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94-499: The Alconétar Bridge ( Spanish : Puente de Alconétar ), also known as Puente de Mantible , was a Roman segmental arch bridge in the Extremadura region, Spain . The ancient structure, which featured flattened arches with a span-to-rise ratio of 4–5:1, is one of the earliest of its kind. Due to its design, it is assumed that the bridge was erected in the early 2nd century AD by the emperors Trajan or Hadrian , possibly under
188-636: A Spanish-based creole language called Chavacano developed in the southern Philippines. However, it is not mutually intelligible with Spanish. The number of Chavacano-speakers was estimated at 1.2 million in 1996. The local languages of the Philippines also retain significant Spanish influence, with many words derived from Mexican Spanish , owing to the administration of the islands by Spain through New Spain until 1821, until direct governance from Madrid afterwards to 1898. Opus caementicium Roman concrete , also called opus caementicium ,
282-603: A considerable number of words from Arabic , as well as a minor influence from the Germanic Gothic language through the period of Visigoth rule in Iberia. In addition, many more words were borrowed from Latin through the influence of written language and the liturgical language of the Church. The loanwords were taken from both Classical Latin and Renaissance Latin , the form of Latin in use at that time. According to
376-431: A critical role in the self-healing mechanism. Concrete and, in particular, the hydraulic mortar responsible for its cohesion, was a type of structural ceramic whose utility derived largely from its rheological plasticity in the paste state. The setting and hardening of hydraulic cements derived from hydration of materials and the subsequent chemical and physical interaction of these hydration products. This differed from
470-522: A dramatic change in the pronunciation of its sibilant consonants , known in Spanish as the reajuste de las sibilantes , which resulted in the distinctive velar [x] pronunciation of the letter ⟨j⟩ and—in a large part of Spain—the characteristic interdental [θ] ("th-sound") for the letter ⟨z⟩ (and for ⟨c⟩ before ⟨e⟩ or ⟨i⟩ ). See History of Spanish (Modern development of
564-482: A first language by Spaniards and educated Filipinos ( Ilustrados ). Despite a public education system set up by the colonial government, by the end of Spanish rule in 1898, only about 10% of the population had knowledge of Spanish, mostly those of Spanish descent or elite standing. Spanish continued to be official and used in Philippine literature and press during the early years of American administration after
658-478: A long history in the territory of the current-day United States dating back to the 16th century. In the wake of the 1848 Guadalupe Hidalgo Treaty , hundreds of thousands of Spanish speakers became a minoritized community in the United States. The 20th century saw further massive growth of Spanish speakers in areas where they had been hitherto scarce. According to the 2020 census, over 60 million people of
752-459: A number of pier stumps rose just above the water surface in the middle of the river, whilst on the left bank a further two piers remained standing, next to which the left abutment followed. The parts of the bridge moved to a safe place were essentially (see images): the right bridge ramp with its two arch-shaped flood openings, the piers 1, 2, and 3 with the remains of 4 and 6, as well as the vaults 1 and 3. The other scarce remains were submerged by
846-508: A primarily Hassaniya Arabic -speaking territory, Spanish was officially spoken as the language of the colonial administration during the late 19th and 20th centuries. Today, Spanish is present in the partially-recognized Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic as its secondary official language, and in the Sahrawi refugee camps in Tindouf ( Algeria ), where the Spanish language is still taught as
940-490: A ratio of 1 part lime to 3 parts pozzolana for mortar used in buildings and a 1:2 ratio for underwater work. The Romans first used hydraulic concrete in coastal underwater structures, probably in the harbours around Baiae before the end of the 2nd century BC. The harbour of Caesarea is an example (22-15 BC) of the use of underwater Roman concrete technology on a large scale, for which enormous quantities of pozzolana were imported from Puteoli . For rebuilding Rome after
1034-617: A second language features characteristics involving the variability of the vowel system. While far from its heyday during the Spanish protectorate in Morocco , the Spanish language has some presence in northern Morocco , stemming for example from the availability of certain Spanish-language media. According to a 2012 survey by Morocco's Royal Institute for Strategic Studies (IRES), penetration of Spanish in Morocco reaches 4.6% of
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#17327650408561128-531: A second language, largely by Cuban educators. The number of Spanish speakers is unknown. Spanish is also an official language of the African Union . Spanish was an official language of the Philippines from the beginning of Spanish administration in 1565 to a constitutional change in 1973. During Spanish colonization , it was the language of government, trade, and education, and was spoken as
