Who Are the Spanish Speakers?

HJBXXX10.1177/0739986319899735Hispanic Journal of Behavioral SciencesArdila 899735research-article2020

Article

Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences 21–1 Who Are the Spanish © The Author(s) 2020 Article reuse guidelines: Speakers? An sagepub.com/journals-permissions https://doi.org/10.1177/0739986319899735DOI: 10.1177/0739986319899735 Examination of Their journals.sagepub.com/home/hjb Linguistic, Cultural, and Societal Commonalities and Differences

Alfredo Ardila1,2

Abstract In this article, three different aspects of the Spanish-speaking community are analyzed: (1) The idiosyncratic characteristics of the Spanish language, (2) the social dimension of the Spanish speakers, and finally, (3) their cultural manifestations. Two major Hispanic subcultures are distinguished: Iberian Spanish culture and Hispano American culture. Initially, the distribution of Spanish speakers in the world and the major oral and written characteristics of Spanish language are presented. The social characteristics of the Spanish- speaking countries, including economic development, literacy, life expectancy, and Human Development Index, are later discussed. It is emphasized that they represent a group of countries with a significant degree of heterogeneity. Finally, the Iberian Spanish and the Hispano American cultures are analyzed. Five cultural elements are reviewed: (1) ethnic group, (2) language, (3) religion, (4) level of development, and (5) level of schooling. It is concluded that regardless that in Spain, there are important regional differences, it is possible to consider that there is a cultural background common to all Spaniards, which may have specific nuances in each region. Hispano America, on the other hand, from the point of view of its ethnic origin, is 50% descended from

1Sechenov University, Moscow, Russia 2North American Academy of Spanish Language, New York, NY, USA

Corresponding Author: Alfredo Ardila, 12230 NW 8th Street, Miami, FL 33182, USA. Email: [email protected] 2 Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences 00(0)

Europeans, Indians, and Africans. The other 50% represents a mixture in varying proportions of these ethnic groups and other groups. It is concluded that in Hispano America there is a “base” culture (Hispanic culture) that presents a great variability according to the particular country and region. This base culture emphasizes socially oriented values, such as solidarity, some temporary flexibility, and similar cultural values.

Keywords Spanish language, Spanish-speaking countries, Iberian Spanish culture, Hispano American culture

The Spanish Language Spanish, like every language in the world, has certain specific characteristics, from the phonological, lexical, and grammatical point of view. Its writing system also has distinctive aspects. The Spanish-speaking countries are many, but they basically include Spain and Hispano America.

Spanish in the World It is difficult to know the exact number of Spanish speakers in the world. There are—as also observed with other languages—different estimates. According to Ethnologue, Spanish is spoken in the following countries and territories: Germany, Andorra, Argentina, Netherlands Antilles, Arabia, Australia, Belgium, Belize, Bolivia, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Spain, the United States, Philippines, Finland, France, Equatorial Guinea, Gibraltar, Guatemala, Honduras, Cayman Islands, Israel, Virgin Islands, Jamaica, Morocco, Mexico, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Sweden, Switzerland, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay, and Venezuela. Ethnologue reports that the languages with the highest number of native speakers (in millions) in the world are as follows:

Chinese Mandarin (918); Spanish (460); English (379); Hindi (341); Arabic (319).

According to Ethnologue, Spanish is spoken in 31 different countries. The Instituto Cervantes (2018) estimates that there are 480 million native speakers, Ardila 3 and 100 million more who speak Spanish as a second language, with a total of approximately 580 million speakers. The countries in the world with the largest number of Spanish speakers are as follows:

Mexico: 130 million; Colombia: 50 million; United States: 49 million; Spain: 46 million; Argentina: 44 million.

Many of the Spanish speakers are bilingual, and their dominant language often is not Spanish. For instance, in the United States, for Hispanics second- generation persons frequently the primary language (L1) is Spanish, but because they attend school in English, English becomes the dominant language. Specific bilingualism depends on the region: bilingualism in Latin America is usually with a native language (e.g., in Paraguay, with Guaraní, in Peru, with Quechua). In Spain, bilingualism often occurs with a Spanish national language (e.g., Catalan), or with a language from neighboring countries (e.g., French), while bilingualism in the United States is almost exclu- sive with English. As in all the world languages, Spanish presents certain variations in its oral production, although its writing system is unified and governed by the Association of Academies of the Spanish Language, which includes 23 national academies, corresponding to the different Spanish-speaking countries. The Royal Spanish Academy of Language (Real Academia Española) plays a coordinating role in these different academies. Spanish is considered a solidly unified language, despite the high number of its speakers (Moreno- Fernández & Otero-Roth, 2006). The differences between the Spanish spoken in Argentina, Mexico, and Spain are minimal and their speakers can communicate with each other in a percentage close to 100%. In many countries of the world where it is not an official language, Spanish is spoken in varying percentages of the population. Table 1 presents some examples. Spanish belongs to the family of Indo-European languages, italic subfam- ily, and is specifically a Romance language (along with others, such as Portuguese, French, Italian, Romanian, Catalan, and some others). Its classi- fication is, according to Ethnologue, Indo-European, Italic, Romance, Italo- Western, Western, Gallo-Iberian, Ibero-Romance, West Iberian, and Castilian. From the point of view of the rhythm of the language, Spanish belongs to the group of the “syllable-timed” languages (each syllable is produced with 4 Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences 00(0)

Table 1. Percentage of Spanish Speakers in Some Countries (According to Instituto Cervantes, 2018).

