The different varieties of the Spanish language spoken in the Americas are distinct from each other as well as from those varieties spoken in the Iberian peninsula, collectively known as Peninsular Spanish and Spanish spoken elsewhere, such as in Africa and Asia. There is great diversity among the various Latin American vernaculars, and there are no traits shared by all of them which are not also in existence in one or more of the variants of Spanish used in Spain. A Latin American "standard" does, however, vary from the Castilian "standard" register used in television and notably the dubbing industry. Of the more than 469 million people who speak Spanish as their native language, more than 422 million are in Latin America, the United States and Canada.[1][when?]. The total amount of native and non-native speakers of Spanish is approximately 592 million.[2]
There are numerous regional particularities and idiomatic expressions within Spanish. In Latin American Spanish, loanwords directly from English are relatively more frequent, and often foreign spellings are left intact. One notable trend is the higher abundance of loan words taken from English in Latin America as well as words derived from English. The Latin American Spanish word for "computer" is computadora, whereas the word used in Spain is ordenador, and each word sounds foreign in the region where it is not used. Some differences are due to Iberian Spanish having a stronger French influence than Latin America, where, for geopolitical reasons, the United States influence has been predominant throughout the twentieth century.
Pronunciation varies from country to country and from region to region, just as English pronunciation varies from one place to another. In general terms, the speech of the Americas shows many common features akin to southern Spanish variants, especially to western Andalusia (Seville, Cádiz) and the Canary Islands. Coastal language vernaculars throughout Hispanic America show particularly strong similarities to Atlantic-Andalusian speech patterns while inland regions in Mexico and Andean countries are not similar to any particular dialect in Spain.
Most Spaniards pronounce ⟨z⟩ and ⟨c⟩ (before /e/ and /i/) as [θ] (called distinción). Conversely, most Hispanic Americans have seseo, lacking a distinction between this phoneme and /s/. However, seseo is also typical of the speech of many Andalusians and all Canary islanders. Andalusia's and the Canary Islands' predominant position in the conquest and subsequent immigration to Hispanic America from Spain is thought to be the reason for the absence of this distinction in most American Spanish dialects.
Most of Spain, particularly the regions that have a distinctive /θ/ phoneme, realize /s/ with the tip of tongue against the alveolar ridge. Phonetically this is an "apico-alveolar" "grave" sibilant[s̺], with a weak "hushing" sound reminiscent of retroflex fricatives. To a Hispanic American, Andalusian or Canary Island Spanish speaker the /s/ in Spanish dialects from northern Spain might sound close to [ʃ] like English ⟨sh⟩ as in she. However, this apico-alveolar realization of /s/ is not uncommon in some Latin American Spanish dialects which lack [θ]; some inland Colombian Spanish (particularly Antioquia) and Andean regions of Peru and Bolivia also have an apico-alveolar /s/.
The second-person familiar plural pronoun vosotros is not generally used in daily speech in Latin American dialects of Spanish; the formal ustedes is used at all levels of familiarity. However, vosotros and its conjugations are known and seen occasionally in writing or oratory, especially in formal, ritualized contexts.
Latin America lacks the leísmo found in most of Spain.
As mentioned, Anglicisms are far more common in Hispanic America than in Spain, due to the stronger and more direct US influence.
Equally, Indigenous languages have left their mark on Hispanic American Spanish, a fact which is particularly evident in vocabulary to do with flora, fauna and cultural habits. Nevertheless, European Spanish has also absorbed numerous words of Amerindian origin, although for historical reasons, the vast majority of these are taken from Nahuatl and various Caribbean languages.
Arabic-derived words with Latinate doublets are common in Hispanic American Spanish, being influenced by Andalusian Spanish, such as alcoba ("bedroom") instead of standard cuarto, recámara, and many others and alhaja ("jewel") instead of standard joya. In this sense Hispanic American Spanish is closer to the dialects spoken in the south of Spain.[citation needed]
Most Hispanic American Spanish usually features yeísmo: there is no distinction between ⟨ll⟩ and ⟨y⟩. However realization varies greatly from region to region. Chileans pronounce these 2 graphemes as ⟨j⟩, for example. However, yeísmo is an expanding and now dominant feature of European Spanish, particularly in urban speech (Madrid, Toledo) and especially in Andalusia and the Canary Islands, though in some rural areas [ʎ] has not completely disappeared. Speakers of Rioplatense Spanish pronounce both ⟨ll⟩ and ⟨y⟩ as [ʒ] or [ʃ]. The traditional pronunciation of the digraph ⟨ll⟩ as [ʎ] is preserved in some dialects along the Andes range, especially in inland Peru and the Colombia highlands (Santander, Boyacá, Nariño), northern Argentina, all Bolivia and Paraguay; the Indigenous languages of these regions (Quechua and Aymara) have [ʎ] as a distinct phoneme.