1222-431: A sign of poor aggregation technique, react with water seeping into any cracks. This produces reactive calcium, which allows new calcium carbonate crystals to form and reseal the cracks. These lime clasts have a brittle structure that was most likely created in a "hot-mixing" technique with quicklime rather than traditional slaked lime , causing cracks to preferentially move through the lime clasts, thus potentially playing
1316-432: A watchtower, replacing two ancient arches. All five piers are strengthened on the upstream face by pointed cutwaters . The facing of the piers consists of local granite ashlar, set in parallel courses without the use of mortar or iron ties ( opus quadratum ); their interior, as those of the ramps, was filled with Roman concrete , a common method applied for Roman bridges. Outwardly, the flattened arches must have lent
1410-416: Is cognate to the root word of satisfacer ("to satisfy"), and hecho ("made") is similarly cognate to the root word of satisfecho ("satisfied"). Compare the examples in the following table: Some consonant clusters of Latin also produced characteristically different results in these languages, as shown in the examples in the following table: In the 15th and 16th centuries, Spanish underwent
1504-581: Is also known as Castilian ( castellano ). The group evolved from several dialects of Vulgar Latin in Iberia after the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century. The oldest Latin texts with traces of Spanish come from mid-northern Iberia in the 9th century, and the first systematic written use of the language happened in Toledo , a prominent city of the Kingdom of Castile , in
1598-454: Is estimated that about 486 million people speak Spanish as a native language , making it the second most spoken language by number of native speakers . An additional 75 million speak Spanish as a second or foreign language , making it the fourth most spoken language in the world overall after English, Mandarin Chinese, and Hindi with a total number of 538 million speakers. Spanish is also
1692-761: Is heavily influenced by Venezuelan Spanish. In addition to sharing most of its borders with Spanish-speaking countries, the creation of Mercosur in the early 1990s induced a favorable situation for the promotion of Spanish language teaching in Brazil . In 2005, the National Congress of Brazil approved a bill, signed into law by the President , making it mandatory for schools to offer Spanish as an alternative foreign language course in both public and private secondary schools in Brazil. In September 2016 this law
1786-732: Is related to Castile ( Castilla or archaically Castiella ), the kingdom where the language was originally spoken. The name Castile , in turn, is usually assumed to be derived from castillo ('castle'). In the Middle Ages , the language spoken in Castile was generically referred to as Romance and later also as Lengua vulgar . Later in the period, it gained geographical specification as Romance castellano ( romanz castellano , romanz de Castiella ), lenguaje de Castiella , and ultimately simply as castellano (noun). Different etymologies have been suggested for
1880-844: Is spoken by very small communities in Angola due to Cuban influence from the Cold War and in South Sudan among South Sudanese natives that relocated to Cuba during the Sudanese wars and returned for their country's independence. Spanish is also spoken in the integral territories of Spain in Africa, namely the cities of Ceuta and Melilla and the Canary Islands , located in the Atlantic Ocean some 100 km (62 mi) off
1974-813: Is the de facto national language of the country, Spanish is often used in public services and notices at the federal and state levels. Spanish is also used in administration in the state of New Mexico . The language has a strong influence in major metropolitan areas such as those of Los Angeles , Miami , San Antonio , New York , San Francisco , Dallas , Tucson and Phoenix of the Arizona Sun Corridor , as well as more recently, Chicago , Las Vegas , Boston , Denver , Houston , Indianapolis , Philadelphia , Cleveland , Salt Lake City , Atlanta , Nashville , Orlando , Tampa , Raleigh and Baltimore-Washington, D.C. due to 20th- and 21st-century immigration. Although Spanish has no official recognition in
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#17327650408562068-466: Is the world's second-most spoken native language after Mandarin Chinese ; the world's fourth-most spoken language overall after English , Mandarin Chinese, and Hindustani ( Hindi - Urdu ); and the world's most widely spoken Romance language. The country with the largest population of native speakers is Mexico . Spanish is part of the Ibero-Romance language group , in which the language
2162-602: Is understood to benefit from a reaction of seawater with a mixture of volcanic ash and quicklime to create a rare crystal called tobermorite , which may resist fracturing. As seawater percolated within the tiny cracks in the Roman concrete, it reacted with phillipsite naturally found in the volcanic rock and created aluminous tobermorite crystals. The result is a candidate for "the most durable building material in human history". In contrast, modern concrete exposed to saltwater deteriorates within decades. The Roman concrete at
