castellano
Old Spanish
Indo-European (Romance, Ibero-Romance, Castilian) · historical / hidden variety
Old Spanish / Old Castilian is the Romance language of the Kingdom of Castile from the 10th to the 15th centuries CE, the direct ancestor of modern Spanish. It descends from Vulgar Latin in Cantabria-Castile, with significant Visigothic and Andalusi Arabic substrate/adstrate (Arabic loans for science, agriculture, administration: aceite, azúcar, álgebra, almohada). Major literary monuments include the anonymous epic Cantar de mio Cid (~1207 CE), the Glosas Emilianenses (10th c., the oldest surviving Romance text in Iberia), the Castilian translations under Alfonso X el Sabio (13th c.), and Juan Ruiz's Libro de buen amor (~1330). Old Spanish phonology (with /ʃ/, /ʒ/, /ts/, /dz/ that later collapsed) was reformed by 1492 standardization (Nebrija's Gramática).
Where it is spoken
31 core words in Old Spanish
Water
agua
/ˈaɣwa/
Fire
fuego
/ˈfweɣo/
Sun
sol
/sol/
Moon
luna
/ˈluna/
Star
estrella
/esˈtɾeʎa/
Mother
madre
/ˈmaðre/
Father
padre
/ˈpaðre/
I
yo
/jo/
You
tú
/tu/
Name
nombre
/ˈnombɾe/
Eye
ojo
/ˈoʒo/
Hand
mano
/ˈmano/
Heart
coraçón
/koɾaˈtson/
Love
amor
/aˈmoɾ/
Tree
árbor
/ˈaɾβoɾ/
House
casa
/ˈkaza/
Dog
can
/kan/
Cat
gato
/ˈɡato/
Eat
comer
/koˈmeɾ/
Drink
bever
/beˈveɾ/
One
uno
/ˈuno/
Two
dos
/dos/
Hello
salud
/saˈlud/
Thank you
mercedes
/meɾˈtseðes/
Good
bueno
/ˈbweno/
Cuckoo
cuco
/ˈkuko/
Computer
ábaco
/ˈabako/
Sushi
cecial
/tseˈtsjal/
At sign (@)
arroba
/aˈroba/
Sources
- Lapesa (1981) Historia de la lengua española
- Penny (2002) A History of the Spanish Language
- Glottolog: olds1249
Words compared
Compared with related Indo-European (Romance, Ibero-Romance, Castilian) languages
| Meaning | Old Spanish | Golden Age Spanish (Siglo de Oro) | Spanish | Paraguayan Spanish | Chavacano | Aragonese | Extremaduran |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water | agua /ˈaɣwa/ | agua /ˈaɣwa/ | agua /ˈaɣwa/ | agua /ˈaɣwa/ | agua /ˈaɡwa/ | augua /ˈawɡwa/ | agua /ˈaɣwa/ |
| Fire | fuego /ˈfweɣo/ | fuego /ˈfweɣo/ | fuego /ˈfweɣo/ | fuego /ˈfweɣo/ | fuego /ˈfweɡo/ | fuego /ˈfweɣo/ | huegu /ˈweɣu/ |
| Sun | sol /sol/ | sol /sol/ | sol /sol/ | sol /ˈsol/ | sol /sol/ | sol /sol/ | sol /sɔl/ |
| Moon | luna /ˈluna/ | luna /ˈluna/ | luna /ˈluna/ | luna /ˈluna/ | luna /ˈluna/ | luna /ˈluna/ | luna /ˈluna/ |
| Star | estrella /esˈtɾeʎa/ | estrella /esˈtɾeʎa/ | estrella /esˈtɾeʎa/ | estrella /esˈtɾeʝa/ | estrella /esˈtɾeja/ | estrela /esˈtɾela/ | estrella /ehˈtɾeʎa/ |
| Mother | madre /ˈmaðre/ | madre /ˈmadɾe/ | madre /ˈmaðɾe/ | madre /ˈmaðɾe/ | nana /ˈnana/ | mai /maj/ | mai /mai/ |
