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thumbnail The ''Story of Spanish'' is a non-fiction book written by Jean-Benoît Nadeau and Julie Barlow that charts the origins of the Spanish language. The 496-page book published by St. Martin’s Press (May 7, 2013), explains how the Spanish language evolved from a tongue spoken by a remote tribe of farmers in northern Spain to become one of the world’s most spoken languages. The Story of Spanish is described as a “veritable biography of the Spanish language.” The book begins by explaining where the term ''España'' (Spain) originated. Around 1200 BC when the Phoenicians landed on the Iberian Peninsula the land was riddled with furry creatures with long ears called ''hyraxes'' (rabbits). The Phoenicians named the territory the land of hyraxes: ''I-shepan-ha'', which was later Latinized by the Romans to Hispania, to finally transform into España centuries later. From there, Nadeau and Barlow trace the Spanish language from its evolution from Vulgar Latin all the way to its entrance to the New World (North America). The Story of Spanish breaks down major events and points out the major players in history that had a direct impact on the course of the Spanish language. For example, Nadeau and Barlow explain how the Castilian King Alfonso X improved the reputation of the language and was the first to recognize that “vernacular languages needed rules.” And how Arabic heavily influenced Spanish during Spain’s centuries under Muslim rule. Numerous Spanish words, including words like ''aceite'' (olive oil), ''azul'' (blue) and ''azúcar'' (sugar) comes from Arabic. And how when the Spanish explored the New World they lacked the words to describe all the new things they encountered and adopted many terms from native languages such ''aguacate'' (avocado) and ''xitomatl'' that became ''tomate'' (tomato). The book ends by demonstrating just how much Spanish has spread to become the third most spoken language in the world with over five hundred million speakers and why there is an increasing number of people learning Spanish as a second language.) For example, in France there are 2.1 million people learning Spanish, mainly because the French travel to Spain a lot, and the French education system requires students to learn two foreign languages and Spanish is perceived as “easy.” The authors of The Story of Spanish ends the book by describing why they believe Spanish will continue to be a dominant international language. They write, “The Spanish language is unquestionably one of the great unifying forces of the Hispanic world.” == References == 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「The Story of Spanish」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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