The Spanish family tree

Have you ever looked through your family album? Have you looked for information about your ancestors, grandparents, great-grandparents, and great-great-grandparents? Did you know that when we talk about languages, ​​we can also refer to families – not just any kind of family, but linguistic families? For example, suppose we pay attention to the words agua, acqua and água (from Castilian, Italian and Portuguese, respectively). In that case, we will see that the similarities are evident, so it is possible to establish kinship ties. These three languages ​​are sisters since they have the exact origin in Latin. Now, let’s follow the traces of the past to understand the linguistic family tree of Castilian.

Spanish (or Castilian) belongs to the Indo-European language family, part of the Italic branch. Italic languages ​​include Latin and other extinct languages ​​spoken in the Italian peninsula (such as Oscan, Umbrian, Sabine, Faliscan and Sicilian).

The languages ​​that are direct descendants of Latin are the so-called Romance languages. These languages ​​, which evolved from Vulgar Latin, are the only ones in the Italic family that survived the fall of the Roman Empire. There is a rich diversity within the Romance languages, including Spanish, French, Portuguese, Italian, Romanian, Catalan-Valencian, Galician, Sicilian, Aragonese, and Leonese. The list is long, with over twenty known Romance languages, each with its unique history and characteristics, although many are seriously threatened. The survival of these languages is a testament to their resilience and the richness of human linguistic diversity.

Latin and its sisters

If Latin is the mother of Spanish, Indo-European would be the grandfather language, although there are no written records. The sister languages ​​of Latin would be Proto-Celtic, Proto-Germanic, and Proto-Balto-Slavic, among others. From the Balto-Slavic languages ​​derived Polish, Serbian, Russian, and Bulgarian. From Proto-Germanic comes English and German, but also Danish, Swedish, and Norwegian. From Proto-Celtic come Irish, Welsh, and Breton.

It is a richly complex tapestry of linguistic relationships, and I’ve only given you a glimpse. This should give you a sense of ​​human language’s dynamic and intricate nature. Languages ​​are like subsystems, constantly interacting and evolving.

The future of language

As you can see, languages ​​are constantly changing and evolving. Going from Indo-European to Latin, then from Latin to Vulgar Latin, to arrive at the development of Castilian as the language we know today has taken time. Perhaps it is too soon to say, but certain linguistic elements lead us to suspect that Castilian could eventually be the mother language of a new branch of children that grows little by little in such a way that in the future, they could mature until they become independent. So, perhaps names like Extremaduran, Canarian, Rioplatense, Chilean or Andalusian could be some of these new children of Spanish. Maybe it could happen.

Changes happen much faster than we imagine. Can you think of any way in which you have modified your language? Maybe you have your language with friends or a partner. If that is the case, imagine now that this language game reaches a larger group and becomes a common expression within your town or city. That is already a linguistic identity trait of a cultural group.

These changes, though subtle, can grow and be adopted by a larger social group, much like the tide that rises and falls without our immediate notice. It’s crucial to be mindful, as language is a dynamic system, and you play a significant role in the changes that occur within it.

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