Historical Linguistics

The Future Subjunctive: A Fossil in Peru?

The future subjunctive, a verb tense dead in almost all spoken Spanish, is a ghost from the Golden Age. Yet,…

4 months ago

The Lost ‘Vosotros’ of the Americas

Why do Spaniards say 'vosotros' while Latin Americans say 'ustedes'? The answer is a fascinating linguistic journey back to the…

4 months ago

Chavacano: The Spanish Creole of Asia

Journey to the Philippines to discover Chavacano, a unique Spanish-based creole that blends the vocabulary of colonizers with the grammatical…

4 months ago

Canarian Spanish: The Atlantic Bridge

Discover how the Spanish of the Canary Islands became the crucial linguistic link between Spain and the Americas. The dialect's…

4 months ago

The History of Spanish Grammar in 5 Minutes

Ever wondered why Spanish has gendered nouns or a tricky subjunctive mood? The answers aren't in a textbook; they're in…

4 months ago

The Comparative Method: A Linguistic Time Machine

Ever wondered how we know Latin 'pater' and English 'father' are related, even though they were spoken thousands of years…

4 months ago

Why is Brazilian Portuguese So Different?

It's not just the musical accent. The divergence of Brazilian Portuguese from its European parent is a fascinating story of…

4 months ago

Days of the Week: Why is Monday ‘Segunda-Feira’?

Ever wondered why Monday in Portuguese is 'segunda-feira', or 'second-fair'? This unique numbered system isn't random; it's rooted in a…

4 months ago

The Hidden Arabic Roots of the Portuguese Language

Did you know common Portuguese words like 'alface' (lettuce) and 'açúcar' (sugar) come directly from Arabic? This fascinating linguistic heritage…

4 months ago

From Latin to Lisbon: A History of Portuguese

From the Vulgar Latin of Roman soldiers to the courts of Al-Andalus, the Portuguese language has a dramatic and surprising…

4 months ago

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