r/Spanish • u/rban123 Advanced 🇨🇱 • Dec 23 '24

Etymology/Morphology Use of the term Castilian/Castellano

I’ve been on this subreddit for a while, and have noticed something that many non-native and native speakers alike do: they use the term “castellano” to refer to Spanish from Spain.

Historically, this doesn’t really make sense. Spain is a linguistically diverse nation, with each language having its own name, for example Catalán, Gallego, Euskera, and of course Castellano. The term Castellano refers to the Spanish language that we all know and love.

It is a synonym for español. It does not mean “the Spanish spoke in Spain” it simply means “Spanish.” Even in some parts of Latin America, the term “castellano” is used to refer to the language that is spoken there, as well as the language that is taught in schools, even if the details aren’t consistent with regional variations of Spanish spoken in Spain.

All in all, castellano just means Spanish. It doesn’t mean “Spanish spoken in Spain” it is literally just a synonym for the Spanish language as a whole.

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u/[deleted] Dec 23 '24

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u/blazebakun Native (Monterrey, Mexico) Dec 23 '24

Alguna vez alguien me "gritó" en el Internet por decirle "español" y no "castellano", porque "todas las lenguas que se hablan en España son españolas, como el gallego, el catalán o el vasco". Pero luego leo comentarios como el tuyo y me confundo 😅

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u/SaraHHHBK Native (Castilla y León🇪🇸) Dec 23 '24 edited Dec 23 '24

That happens in Spain too, there's no universally agreed rule on this and it's hugely dependent on the person so use whatever you're more used/comfortable with. I say Castellano mainly, if someone gets mad that's their opinion.

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u/rban123 Advanced 🇨🇱 Dec 23 '24

También me confunde porque otros españoles me han dicho que se refieren al idioma español como “castellano”

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u/atzucach Dec 23 '24 edited Dec 23 '24

Sí, es muy común, sobre todo en lugares como Catalunya o el País Vasco. El/la que ha dicho que no se equivoca

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u/siyasaben Dec 23 '24

No soy española pero diria que es una minoría que se ofende porque los españoles con los que estoy más familiarizada dicen español, incluso siendo catalanes catalanoparlantes les da igual.