributed the most words are [[Greek language|Greek]], [[Arabic language|Arabic]], [[Indigenous languages of the Americas]], [[Germanic languages|Germanic]], and [[Celtic languages|Celtic]] in roughly that order.

==Lists of Spanish etymology==
[[List of Spanish words of African origin|African]] &ndash; 
[[List of Spanish words of Indigenous American Indian origin|Americas]] &ndash; 
[[Arabic influence on the Spanish language|Arabic]] &ndash;  
[[List of Spanish words of Austronesian origin|Austronesian]] &ndash; 
[[List of Spanish words of Basque origin|Basque]] &ndash; 
[[List of Spanish words of Celtic origin|Celtic]] &ndash; 
[[List of Spanish words of Chinese origin|Chinese]] &ndash; 
Etruscan &ndash; 
[[List of Spanish words of French origin|French]] &ndash; 
[[List of Spanish words of Germanic origin|Germanic]] &ndash;
[[List of Spanish words of Iberian origin|Iberian]] &ndash;
[[List of Spanish words of Indo-Aryan origin|Indo-Aryan]] &ndash;
Iranian &ndash; 
[[List of Spanish words of Italic origin|Italic]] &ndash;  
[[List of Spanish words of Semitic origin|Semitic]] &ndash;  
[[List of Spanish words of Turkic origin|Turkic]] &ndash; 
[[List of Spanish words of uncertain origin|uncertain]] &ndash;
[[List of Spanish words of various origins|various origins]].

==See also==
*[[History of the Spanish language]]
*[[Iberian language]]
*[[Paleohispanic languages]]
*[[Vulgar Latin]]
*[[Romance languages]]
*[[List of Spanish words of Indigenous American Indian origin]]
*[[Spanish language in the Philippines#List of Spanish words of Philippine origin|List of Spanish words of Philippine origin]]
*[[List of English words of Spanish origin]]

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
*{{Citation
|last1 = Alvar
|first1= Manuel
|last2=Pottier
|first2=Bernard
|year= 1983
|title=Morfología histórica del español
|place=Madrid
|publisher=Gredos
}}
*{{Citation
|last1 = Chandler
|first1= Richard E.
|last2=Schwartz
|first2=Kessel
|orig-year= 1961|year= 1991
|title=A New History of Spanish Literature
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h79ViVeChFIC&q=chandler+schwartz+%22new+history+of+spanish+literature%22
|place=Baton Rouge
|publisher=Louisiana State University Press
|isbn= 9780807117354
}}
*{{Citation
|last = Corominas
|first= Joan
|year= 1954–1957
|title=Diccionario crítico etimológico de la lengua castellana
|place=Madrid
|publisher=Gredos
}}
*{{Citation
|last = Corominas
|first= Joan
|year= 1973
|title=Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana
|place=Madrid
|publisher=Gredos
}}
*{{Citation
|last = Corominas
|first= Joan
|year= 1980–1991
|title=Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico
|place=Madrid
|publisher=Gredos
}}
*{{cite book|last=Dworkin|first=Steven N.|title=A History of the Spanish Lexicon: A Linguistic Perspective|year=2012|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-954114-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V4f8ZpJAhgIC}}
*{{Citation
|last = Lapesa
|first= Rafael
|orig-year= 1942|year= 1981
|edition = 9th
|title=Historia de la lengua española
|place=Madrid
|publisher=Gredos
}}
*{{Citation
|last = Menéndez Pidal
|first= Ramón
|orig-year= 1905|year= 1968
|edition = 13th
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|place=Madrid
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}}
*{{Citation
|last = Penny
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|year= 2002
|edition = 2nd
|title=A History of the Spanish Language
|url=http://assets.cambridge.org/052180/5872/sample/0521805872ws.pdf
|publisher=Cambridge University Press
}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20061112034325/http://latine.iespana.es/latine.index.html Spanish words of Latin origin] Spanish, a Romance language.
*{{Citation
|last = Spaulding
|first= Robert K[ilburn]
|orig-year= 1943|year= 1971
|title=How Spanish Grew
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Vl8lFy4qQX4C&q=%22how+spanish+grew%22+spaulding
|place=Berkeley
|publisher=University of California Press
|isbn= 9780520011939
}}
{{Linguistic influence}}{{DEFAULTSORT:Influences On The Spanish Language}}
[[Category:Spanish etymology| ]]
[[Category:Spanish language]]
[[Category:History of the Spanish language]]
[[Category:Language contact]]