2256-412: Is unknown because of missing literary and epigraphic sources. Its segmental arches suggest that it was built in the early 2nd century AD, more specifically during the reign of the emperors Trajan (98–117 AD) or Hadrian (117–138 AD), as the use of this arch form was typical of that era. Both rulers were born in the southern Spanish province of Baetica and Trajan is known to have ordered the restoration of
2350-602: The Bay of Naples ). The addition of ash prevented cracks from spreading. Recent research has shown that the incorporation of mixtures of different types of lime, forming conglomerate "clasts" allowed the concrete to self-repair cracks. Roman concrete was in widespread use from about 150 BC; some scholars believe it was developed a century before that. It was often used in combination with facings and other supports, and interiors were further decorated by stucco , fresco paintings, or coloured marble. Further innovative developments in
2444-734: The Indo-European language family that evolved from the Vulgar Latin spoken on the Iberian Peninsula of Europe . Today, it is a global language with about 500 million native speakers, mainly in the Americas and Spain , and about 600 million when including second language speakers. Spanish is the official language of 20 countries , as well as one of the six official languages of the United Nations . Spanish
2538-642: The Iter ab Emerita Caesaraugustam when he came to power. Segmental arches were often employed by Trajan's court architect Apollodorus of Damascus, such as in Trajan's Forum and most notably in the greatest civil engineering achievement of its time, Trajan's Bridge , which rested on twenty huge concrete piers and was used during the Dacian Wars for moving troops across the more than 1,000 m (3,300 ft) wide Danube . Moorish geographers make no mention of
2632-568: The Spanish as a First Foreign Language (SAFFL) initiative in March 2005. Spanish has historically had a significant presence on the Dutch Caribbean islands of Aruba , Bonaire and Curaçao ( ABC Islands ) throughout the centuries and in present times. The majority of the populations of each island (especially Aruba) speaking Spanish at varying although often high degrees of fluency. The local language Papiamentu (Papiamento on Aruba)
2726-508: The Spanish–American War but was eventually replaced by English as the primary language of administration and education by the 1920s. Nevertheless, despite a significant decrease in influence and speakers, Spanish remained an official language of the Philippines upon independence in 1946, alongside English and Filipino , a standardized version of Tagalog . Spanish was briefly removed from official status in 1973 but reimplemented under
2820-544: The Tomb of Caecilia Metella is another variation higher in potassium that triggered changes that "reinforce interfacial zones and potentially contribute to improved mechanical performance". For an environment as prone to earthquakes as the Italian peninsula , interruptions and internal constructions within walls and domes created discontinuities in the concrete mass. Portions of the building could then shift slightly when there
2914-480: The fire in 64 AD which destroyed large portions of the city, Nero 's new building code largely called for brick-faced concrete. This appears to have encouraged the development of the brick and concrete industries. Roman concrete, like any concrete , consists of an aggregate and hydraulic mortar , a binder mixed with water that hardens over time. The composition of the aggregate varied, and included pieces of rock, ceramic tile, lime clasts, and brick rubble from
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3008-480: The 13th century. Spanish colonialism in the early modern period spurred the introduction of the language to overseas locations, most notably to the Americas. As a Romance language, Spanish is a descendant of Latin. Around 75% of modern Spanish vocabulary is Latin in origin, including Latin borrowings from Ancient Greek. Alongside English and French , it is also one of the most taught foreign languages throughout
3102-404: The 2021–2022 school year alone. The local business process outsourcing industry has also helped boost the language's economic prospects. Today, while the actual number of proficient Spanish speakers is around 400,000, or under 0.5% of the population, a new generation of Spanish speakers in the Philippines has likewise emerged, though speaker estimates vary widely. Aside from standard Spanish,
3196-595: The 20th century, Spanish was introduced to Equatorial Guinea and the Western Sahara , and to areas of the United States that had not been part of the Spanish Empire, such as Spanish Harlem in New York City . For details on borrowed words and other external influences upon Spanish, see Influences on the Spanish language . Spanish is the primary language in 20 countries worldwide. As of 2023, it
3290-702: The Albarregas, another over the Aljucén, a third close to Caparra and a fourth over the Tormes . In the hills overlooking the Alconétar Bridge, a Roman mansio with the name of Turmulus (Spanish: "Ad Túrmulos") was established, according to the then customary distance intervals. It was the fourth of a total number of sixteen between Mérida and Astorga. The exact construction date of the Puente de Alconétar
