| A dialect is defined in linguistic terms as a language variety
which is spoken in a specific territory. In the Spanish peninsula,
for example, there are different dialects of Spanish. One should
not, however, mix up the different dialects in Spain with the different
languages spoken in the Peninsula: Spanish, Catalan, Basque and
Galician.
The existence of dialects is a natural consequence of the dynamism
of languages. For example, throughout its evolution, Spanish has
adopted unique characteristics in the different places where it
is spoken. Some of the dialects of Spanish in Spain are canario
(from the Canary Islands), andaluz (from Andalusia), and madrileño
(from Madrid). The different Spanish-speaking countries in Latin
America also present national and regional variations. Thus, we
can speak of an Argentinean, a porteño (from Buenos Aires
city), a Chilean, or a Colombian dialect, among others. The differences between dialects are usually limited to intonation,
pronunciation and isolated words and expressions. An example of
word variation within the Spanish peninsula is “candle”.
Candle is referred to as “vela” in the northern and
center parts of Spain, but as “candela” in the South.
As for pronunciation, the word “Madrid” is pronounced
in the capital of Spain as “Madrith”, whereas in the
bilingual areas of the East coast, and because of the contact between
Spanish and Catalan, it becomes “Madrit”. In the South,
however, people tend to eliminate the final consonant and say “Madrí”.
One of the main differences between the dialects of Spain and
those of Latin America is the use of pronouns. Thus, in Spain, the
informal pronoun that has remained for the second person singular
(in English “you”) is “tú”. However,
some Latin American countries, (Argentina, Uruguay or Paraguay,
for example) have retained the pre-modern “vos”. This
leads to unique verb forms such as “¿entendés?”
for “do you understand?” instead of the peninsular “¿entiendes?”
or mixtures such as “¿Vos te marchás ya?”
Instead of “¿Tú te marchas ya?” (In English,
“are you leaving now?”). The plural “you” also varies, and thus in Spain people
differentiate between an informal “vosotros” and a formal
“ustedes”, whereas this difference does not exist in
Latin America at all. As for pronunciation differences, the only
country where we can find speakers who pronounce the letter “c”
before “e” and “i” as the English “th”
is Spain. In the rest of the countries, (and also in the South of
Spain) this “c” is pronounced as an “s”.
Try to pronounce the word “cenicero” (ashtray) in both
ways and you´ll hear the difference!
Even though dialects are socially valued differently (Andalusian,
for example, is perceived as less educated than Castilian),
linguistically speaking all dialects are equally valid. What
we need to remember is that everyone speaks a dialect, and therefore
dialects are NOT incorrect or less valid versions of a language.
If you study Spanish in Buenos Aires and interact -as you should-
with locals, you will learn the particularities of that area.
At your Babylon Idiomas language school, however, you will always
be taught the normative version of the language that will allow
you to communicate with the totality of the Spanish-speaking
world.
>> Learn more about a Spanish language course |