Native Limited Country Population speakers knowledge Total % Andorra 77,280 31,419 28,334 59,753 77.3 Algeria 42,200,000 175,000 48,000 223,000 0.53 Australia 25,308,000 117,498 374,571 492,000 1.94 Brazila 209,000,000 460,018 96,000 556,000 0.27 Canada 37,300,000 410,670 298,000 709,670 1.90 Israel 9,100,000 130,000 45,000 175,000 1.92 Morocco 35,700,000 6,586 1,664,000 1,670,586 4,68 Norway 5,300,000 13,000 24,000 37,000 0.70 Philippinesb 100,900,000 3,325 461,680 465,505 0.46 Switzerland 8,500,000 124,000 — 124,000 1.45 European Union 512,500,000 1,400,000 30,975,000 32,375,000 6.31 (except Spain) Total in the 7,500,000,000 480,000,000 100,000,000 580,000,000 7.73 world

Note. aSpanish is the most important foreign language in Brazil. In 2005, the “Spanish Law” was passed in that country, which obliges all secondary schools to offer this language as an elective school subject. It is expected that in the future the number of Spanish speakers will increase considerably. bIt is difficult to know the precise number of Spanish speakers in the Philippines. At the beginning of the 20th century, Spanish was the official language and 10%–15% of the population spoke Spanish. Since then, a policy of de-Hispanicization of the country and expansion of English has been followed. However, Spanish continued as an official language until the promulgation of the 1973 Constitution and, as a compulsory subject in universities, until 1987. Probably today the number of native speakers is very low, but many people speak Spanish as a second language. There is also a Creole Spanish called “Chabacano,” which is located especially in the south of the country, with about 1 million speakers. an approximately equal duration, even though each word has an accented syllable; Berg, 1991), as opposed to the “stress-timed” languages (the syllables may have different duration, but the time between two sets of stresses is similar; for example, English).

Origin Spanish is derived, like other Romance languages, from vulgar Latin. Specifically, it originated about 1,000 years ago in the northern part of Spain and became the official language of the Kingdom of Castilla. Subsequently, it extended to the south of the Iberian Peninsula as a result of the Reconquista of Spain (Lapesa, 1968; Penny, 2002). With the discovery and conquest of Ardila 5

America, it spread to a large part of the new continent. The contact with the native American languages resulted in the introduction into Spanish of various words, known in Spanish as “Americanisms” some of which are only used in very specific areas.

Spanish or Castilian? Frequently, Spanish and Castilian are used as synonyms. Castellano (Castilian) is the original name of the language, but with the unification of Spain in the 16th century, the name “Spanish” tended to spread. Currently in Spain the denomination “Castilian” is preferred, to distinguish it from other Spanish languages (e.g., Catalan, Galician, Basque), but the term “Spanish” is preferred when it is opposed to a foreign language. The Spanish Constitution of 1978 uses the name “Castilian,” to differentiate it from other Spanish languages. The denomination used by the Academies of the Language is “Spanish” (Association of Academies of the Spanish Language) and the official dictionary of the language is called Dictionary of the Spanish Language (2015). In Latin America, the terms “Spanish” and “Castilian” are used as synonyms, although there are preferences in their denomination according to the country and even according to the historical moment. For example, in Colombia, there was until recently a clear preference for the term “Castilian,” but nowadays the term “Spanish” tends to be preferred. Following the tradition that the preferred term internationally is “Spanish,” in this article, I will always use that denomination, explicitly recognizing that the language that is known internationally as Spanish corresponds only to one of the Spanish languages: Castilian.

Phonology The phonological system of Spanish is similar to that of other Indo-European languages. It has approximately 23 to 25 phonemes (there are two phonemes that are only found in some regions: the interdental fricative θ -Z or C- and the lateral palatal sound / λ / -LL). Some phonemes have different production according to the region: for example, the affricate / tʃ / becomes fricative (/ ʃ /) in Cuba and northern Mexico. The system phonological includes five vowels: / a /, / e /, / i /, / or /, / u /, 16 to 18 consonants, and two semivowels: la [i] and la [u], which can function as semivowels in posnuclear syllable position (Penny, 2002; Quilis, 1963). The three outstanding phonological characteristics of Spanish language are as follows: (1) Diphthongization: Spanish has a very large number of 6 Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences 00(0) diphthongs that can alternate with vowels (e.g., poder -puedo), while tends to have a limited use of hiatus (accents used to dissolve the diphthong, for example, día). (2) In the evolution from Latin to Spanish, the voiceless occlusive phonemes (/ p /, / t /, / k /) in the intervocalic position became voiced (/ b /, / d /, / g /), but only in the “vulgar” (high frequency) words, while they continued to be voiceless in derivative words (e.g., abeja, apicultura); and the voiced occlusive phonemes were fricativized (sometimes these phonemes receive the name of approximants or aspirants) (β, δ, γ). For example, B in the word “Sábado” is pronounced as / β / and D as / δ /. This simplification is sometimes called elision. These approximate phonemes, however, are not found in central Mexico. (3) Spanish has a very definite syllabic structure; in each word, one of the syllables carries a distinctive, functional accent within the language (e.g., libro–libró).

