Spanish, the second most widely spoken language in the world after Mandarin Chinese, is a rich and diverse language with unique features. If you’re not familiar with these peculiarities and curiosities, they are sure to surprise you. Keep reading to discover the fascinating world of Spanish.
Spanish is the official language of twenty-one countries spread across Europe, the American continent and Africa. Its extensive geographical area of influence and diversity make this language’s richness evident. So, let’s look at ten curiosities about this beautiful language:
1. The letter ñ: It is par excellence, the distinctive symbol of Spanish since it is an exclusive letter to this language compared to other European languages. The sound derived from Latin is a fundamental part of its cultural identity.
2. Origin of Arabic words: During the Arab occupation of the Iberian Peninsula, the Spanish incorporated many Arabic words into their lexicon. Terms such as almohada (pillow), azúcar (sugar), almuerzo (lunch), and albahaca (basil) come from Arabic, showcasing the profound influence and rich history of this culture on the Spanish language.
3. Spanish and Latin: as a Romance language, Spanish inherited a grammatical structure and vocabulary from Latin, although over time, variants developed in different countries, enriching the language.
4. Words without an exact translation: Spanish has unique words that are difficult to translate directly, such as sobremesa, which refers to the time spent together after a meal.
5. The subjunctive: The subjunctive is an exclusive verbal mode that allows you to express desires and doubts, something that surprises speakers of other languages where this verbal form does not exist. Spanish is the only language that uses it, along with Portuguese. An example is in the second part of the saying, adonde fueres haz lo que vieres (wherever you go, do what you see.)
6. Diminutives and their richness: Dimitives (such as “—ito ” or “-illo”) are commonly used in Spanish to express affection, size, or to soften the tone, which is not so common in other languages.
7. Dialects and regional variations: The differences in vocabulary and pronunciation between Spanish-speaking countries are vast, and some words can have very different meanings from one region to another. We will talk about this in an article next month 😉
8. W is the letter that is used the least and has the most names: despite appearing the least frequently in the Spanish lexicon, it is the letter that has the most ways of being named; it is called “uve doble,” “doble uve,” “ve doble,” “doble ve,” and ” doble u.”
9. The difference between the verbs ser and estar: Spanish is one of the few languages in the world with such a clear distinction between both verbs. Not even Latin, the language from which it originated, made this distinction. Learn more about this philosophical difference in the article we publish next week 😊.
10. Spanish is the second fastest to pronounce: The University of Lyon studied different languages worldwide to determine which are pronounced the most rapidly. The result? Japanese is the fastest language in the world, followed by Spanish. The study showed that both languages condense a smaller amount of information per syllable, unlike others, such as Vietnamese, for example, which is at the opposite end. This means that Spanish uses more words and longer grammatical constructions.
Keep learning curiosities about the language and the Spanish language, visiting and reading the articles we publish weekly on the iScribo blog. If you want to improve your Spanish writing and correct a specific variant of this language, subscribe to our superb grammar checker. We are waiting for you!
