There’s a common mix-up (at least) in Argentina —a lot of people say we don’t speak español, but castellano. Even though this is widespread and not incorrect, it’s worth clearing up.
We’ll do that in three steps:
- Spain before spanish
- Columbus
- Today
Spain before Spanish
If we take a moment to look into the term “castellano”, we’ll see it actually refers to the Spanish that comes from Castile (Castilla), a region in central Spain that has disappeared as such.
Before Spanish was the language of Spain, it was just one of many. Other regions had their own languages too, like Catalan, Galician, and Basque. The region of Castile had its own dialect -castellano- which began to spread as the Kingdom of Castile expanded.
Columbus
Fast forward to the end of the 15th Century, it was the Kings and Queens of Castile who funded Christopher Columbus’s voyages to the so-called New World. In exchange, they wanted a share of whatever was “discovered.” Along with ships and sailors, they also sent their language: castellano.
As Spain colonized the Americas, this variety became the default language of administration, religion, and education in the colonies. Eventually, that version of Castilian would evolve in different ways across Latin America — giving rise to the dialects we know today:
Today
These days, when we talk about the language spoken in Argentina (or Mexico, or Colombia…), the global term is español —just like English, French, or Portuguese. It’s the name used by international organizations, by the language teaching community, and in dictionaries around the world.
The term castellano is still used inside Spain, mostly to distinguish Spanish from other co-official languages in the country (alongside Catalan, Valencian, Galician, Basque, in specific regions).
But in Argentina, we don’t have that context. When we say castellano, we’re often repeating a myth: that we speak something fundamentally different from “Spanish.”
We don’t. We speak Spanish. And, as some of you may know, there’s a term to refer to the Spanish commonly reffered to as Castellano: it’s Español Rioplatense.
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