Castellà

Castellà is the name used in Catalan to refer to the Castilian form of the Spanish language, also known as Spanish or Castilian (Castellano). In Catalan-speaking areas, castellà is distinguished from català (Catalan) and valencià (Valencian). It denotes the standard variety of Spanish that originated in the historical Kingdom of Castile and spread across Spain and much of the Spanish-speaking world.

Linguistically, castellà is an Indo-European language in the Romance branch, within the Ibero-Romance group. It developed from Vulgar Latin and evolved through medieval Spain to become the dominant language of administration, culture, and education in much of Iberia and the Americas. The language is traditionally described as a single language with regional varieties rather than a set of completely separate languages, though some scholars treat Castilian as a distinct dialect or toponyms of the Spanish language. The modern standard form is regulated by the Real Academia Española (RAE) and the Association of Spanish Language Academies (ASALE), which publish normative guidance on spelling, grammar, and usage.

Castellà is the primary language in most of Spain and in the majority of Latin American countries, where it is the official or de facto national language. In Spain, it coexists with regional languages such as catalán, gallego and euskera, each with its own official status in certain communities. The language features regional variation in pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar; notable phonological differences include the traditional distinction between z/c before i or e (pronounced as /θ/) in many parts of Spain, contrasted with seseo in much of Latin America. Orthography is standardized across varieties, with regional adaptations in pronunciation.