Contigo--What is "Go"?
Background: I don't speak Spanish, although I'm learning pretty quickly because I sing Spanish songs mostly just phoenetically, but in order to get the right feel, I try to look up the lyrics in as many places as possible to get some kind of translation that makes sense in English. When the singer is really good, I can get the message with just knowing a few words and by the way they sing it. The more words and the faster they trip through a song, the more I enjoy it because it's a challenge. And at some point, I eventually learn the whole song and don't need to look at the words, but mostly I have to have them in front of me because I am terrified of missing something. Spanish songs are absolutely fantastic to sing, and they have the best grooves!
Now to my actual question: I have found in many songs the word contigo is used. I understand it's informal as opposed to con usted. But why is it one word and what is the "go" part of the word? Why isn't it just con ti? What happens if you leave the go off? What does go mean? It's my question sound stupid I apologize, it's just that I am finding Spanish a lot easier than French, but there are these little things that are kind of odd and specific to the language that I just want to understand
5 Answers
Gypsy, there are no stupid questions here, and I'm certainly not an expert
I've learned two theories on the origins of words like "contigo" and "conmigo." The first is that they come from the Latin words "mecum" (with me) and "tecum (with you). The "cum" became "go" in Spanish. Then the "con" was added in front, though redundant.
The second theory is that, as you'll see, often languages will add something just because it sounds better. So the "go" was added (or retained) because "contigo" sounds better and flows more easily than simply "con ti," and "conmigo" sounds better than just "con mi." The "go" part doesn't actually mean anything.
I lean towards the second theory. I remember when learning French that the French were indeed notorious for doing this. No reason the Spanish should not do it as well.
Very interesting question, Ditzygypsy!
Con usted
Con él / Con ella
Con nosotros
Then, why conmigo or contigo instead of con mí or con ti?
These odd words come from latin.
In latin the word ordering was different from the ordering in Spanish. In latin they said: mecum (con mí) or tecum (con ti) instead of cum me or cum te.
Vade mecum (Go with me)
Dii mecum militant (The gods are in favor with me)
In romances languages, mecum and tecum gave migo and tigo. But the speakers added the preposition con, and formed conmigo and contigo, which are somehow redundant. They are reminiscensces of the past.
"Contigo" means 'With You'.
Hello Ditzygypsy,
Welcome to the SpanishDict forum 
Yes, contigo means with you but while this is true, you cannot (it is often not possible and usually not desirable) to translate words and phrases literally between languages! To the best of my knowledge, the go part on the end does not have any particular significance by itself but it would sound very odd to leave it off (omit it) and it would not be good Spanish to do it! 
I hope this helps
Corrijan mi español si es necesario, por favor
"Go" doesn't mean anything. It just has to be there and it sounds better.
