Unidad y diversificación de la lengua española

Abstract

The history of Spanish can be traced back to the days of the arrival of the Escipions in the Iberic Peninsula –in the year 218 BC– , from where the language spread over the five continents with the passing of time.The Hispanic World today displays a huge variety of what we consider the same language. This sentiment of unity is justified by the existence of one diasystem realized in a diversity of sociolinguisic norms. This multiplicity of forms is deemed by many as the seed of fragmentation, as it was the case with Latin in older days. However, no such fragmentation is perceived in the formal speech of educated speakers. Nonetheless, as with all languages, Spanish is bound to undergo slow but profound changes –and even disappear as such– in the long term. We, as speakers, must do our best to delay this process of desintegration as much as it is in our power.