There are two
names given to the
Spanish language Spanish (
español) and
Castilian (
castellano). Spanish speakers from different countries or backgrounds can show a preference for one term or the other, or use them indistinctly, but political issues or common usage might make speakers choose one term or the other. It is the purpose of this article to explain the differences between those terms, the countries or backgrounds that show a preference for one or the other and the implications the choice of words might have for a native Spanish speaker.
Generally speaking, both terms can refer to the Spanish language as a whole, with a preference for one term over the other that depends on the context or the speaker's origin; Castilian (castellano) has another somehow more restricted meaning, relating either to the old romance language spoken in the Kingdom of Castile in the Middle Ages, predecessor of the modern Spanish language, or to the Spanish dialect nowadays spoken in the historical region of Castile, in central Spain.
The history of these two terms is tightly intertwined to the History of Spain and South America, and more specifically to the Spanish colonization of the Americas.
Originally Castilian (castellano) referred to the language of the Kingdom of Castile, one of several Northern Kingdoms that spread across the Iberian peninsula through the Middle Ages, from about the VIII to the XV centuries. The first written words in Castilian/Spanish are thought to be found at the Glosas Emilianenses, a document from the XI century. This protoromanic language is not spoken any more, but can be read in many texts such as El cantar del Mio Cid. This language came from Latin and evolved into what is now Spanish.
