There's an interesting debate brewing in BBC Mundo this week about Spanish. The debate refers to the word used to refer to the language. Should it be "castellano" or "espa?ol". For those of you who have never studied the history of Spanish (the origin) of the language the word "castellano" not only refers to the language but it also refers to the region where Spanish originated which is Castilla in Spain. Once the language began to evolve as an Iberian language with influences from other languages like Italian and Portuguese the word "espa?ol' came into usage to refer to what is known today as "el espa?ol".
Once again the purists have their say in this and argue that "el espa?ol" is not correct because it's not spoken in all regions of Spain exclusively and secondly the word "espa?ol" is a gentilicio. I have always struggled with the word gentilicio in English to find an equivalent but it refers to the natives of a particular land. For example Canadians= canadienses, Dominicans= dominicanos, Spaniards =espa?oles. These words refer to the nationality of a group thus "el gentilicio".
Some linguists say "el castellano" is the term used to refer to the Roman dialect that originated in Castilla during the Middle Ages or is a language that is spoken in that region in particular today. They also state that the term "el espa?ol" refers to the end result of that dialect which was enriched by other Iberian languages which is known today as "el espa?ol" and is spoken in Spain and Latin America. (I agree with the linguists and their ideology).
In the article it was briefly stated that in some parts of Latin America in the academic sphere the term "castellano" is used over "espa?ol". (This is completely true in my experience some of my teachers and professors would never use the word "espa?ol". Especially those from Argentina).
Keep in mind you must understand what certain linguistic terms mean. In this case dialect. I have seen some erroneous and individual interpretations of the word dialect in some threads on DR1 that are incorrect. For example Dominican Spanish as a whole is not a dialect. Certain characteristics of Dominican Spanish have dialectal forms (such as the sentence structure and grammatical patterns that are unique to and accepted in the DR and/or Caribbean Spanish). However, Dominican Spanish is not a dialect BUT el cibae?o is because it's a regional variety of a language (Spanish) spoken in the DR. I have discussed this aspect in other threads and I think some of you may have interpreted my posts as saying Dominican Spanish is a dialect. Certain characteristics of Dominican Spanish have dialectal forms.
Here is the link to the article. The debate is on for the week and BBC mundo will reveal the comments when they finish taking submissions. The question BBC Mundo proposed was:
?Usted qu? idioma habla: castellano o espa?ol? ?O acaso considera que ambos t?rminos son sin?nimos? (Which language do you speak or perhaps you consider both terms to be synonymous?).
Debate
-LDG.
Once again the purists have their say in this and argue that "el espa?ol" is not correct because it's not spoken in all regions of Spain exclusively and secondly the word "espa?ol" is a gentilicio. I have always struggled with the word gentilicio in English to find an equivalent but it refers to the natives of a particular land. For example Canadians= canadienses, Dominicans= dominicanos, Spaniards =espa?oles. These words refer to the nationality of a group thus "el gentilicio".
Some linguists say "el castellano" is the term used to refer to the Roman dialect that originated in Castilla during the Middle Ages or is a language that is spoken in that region in particular today. They also state that the term "el espa?ol" refers to the end result of that dialect which was enriched by other Iberian languages which is known today as "el espa?ol" and is spoken in Spain and Latin America. (I agree with the linguists and their ideology).
In the article it was briefly stated that in some parts of Latin America in the academic sphere the term "castellano" is used over "espa?ol". (This is completely true in my experience some of my teachers and professors would never use the word "espa?ol". Especially those from Argentina).
Keep in mind you must understand what certain linguistic terms mean. In this case dialect. I have seen some erroneous and individual interpretations of the word dialect in some threads on DR1 that are incorrect. For example Dominican Spanish as a whole is not a dialect. Certain characteristics of Dominican Spanish have dialectal forms (such as the sentence structure and grammatical patterns that are unique to and accepted in the DR and/or Caribbean Spanish). However, Dominican Spanish is not a dialect BUT el cibae?o is because it's a regional variety of a language (Spanish) spoken in the DR. I have discussed this aspect in other threads and I think some of you may have interpreted my posts as saying Dominican Spanish is a dialect. Certain characteristics of Dominican Spanish have dialectal forms.
Here is the link to the article. The debate is on for the week and BBC mundo will reveal the comments when they finish taking submissions. The question BBC Mundo proposed was:
?Usted qu? idioma habla: castellano o espa?ol? ?O acaso considera que ambos t?rminos son sin?nimos? (Which language do you speak or perhaps you consider both terms to be synonymous?).
Debate
-LDG.
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