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What’s with this “Wren” thing?
The oldest extant version of the fable
we
are presenting here appeared in 1913 in the first volume of a two-volume anthology
of Low
Saxon folktales (Plattdeutsche
Volksmärchen “Low German Folktales”)
collected by Wilhelm Wisser (1843–1935). Read
more ...
Spanish (Castilian)
“Spanish
Attack on a Flemish Village” by Pieter Snayers
(1592–1669)—Having
rid itself of Muslims and Jews,
Spain colonized and Christianized many overseas
regions and unsuccessfully attempted to rid Northern
Europe of its Protestant “heretics.”
Language information: What is widely known as “Spanish” (español)—originally in reference to the general
language of Spain—is actually Castilian (castellano), the language of the Spanish region of Castile (Castilla). Spaniards tend to refer to is as Castilian only when they contrast it with
other languages of Spain, but in some areas of Latin America, such as in Argentina,
the usual name for the language is castellano. This language has been influenced by many other languages, not only
by those of Spain, including once dominant Arabic, but also by languages of
Spain’s former colonies in Africa, Asia and the Americas. It has numerous dialects
all over the world, but global Spanish language communication tends not to
be problematic. With close to 300 million speakers worldwide, of these about
100 million in Mexico, 44 million in Colombia, 41 million
in Spain, 39 million in Argentina, 30 million in the United States
of America, and numerous others, Spanish is one of the world’s most important
languages and as such is represented officially in the United Nations.
Spanish is the predominant
language in most countries that used to be Spanish colonies. In the Philippinesit came to be replaced by English, and there is now a dwindling number of Spanish
speakers in that country, which has ceased to be a member of international organizations
of Spanish-speaking nations. However, Filipino-colored Spanish is still being
used as a non-native language by a minority of Filipinos, especially by those
of (partly) Spanish descent, mostly those that have as their native language
Chabacano, a Philippine-specific Spanish-based creole.
Language information: Indo-European > Romance > Italo-Western > Western > Gallo-Iberian >
Ibero-Romance >
West Iberian > Castilian
Historical Lowlands language contacts: English, Flemish
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