⟨g⟩ (before /e/ or /i/) and ⟨j⟩ are usually aspirated to [h] in Caribbean and other coastal language vernaculars, as well as in all of Colombia and southern Mexico, as in much of southern Spain. In other American dialects the sound is closer to [x], and often firmly strong (rough) in Peruvian Spanish dialect.[citation needed] Very often, especially in Argentina and Chile, [x] becomes fronter [ç] when preceding high vowels /e, i/ (these speakers approach [x] to the realization of German ⟨ch⟩ in ich); in other phonological environments it is pronounced either [x] or [h].
In many Caribbean varieties the phonemes /l/ and /r/ at the end of a syllable sound alike or can be exchanged: caldo > ca[r]do, cardo > ca[l]do; in the situation of /r/ in word-final position, it becomes silent, giving Caribbean dialects of Spanish a partial non-rhoticity. This happens at a reduced level in Ecuador and Chile[citation needed] as well. It is a feature brought from Extremadura and westernmost Andalusia.
In many Andean regions the alveolar trill of rata and carro is realized as an retroflex fricative[ʐ] or even as a voiced apico-alveolar [z]. The alveolar approximant realization is particularly associated with an Indigenous substrate and it is quite common in Andean regions, especially in inland Ecuador, Peru, most of Bolivia and in parts of northern Argentina and Paraguay.
In Belize, Puerto Rico, and Colombian islands of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina, aside from [ɾ], [r], and [l], syllable-final /r/ can be realized as [ɹ], an influence of American English to Puerto Rican dialect and British English to Belizean dialect and Colombian dialect of Archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina (in the case of the latter three, it is not exclusive to Colombians whose ancestors traced back to Spanish period before British invasion, under British territorial rule, and recovery of Spanish control, but is also used by Raizals, whites of British descent, and descendants of mainland Colombians); "verso"' (verse) becomes [ˈbeɹso], aside from [ˈbeɾso], [ˈberso], or [ˈbelso], "invierno" (winter) becomes [imˈbjeɹno], aside from [imˈbjeɾno], [imˈbjerno], or [imˈbjelno], and "escarlata" (scarlet) becomes [ehkaɹˈlata], aside from [ehkaɾˈlata], [ehkarˈlata], or [ehkaˈlata]. In word-final position, /r/ will usually be one of these:
a trill, a tap, approximant, [l], or elided when followed by a consonant or a pause, as in amo[r ~ ɾ ~ ɹ ~ l]paterno 'paternal love', amor[aˈmo],
a tap, approximant, or [l] when the followed by a vowel-initial word, as in amo[ɾ ~ ɹ ~ l]eterno 'eternal love').
The voiced consonants /b/, /d/, and /ɡ/ are pronounced as plosives after and sometimes before any consonant in most of Colombian Spanish dialects (rather than the fricative or approximant that is characteristic of most other dialects): pardo[ˈpaɾdo], barba[ˈbaɾba], algo[ˈalɡo], peligro[peˈliɡɾo], desde[ˈdezde/ˈdehde]—rather than the [ˈpaɾðo], [ˈbaɾβa], [ˈalɣo], [peˈliɣɾo], [ˈdezðe/ˈdehðe] of Spain and the rest of Spanish America. A notable exception is the Department of Nariño and most Costeño speech (Atlantic coastal dialects) which feature the soft, fricative realizations common to all other Hispanic American and European dialects.
