*also known as español, idioma español, Castilian, castellano

note: this is a remake of a now-privated older poll.

I think one of the things that's missing in the English language that's really important is the distinction between ser and estar (both mean "to be" in Portuguese and Spanish).

I once was talking to a pre-k toddler (he was around 3.5 or 4 at the time) and I found myself having to explain to him that when his mommy said he was bad she didn't mean he was a bad kid, but rather that what he did was bad.

Sadly, I can only put 12 choices, so I grouped each three together. I picked the first one: English, Arabic, Danish because I've always been in love with Max's Danish dub, the Arabic one is also beautiful and of course Aaron Lohr slayed as Max's singing voice.

I also loved the Brazilian Portuguese, and my the Castilian Spanish one is so dreamy!

I wish there's an option to pick more than one, but alas :(

Habulous Spanish

Spanish often has an h where most other Romance languages have an f. Take hijas (daughters) vs. French filles, Italian figlie, Portuguese filhas. In Old Spanish, Latin [f] became an [h] sound: fīliās > hijas. Later, this sound disappeared. Click the video to hear how it went.

In Old Spanish, the [h] sound stemming from Latin [f] was spelled in various ways: f, ff, h or even nothing.For example, the name stemming from Latin Fortitius was already found f-less in a document from 863 as Ortiço. In 927, this name popped up in the spelling Hortiço.

Do all Spanish hs represent an Old Spanish [h] sound that stemmed from Latin [f]? Certainly not: many instances of h are purely etymological: they are written only because they were written in Latin, even though they had already stopped being pronounced in Popular Latin some 2000 years ago. For example:

(Latin > Old Spanish > Spanish)

hominem > omne > hombre (man)

hodiē > oy > hoy (today)

habēre > aver > haber (to have)

There are also instances of h that were added in the Middle Ages to prevent u from being read as [β] (a v-like sound) instead of [w], as there wasn't any difference between the letters u and v yet.

ovum > hueuo [weβo] > huevo (egg)

ossum > huesso [wes̺o] > hueso (bone)

If the h wasn't written in the Old Spanish words, ueuo and uesso could be read with the same [β] as for example uaca (cow), now vaca.

Back to [f]. It didn't disappear from all words. It was preserved when followed by [r] or [w] (of the diphthong ue):

frigidum > frío (cold)

fronte > frente (forehead)

focum > fuego (fire)

fortem > fuerte (strong)

forās > fueras > fuera (outside)

It's also there in words that were borrowed from written Latin after the change of [f] into [h] was finished

favōrem > favor (favour)

fūmāre > fumar (to smake)

cf. inherited 'humar' (to smoke, to steam)

fōrma > forma (form)

cf. inherited 'horma' (shoe last, mold)

In a few words, the Old Spanish [h] sound that resulted from Latin [f] was preserved. It did change a bit though, becoming the stronger [x] sound represented by the letter j. One of these words js quite a strong word itself:

For context, the website I'm using is 100% in Galician, and never have I ever studied Galician in my life, but I'm still able to understand everything perfectly because I know Portuguese and Spanish.

1961 La Dawri Castilian

My tumblr blogs: