Have you ever wondered about the letter ñ? Interestingly, it’s a letter that was once used only in Spanish. But in reality, the sound that the ñ represents appears in other languages. So why does Spanish have the letter ñ?
Historical Origins
In ancient times, Latin had neither the letter nor the sound of the ñ. But when Romance languages were created (Spanish, French, or Italian), the sound appeared. To represent this sound, two letters were combined; in Spanish, for example, it could be written with gn, nn, or ni: Lingu > Leño; Canna > Caña; Hispania > España.
In these ancient times, there was hardly any paper, so saving was necessary. That’s why the writers of the time began to write an n with a “hat” to avoid writing the double n.
However, this created confusion since sometimes it was written as ñ, other times as gn, and others as ni. To avoid this, in the 13th century, King Alfonso X the Wise declared that for all three forms, ñ should be preferably written. From that moment, its use in Castilian Spanish began to spread. But it wasn’t admitted to the Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) until the year 1803.
Current Usage
Currently, not only Spanish but also Galician and some indigenous languages use the ñ. And other languages such as Catalan, French, Portuguese, Italian, Russian, or Greek, among others, have the sound but not the letter. Curious, isn’t it?
Comprehension Questions
Have you understood the text well? Say if the following statements are true or false:
- Latin had the sound, but not the letter ñ. – False
- Spanish had up to three different ways to represent the sound of ñ. – True
- The ñ was created because there was little paper. – True
- When the ñ was created, it replaced the gn and years later the rest. – False
- Alfonso X the Wise chose the form ñ to avoid confusion and simplify. – True
- The RAE admitted the letter ñ many years after its creation. – True
- Currently, only 2 languages use the letter ñ. – False