Word-final /n/ is velar [ŋ] in much Latin American Spanish speech; this means a word like pan (bread) is often articulated ['paŋ]. To an English-speaker, those speakers that have a velar nasal for word-final /n/ make pan sound like pang. Velarization of word-final /n/ is so widespread in the Americas that it is easier to mention those regions that maintain an alveolar /n/: most of Mexico, Colombia (except for coastal dialects) and Argentina (except for some northern regions). Elsewhere, velarization is common, although alveolar word-final /n/ can appear among some educated speakers, especially in the media or in singing. Velar word-final /ŋ/ is also frequent in Spain, especially in southern Spanish dialects (Andalusia and the Canary Islands) and in the Northwest: Galicia, Asturias and León.
Latin American Dictionary with variants for every country
April 24, 2023
spanish, language, americas, different, varieties, spanish, language, spoken, americas, distinct, from, each, other, well, from, those, varieties, spoken, iberian, peninsula, collectively, known, peninsular, spanish, spanish, spoken, elsewhere, such, africa, a. The different varieties of the Spanish language spoken in the Americas are distinct from each other as well as from those varieties spoken in the Iberian peninsula collectively known as Peninsular Spanish and Spanish spoken elsewhere such as in Africa and Asia There is great diversity among the various Latin American vernaculars and there are no traits shared by all of them which are not also in existence in one or more of the variants of Spanish used in Spain A Latin American standard does however vary from the Castilian standard register used in television and notably the dubbing industry Of the more than 469 million people who speak Spanish as their native language more than 422 million are in Latin America the United States and Canada 1 when The total amount of native and non native speakers of Spanish is approximately 592 million 2 There are numerous regional particularities and idiomatic expressions within Spanish In Latin American Spanish loanwords directly from English are relatively more frequent and often foreign spellings are left intact One notable trend is the higher abundance of loan words taken from English in Latin America as well as words derived from English The Latin American Spanish word for computer is computadora whereas the word used in Spain is ordenador and each word sounds foreign in the region where it is not used Some differences are due to Iberian Spanish having a stronger French influence than Latin America where for geopolitical reasons the United States influence has been predominant throughout the twentieth century Contents 1 Main features 2 Local variations 2 1 North America 2 1 1 Central America 2 2 The Caribbean 2 3 South America 3 See also 4 References 5 External linksMain features EditPronunciation varies from country to country and from region to region just as English pronunciation varies from one place to another In general terms the speech of the Americas shows many common features akin to southern Spanish variants especially to western Andalusia Seville Cadiz and the Canary Islands Coastal language vernaculars throughout Hispanic America show particularly strong similarities to Atlantic Andalusian speech patterns while inland regions in Mexico and Andean countries are not similar to any particular dialect in Spain Most Spaniards pronounce z and c before e and i as 8 called distincion Conversely most Hispanic Americans have seseo lacking a distinction between this phoneme and s However seseo is also typical of the speech of many Andalusians and all Canary islanders Andalusia s and the Canary Islands predominant position in the conquest and subsequent immigration to Hispanic America from Spain is thought to be the reason for the absence of this distinction in most American Spanish dialects Most of Spain particularly the regions that have a distinctive 8 phoneme realize s with the tip of tongue against the alveolar ridge Phonetically this is an apico alveolar grave sibilant s with a weak hushing sound reminiscent of retroflex fricatives To a Hispanic American Andalusian or Canary Island Spanish speaker the s in Spanish dialects from northern Spain might sound close to ʃ like English sh as in she However this apico alveolar realization of s is not uncommon in some Latin American Spanish dialects which lack 8 some inland Colombian Spanish particularly Antioquia and Andean regions of Peru and Bolivia also have an apico alveolar s The second person familiar plural pronoun vosotros is not generally used in daily speech in Latin American dialects of Spanish the formal ustedes is used at all levels of familiarity However vosotros and its conjugations are known and seen occasionally in writing or oratory especially in formal ritualized contexts Latin America lacks the leismo found in most of Spain As mentioned Anglicisms are far more common in Hispanic America than in Spain due to the stronger and more direct US influence Equally Indigenous languages have left their mark on