Customer Reviews

A History of the Spanish Language

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This book is extremely complete and quite well written. In the introduction we find some general observations on the nature of linguistic studies, consideration of the various peoples who have contributed to the make-up of what we know as modern Spanish, and other "humanistic" considerations. The phonology section covers all kinds of historical change (this is the section that held most interest for me). Under morphology and syntax there are a bunch of things that, as I read them, I felt like kicking myself because they had never occurred to me. The part on the lexicon is vastly instructive, with discussions of borrowings as well as changes that have taken place over time in the Latin sub-stratum of the vocabulary. There is a final part on semantics, and the author himself suggests that it may be weakest section: any discussion of the semantic development of a language is "is inevitably incomplete and is likely to be at least partially inaccurate." But here the fault is not the author's. Actually, he does and excellent job of telling what there is of the semantics story.

This book delivers exactly what it promises--a thorough, well-written account of the development of modern Spanish. I espcially like the connections it makes with Latin and Arabic roots.

I am using this textbook in graduate level History of the Spanish Language/Linguistics class. I really like the book, but it is very technical. It is not an easy read. The language is complex and specific. A extensive knowledge of Latin would be beneficial, but it is not required. The book is full of excellent and accurate information. Penny is a very techinical and intelligent author. He portrays the rich and expansive history of the Spanish language in an eloquent and detailed way. This is not an easy book to pick up, but it teaches so much about the language. It is a worthwhile read. An excellent book!

As a High School Spanish instructor with half a master's degree in linguistics and a full master's in educational administration I must say that this book is one of the best references I've seen in a long time! It gives a good detailed background of where the Spanish language came from as well as all of the linguistic aspects of the language historically. Highly recommended to be used as a reference. It really helps to put the "why" into what we teach.

This is an excellent book that discusses the evolution of the Spanish language from its Latin and Iberian origins until its present state. It contains the following chapters:

1. Introduction

2. Phonology

3. Morpho-syntax

4. Lexis

5. Semantics

6. Past, Present & Future

You must be warned that this book is very detailed. It uses very technical and linguistic terminology. To read a less technical book about the history of the Spanish language, I recommend "El Espanol y su evolucion."

Brandon Simpson

Magnificent book. Absolutely wonderful. Well researched and fascinating for anyone who speaks the Spanish language and is interested in linguistics and its history. Having spent some time in Spain and many years in South America, I developed a strong interest in the Romance languages but Spanish has such a geographic expansion that accents, regions, epochs are as interesting as its origins, its borrowings, its Amerindianisms, Latinisms, Arabisms et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

This book provided me with many answers and fascinating explanations to the so many questions I had regarding sounds and accents and different usage of the same language in different regions of the wide Spanish speaking world. I loved it and I consult it often.

This is a college textbook so it's not easy reading. If you are already familiar with Latin, it will help to show you how Spanish evolved from it. It's filled with very specific grammatical and pronunciation symbols and terms. Because I learned Italian and Portuguese before learning Spanish, it's helping me understand why and how these Romance languages differ. This is a book that will make you wish to do more reading and research. One technical observation: the copy I received has a defective cover so I think it's actually a reject. The word "Language" is omitted on the cover title. But all pages seem intact.

An excellent book and if you are interested in where words come from besides Latin (pre-Roman languages, Greek, French, Arabic) etc.) and how they have changed, the extremely interesting history and development of Spain and the languages therein,and the historical romance of it all, you want this book. John Lipski's books are equally interesting and informative.

if what you want is extreme detail, then this is the book for you. i myself found it hard to follow as every sentence is at least three lines long and interspersed with constant parenthetical notes that sometimes themselves take up three lines!