Grammar Grammar (morphosyntax) includes morphology and syntax. From the mor- phological point of view, Spanish is an inflectional language: it uses inflec- tions to indicate the relationship between the elements; that is, the composition of the words changes (e.g., casa, casas, casita). This implies important mor- phological changes in words that include a lexeme or radical morpheme, to which one or more grammatical morphemes can be added (e.g., cas-a, casas, cas-ita). However, there are no grammatical cases (flexion paradigms depending on the case—accusative, locative, genitive, etc.), as it happened in Latin. Prepositions (type of grammatical morpheme: a, ante, bajo, etc.) are also used to indicate these relationships between the elements of a sentence (Real Academia Española, 2009). In Spanish, as in other Romance languages, the order of the words within the sentence is flexible (e.g., Juan ama a Maria; a Maria ama Juan; Juan a Maria ama), although notoriously more flexible than in other Romance languages. Sometimes Spanish is considered as an example of a language with maximum flexibility in the order of the words in the sentence. There is, however, a basic order of words in the sentence (canonical order: subject > verb > object, for example, Juan ama a Maria).

Lexicon As a language of Latin origin, the vast majority (probably around 75%) of the words of the Spanish language are derived from Latin. A notoriously lower percentage, from the Greek, sometimes through Latin. 8% of the words come from Arabic; and the rest from a diversity of languages (Gómez de Silva, Ardila 7

1998). To this must be added the “Americanisms” (words taken from Amerindian languages), whose use is highly variable in each country. Throughout history, different languages have contributed to the Spanish vocabulary. From the pre-Roman languages, there are still some words (e.g., cama—bed, perro—dog). The Muslim occupation left a number of words that were gradually integrated into Spanish (many of the words that begin with / al /, such as almohada—pillow, alhaja—jewelry). The discovery of America introduced words related to American products (e.g., tomate— tomato, tabaco—tobacco). During the 18th and 19th centuries, French borrowings were frequent (e.g., menu—menu, gala—gala). More recently, most borrowings represent technical words generally taken from English (e.g., internet, software). The lexicon of each Spanish-speaking country is affected by: (1) borrowings from other languages, especially Amerindian languages. For example, the word “biche” is a borrowing from the Chibcha language, only under- standable in Colombia; in Mexico a large number of words taken from Nahuatl, incomprehensible to most Spanish speakers, are used (e.g., guara- che—sandal, elote—corn, guajolote—turkey); the borrowings of the Native American languages (Americanisms) have been incorporated into the Dictionary of the Spanish Language (2001). Spanish borrowings in Spanish spoken in the United States are almost exclusively from English (e.g., drive- way). Argentines use different borrowings from Italian (e.g., guarda → look); and (2) the existing ecological conditions make certain words, current in one country, but unknown in another. Given the extension of the Spanish-speaking world, its geography is diverse. Probably only the inhabitants of the tropics (such as Colombia) know a guanábana or a lulo; and only the Spaniards know exactly how an “acorn” looks like.

