Old Spanish language
Encyclopedia
Old Spanish, also known as Old Castilian or Mediaeval Spanish , is an early form of the Spanish language
that was spoken on the Iberian Peninsula
from the tenth century until roughly the beginning of the fifteenth century, before a consonantic readjustment gave rise to the evolution of modern Spanish. The epic poem Cantar de Mio Cid
, published around 1200, remains the best-known and most extensive work of literature in Old Spanish.
. Amongst the consonants, there were three pairs of sibilants, each pair consisting of one voiceless
and one voiced
member:
The Modern Spanish sound [x] (voiceless velar fricative
), corresponding to the letter "j" or to "g" before "e" or "i," and the Modern Spanish sound [θ] (voiceless dental fricative
), written as "z" or as "c" before "e" or "i," did not exist in Old Spanish. Modern Spanish [x] and [θ] evolved from [ʃ]~[ʒ] and [ts]~[dz] respectively. The Old Spanish spelling of the sibilants was identical to modern Portuguese
spelling, which still reflects the mediaeval language; Spanish was respelt in 1815.
Examples:
The letters "b" and "v" were still distinct; "b" was still a stop consonant [b] in all positions, while "v" was pronounced as a voiced bilabial
or labiodental
fricative. The use of "b" and "v" in Old Spanish largely corresponded to their use in modern Portuguese, which still distinguishes the two sounds. When Spanish spelling was changed in 1815, words with "b" and "v" were respelt etymologically in order to match Latin spelling whenever possible.
Examples:
The letter "f" represented variously a labiodental, bilabial, or glottal fricative (like the English "h") that later disappeared from pronunciation except before a glide, where now an orthographic "h" represents it.
Examples:
Possession was expressed by the auxiliary verb aver (haber). Example: Pedro ha dos fijas (Pedro tiene dos hijas).
In the perfect
tenses, the past participle often agreed with the gender
and number
of the direct object. Example: María ha cantadas dos canciones (María ha cantado dos canciones), yet this was inconsistent even in the earliest texts.
Personal pronoun
s and substantives were placed after the verb in any tense or mood
unless a word with stress were present before the verb.
The future and conditional sentences were not grammaticalised fully as inflexions, i.e., the verb aver still was analysed as an auxiliary rather than as a synthetic suffix, and still received stress until the seventeenth century. Pronouns, therefore, following general placement rules, could be inserted between the main verb and the auxiliary in the future or conditional tense. Compare this phenomenon with modern Portuguese
(mesoclisis):
If there were a word with stress before the verb empeñar, the pronouns would go before the verb: non selo empeñar he por lo que fuere guisado.
Generally, an unstressed pronoun and a verb in simple sentence
s combined into one word. In a compound sentence
, the pronoun was found in the beginning of the clause
. Example: la manol va besar = la mano le va a besar.
In comparison with the modern language, the future subjunctive was living (nowadays it may be found only in legal or solemn discourse, and in the spoken language in some dialects particularly in areas of Venezuela replacing the imperfect subjunctive). It was used similarly to its modern Portuguese counterpart, in place of the modern present subjunctive in a subordinate clause after si, cuando, etc., when an event in the future is referenced.
(verses 330–365). A recording with reconstructed mediaeval pronunciation can be accessed to here, reconstructed according to period phonetics (by Jabier Elorrieta). Below, the original Old Spanish text in the first column is presented along the same sample in modern Spanish in the second column.
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
that was spoken on the Iberian Peninsula
Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula , sometimes called Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes the modern-day sovereign states of Spain, Portugal and Andorra, as well as the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar...
from the tenth century until roughly the beginning of the fifteenth century, before a consonantic readjustment gave rise to the evolution of modern Spanish. The epic poem Cantar de Mio Cid
Cantar de Mio Cid
El Cantar de Myo Çid , also known in English as The Lay of the Cid and The Poem of the Cid is the oldest preserved Spanish epic poem...
