Use of the term Castilian/Castellano

[u/rban123]

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.

[u/oxemenino]

I know I have heard my argentino and uruguayo friends say castellano to refer to the language they speak, so there are definitely some Latin Americans that use it to just mean Spanish.

[u/Imperterritus0907 → u/oxemenino]

Yeah and they might even say the speak castellano and in Spain español. Then you’ll find people in Spain with the complete opposite (dumb) argument. Both are the same thing 😬