Origin of the Spanish Language

Proto-Indo-European

5000 BCE

This collection of native tongues known as Proto-Indo-European languages paved the road for Latin, Greek, Sanskrit, and consequently, the Spanish you know and learn today.

The Roman Empire conquered Hispania

218 BCE

The Roman Empire collapses in the region

476

Hispania was invaded by the barbaric germanic invaders. The roman empire in this region collapsed.

Islam began to take force in the Middle East

700

In the 8th century, Islam began to take force in the Middle East

The Muslim Empire conquered the province known today as Andalucía and established the Independent Caliphate of Cordoba

711

The Kingdom of Asturias is founded

722

The Kingdom of Asturias was a kingdom in the Iberian Peninsula founded by the Visigothic nobleman Pelagius.

The kingdom of Castile is founded

1065

It began in the 9th century as the County of Castile (Condado de Castilla), an eastern frontier lordship of the Kingdom of León. During the 10th century, its counts increased their autonomy, but it was not until 1065 that it was separated from León and became a kingdom in its own right.

King Alfonso X adopts Castellano as the oficial dialect of the Spanish language

1200

King Alfonso X and his scholars in the city of Toledo adopted this particular dialect in the year 1200. They wrote and translated the first original chronicles, stories, and legal works in Castellano. King Alfonso X also adopted Castilian as the official language for administrative tasks and for the establishment of decrees.

The Christian Catholic Kingdoms united to expel the Arabs from the region i

1492

The Muslim empire lasted 800 years. With the dissolvement of the Caliphate and the reconquest of Spain, the Mozarabic language eventually disappeared, becoming obsolete.

The Spanish Kingdom of Castile gave an Italian explorer named Christopher Columbus the power and opportunity to seek other routes to Asia

1492

the Spanish Kingdom of Isabel and Fernando gave an Italian explorer named Christopher Columbus the power and opportunity to seek other routes to Asia

The Aztec empire falls and a year later, New Spain is founded

1522

The imposition of the Spanish language in the southern Spanish colonies of the United States, Mexico, the Caribbean, Central, and South America took words from native dialects and spurred Spanish to evolve once again.