, published around 1200, remains the best-known and most extensive work of literature in Old Spanish.
Phonetics and phonology
The phonological system of Old Spanish was quite similar to that of other mediaeval Romance languagesRomance languages
The Romance languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family, more precisely of the Italic languages subfamily, comprising all the languages that descend from Vulgar Latin, the language of ancient Rome...
. Amongst the consonants, there were three pairs of sibilants, each pair consisting of one voiceless
Voiceless
In linguistics, voicelessness is the property of sounds being pronounced without the larynx vibrating. Phonologically, this is a type of phonation, which contrasts with other states of the larynx, but some object that the word "phonation" implies voicing, and that voicelessness is the lack of...
and one voiced
Voice (phonetics)
Voice or voicing is a term used in phonetics and phonology to characterize speech sounds, with sounds described as either voiceless or voiced. The term, however, is used to refer to two separate concepts. Voicing can refer to the articulatory process in which the vocal cords vibrate...
member:
- Voiceless alveolar affricateVoiceless alveolar affricateThe voiceless alveolar affricate is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The sound is transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet with ⟨⟩ or ⟨⟩ . The voiceless alveolar affricate occurs in such languages as German, Cantonese, Italian, Russian, Japanese and Mandarin...
/ts/: represented by the letter "çÇis a Latin script letter, used in the Albanian, Azerbaijani, Ligurian, Tatar, Turkish, Turkmen, Kurdish and Zazaki alphabets. This letter also appears in Catalan, French, Friulian, Occitan and Portuguese as a variant of the letter “c”...
" before "a," "o," "u," and by "c" before "e" or "i" - Voiced alveolar affricateVoiced alveolar affricateThe voiced alveolar affricate is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The sound is transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet with ⟨⟩ or ⟨⟩ , and the equivalent X-SAMPA representation is ⟨dz⟩.-Features:...
/dz/: represented by the letter "z" - Voiceless apicoalveolar fricative /s/: represented by "s" in word-initial and word-final positions and before a consonant, and by "ss" between vowels
- Voiced apicoalveolar fricative /z/: represented by the letter "s" between vowels
- Voiceless postalveolar fricativeVoiceless postalveolar fricativeThe voiceless palato-alveolar fricative or voiceless domed postalveolar fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in many spoken languages, including English...
/ʃ/: represented by the letter "x" .gif", event)' onMouseout='HidePop("19041")' href="/topics/Digraph_(orthography)">digraphDigraph (orthography)A digraph or digram is a pair of characters used to write one phoneme or a sequence of phonemes that does not correspond to the normal values of the two characters combined...
"sh") - Voiced postalveolar fricativeVoiced postalveolar fricativeThe voiced palato-alveolar fricative or voiced domed postalveolar fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is Z. An alternative symbol used in some...
/ʒ/: represented by the letter "j," and (often) by "g" before "e" or "i"
The Modern Spanish sound [x] (voiceless velar fricative
Voiceless velar fricative
The voiceless velar fricative is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. The sound was part of the consonant inventory of Old English and can still be found in some dialects of English, most notably in Scottish English....
), corresponding to the letter "j" or to "g" before "e" or "i," and the Modern Spanish sound [θ] (voiceless dental fricative
Voiceless dental fricative
The voiceless dental non-sibilant fricative is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. It is familiar to English speakers as the 'th' in thing. Though rather rare as a phoneme in the world's inventory of languages, it is encountered in some of the most widespread and influential...
), written as "z" or as "c" before "e" or "i," did not exist in Old Spanish. Modern Spanish [x] and [θ] evolved from [ʃ]~[ʒ] and [ts]~[dz] respectively. The Old Spanish spelling of the sibilants was identical to modern Portuguese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
spelling, which still reflects the mediaeval language; Spanish was respelt in 1815.
