100 YEARS OF SILENCE

Abstract

Do we speak Spanish or Castilian? Some, based on political criteria, decided that the lingua franca of the Spanish people, since the 13th century, should be called Spanish, due to a kind of linguistic chauvinism that seeks to attribute ownership of the language to the Spanish. On the other hand, a scientific criterion is proposed according to which languages must be identified by their lineage; that is, by their origin, by their family tree, regardless of geographical criteria. Furthermore, the scientific criterion recognizes the constant renewal of a language's vocabulary according to the times and places of its use. It is accepted that a language has dialects that reflect the peculiar idiosyncrasies of its users. According to all scientific evidence, Venezuelans speak a Venezuelan dialect of Castilian, and Spaniards speak a Spanish dialect of Castilian. The Spanish language does not exist; speaking of the Spanish language is a meaningless phrase.