The Spanish Writing System The writing system of Spanish, like the writing system of any language, has certain peculiarities. Spanish has a transparent reading system, except (1) the reading of certain words taken from other languages (e.g., souvenir, jeep); (2) some irregularities in the transcription of words taken from Amerindian languages, particularly evident in Mexico (e.g., Oaxaca); and (3) certain archa- isms in writing (e.g., Mexico). The ambiguity in the writing system (except for the mentioned irregularities) goes in one direction: many words can potentially be written in different ways (so-called spelling rules) (e.g., / muxer / could be written MUJER or MUGER), but there is only a possible reading for any word or pseudo-word. In Spanish, it is possible, therefore, to find homophonic heterography (there 8 Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences 00(0) may be alternative forms to write the sequence of phonemes of a word), but there is no homographic heterophony (there is only one possible way to read a sequence of letters). In writing two different types of errors can be distinguished: homophones (usually known as spelling errors, for example, MUJER is written MUGER) and non-homophones (usually known as writing errors, for example, MUJER is written NUJER). Non-homophonic errors are due to changes, additions, or substitutions of letters that alter the written representation of the spoken word. The first type of errors is very frequent, particularly in people with limited levels of schooling, but they are also found even in people with university levels of education (Ardila et al., 1996). There is no agreement on the reading unit in different languages, but probably the unit of reading in Spanish is the syllable (Ardila & Cuetos, 2016). Spanish has a very well-defined syllabic structure (syllables are built around a vowel or a diphthong), and from the expressive point of view, Spanish is clearly a syllable-timed language. It is easy to assume that Spanish speakers have a very strong syllabic awareness; distinguishing the syllables in a word is considered—unlike other languages such as English—as a task with a very low level of difficulty, almost self-evident, given the syllabic production of the language. The longest unit that is required to be read globally, that is, only considering the complete sequence of letters it is possible to deduce phonology, is the syllable, in particular certain syllables composed of three letters, such as GUI and GUA. It would then seem reasonable to assume that the reading in Spanish is carried out using a syllabic sequence (syllable by syllable). Spelling errors are found in those syllabic sets in which alternate forms of writing are possible. Different “writing complexes” can be distinguished (e.g., the representation of the phoneme / k /, the representation of the phoneme / g /) (Ardila, 1998). In case of cerebral pathology, spelling errors in Spanish are not necessarily associated with aphasia; in the case of right hemi- spheric pathologies, it is common to find an increase in spelling errors in writing, which could suggest that the use of spelling represents in a certain way a visuoperceptual ability for Spanish-speaking subjects (“how the written word looks”).

Social Characteristics of the Spanish-Speaking Countries The Spanish-speaking population is heterogeneous. Despite its linguistic and partial cultural commonality, its economic and educational levels are variable. Ardila 9

Table 2. Social Characteristics of the Major Spanish-Speaking Countries.

Population GNI per Life Human (millions) capita expectancy Development Country (2019) (in dollars)a Literacyb (average)c Index (HDI)d Argentina 43.9 18,461 98 76.7 0.825 Bolivia 11.3 6,714 92 69.5 0.693 Chile 17.5 21,910 97 79.7 0.843 Colombia 50.0 12,938 93 74.6 0.747 Costa Rica 4.8 14,636 97 80.0 0.794 Cuba 11.2 7,524 99 79.9 0.777 Dom. Republic 10.7 13,921 90 74.0 0.736 Ecuador 16.4 10,347 92 76.6 0.752 El Salvador 6.4 6,868 84 73.8 0.674 USA 52.0 15,674 59 81.5e 0.924 Ecuat. Guinea 1.3 19,513 95 57.9 0.591 Guatemala 17.3 4,582 78 73.7 0.650 Honduras 9.1 4,215 85 73.8 0.617 Mexico 126.5 16,944 93 77.3 0.774 Nicaragua 6.1 5,157 78 75.7 0.658 Panama 4.0 20,189 94 78.2 0.789 Paraguay 7.1 8,380 94 73.3 0.702 Peru 32.4 11,789 94 75.2 0.750 Puerto Rico 3.2 32.004 98 80.9 0.845 Spain 46.7 34,258 98 83.3 0.891 Uruguay 3.4 19,930 98 77.6 0.804 Venezuela 27.5 10,672 95 74.7 0.761

Note. GNI = gross national income. aHuman Development Indices and Indicators (2018). bUnited Nations Development Programme Report (2019). For the United States, it includes Reading in English only. Reading in Spanish is not considered. cHuman Development Report (2018). dThe Human Development Index (HDI) is a general indicator of the well-being of the population developed by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). It simultaneously includes three different parameters: life expectancy, educational level (literacy rate in adults and combined gross enrollment ratio in primary, secondary, and university education), and standard of living (measured by GDP per capita in dollars). It is considered as an index of the authentic welfare of the population. According to the UNDP, countries can be divided into three groups: (1) countries with high human development (HDI ≥0.8); (2) countries with middle human development (HDI ≥0.5 ≤0.8); and (3) countries with low human development (HDI ≤0.5). eHispanics in the United States have a life expectancy of about 2 years higher than the average of the general population, which is 79.5.

Table 2 presents some basic characteristics of Spanish-speaking countries. It is evident that this is a group of countries with a significant degree of heterogeneity. The percentage of illiteracy, for example, is over 20% in some 10 Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences 00(0) countries, while in others it is less than 2%. Some countries are relatively rich, while others are notoriously poorer. In almost all countries, Spanish coexists with other languages (Table 3). In some countries, it is the only national language, while in others only a variable percentage of the population speaks it.