Examples:
- xefe (modern Spanish jefe)
- Xeres (modern Spanish Jerez)
- oxalá (modern Spanish ojalá, cf. Portuguese oxalá)
- dexar (modern Spanish dejar, cf. Portuguese deixar)
- fazer or facer (modern Spanish hacer, cf. Portuguese fazer)
- dezir (modern Spanish decir, cf. Portuguese dizer)
- lança (modern Spanish lanza, cf. Portuguese lança)
- passar (modern Spanish pasar, cf. Portuguese passar)
- foces "sickles", fozes "throats/ravines" (modern Spanish hoces in both cases)
- coxo "lame," cojo "I seize" (modern Spanish cojo in both cases)
- osso "bear," oso "I dare" (modern Spanish oso in both cases)
The letters "b" and "v" were still distinct; "b" was still a stop consonant [b] in all positions, while "v" was pronounced as a voiced bilabial
Bilabial consonant
In phonetics, a bilabial consonant is a consonant articulated with both lips. The bilabial consonants identified by the International Phonetic Alphabet are:...
or labiodental
Labiodental consonant
In phonetics, labiodentals are consonants articulated with the lower lip and the upper teeth.-Labiodental consonant in IPA:The labiodental consonants identified by the International Phonetic Alphabet are:...
fricative. The use of "b" and "v" in Old Spanish largely corresponded to their use in modern Portuguese, which still distinguishes the two sounds. When Spanish spelling was changed in 1815, words with "b" and "v" were respelt etymologically in order to match Latin spelling whenever possible.
Examples:
- aver (modern Spanish haber, cf. Latin habēre, Portuguese haver)
- caber (modern Spanish caber, cf. Latin capere, Portuguese caber)
- bever (modern Spanish beber, cf. Latin bibere; Portuguese beber < older bever)
- bivir/vivir (modern Spanish vivir, cf. Latin vīvere, Portuguese viver)
- amava (modern Spanish amaba, cf. Latin amābam/amābat, Portuguese amava)
The letter "f" represented variously a labiodental, bilabial, or glottal fricative (like the English "h") that later disappeared from pronunciation except before a glide, where now an orthographic "h" represents it.
Examples:
- fazer or facer (Modern Spanish: "hacer")
- follín (Modern Spanish: "hollín")
- ferir (Modern Spanish: "herir")
- fiel (Modern Spanish: "fiel")
- fuerte (Modern Spanish: "fuerte")
- flor (Modern Spanish: "flor")
Morphology and syntax
In Old Spanish perfect constructions of movement verbs, such as ir (to go) and venir (to come), were formed using the auxiliary verb ser (to be), as in modern Italian and French. For example, Las mugieres son llegadas a Castiella (Las mujeres han llegado a Castilla).Possession was expressed by the auxiliary verb aver (haber). Example: Pedro ha dos fijas (Pedro tiene dos hijas).
In the perfect
Perfect
Perfection is a philosophical concept.Perfect may also refer to:- Music :* Perfect interval, a type of interval used in music* Perfect * Perfect , a band from Poland* "Perfect" , 1988 single...
tenses, the past participle often agreed with the gender
Grammatical gender
Grammatical gender is defined linguistically as a system of classes of nouns which trigger specific types of inflections in associated words, such as adjectives, verbs and others. For a system of noun classes to be a gender system, every noun must belong to one of the classes and there should be...
and number
Grammatical number
In linguistics, grammatical number is a grammatical category of nouns, pronouns, and adjective and verb agreement that expresses count distinctions ....
of the direct object. Example: María ha cantadas dos canciones (María ha cantado dos canciones), yet this was inconsistent even in the earliest texts.
Personal pronoun
Personal pronoun
Personal pronouns are pronouns used as substitutes for proper or common nouns. All known languages contain personal pronouns.- English personal pronouns :English in common use today has seven personal pronouns:*first-person singular...
s and substantives were placed after the verb in any tense or mood
Grammatical mood
In linguistics, grammatical mood is a grammatical feature of verbs, used to signal modality. That is, it is the use of verbal inflections that allow speakers to express their attitude toward what they are saying...
unless a word with stress were present before the verb.
The future and conditional sentences were not grammaticalised fully as inflexions, i.e., the verb aver still was analysed as an auxiliary rather than as a synthetic suffix, and still received stress until the seventeenth century. Pronouns, therefore, following general placement rules, could be inserted between the main verb and the auxiliary in the future or conditional tense. Compare this phenomenon with modern Portuguese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
(mesoclisis):
- E dixo: "Tornar-m-é a Jherusalem." (Fazienda de Ultra Mar, 194)
- Y dijo: "Tornaré a Jerusalén." (modern equivalent)
- And he said: "I shall return to Jerusalem." (English translation)
- Empeñar selo he por lo que fuere guisado (Cantar de mio Cid, 92)
- Se lo empeñaré por lo que fuere/sea razonable (modern equivalent)
- I shall pawn it to them for whatever be reasonable (English translation)
If there were a word with stress before the verb empeñar, the pronouns would go before the verb: non selo empeñar he por lo que fuere guisado.
Generally, an unstressed pronoun and a verb in simple sentence
Simple sentence
A simple sentence is a sentence structure that contains one independent clause and no dependent clauses.-Examples:*The runner jumped....
s combined into one word. In a compound sentence
Compound sentence (linguistics)
A compound sentence is composed of at least two independent clauses. It does not require a dependent clause. The clauses are joined by a coordinating conjunction , a correlative conjunction , a semicolon that functions as a conjunction, or a conjunctive adverb preceded by a semicolon. A conjunction...
, the pronoun was found in the beginning of the clause
Dependent clause
In linguistics, a dependent clause is a clause that augments an independent clause with additional information, but which cannot stand alone as a sentence. Dependent clauses modify the independent clause of a sentence or serve as a component of it...
. Example: la manol va besar = la mano le va a besar.
In comparison with the modern language, the future subjunctive was living (nowadays it may be found only in legal or solemn discourse, and in the spoken language in some dialects particularly in areas of Venezuela replacing the imperfect subjunctive). It was used similarly to its modern Portuguese counterpart, in place of the modern present subjunctive in a subordinate clause after si, cuando, etc., when an event in the future is referenced.
- Si vos asi lo fizieredes y la ventura me fuere cumplida,
- Mando al vuestro altar buenas donas y ricas (Cantar de mio Cid, 223-224)
- Si vosotros así lo hacéis y la ventura me sea cumplida,
- Mando al vuestro altar buenas donas y ricas (modern equivalent)
- If ye do so and fortune be favourable toward me,
- I shall send to your altar fine and rich offerings (English translation)
| Latin | Old Spanish | Modern Spanish |
|---|---|---|
| acceptare, captare, effectum, respectum | acetar, catar, efeto, respeto | aceptar, captar, efecto, respecto and respeto |
| et, non, nos, hic | e, et; non, no; nós; í | y, e; no; nosotros; ahí |
| stabat; habui, habebat; facere, fecisti | estava; ove, avié; far/fer/fazer/facer, feziste | estaba; hube, había; hacer, hiciste |
| hominem, mulier, infantem | omne; mugier, muger; ifante | hombre, mujer, infante |
| cras, mane (maneana); numquam | cras, man, mañana; nunqua | mañana, nunca |
| quando, quid, qui (quem), quo modo | quando, que, qui, commo/cuemo | cuando, que, quien, como |
Sample text
The following is a sample from Cantar de Mio CidCantar de Mio Cid
El Cantar de Myo Çid , also known in English as The Lay of the Cid and The Poem of the Cid is the oldest preserved Spanish epic poem...
(verses 330–365). A recording with reconstructed mediaeval pronunciation can be accessed to here, reconstructed according to period phonetics (by Jabier Elorrieta). Below, the original Old Spanish text in the first column is presented along the same sample in modern Spanish in the second column.
|
|