自2007年初版，这本《西班牙语简史》就成为学习这种语言时，必读的入门指标书籍。书的内容从西班牙语的拉丁字源谈到现在的形式，这本明确的书让读者了解到西班牙语的来源与演化，了解改变这种语言的历史及文化事件以及其在全球的普及。
 
《西班牙语简史》的内容着重于最重要的西语发展细节，不用艰涩的词汇，而是直接了当的解释。书中内容解开了许多困扰母语人士及非母语人士的常见困惑，像是为何有些地区用tú，有些地区却用vos? 为什么是la mesa，不是el agua?
 
David A. Pharies全球知名的西语历史与发展专家，用自己在西语演化及当前人口资讯方面的研究成果，不断更新本书原有内容。这本书适合对西语有基本了解以及希望能更深入了解西语根源的人阅读。《西班牙语简史》也提供了深入研究历史西语语言学及早期西班牙文学的理想基础。
 
《西班牙语简史》是一趟盛大的发现之旅，让读者看到这种语言在西班牙及美国西语区的美丽之处。
 
本书好评
Bulletin of Latin American Research
“An effective introduction to Spanish and an excellent starting point for anyone interested in the language’s history.”
 
Revista de Filología Española
“El libro de Pharies cumple sobradamente con el propósito para el que se ha concebido: se trata, sin duda, de un sólido y bien escrito tratado introductorio a la historia de la lengua española, muy completo y accesible.”
 
Hispania
"What separates Professor Pharies's book from others dealing with the history of Spanish is the approach hinted at in his title and explicitly mentioned in the preface by which, in essence, less is more. . . . A Brief History of the Spanish Language merits serious consideration by any instructor who teaches the history of Spanish."
 
Bulletin of Spanish Studies
"Pharies’ A Brief History of the Spanish Language achieves exactly what its author appears to have set out to do, viz. present a wide-ranging, succinct and readable account of the history of Spanish. Better still, its attractive presentation, both stylistic and typographical, will provide encouragement to students who otherwise might regard Spanish diachronic linguistics as a rather arid affair."
 
目录
Author’s Note
Preface
Abbreviations
Timeline
 
Chapter 1: Language Change
Inexorability of Language Change
Nature of Language Change
Factors That Produce Innovative Variants
Factors in the Selection of Variants
Sociolinguistics
Questions
 
Chapter 2: The Genealogy of Spanish
Language Families
Some Important Language Families
Indo-European Language Family
Italic Branch of Indo- European
Bilingualism and Diglossia
Latin and Romance
Genealogy of Spanish
Questions
 
Chapter 3: External History of the Iberian Peninsula through the Thirteenth Century
Iberian Peninsula before the Arrival of the Romans
Romanization of the Iberian Peninsula
End of the Roman Empire
Visigothic Invasion
Muslim Invasion
An Extinct Variety of Ibero- Romance: Mozarabic
Reconquest
Rise of Castilian
Questions
 
Chapter 4: The Latin Language
Stages in the History of Latin
Phonology
Orthography and Pronunciation
Nominal Morphology
Verbal Morphology
Syntax
Text Analysis
Questions
 
Chapter 5: From Latin to Medieval Castilian: Phonology
Nature of Phonological Change
Most Important Phonological Changes through Medieval Castilian
Phonological Derivations
Exceptions to Regular Phonological Change
Text Analysis
Alphonsine Orthography
Questions
 
Chapter 6: From Latin to Medieval Castilian: Morphology and Syntax
Interdependence of Morphological and Syntactic Changes
Nominal Morphology
A Linguistic Myth: The Supposed Cacophony of the Pronoun Combination ***le lo
Verbal Morphology
Principal Syntactic Innovations
Text Analysis
Appendix: Lexical Archaisms in Alphonsine Prose
Questions
 
Chapter 7: From Medieval Castilian to Modern Spanish
Political and Cultural History of Spain after the Middle Ages
An Archaic Dialect: Sephardi
Linguistic Changes
A Linguistic Myth: The Lisping King
Text Analysis
A Linguistic Myth: The Phonemic Character of Spanish Orthography
Questions
 
Chapter 8: History of the Spanish Lexicon
Sources of Words in Spanish
The Reduplicative Playful Template
Etymology
Stages in the History of the Spanish Lexicon
Questions
 
Chapter 9: Varieties of Spanish
Varieties of Spanish in the Two Castiles
Andalusian
Canary Island Spanish
American Spanish
Demography of the Spanish Language
Four Representative Varieties of American Spanish
Spanish in the United States
Questions
 
Rudiments of Spanish Phonetics and Phonology
Glossary of Linguistic Terms
Maps
Works Cited
Index of Spanish Words Cited
Subject Index
 
关于作者
David A. Pharies 是佛罗里达大学的西班牙语教授，也是人文与科学学院的文院副院长。他是A Brief History of the Spanish Language与Breve historia de la lengua española的作者，这两本书皆由芝加哥大学出版社出版。