The Hispanic Population of the United States In the 2000 census (United States Census Bureau, 2000), it was reported that 46,951,595 people (17.9% of the population) spoke a language other than English at home, whereas in the 2004 census (United States Census Bureau, 2004) the number was 49,632,925 (18.7%), and in 2013 the number was 61.8 million (19.9%) (United States Census Bureau, 2013). This percentage has been increasing progressively mainly due to the immigration of Latin Americans to the United States. Spanish, evidently, is the second language of the United States in terms of number of speakers. Today, there are about 65 million people who speak at home a different language than English. Spanish speakers represent about 75% of this group, or close to 50 million. Calculating the exact number of Spanish speakers is indeed extremely difficult, due to illegal immigration; it is estimated, however, that in the country there are about 8 million undocumented immigrants, of which 6 million are Mexican. If the undocumented people of other Spanish- speaking countries are counted, probably the number of illegal Spanish speakers could be 7 million. In other words, the figure of 50 million probably underestimates the true number. It could well reach 57 million if illegal immigrants are included. Currently, the United States represents the second or third largest Spanish-speaking country in the world after Mexico, and may be Colombia. Approximately 75% of Hispanics are of Mexican origin, 10.6% of Puerto Ricans (residents of Puerto Rico are not included in these statistics), 4.2% of Cubans, and the rest from other countries. Hispanics are especially concen- trated in Florida, the southwestern states, and New York. Spanish and English have been in contact for a long time, and this has led to the development of an interlanguage (or Spanish dialect) usually known as “Spanglish.” Spanglish, however, has been very little analyzed from the point of view of linguistics (Ardila, 2002, 2005) although there are several studies on the impact that contact with other languages has had on Spanish (e.g., Roca & Jensen, 1996, Siguán, 2001, Silva-Corvalán, 1995). Despite the large number of Spanish speakers in the United States, Spanish represents a language with little presence in the American world of education, art, science, politics, and so on. There is only one continental state officially bilingual English/Spanish (New Mexico). (continued) language) Bilingualism (other official are recognized are recognized continental state are recognized Monolingual Quechua, Aymara Monolingual Monolingual Monolingual Monolingual In some areas native languages In some areas native languages New Mexico is the only bilingual Spanish/French bilingual In some areas native languages Monolingual Monolingual 99.7 87.7 89.7 98.1 97.5 99.0 93.0 15.3 64.7 98.2 100.0 100.0 100.0 Spanish speakers (%) 9 4 2 9 5 25 36 80 23 14 54 10 162 Total languages b — — — Other languages Quechua, Mapudungun Poqomchi’, Q’eqchi’ Quechua, Aymara, German German, Arabic, Guaraní, Italian, Mapudungun Haitian French creole Wayuu Quechua English (2) French, Fang, Bube, Combe Pipil Kaqchikel, K’iche’, Mam a 0.680 0.213 0.034 0.053 0.030 0.264 0.001 0.059 0.353 0.453 0.004 0.691 0.056 Index) diversity) Linguistic 4.8 1.3 6.4 9.1 11.3 43.9 17.5 10.7 50.0 16.4 11.2 52.0 17.3 (2019) (millions) Population Linguistic Characteristics of Spanish-Speaking Countries. Republic Guinea Table 3. Country Bolivia Argentina Chile Colombia Ecuador Dom. Cuba Costa Rica USA El Salvador Ecuat. Guatemala Honduras

11 language) Bilingualism (other official are recognized Catalan, Basque, Galician, and Occitan are co-official are recognized American spoken languages is recognized co-official in some areas In some areas native languages Monolingual In some autonomic communities In some areas native languages Constitution recognizes all the Monolingual but implicitly English Bilingual Spanish/Guarani Bilingual Spanish/English Quechua and Aymara are 97.0 95.8 99.1 87.4 96.9 76.8 90.0 98.2 79.8 Spanish speakers (%) In Spain, Spanish is the mother tongue for 89% of c 2 7 3 13 40 14 20 90 291 Total languages b — — c Other languages Mixteco, Nahuatl. Otomi, Tzeltal, Otomi Arabic Arabic, English, Maya, Mazahua, Miskito Wayuu, Chinese English creole, Ngäbere Guarani, German Portuguese Quechua, Aymara, Chinese Catalan, Basque, Galician, a 0.135 0.081 0.026 0.092 0.324 0.347 0.376 0.438 0.049 Index) diversity) Linguistic 6.1 3.4 4.0 7.1 3.2 27.5 32.4 46.7 126.5 (2019) (millions) Population (continued) Greenberg’s linguistic diversity index (LDI) describes the probability that two people selected from the population at random will have Greenberg’s linguistic diversity index (LDI) describes the probability that a Only those languages with over 100,000 speakers are included (according to Ethnologue). Only those languages with over 100,000 speakers are included (according to Ethnologue). different mother tongues; it therefore ranges from 0 ( everyone has the same tongue ) to 1 no two people have ). Table 3. Country Source. Adapted from Ethnologue. Note. b Mexico Nicaragua Venezuela Uruguay population, Catalonian for 9%, Galician 5%, and Basque 1%. Panama Paraguay Peru Spain Puerto Rico

12 Ardila 13

Bilingualism It is very difficult to calculate the number of bilinguals in each country, given the difficulty in establishing a criterion of bilingualism. In most secondary schools, for example, it is compulsory to study a second language. Would that mean that anyone who has attended high school should be considered bilingual? It is very difficult to answer yes or no to this question. It seems simpler to analyze which countries and in which regions of Spain and Latin America bilingualism is officially recognized (see Table 3). The level of bilingualism is also very varied, and while some countries are clearly bilingual (e.g., Paraguay), others are practically monolingual (e.g., Cuba).

