The Spanish language has changed radically during the last thousand years. In the early 11th century AD, Spanish literature began its journey when Muslims in Iberia wrote “jarchas”, a mixture of Arabic and Latin poetry. Beginning in the 13th century, non-Muslim Christians in Spain and Portugal wrote many works of poetry and prose. In both countries, the language of these first Iberian texts was a synthesis of the dialects of previous conquerors: Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Greeks, Romans, Visigoths, Jews and Muslims. Alfonso X, the “wise” king of Portugal, composed an exhaustive number of poetic literature, but most of these works are in Galician-Portuguese. In the fourteenth century, the writers of Spain composed most of their poetry and prose. The spelling of many Old Spanish words is erratic and confusing, but I have included a list of medieval-modern quotes and words translated from Old Spanish texts.
Try reading these quotes from two medieval Spanish texts:
1.Said Dina: – They say there was a rich ome in a city and a tapeworm, a very ‘beautiful and understood mugger.’ (Kalila and Dimna, 15).
Modern spelling: Digna said: – They say that there was a rich man in a city and he had a very ‘beautiful and thoughtful’ woman. Translation: Digna said, “They say there was a rich man in a city, and he had a very beautiful and wise wife (woman).”
two.The Cid already sees that the king does not give grace. Partios of the door by Burgos aguijava, I go to Santa Maria then descalvaga, ‘finco los inojos de coracon rrogava. The prayer dated then cavalgava; came out the door and (in) Arlancion passava. (The Poem of the Cid, 52-57).
Modern spelling: The Cid already sees that the king had no mercy. He departed from the gate through Burgos aguijaba, arrived at Santa María then barefoot, sank his eyes from the bottom of his heart, he begged. The prayer made then rode; he went out the door and passed Arlancion.
Translation: El Cid knew that the king was angry. He left the door, galloped through Burgos, straight to the Cathedral of Santa María, where he dropped from his horse. He fell to his knees and prayed from his heart. The moment he finished his sentence, he left. He went out the gate and crossed the Arlacion (River).
The basic orthographic rules of medieval Spanish are grouped as follows:
vb: avere-(h)aber,(to have); fablava-spoke, (spoke) avia-(h)abia, (had);
fh: speak-speak, (speak); fazer-do, (do, do); fasta-until, (until); fixed-child, (son, daughter); fail-find, (find); fer-be, (be); fago-hago, (I do, I do);
zc: fazer-do, (do, do); say-say, (say); plazer-pleasure, (please). (The “z” gives words a “z” or “ts” sound.)
qu-cu (at the beginning of the word): quando-when, (when); qual-qual, (what, which); quanto-quanto, (quantity); fourth-fourth, (fourth); fourth-four, (oven).
td (at the end of the word): maldat-badness, (evil); verdat-truth, (truth); cibdat-city, (city); piedat-piety, (piety).
xj: said-said, (said); Ximena-Jimena, (female name); dexo-dejo, (I’m leaving). (The “x” makes a “sh” sound.)
ss-s: passar-passar, (spend time, pass); vassalos-vassals (vassals);
rr-r: rrico-rico, (rich), rrey-king (king). (The two r’s at the beginning of a word make the “trill” sound.)
l-ll: cry-cry (cry); lueve-lueve (it’s raining); lover-lover (to the rain). The two LL’s together are like a “y”.
Words beginning with “of” were contracted to words that are now separate:
Dello-of it, deste-of this, della-of her, dalli-of there, daquel-of that;
mn before “b” or “p”: lunbra-lumbra, (light); canpos-campos, (fields); number-number (name).
uv: oluidar-forget, (forget); auia-avia, (had); caualgar-cavalgar (to ride a horse).
Other medieval Spanish words include:
agora-now (now);
omne, ome, shadow-man (man);
mugger, muggier-woman (woman, wife);
do-ola, (where); wherever-wherever (wherever);
ca-cause (because);
nerd;
nin-ni; (neither).
This list is just a basic guide to the spelling of words in medieval Spanish literature. If you read all the Castilian literature between the 11th and 15th centuries, you probably won’t recognize all the words because there are a staggering number of different spellings. The spelling is irregular. On The Poem of Mio Cid, many words are scattered or missing. There are spaces between words, letters and accents; it is not surprising that very few works were collected during the eleventh century. In the 14th and 15th centuries, the grammar used in poetry became much more stable and the words more recognizable. The spelling change also included minor changes in pronunciation and grammar. The prose followed a less erratic pattern of letters, accents, and disjointed words; their sentences were much more complete.
At the end of the 15th century, the Italian-born Renaissance was adopted by Spanish culture. Many scholars believe that this cultural phenomenon began in 1492 when Elio Antonio de Nebrija wrote the first book on Spanish grammar, the grammar of the Spanish language, that established standardized rules for the spelling, pronunciation, and grammar of Spanish. At the same time, many literary works were created, such as: Amadís del Gaula, La Celestina, The Cage of Loveand poetic compositions of Jorge Manrique, Marquis of Santillana, Inigo Lopez de Mendoza, and anonymous writers, too. Popular productions such as romances, Christmas carols and love songs were also written and sung. Most of the works were written in “early modern” Spanish, because there were some words and sounds that had evolved from medieval Spanish; But that was about to change.
In the 16th century, writers’ words began to resemble the way Spanish words are written today. works known as Lazarillo de Tormes were written, which broke the clumsy spelling of the Spanish vocabulary. In the seventeenth century, the words of modern Spanish are fully recognizable in the famous work of Miguel de Cervantes, Don Quijote of La Mancha.
At this time, Spain also colonized parts of North America and all of Central and South America except Brazil. Spanish became even more important as a language, not only for Spain but also for its colonies. Today, Spanish is spoken by 400 million people in more than 20 countries. Modern Spanish includes many more words, accents, and dialects from all of these countries that were impacted by Spain.
The 11th century brought spelling changes to the Spanish language. Since the composition of The Poem of My Cid Until the latest publications of the 21st century by Spanish and Latin American authors, linguistic alterations have been documented through written literature. That said, the Spanish language has evolved over time, probably more than any other Romance language, perhaps even most languages.
