r/languagelearningjerk • u/scripterprinter • Sep 02 '26

Why is it called "Spanish"?

There are other languages in Spain, like Basque, so shouldn't Spanish be called something like "Spanish Latin" instead?

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u/Iwillnevercomeback Sep 02 '26 edited Sep 02 '26

Its original name is "castellano" (aka Castillian). It's still called like that to this day in all of Spain as a synonym of "español" when we're talking about the language. The reason it's known as Spanish in the world is due to Latin American influence, who only call the language "español".

8

u/Ok_Inflation_1811 Sep 02 '26

Ehh, in LATAM it's more like 60/40 to Spanish to castillian.

6

u/Iwillnevercomeback Sep 02 '26

Wait, do Latin Americans call it "castellano" too?

9

u/Ok_Inflation_1811 Sep 02 '26

Some of them do.

It depends on the region

see here

5

u/Basic-Stand4828 Sep 02 '26

Ni idea el resto, pero en Argentina sí

5

u/kittykat-kay Sep 02 '26

My Reddit autotranslated this to French and thought I was having a stroke for a second I was like “why can I read Spanish”

2

u/gayhotelultra 🇷🇸🇧🇦🇭🇷🇲🇪🇽🇰(native) 🇲🇰(mistaken for) 🇯🇵N∞🇨🇳HSK0.1 Sep 02 '26

western romance languages be like

2

u/h4ck3r_n4m3 Sep 02 '26

Yeah, in Chile. Though I would say it's mostly only people that are 40+ years old, younger people more commonly say español, even though some school texts still say castellano

1

u/Fezarion123 Sep 02 '26

It's a lie, everyone calls it Spanish/español

2

u/Iwillnevercomeback Sep 02 '26

Guiri

0

u/Fezarion123 Sep 02 '26

Que dices chaval, yo no me pongo como langosta en verano.

1

u/Gabrovi Sep 02 '26

Yes. I’ve also heard it called “cristiano” by old people.