3384-412: The Alconétar Bridge therefore ranks among the oldest segmental arched bridges in the world. Its existence demonstrates that, in contrast to what had previously been widely believed and taught, Roman bridge builders possessed intimate knowledge of flattened arches. The pier thicknesses, measuring 4.25 m (13.9 ft), 4.45 m (14.6 ft) and 4.55 m (14.9 ft), increase slightly towards
3478-511: The Alconétar Bridge, even though they praise the Roman bridge of Alcántara which also leads across the Tagus. There is some evidence that a community called Alconétar, Alconétara or Alcontra ( Arabic : "small bridge") existed at least temporarily – probably an indirect reference to the high-rising bridge of Alcántara. It also remains unknown why the bridge of Alconétar is called Puente de Mantible in
3572-654: The Equatoguinean education system and is the primary language used in government and business. Whereas it is not the mother tongue of virtually any of its speakers, the vast majority of the population is proficient in Spanish. The Instituto Cervantes estimates that 87.7% of the population is fluent in Spanish. The proportion of proficient Spanish speakers in Equatorial Guinea exceeds the proportion of proficient speakers in other West and Central African nations of their respective colonial languages. Spanish
3666-705: The Iberian Peninsula. These languages included Proto-Basque , Iberian , Lusitanian , Celtiberian and Gallaecian . The first documents to show traces of what is today regarded as the precursor of modern Spanish are from the 9th century. Throughout the Middle Ages and into the modern era , the most important influences on the Spanish lexicon came from neighboring Romance languages — Mozarabic ( Andalusi Romance ), Navarro-Aragonese , Leonese , Catalan/Valencian , Portuguese , Galician , Occitan , and later, French and Italian . Spanish also borrowed
3760-540: The Old Spanish sibilants) for details. The Gramática de la lengua castellana , written in Salamanca in 1492 by Elio Antonio de Nebrija , was the first grammar written for a modern European language. According to a popular anecdote, when Nebrija presented it to Queen Isabella I , she asked him what was the use of such a work, and he answered that language is the instrument of empire. In his introduction to
3854-416: The Roman origin of these arches. With an extraordinary width of 1.20 m (3 ft 11 in), the voussoirs appear oversized in relation to the span (arch slenderness of 1:5.8 and 6.2 respectively). In contrast, the two surviving bridge arches no. 1 and 3 are instable substitutions, made of carelessly laid rubble. The date of these arches is unknown, as with all other repairs; possibly they were built in
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3948-470: The Spanish authorities. Main feature of the Alconétar Bridge was the segmental shape of its arches, which were rather uncommon in ancient bridge building: in a survey of Roman bridges in Hispania, only one in ten showed the same characteristics, the vast majority being of semi-circular design. According to Prieto, the bridge had sixteen arches , not including the flood openings on the right approach, with
4042-543: The Spanish-speaking world, Spanish is called not only español but also castellano (Castilian), the language from the Kingdom of Castile , contrasting it with other languages spoken in Spain such as Galician , Basque , Asturian , Catalan/Valencian , Aragonese , Occitan and other minor languages. The Spanish Constitution of 1978 uses the term castellano to define the official language of
4136-478: The Tagus in the immediate vicinity, underline the historical importance of this crossing point between northern and southern Spain. During the building of the Alcántara Dam in 1970, the remains of the bridge were moved from their original site to a meadow six kilometers to the north, close to the municipality of Garrovillas de Alconétar . By contrast, few traces are left of the neighbouring ancient bridge over
4230-502: The U.S. population were of Hispanic or Hispanic American by origin. In turn, 41.8 million people in the United States aged five or older speak Spanish at home, or about 13% of the population. Spanish predominates in the unincorporated territory of Puerto Rico , where it is also an official language along with English. Spanish is by far the most common second language in the country, with over 50 million total speakers if non-native or second-language speakers are included. While English
4324-508: The University of California Berkeley published an article that described for the first time the mechanism by which the suprastable calcium-aluminium-silicate-hydrate compound binds the material together. During its production, less carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere than any modern concrete production process. It is no coincidence that the walls of Roman buildings are thicker than those of modern buildings. However, Roman concrete
4418-457: The administration of Ferdinand Marcos two months later. It remained an official language until the ratification of the present constitution in 1987, in which it was re-designated as a voluntary and optional auxiliary language. Additionally, the constitution, in its Article XIV, stipulates that the Government shall provide the people of the Philippines with a Spanish-language translation of