Culture Initially, the Iberian Spanish culture will be described. Later, the Hispano American culture will be analyzed.

The Iberian Spanish Culture Different peoples, through history, have contributed to the formation of Spanish culture: Phoenicians, Greeks, Iberians, Celts, Romans, Visigoths, Arabs, and so on. The situation of Spain in the Mediterranean has allowed it to share over the centuries many common cultural elements with other Mediterranean peoples. The Roman domination of several centuries led to the inhabitants of the Iberian Peninsula adopting their (Roman) culture, language, and administrative structure. In Spain, there are important regional differences, which are observed in customs, language, and even the physical phenotype. However, it is possible to consider that there is a cultural background common to all Spaniards, which may have specific nuances in each region. Describing Spanish culture is very difficult, not only because of this regional variation but also because of the great changes that the country has undergone during the last decades. Spain is one of the countries in the world that has most changed recently. Until the mid 70s of the last century, Spain was a traditional, conservative country; the influence of the Catholic Church was felt at all levels of life; the country was relatively isolated from the rest of the European countries, and emigration (especially to Western Europe and Latin America) was high. But from that moment on, changes have been enormous. It is considered that the Spanish Constitution of 1978 is one of the most liberal in the world; the influence of the Church has significantly dimin- ished. Spain is now, in magnitude, the 14th largest economy in the world. The 14 Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences 00(0) per capita income is close to 34,000 dollars per year, its Human Development Index (HDI) is 0.891, and life expectancy is the second in the world (after Japan). Spain is currently a highly developed Western society that maintains its own values, customs, and cultural expressions. An important question is, which of these values, customs, and cultural expressions are specific to Spain and which constitute the continuation of cultural expressions formed over the centuries through the amalgamation of other cultural influences in Spain? Some anthropological studies coincide in pointing out certain salient features of Spanish culture and life (e.g., Kern, 1995; Stanton, 2002; Tolosana, 2004). Spain continues to be a society with great emphasis on family ties. The family represents a central core of life. Spanish loyalty seems to focus more on the family and the regional group (Castilian, Catalan, etc.) than in Spain as such. The nationalist movements of some sectors are significant and sometimes the differences are emphasized more than the similarities (“there is not one Spain, there are several Spains”). Like other Mediterranean countries, Spain is a country in which loyalties to the group (family, friends, regional group) represent a central axis of life. Stanton (2002) assumes that the three most characteristic features of Spaniards are “self-love,” “common sense,” and what he calls “little practical sense.” Self-love implies an esteem and defense of oneself, of one’s work, and of one’s family. Common sense manifests itself in things such as the acceptance of death, which brings with it the need to live life intensely. The little practical sense is reflected in the idealism, the mysticism, and in the values represented by Don Quixote (one of the greatest symbols of Spain). But it also manifests itself in disorganization, little planning, and a very peculiar disinterest in money. For any foreigner who visits Spain, he or she may be struck by the fact that Spaniards behave as if money does not matter, as if it were not a relevant element in life. This results in unusual generosity. The perception of time derives in large part from the interpretation of life and the acceptance of death. Time is to be filled with the important things in life. From this perspective, work is not necessarily viewed as central to life and for the Spaniard time is more elastic and schedules more flexible. Within the Western world all culture and subculture groups have tended to approximate each other. There is a new value system derived from science and technology. The models of political organization are increasingly similar, and naturally the incorporation of Spain into the European Union implies the adoption of a form of social organization very similar to that found in other European countries. Spain has been significantly liberalized during the last decades; one of its great pillars, like the Catholic religion, has gradually lost Ardila 15 their influence in the life of the Spaniards. There is something new in that life (the international market, technification, etc.), but something remains of the traditional values, formed over centuries, since the arrival of the first Iberian settlers.

Hispano American Culture Hispano America is a mixture of three cultural groups: European (especially Spanish and to a lesser extent other groups—Italian, German, etc.), indigenous (more than 1,000 different groups), and African (various groups). Other cultural groups have also made contributions (e.g., Arabs, Jews, Chinese), but to a lesser degree. In each country, and even in each region, the contribu- tion of each group has been different. There are countries composed almost exclusively of descendants of Europeans (e.g., Argentina); there are other countries composed mostly of indigenous populations (e.g., Bolivia); and there are also countries with a clear predominance of mestizo groups (e.g., Mexico). Moreover, in Latin America, there is a very significant mixture between these different cultural groups. The Hispano American culture, consequently, is not homogeneous; on the contrary, it is particularly heterogeneous, which makes it difficult to describe. However, when considering that Latin America is basically a mixture of three large cultural groups, it must be noted that the three groups have not had an equal relationship and their contributions to the “Hispano American culture” have not been similar. On the contrary, one of the three groups (the European) has been “dominant” and to a large extent has imposed its language, its religion, its value system, and its interpretation of the world. In a significant way, Spanish culture represents the basic culture in Hispano America. From the cultures brought by Africans to the Americas, few ves- tiges remain, perhaps only in music, religion, and some patterns of behavior and values. The mixture of Europeans with Native American groups, on the other hand, has been complex, and there is a continuum that goes from the complete Europeanization of the indigenous to the native groups with minimal influence of European cultures. It is important to note that most of the Spaniards who came to the America were Andalusians or Estremadurians. It is noted in the census of settlers, between 1492 and 1580, that 35.8% of the settlers were Andalusians; 16.9%, Estremadurians; 14.8%, Castilians, and the remaining 22.5% of diverse origin (Llorca, 2004). Consequently, the Hispano American language and culture tend to be more similar to the dialectal varieties and subcultures of southern and central Spain. Culturally and linguistically, Latin America is more like Andalusia than any other Spanish region. 16 Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences 00(0)

