Castilian Spanish is an umbrella term referring to all of the various regional dialects of European Spanish spoken in south-central, central, north-central and northern Spain. In English Castilian Spanish usually refers to the variety of European Spanish spoken in north and central Spain or as the language standard for radio and TV speakers.[1][2][3][4] The region where this variety of Spanish is spoken corresponds more or less to the Castilian historical region.
The Spanish language term castellano (Castilian) may refer to the Spanish language as a whole, to the dialects spoken in central and northern Spain, or to the medieval language which was a predecessor to modern Spanish.
The purpose of this article is to describe the features of the Spanish language spoken in central and northern Spain, especially in the way it contrasts with the Spanish varieties in the Americas.
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The term Castilian Spanish can be used in English for the specific dialects of Spanish spoken in north and central Spain. Sometimes it is more loosely used to denote the Spanish spoken in all of Spain as compared to Spanish spoken in Latin America; however, there are several different dialects of Spanish as well as other official languages in Spain.
For Spanish speakers in academic contexts, castellano refers to some dialects of the Spanish language as spoken in the historical region of Castile, a former Kingdom in what is now Spain. In general usage, however, castellano can refer to the language as a whole, as a synonym of español (Spanish).
The Real Academia Española (Royal Spanish Academy or RAE) defines Castilian Spanish as a standard language, and many speakers accept RAE as the governing body of the language.
However, some traits of the Spanish spoken in Spain are exclusive to that country, and for this reason, courses of Spanish as a second language often neglect them preferring Mexican Spanish in the United States and Canada whilst European Spanish is taught in Europe. While there is nothing comparable to American and British English spelling differences, grammar and to a lesser extent pronunciation can vary sometimes.
The most striking difference between dialects in central and northern Spain and American Spanish is distinción (distinction), that is, the pronunciation of the letter z before all vowels, and of c only for e and i , as a voiceless dental fricative /θ/, English th in thing. Thus, in most variations of Spanish from Spain, cinco (five) is pronounced /ˈθinko/ as opposed to /ˈsinko/ in American Spanish, and similarly for zapato, cerdo, zorro, Zurbarán.
Additionally, all American dialects drop the non-formal vosotros verb form for the second person plural, using ustedes in all contexts. In Spain, ustedes is used only in a formal context. Some other minor differences are:
The meaning of certain words may differ greatly between both dialects of the language: carro refers to car in some American dialects, but to cart in Spain. Sometimes there also appear gender differences: el PC (personal computer) in Castilian Spanish, la PC in American Spanish, due to the widespread use of the gallicism ordenador (from l'ordinateur in French) for computer in Castilian Spanish, which is masculine, instead of the Latin-American-preferred computadora, which is feminine, from the English word computer. Also, speakers of the second dialect tend to use words and polite-set expressions that, though recognized by the RAE, aren't widely used nowadays (some of them even deemed as anachronisms) by speakers of Castilian Spanish. For example, enojarse and enfadarse are verbs with the same meaning (to become angry), enojarse being used much more in the Americas than in Spain, and enfadarse more in Spain than in the Americas.
| Castilian Spanish1 | Latin American Spanish2 | English |
|---|---|---|
| vale, de acuerdo | de acuerdo | okay |
| gafas | anteojos/lentes | eyeglasses/spectacles |
| melocotón | durazno | peach |
| patata (informally papa) | papa | potato |
| judía, alubia, habichuela | chícharo/frijol/habichuela | bean |
| jersey, chaleco | chaleco/suéter | jumper/sweater |
| coche | auto/carro | car |
| conducir | manejar | to drive |
| estacionar, aparcar | parquear, estacionar | to park |
| ordenador | computadora | computer |
| zumo | jugo | juice |
| chulo, guay | chévere/chido/piola | cool (slang) |
| tío | tipo | dude/bloke (slang) |
1many of the vocabulary examples are used throughout Spain and not necessarily specific to just Castilian Spanish
2Latin American Spanish consists of several varieties spoken throughout the Americas. The examples may not represent all the dialect but are meant to show contrast
Inside Spain, there are many regional variations of Spanish, which can be divided roughly into four major dialectal areas:
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