4512-426: The architect Rodrigo Gil de Hontañón calculated a cost of 80,000 Ducats for the reconstruction of the bridge without ever realising his plans. The construction project of Alonso de Covarrubias and Hernán Ruiz of 1560 never went beyond the planning stage, and neither did another project between 1569 and 1580. In the 18th century two further attempts to repair the bridge failed, in 1730 and 1760–70. The latter plan of
4606-416: The bridge a rather elongated appearance, with its roadway following a horizontal or slightly convex line. [REDACTED] Media related to Alconétar Bridge at Wikimedia Commons 39°45′14″N 6°26′14″W / 39.753838°N 6.437345°W / 39.753838; -6.437345 Spanish language Spanish ( español ) or Castilian ( castellano ) is a Romance language of
4700-461: The bridge was apparently unusable again, so that a ferry service was established to cross the river, which is also recorded at later times. On the site of the ancient way station, a fortress was erected in the Middle Ages ; its tower built of Roman spolia emerges from the Alcántara reservoir at low water. Several attempts to reopen the bridge in the early modern era proved unsuccessful. In 1553,
4794-684: The classic hispanus or hispanicus took the suffix -one from Vulgar Latin , as happened with other words such as bretón (Breton) or sajón (Saxon). Like the other Romance languages , the Spanish language evolved from Vulgar Latin , which was brought to the Iberian Peninsula by the Romans during the Second Punic War , beginning in 210 BC. Several pre-Roman languages (also called Paleohispanic languages )—some distantly related to Latin as Indo-European languages , and some that are not related at all—were previously spoken in
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#17327650408564888-500: The consonant written b (a bilabial with plosive and fricative allophones). In modern Spanish, there is no difference between the pronunciation of orthographic b and v . Typical of Spanish (as also of neighboring Gascon extending as far north as the Gironde estuary , and found in a small area of Calabria ), attributed by some scholars to a Basque substratum was the mutation of Latin initial f into h- whenever it
4982-404: The country's constitution. In recent years changing attitudes among non-Spanish speaking Filipinos have helped spur a revival of the language, and starting in 2009 Spanish was reintroduced as part of the basic education curriculum in a number of public high schools, becoming the largest foreign language program offered by the public school system, with over 7,000 students studying the language in
5076-405: The distance between both bridge ramps was 244 m (801 ft) (= 178 + 15 x 4.4), which corresponded to a river cross section of 73%. By comparison, the corresponding discharge profiles for the Roman bridges of Córdoba , of Mérida and Salamanca were 62%, 64% and 80% respectively. Most of the surviving fabric was concentrated on the right bank of the Tagus where the current was less strong;
5170-475: The flooding of the Alcantara reservoir in 1970. The approach to the ramp is 42 m (138 ft) long and 6.55–6.80 m (21.5–22.3 ft) wide. The clear spans of its two segmental arches are 6.95 m (22.8 ft) and 7.40 m (24.3 ft), which corresponds to a span-to-rise ratio of 4.0 and 3.3 to 1 respectively. The accurately fitting inclined contact surface of the springings clearly proves
5264-412: The following spans (estimates are in square brackets): Other sources however vary from eleven to fifteen arches. The total length of the rectilinear structure was 290 m (950 ft), of which 190 m (620 ft) spanned the riverbed at low water. If one adds the clear span of the arches and assumes, on the basis of the preserved piers , an average pier thickness of 4.4 m (14 ft), then
5358-683: The following table: Spanish is marked by palatalization of the Latin double consonants ( geminates ) nn and ll (thus Latin annum > Spanish año , and Latin anellum > Spanish anillo ). The consonant written u or v in Latin and pronounced [w] in Classical Latin had probably " fortified " to a bilabial fricative /β/ in Vulgar Latin. In early Spanish (but not in Catalan or Portuguese) it merged with
5452-466: The former British colony of Belize (known until 1973 as British Honduras ) where English is the sole official language, according to the 2022 census, 54% of the total population are able to speak the language. Due to its proximity to Spanish-speaking countries and small existing native Spanish speaking minority, Trinidad and Tobago has implemented Spanish language teaching into its education system. The Trinidadian and Tobagonian government launched
5546-604: The grammar, dated 18 August 1492, Nebrija wrote that "... language was always the companion of empire." From the 16th century onwards, the language was taken to the Spanish-discovered America and the Spanish East Indies via Spanish colonization of America . Miguel de Cervantes , author of Don Quixote , is such a well-known reference in the world that Spanish is often called la lengua de Cervantes ("the language of Cervantes"). In
5640-672: The guidance of Apollodorus of Damascus , the most famous architect of the time. The almost 300 m long Alconétar Bridge served as a crossing point for the Roman Via de la Plata , the most important north–south connection in western Hispania , over the Tagus , the longest river of the Iberian Peninsula . It presumably remained in service until the Reconquista , after which numerous early modern reconstruction attempts by Spanish engineers failed. The ruins, which were mainly to be found on
