Translation agency: Spanish language
Why translate into Spanish? According to Statista, Spanish is the fourth most widely spoken language in the world, with approximately 595 million people who use it, over 496 million of whom are native speakers. This means that more than 6% of the world’s population are native speakers of this language.
The Spanish language seduces on a global scale. The Cervantes Institute has predicted that, by 2068, the number of Spanish speakers will reach a peak of about 726 million people. This is not at all surprising considering that Spanish is in high demand among language students, especially on the American continent. In the United States alone, eight million people are learning the language and Brazil is not far behind, with Spanish having piqued the interest of five million people.
Spanish: a linguistic giant worldwide
Due to its demographic characteristics, Mexico is the country with the most Spanish speakers in the world (more than 125 million), and Spanish is spoken there alongside a wide variety of native languages, such as Nahuatl or Mayan. Another two South American countries, Colombia and Argentina, rank second and third in the number of Spanish speakers, with 50 and 45 million people, respectively. Spain is fourth on the list with around 43 million speakers.
It is also equally important to point out that Spanish is one of the official languages of the United Nations and a common language in international relations. It is also the third most widely used language online. This explains why the demand for translation services into and out of Spanish is so high.
About the Spanish language
Spanish is a Romance language derived from spoken Latin and one of the Indo-European languages. After the fall of the Roman Empire, the Vulgar Latin spoken in Roman Hispania gradually changed, moving away from other varieties of Latin spoken in other provinces of the empire.
Very slowly, these changes led to the development of different Romance languages. Thanks to its spread throughout the Americas, Spanish is, by far, the most widely spoken neo-Latin language.
“Spanish” vs. “Castilian”
The controversy surrounding the terms “Spanish” and “Castilian” revolves around which of the two is more appropriate to refer to the language used in Latin America, Spain and other Spanish-speaking countries, or whether both are equivalent, equally acceptable terms.
From a regulatory or prescriptive perspective, according to the Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) and the Association of Academies of the Spanish Language, “Castilian” and “Spanish” are synonymous. However, the Pan-Hispanic Dictionary of Doubts points out that the term “Spanish” is more appropriate because there is no ambiguity to it, and it is the name used internationally (Spanish, espagnol, Spanisch, spagnolo, etc.).
Meanwhile, the Royal Spanish Academy considers Castilian to be a dialect spoken in the Spanish region of Castile, and it distinguishes it from other existing dialects, such as Basque, Aragonese, Catalan, Valencian, Asturian, Galician and Aranese.
Five curiosities about the Spanish language
1. Known as “cristiano” (“Christian”)
Castilian used to be known as “cristiano” (“Christian”). When the Arabs colonized southern Spain, this term was used by the majority of the population to distinguish Arabic speakers from Spanish ones.
2. Language speed
Spanish is the fastest language to pronounce based on the number of syllables per second that an average speaker can utter. German and Mandarin are just the opposite; they are the slowest languages to pronounce.
3. The silent “H
The Spanish “h” is silent unless there is a “c” in front of it. Most words now spelled with an “h” were previously written with an “f” in their Latin versions. For example, farina-harina (flour).
4. The “Ñ”
The “ñ”, a letter called “eñe”, has its origins in the digraph “nn” . The “~” symbol represents a palatal nasal sound (written phonetically as/ɲ/ according to the international phonetic alphabet).
Although the “ñ” is often considered to be a Spanish letter of the alphabet, it also exists in other languages.
- The sound can be found differently written in Italian (lasagna), French (montagne), Catalan (bany), and Basque (zikoina).
- It also exists with the same graphic symbol in Breton, a Celtic language spoken in France, (e.g. butuniñ / to smoke, or kouezhañ / to fall), and
- in American languages like Aymara (e.g. niq’ichsuña / prepare a lot of mud, ñaqha / palate), Guarani (ñacaratiá / snowflake, ñandutí / net), or Quechua (ñañu / slim, tenue, thin; ñak’ariy / suffer from, agonize).
5. Accent diversity
Originally, there were two types of diacritical marks in Spanish: the acute accent, which is used today, and the circumflex, which is still used in other Romance languages such as French.
Why translate into Spanish?
Translating a website into Spanish means opening up your business to growing markets, especially the e-commerce sector. The reason is simple: there are 580 million native speakers of Spanish worldwide in countries in South and Central America, Spain, the United States, and also on the continents of Africa and Asia.
According to data from W3Tech and Internet World Stats, 5.1% of all online content is in Spanish and 7.9% of users worldwide speak Spanish. According to T-Index, Spanish is the second most widely used language in international product sales, accounting for 369,089,392 Internet users and total imports of $12,928.04.
It is also important to take into account the GDP of Spanish-speaking countries. For example, Spain’s GDP amounted to 352,662 million euros in the first quarter of 2023. In South America, the GDP has not stopped growing over the last 10 years, especially in countries such as Uruguay, Chile and Colombia, which have experienced big economic booms during the period, making them a good source of potential customers.
Translating your website into Spanish: which language variants to bear in mind.
While translating your website into Spanish opens the doors to a wider market, certain potential difficulties must be taken into account. For example, although Spanish-speaking consumers speak the same language, they do not necessarily share the same purchase behaviour or express themselves the same way.
Spanish is a language with many variants. First of all, there are some important differences between the Spanish spoken in Spain and that of Latin America in terms of the grammar, conjugation and usage. Secondly, each country has its own linguistic peculiarities, especially when it comes to terms and expressions.
For example, in Latin America, there are many variations of the word “camiseta” (T-shirt): “remera” in Argentina, “playera” in Mexico, “polera” in Chile, “polo” in Peru and “franela” in Venezuela. This is why a native translator is absolutely essential in the successful penetration of new Spanish-speaking markets.
Translating from or into Spanish? Opt for a specialist
If you want to reach out to more customers, a professional translator knows how to craft texts in a natural, neutral style perfect for target audiences of differing countries. To guarantee the effectiveness of a website translated into Spanish and returns on the money invested in the translation, it is essential to opt for Spanish language experts.
In the case of translations aimed at specific markets, a native translator from that country will be needed. This translator must know the terms and techniques that are needed to attract potential customers to your brand. It is crucial to choose an experienced translation agency able to provide the right professional.
Professional Spanish translator or sworn translation in Barcelona?
Do you need a sworn translation into Spanish in Barcelona to support an immigration, civil, legal, or academic request? Under Spanish law, all documents not written in Spanish must be accompanied by a sworn translation in order to ensure their legal validity in Spain. Documents of this kind must be translated and certified by a sworn translator authorized by the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The translator must also have extensive knowledge of specific legal and economic terminology and phrases.
If you need a sworn translation into Spanish or vice versa, you can count on the services of a sworn translator. Our translation agency offers fast, top-quality services to meet your needs.
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