| Father | padre /ˈpaðre/ | padre /ˈpadɾe/ | padre /ˈpaðɾe/ | padre /ˈpaðɾe/ | tata /ˈtata/ | pai /paj/ | pairi /ˈpajɾi/ |
| I | yo /jo/ | yo /ʝo/ | yo /ʝo/ | yo /ʝo/ | yo /jo/ | yo /ʝo/ | yo /ʝo/ |
| You | tú /tu/ | tú /tu/ | tú /tu/ | vos /bos/ | tu /tu/ | tu /tu/ | tú /tu/ |
| Name | nombre /ˈnombɾe/ | nombre /ˈnombɾe/ | nombre /ˈnombɾe/ | nombre /ˈnombɾe/ | nombre /ˈnombɾe/ | nombre /ˈnombɾe/ | nombri /ˈnombɾi/ |
| Eye | ojo /ˈoʒo/ | ojo /ˈoʃo/ | ojo /ˈoxo/ | ojo /ˈoxo/ | ojo /ˈoho/ | güello /ˈɣweʎo/ | oju /ˈohu/ |
| Hand | mano /ˈmano/ | mano /ˈmano/ | mano /ˈmano/ | mano /ˈmano/ | mano /ˈmano/ | mano /ˈmano/ | manu /ˈmanu/ |
| Heart | coraçón /koɾaˈtson/ | coraçón /koɾaˈtson/ | corazón /koɾaˈθon/ | corazón /koɾaˈson/ | corazón /koraˈson/ | corazón /koɾaˈθon/ | curaçón /kuɾaˈsɔn/ |
| Love | amor /aˈmoɾ/ | amor /aˈmoɾ/ | amor /aˈmoɾ/ | amor /aˈmoɾ/ | ama /ˈama/ | amor /aˈmoɾ/ | amol /aˈmol/ |
| Tree | árbor /ˈaɾβoɾ/ | árbol /ˈaɾβol/ | árbol /ˈaɾβol/ | árbol /ˈaɾβol/ | árbol /ˈaɾbol/ | árbol /ˈaɾβol/ | arbol /ˈaɾβol/ |
| House | casa /ˈkaza/ | casa /ˈkasa/ | casa /ˈkasa/ | casa /ˈkasa/ | casa /ˈkasa/ | casa /ˈkasa/ | casa /ˈkasa/ |
| Dog | can /kan/ | perro /ˈpero/ | perro /ˈpero/ | perro /ˈpero/ | perro /ˈpeɾo/ | can /kan/ | perru /ˈpɛru/ |
| Cat | gato /ˈɡato/ | gato /ˈɡato/ | gato /ˈɡato/ | gato /ˈɡato/ | gato /ˈɡato/ | gato /ˈɡato/ | gatu /ˈɣatu/ |
| Eat | comer /koˈmeɾ/ | comer /koˈmeɾ/ | comer /koˈmeɾ/ | comer /koˈmeɾ/ | come /koˈme/ | minchar /minˈtʃaɾ/ | comel /koˈmel/ |
| Drink | bever /beˈveɾ/ | beuer /beˈβeɾ/ | beber /beˈβeɾ/ | beber /beˈβeɾ/ | bebe /beˈbe/ | beber /beˈβeɾ/ | bebel /beˈβel/ |
| One | uno /ˈuno/ | uno /ˈuno/ | uno /ˈuno/ | uno /ˈuno/ | uno /ˈuno/ | un /un/ | un /un/ |
| Two | dos /dos/ | dos /dos/ | dos /dos/ | dos /dos/ | dos /dos/ | dos /dos/ | dos /dos/ |
| Hello | salud /saˈlud/ | Dios os guarde /djos os ˈɡwaɾde/ | hola /ˈola/ | hola /ˈola/ | buenas /ˈbwenas/ | hola /ˈola/ | salú /saˈlu/ |
| Thank you | mercedes /meɾˈtseðes/ | gracias /ˈɡɾatsjas/ | gracias /ˈɡɾaθjas/ | gracias /ˈɡɾasjas/ | gracias /ˈɡɾasjas/ | gracias /ˈɡɾaθjas/ | gracias /ˈɣɾasjas/ |
| Good | bueno /ˈbweno/ | bueno /ˈbweno/ | bueno /ˈbweno/ | bueno /ˈbweno/ | bueno /ˈbweno/ | bueno /ˈbweno/ | bueno /ˈbweno/ |
| Cuckoo | cuco /ˈkuko/ | cuclillo /kuˈkliʎo/ | cuco /ˈkuko/ | piririta /piɾiˈɾita/ | — | cuculo /kuˈkulo/ | — |
| Computer | ábaco /ˈabako/ | ábaco /ˈabako/ | ordenador /oɾðenaˈðoɾ/ | — | — | ordinador /oɾðinaˈðoɾ/ | — |
| Sushi | cecial /tseˈtsjal/ | escabeche /eskaˈbetʃe/ | sushi /ˈsusi/ | — | — | sushi /ˈsuʃi/ | — |
| At sign (@) | arroba /aˈroba/ | arroba /aˈroβa/ | arroba /aˈroβa/ | — | — | — | — |
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