Table 4. Ethnic Composition (Percentage) in Different Hispano American Countries.

Country European Amerindian African Mestizo Mulatto Variable mix Argentina 97 — — — — 3 Bolivia 15 55 — 30 — — Chile 2 3 — — — 95 Colombia 20 1 4 58 14 3 Costa Rica — 1 3 — — 96 Cuba 38 — 11 — 51 — Ecuador — 25 3 65 — 7 El Salvador 9 1 — 90 — — Guatemala — 40 — — — 60 Honduras 1 7 2 90 — — Mexico 13 11 — 75 — 1 Nicaragua 17 5 6 69 — 3 Panama 7 12 9 65 7 —

Source. Adapted from Bakewell (1997) and Bethell (1995).

For simplicity, some relatively operational criteria of culture will be taken: (1) ethnic group (American, European, or African), (2) language (Spanish vs. other languages), (3) religion (since the religion implies an interpretation of the world and a value system), (4) level of development (“technological culture”), and (5) level of schooling (“knowledge culture”); these last two criteria are highly interdependent.

Ethnic group. Different sources present different distributions for the ethnic groups that make up Latin America. However, these presented distributions are relatively similar but not totally coincident. Table 4 presents the percentages, for the different Hispano American countries, of European, indigenous, African, mestizo (European and indigenous), and mulatto (European and African) descendants. Finally, the “variable mix” column is presented to indicate that there is a mixture between the three groups; or between one or more of the three groups and other groups (e.g., Arabs). It is important to empha- size that, indeed, the mixtures between the different groups can have all the imaginable proportions: half, a quarter, an eighth, and so on. Moreover, since they are mixtures that have been produced progressively during several centuries, it is very difficult to determine, in a particular subject, in what propor- tion is a descendant of European, indigenous, African, or any other group. Usually, Hispanic Americans themselves do not know whether or not they have ancestry belonging to a certain group. For all these reasons, the percentages that are presented are simply tentative. Ardila 17

Hispano America, from the point of view of its ethnic origin, would then be 50% descended from Europeans, Indians, and Africans. In the other 50%, a mixture in varying proportions of these ethnic groups (but also other groups). These are very preliminary percentages and without doubt the mar- gin of error is high. In addition, this “average” composition is not very informative about the composition of a specific country, given the enormous variability. However, some very general statements are possible such as: (1) the descendants of Africans tend to concentrate more in the Caribbean area and (2) cultures of indigenous origin are located especially in the Andean high- lands and in the Central America-Mexico zone. In short, the Hispano American culture is based on a major culture (Spanish culture, mainly Andalusian and Estremadurian, origin of a very significant percentage of Spaniards who emigrated to the Americas, and common to all countries). However, this culture has been influenced by two large groups (indigenous and African) and another series of minor groups (Italian, Arab, etc.), with a different participation according to each country. For example, Italian influence is notable in Argentina, but minimal in other countries. Immigration from the former Yugoslavia was very significant in Chile, but practically non-existent in other places. Japanese immigration was mainly directed to Peru. The indigenous influence is very large in Mexico and Bolivia, but minimal in Uruguay. African influence is particularly noticeable in the Caribbean, but minimal in Mexico. All Spanish American countries have something in common (the basic culture, which includes not only language and religion but also a whole system of values and behavior styles), but they are also unique. However, “commonality” (the base culture) represents the notoriously majority percentage in all Spanish-speaking countries. Some countries are undoubtedly closer to Iberian Spanish culture (e.g., Colombia), while others may be more distant (e.g., Mexico). But every Hispanic American who has visited another regional country or has gone to Spain has certainly felt surprised when discovering how similar Hispano American countries are.

Language. The language was analyzed previously (see Table 3).