5734-549: The language's hegemony in an intensely centralising Spanish state were established from the 18th century onward. Other European territories in which it is also widely spoken include Gibraltar and Andorra . Spanish is also spoken by immigrant communities in other European countries, such as the United Kingdom , France , Italy , and Germany . Spanish is an official language of the European Union . Today,
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#17327650408565828-571: The local vernacular, an expression which alludes to the legend of Charlemagne and his Twelve Paladins . The bridge was probably in use until the time of the Reconquista, when the Tagus constituted the border between the Christian and the Moorish realm from the 11th to the 13th century, and the frequent clashes might have easily made the ancient bridge unusable. According to another theory,
5922-694: The majority of the Spanish speakers live in Hispanic America . Nationally, Spanish is the official language—either de facto or de jure —of Argentina , Bolivia (co-official with 36 indigenous languages), Chile , Colombia , Costa Rica , Cuba , Dominican Republic , Ecuador , El Salvador , Guatemala , Honduras , Mexico (co-official with 63 indigenous languages), Nicaragua , Panama , Paraguay (co-official with Guaraní ), Peru (co-official with Quechua , Aymara , and "the other indigenous languages"), Puerto Rico (co-official with English), Uruguay , and Venezuela . Spanish language has
6016-512: The material, part of the so-called concrete revolution , contributed to structurally complicated forms. The most prominent example of these is the Pantheon dome, the world's largest and oldest unreinforced concrete dome. Roman concrete differs from modern concrete in that the aggregates often included larger components; hence, it was laid rather than poured. Roman concretes, like any hydraulic concrete, were usually able to set underwater, which
6110-406: The middle of the river, while the distances between the piers increase from 7.30 m (24.0 ft) to 10.20 m (33.5 ft). The fifth and ultimate pier, which carries the distinctive nickname "Bishop's table", takes an advanced position in the riverbed and possesses by far the largest cross-section (8.10 m (26.6 ft)). It may be of medieval origin and could have served as a base for
6204-514: The military engineer José García Galiano included a complete reconstruction with three large-span segmental arches. The planning sketch shows that already at that time the remaining arches were limited to the right bank, a finding confirmed by the drawing of Fernando Rodríguez from 1797 and engravings in Alexandre de Labordes ' Voyage pittoresque de l'Espagne a few years later. The reconstruction sketch produced by Rodriguez (see diagram below) shows
6298-734: The northwest of the African mainland. The Spanish spoken in the Canary Islands traces its origins back to the Castilian conquest in the 15th century , and, in addition to a resemblance to Western Andalusian speech patterns, it also features strong influence from the Spanish varieties spoken in the Americas, which in turn have also been influenced historically by Canarian Spanish. The Spanish spoken in North Africa by native bilingual speakers of Arabic or Berber who also speak Spanish as
6392-654: The other hand, currently uses the term español in its publications. However, from 1713 to 1923, it called the language castellano . The Diccionario panhispánico de dudas (a language guide published by the Royal Spanish Academy) states that, although the Royal Spanish Academy prefers to use the term español in its publications when referring to the Spanish language, both terms— español and castellano —are regarded as synonymous and equally valid. The term castellano
6486-457: The period of the Knights Templar. Equally evidently of post-classical origin is the masonry of the first two piers above the lower cornice , which projects from all piers at the same height. The superstructure of these piers could have been reconstructed for a drawbridge or a tower, which, according to an illustration in the Voyage Pittoresque , rested upon pier 2. In contrast, the third pier has still preserved its original Roman character up to
6580-481: The population. Many northern Moroccans have rudimentary knowledge of Spanish, with Spanish being particularly significant in areas adjacent to Ceuta and Melilla. Spanish also has a presence in the education system of the country (through either selected education centers implementing Spain's education system, primarily located in the North, or the availability of Spanish as foreign language subject in secondary education). In Western Sahara , formerly Spanish Sahara ,
6674-409: The profile of the bridge, rising evenly and dominated by three central arches in the centre of the river. These arches are flanked by a further nine segmental arches on both sides. The symmetry of the arches suggests that, in lieu of the fortification on the right bank viewed upstream, there might have been another segmental arch in Roman times. The basis for the modern scientific analysis of the bridge
