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Originally Posted by Chris Evans
I think that to this day, `Castellano' (English:Castillian) is still the correct term for what commonly passes for the vulgate `Spanish', though most whom I converse with, including MS Word, fail to make this distinction. Decades ago, anyone with a pretence to an education would never say "I speak Spanish", rather than "I speak Castillian" - It would appear to me that this convention is fading.
Just can't help feeling that Franco may have had something to do with the vigorous upholding of `Castillian', to counter the regionalist/secessionist tendencies in Spain, but I add that this is mere guessing on my part
However, illiteracy in Spain and in South America, was extremely widespread right up to WWII, especially in the rural areas, and this muddies the waters considerably due to the synonymity that was imputed to terms such as for example `Facon' with any knife worn by a gaucho and in a part/s of Spain, if I read Forton correctly, `Faca' was used interchangeably with `Navaja'.
As I pointed out in another thread, languages are dominated by conventions, which lend meanings and nuances to words, that are at times irrational or their derivation is outright incorrect - The "Puñal Criollo" is probably the most obvious example that I can bring to this discussion. And once these conventions have taken hold, it will take a very long time to correct the misuse of certain terms, and often we are stuck with them because of the legacy of historical writings.
Did a Google for it, but couldn't find a link. Any chance of posting it?
And when was it first compiled?
Cheers
Chris
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The adoption of castilian as offical languaje of Spain comes from the political and military supremacy of the kingdom of Castilla-Aragón in the times of the Catholic Kings, over the rest of the spanish kingdoms, some of them very reluctant to the unification. This hegemony was not traduced in a complete integration (economic, linguistic, social, political). Thus the separatist forces, and the secular problems of Spain, menaced the unity of the country to the 20th Century, specially in the times of the Civil War, when some provinces saw the opportunity to get autonomy. Franco enforced the unity of the country in base of the centralist castilian government and the linguistic hegemony of the castilian, which had became the ´spanish´ language. Though in some provinces is still used today their local language, even at university level since the death of the dictator.
I agree with your statemens. Faca meant originally a knife.
I give you a link to the Real Academia Española. You will find all the information you need, and the access to the dictionary.
http://www.rae.es/RAE/Noticias.nsf/Home?ReadForm
The Academy was created in the beginning of the 18th Century. You can read a little article about, here:
http://www.elcastellano.org/lodares1.html
Regards
Gonzalo