Los Idiomas de Espana

For a country of its geographic size, Spain has a relatively high number of languages. The language most often used is Castellano (what most Americans--and even Spaniards--think of as "Spanish"). However, there are many other languages that Spaniards use in various regions. These are actually separate languages, not simply different dialectics.

The region Amanda and I just visited, Catalunya, has three official languages: Catalan, Castellano, and Aranese. I have no idea what Aranese is... but I did notice that official signs were posted in both Catalan and Castellano throughout Barcelona. Many signs also contained English translations. According to our Fodor's travel guide, Catalan contains heavy influences of Latin and Provencal French, whereas Castellano received more influence from Arabic.

It seems to me that a person who knows Castellano and French would understand Catalan immediately. Certain words appear to be the offspring of French and Castellano parent words. For example, "sortida" means "exit" in Catalan (the Castellano word is "salida," and the French word is "sortie"). Here is a picture I took of a placard that has Catalan, Castellano, and English versions of the same message. (Catalan is on the far left. You may have to click on the picture to make it large enough to read the differences in the words used.)



We have not yet visited the Basque region, which has a language named Euskera that is so different from Castellano and Catalan that it is placed in an entirely different language family. I can't wait to get to Bilbao and maybe San Sebastian to encounter a completely different language experience so near our home in Madrid.