6768-473: The remains of previously demolished buildings. In Rome, readily available tuff was often used as an aggregate. Gypsum and quicklime were used as binders. Volcanic dusts, called pozzolana or "pit sand", were favoured where they could be obtained. Pozzolana makes the concrete more resistant to salt water than modern-day concrete. Pozzolanic mortar had a high content of alumina and silica . Research in 2023 found that lime clasts, previously considered
6862-663: The right river bank, were relocated from their original position in 1970 when the Alcántara reservoir was created. The historic Alconétar Bridge, which should not be confused with the monumental Alcántara Bridge further downstream, spanned the Tagus not far from the mouth of the Almonte , in the heart of the Spanish Cáceres Province in the Extremadura region. A modern motorway and a railway, which cross
6956-446: The river Almonte. In the classical period , the Alconétar Bridge was part of the Roman road Iter ab Emerita Caesaraugustam , that was later called Via de la Plata . This important inner Iberian connection led from the provincial capital Mérida in the south, through the river valleys of Alagón , Tiétar and Tagus to the north, then on to the western part of Meseta Central , passing the major town of Salamanca . Its terminal point
7050-542: The setting of slaked lime mortars , the most common cements of the pre-Roman world. Once set, Roman concrete exhibited little plasticity, although it retained some resistance to tensile stresses. The setting of pozzolanic cements has much in common with setting of their modern counterpart, Portland cement . The high silica composition of Roman pozzolana cements is very close to that of modern cement to which blast furnace slag , fly ash , or silica fume have been added. The strength and longevity of Roman 'marine' concrete
7144-485: The term español (Spanish). According to the Royal Spanish Academy, español derives from the Occitan word espaignol and that, in turn, derives from the Vulgar Latin * hispaniolus ('of Hispania'). Hispania was the Roman name for the entire Iberian Peninsula . There are other hypotheses apart from the one suggested by the Royal Spanish Academy. Spanish philologist Ramón Menéndez Pidal suggested that
7238-444: The theories of Ramón Menéndez Pidal , local sociolects of Vulgar Latin evolved into Spanish, in the north of Iberia, in an area centered in the city of Burgos , and this dialect was later brought to the city of Toledo , where the written standard of Spanish was first developed, in the 13th century. In this formative stage, Spanish developed a strongly differing variant from its close cousin, Leonese , and, according to some authors,
7332-640: The third most used language on the Internet , after English and Chinese. Spanish is the official language of Spain . Upon the emergence of the Castilian Crown as the dominant power in the Iberian Peninsula by the end of the Middle Ages, the Romance vernacular associated with this polity became increasingly used in instances of prestige and influence, and the distinction between "Castilian" and "Spanish" started to become blurred. Hard policies imposing
7426-467: The third arch originally described a circular sector of 95°, which points to a span-to-rise ratio of about 4–5 to 1 for the other segmental arches. This value is supported by de Labordes' engravings which depict an intact Roman segmental arch spanning the adjoining fourth bay as late as the early 19th century. Along with other early examples, such as Limyra Bridge and the Ponte San Lorenzo ,
7520-413: The top at 12.50 m (41.0 ft). Its carefully worked ashlar and the second cornice, which ran along all ancient piers, provide us with the most distinct impression of the original shape of the Roman bridge. In particular, it is possible to reconstruct relatively precisely the rise of the Roman segmental arches on the basis of the angles of the inclined stone supports at the springing level . Thus,
7614-560: The use of Roman-style concrete in North America. This involves replacing the volcanic ash with coal fly ash that has similar properties. Proponents say that concrete made with fly ash can cost up to 60% less, because it requires less cement. It also has a reduced environmental footprint, due to its lower cooking temperature and much longer lifespan. Usable examples of Roman concrete exposed to harsh marine environments have been found to be 2000 years old with little or no wear. In 2013,
7708-523: The water could have begun to wash away the ancient foundations at the time. The Alconétar Bridge first appears in records in 1231 and, again, in 1257, when it is explicitly referred to as being in use. It was probably repaired by the Knights Templar who had taken control of the bridge as well as the village in the meantime. The extant arches 1 and 3, both of which are not of Roman fabric, are assumed to date back to this period. Around 1340, however,
7802-585: The whole of Spain, in contrast to las demás lenguas españolas (lit. "the other Spanish languages "). Article III reads as follows: El castellano es la lengua española oficial del Estado. ... Las demás lenguas españolas serán también oficiales en las respectivas Comunidades Autónomas... Castilian is the official Spanish language of the State. ... The other Spanish languages shall also be official in their respective Autonomous Communities... The Royal Spanish Academy ( Real Academia Española ), on