Religion. The analysis of religion in Hispano America is complex. Officially, the majority religion is Catholic (comprising approximately 90% of the population). However, its influence as a system of values and interpretation of the world is not only variable, but has also tended to change during the last few decades. The percentage of Protestants (different groups) varies among the countries, but it is probably around 5% of the population, with a tendency to increase in recent years. Individuals of Jewish and Muslim religious 18 Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences 00(0) backgrounds represent approximately 1% to 2% of the population. There are often mixtures between Catholic beliefs and indigenous religions in many regions. In some countries, rites of African origin persist, such as Santeria in Cuba. The Catholic religion emphasizes certain values, such as forgiveness, sac- rifice, humility, family, hierarchical relationships, guilt, and fear of punish- ment. These values are important components of the Hispano American culture. The loss of influence of the Catholic religion represents a general tendency observable in most Latin American countries. In many countries, the Catholic Church has even had to close its seminars due to lack of students.

Level of development. All Spanish American countries have a high or medium level of human development. The following is the distribution of the Latin American countries ordered according to the HDI:

1. Countries with high human development (HDI ≥ 0.8): Puerto Rico, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, and Panama. 2. Countries with medium human development (0.5 ≤ HDI <0.8): Costa Rica, Panamá, Colombia, Cuba, Venezuela, Perú, Ecuador, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Paraguay, Honduras, Guatemala, and Mexico. 3. Countries with low human development (HDI <0.5): None.

Thus, within the global set of nations, some Latin American countries have a high level of human development, and the rest a medium level. The countries with the most limited level of development are found in Central America and the Andean region. The countries of the Southern Cone (Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay) present a comparatively higher level of development.

Level of schooling. Table 5 presents the average number of years of schooling in the economically active population over 15 years old in urban areas of 17 Hispanic American countries. Although that average level is not informative in itself, we can affirm that in Latin America it is about 7 to 10 years of school in urban areas, and almost half of those figures in rural areas. The number of illiterates reaches more than 20% in Guatemala, but in most countries it is less than 10% (see Table 2). Interestingly, against all stereotypes, women tend to have an educated level that is slightly higher than men. The level of schooling in urban areas has increased by approximately 2 years in the last two decades, and it is expected that this trend will continue in the future. Ardila 19

Table 5. Average Years of Education in the Economically Active Urban Population for Persons Over 15 Years of Age.

1980a 1980a 2002a 2002a 2015b

Country Men Women Men Women Both Argentina 7.0 8.2 10.2 11.2 11.4 Bolivia 9.7 8.2 9.8 8.6 8.9 Chile 9.7 10.3 11.1 11.6 10.3 Colombia 7.2 6.9 9.2 9.8 8.1 Costa Rica 7.8 8.6 9.2 10.0 8.6 Cuba — — — — 10.9 Ecuador 8.8 9.3 9.8 10.0 8.7 El Salvador 8.2 7.9 8.0 7.2 6.8 Guatemala 6.2 6.0 8.0 7.2 6.4 Honduras 6.4 6.8 7.2 7.8 6.3 Mexico 8.8 9.0 9.4 9.6 8.6 Nicaragua 6.8 6.9 6.8 7.5 — Panama 8.6 9.5 10.3 11.3 — Paraguay 9.1 8.6 9.8 9.7 8.5 Peru — — 10.6 9.9 9.2 Uruguay 7.5 8.2 9.3 10.4 8.7 Venezuela 7.0 7.7 8.1 9.5 9.6

Note. Rural population has in general about 3–5 years less education. aTaken from Social Panorama of Latin America (2004). bUNESCO.

Conclusion The Spanish-speaking world is heterogeneous from every point of view: social, cultural, and economic. There is a “base” culture (Hispanic culture) that presents a great variability according to the country and the particular region. It is necessary to take into account the possible cultural variations. This base culture emphasizes socially oriented values, such as solidarity and some temporary flexibility. Variations within the Spanish language are small, but variations in use are important (level of bilingualism in different regions). It is important in each country to keep in mind the level of social bilingualism, and in each subject, the level of individual bilingualism. The reading and writing test requires considering the specific characteristics of the Spanish reading and writing system. Homophonic (orthographic) errors are frequent even in people with a university educational level. Spanish could be considered as a language whose basic unit, both in oral production and in reading, is the syllable. 20 Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences 00(0)

The lexicon of each country is affected by (1) borrowings from other languages, especially Native American languages, and (2) existing ecological conditions.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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Author Biography Alfredo Ardila received his degree in psychology at the National University of Colombia in 1969 and a doctoral degree in neuropsychology in 1976 from Moscow State University, where he worked with A. R. Luria. His main research areas are brain organization of language, bilingualism, cross-cultural psychology, and evolution of human cognition. He has been professor in different countries including Colombia, México, Spain, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Russia, Serbia, Italy, Bolivia, Chile, Venezuela, and the United States. He has published over 400 journal papers and he is author or co-author of about 40 books in cognitive neurosciences and related areas. He has been president of several professional associations and is Editor of the journal Neuropsicología, Neuropsiquiatría y Neurociencias. Currently, he is professor at the Psycholinguistics and Intercultural Communication program at the I. M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University in Moscow (Russia) and distinguished professor at the Albizu University, Miami, FL, USA.