7896-638: The world. Spanish is well represented in the humanities and social sciences . Spanish is also the third most used language on the internet by number of users after English and Chinese and the second most used language by number of websites after English. Spanish is used as an official language by many international organizations , including the United Nations , European Union , Organization of American States , Union of South American Nations , Community of Latin American and Caribbean States , African Union , among others. In Spain and some other parts of
7990-400: Was Astorga in north-western Spain. The Via de la Plata was one of the four main routes which were established by Augustus (30 BC–14 AD) and his successors for military control of the peninsula and for facilitating the exploitation of the rich Spanish silver and gold mines. Apart from the junction over the Tagus, the remains of four other ancient bridges can be found along the road: one over
8084-634: Was developed in the cities of Toledo , in the 13th to 16th centuries, and Madrid , from the 1570s. The development of the Spanish sound system from that of Vulgar Latin exhibits most of the changes that are typical of Western Romance languages , including lenition of intervocalic consonants (thus Latin vīta > Spanish vida ). The diphthongization of Latin stressed short e and o —which occurred in open syllables in French and Italian, but not at all in Catalan or Portuguese—is found in both open and closed syllables in Spanish, as shown in
8178-622: Was distinguished by a heavy Basque influence (see Iberian Romance languages ). This distinctive dialect spread to southern Spain with the advance of the Reconquista , and meanwhile gathered a sizable lexical influence from the Arabic of Al-Andalus , much of it indirectly, through the Romance Mozarabic dialects (some 4,000 Arabic -derived words, make up around 8% of the language today). The written standard for this new language
8272-713: Was followed by a vowel that did not diphthongize. The h- , still preserved in spelling, is now silent in most varieties of the language, although in some Andalusian and Caribbean dialects, it is still aspirated in some words. Because of borrowings from Latin and neighboring Romance languages, there are many f -/ h - doublets in modern Spanish: Fernando and Hernando (both Spanish for "Ferdinand"), ferrero and herrero (both Spanish for "smith"), fierro and hierro (both Spanish for "iron"), and fondo and hondo (both words pertaining to depth in Spanish, though fondo means "bottom", while hondo means "deep"); additionally, hacer ("to make")
8366-654: Was its gradation in domes. One example is the Pantheon , where the aggregate of the upper dome region consists of alternating layers of light tuff and pumice , giving the concrete a density of 1,350 kilograms per cubic metre (84 lb/cu ft). The foundation of the structure used travertine as an aggregate, having a much higher density of 2,200 kilograms per cubic metre (140 lb/cu ft). Scientific studies of Roman concrete since 2010 have attracted both media and industry attention. Because of its unusual durability, longevity, and lessened environmental footprint, corporations and municipalities are starting to explore
8460-466: Was laid out by the civil engineer Antonio Prieto in his 1925 survey, which details the condition of the bridge before its relocation in 1970. Although this was a serious attempt to reconstruct the bridge as close to the original as possible, the Spanish scholar Durán points out that slight changes to the main body can never be avoided in the course of such a difficult undertaking. The Alconétar Bridge has been classified as "historical heritage" since 1931 by
8554-408: Was movement of the earth to accommodate such stresses, enhancing the overall strength of the structure. It was in this sense that bricks and concrete were flexible. It may have been precisely for this reason that, although many buildings sustained serious cracking from a variety of causes, they continue to stand to this day. Another technology used to improve the strength and stability of concrete
8648-462: Was revoked by Michel Temer after the impeachment of Dilma Rousseff . In many border towns and villages along Paraguay and Uruguay, a mixed language known as Portuñol is spoken. Equatorial Guinea is the only Spanish-speaking country located entirely in Africa, with the language introduced during the Spanish colonial period . Enshrined in the constitution as an official language (alongside French and Portuguese), Spanish features prominently in
8742-452: Was used in construction in ancient Rome . Like its modern equivalent , Roman concrete was based on a hydraulic-setting cement added to an aggregate . Many buildings and structures still standing today, such as bridges, reservoirs and aqueducts, were built with this material, which attests to both its versatility and its durability. Its strength was sometimes enhanced by the incorporation of pozzolanic ash where available (particularly in
8836-517: Was useful for bridges and other waterside construction. Vitruvius , writing around 25 BC in his Ten Books on Architecture , distinguished types of materials appropriate for the preparation of lime mortars . For structural mortars, he recommended pozzolana ( pulvis puteolanus in Latin), the volcanic sand from the beds of Pozzuoli , which are brownish-yellow-gray in colour in that area around Naples, and reddish-brown near Rome. Vitruvius specifies
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