Hispanic American Spanish a fact which is particularly evident in vocabulary to do with flora fauna and cultural habits Nevertheless European Spanish has also absorbed numerous words of Amerindian origin although for historical reasons the vast majority of these are taken from Nahuatl and various Caribbean languages Arabic derived words with Latinate doublets are common in Hispanic American Spanish being influenced by Andalusian Spanish such as alcoba bedroom instead of standard cuarto recamara and many others and alhaja jewel instead of standard joya In this sense Hispanic American Spanish is closer to the dialects spoken in the south of Spain citation needed See List of words having different meanings in Spain and Hispanic America Most Hispanic American Spanish usually features yeismo there is no distinction between ll and y However realization varies greatly from region to region Chileans pronounce these 2 graphemes as j for example However yeismo is an expanding and now dominant feature of European Spanish particularly in urban speech Madrid Toledo and especially in Andalusia and the Canary Islands though in some rural areas ʎ has not completely disappeared Speakers of Rioplatense Spanish pronounce both ll and y as ʒ or ʃ The traditional pronunciation of the digraph ll as ʎ is preserved in some dialects along the Andes range especially in inland Peru and the Colombia highlands Santander Boyaca Narino northern Argentina all Bolivia and Paraguay the Indigenous languages of these regions Quechua and Aymara have ʎ as a distinct phoneme Most speakers of coastal dialects may debuccalize or aspirate syllable final s to h or drop it entirely so that esta esˈta s he is sounds like ehˈta or eˈta as in southern Spain Andalusia Extremadura Murcia Castile La Mancha except the northeast Madrid the Canary Islands Ceuta and Melilla g before e or i and j are usually aspirated to h in Caribbean and other coastal language vernaculars as well as in all of Colombia and southern Mexico as in much of southern Spain In other American dialects the sound is closer to x and often firmly strong rough in Peruvian Spanish dialect citation needed Very often especially in Argentina and Chile x becomes fronter c when preceding high vowels e i these speakers approach x to the realization of German ch in ich in other phonological environments it is pronounced either x or h In many Caribbean varieties the phonemes l and r at the end of a syllable sound alike or can be exchanged caldo gt ca r do cardo gt ca l do in the situation of r in word final position it becomes silent giving Caribbean dialects of Spanish a partial non rhoticity This happens at a reduced level in Ecuador and Chile citation needed as well It is a feature brought from Extremadura and westernmost Andalusia In many Andean regions the alveolar trill of rata and carro is realized as an retroflex fricative ʐ or even as a voiced apico alveolar z The alveolar approximant realization is particularly associated with an Indigenous substrate and it is quite common in Andean regions especially in inland Ecuador Peru most of Bolivia and in parts of northern Argentina and Paraguay In Belize Puerto Rico and Colombian islands of San Andres Providencia and Santa Catalina aside from ɾ r and l syllable final r can be realized as ɹ an influence of American English to Puerto Rican dialect and British English to Belizean dialect and Colombian dialect of Archipelago of San Andres Providencia and Santa Catalina in the case of the latter three it is not exclusive to Colombians whose ancestors traced back to Spanish period before British invasion under British territorial rule and recovery of Spanish control but is also used by Raizals whites of British descent and descendants of mainland Colombians verso verse becomes ˈbeɹso aside from ˈbeɾso ˈberso or ˈbelso invierno winter becomes imˈbjeɹno aside from imˈbjeɾno imˈbjerno or imˈbjelno and escarlata scarlet becomes ehkaɹˈlata aside from ehkaɾˈlata ehkarˈlata or ehkaˈlata In word final position r will usually be one of these a trill a tap approximant l or elided when followed by a consonant or a pause as in amo r ɾ ɹ l paterno paternal love amor aˈmo a tap approximant or l when the followed by a vowel initial word as in amo ɾ ɹ l eterno eternal love The voiced consonants b d and ɡ are pronounced as plosives after and sometimes before any consonant in most of Colombian Spanish dialects rather than the fricative or approximant that is characteristic of most other dialects pardo ˈpaɾdo barba ˈbaɾba algo ˈalɡo peligro peˈliɡɾo desde ˈdezde ˈdehde rather than the ˈpaɾdo ˈbaɾba ˈalɣo peˈliɣɾo ˈdezde ˈdehde of Spain and the rest of Spanish America A notable exception is the Department of Narino and most Costeno speech Atlantic coastal dialects which feature the soft fricative realizations common to all other Hispanic American and European dialects Word final n is velar ŋ in much Latin American Spanish speech this means a word like pan bread is often articulated paŋ To an English speaker those speakers that have a velar nasal for word final n make pan sound like pang Velarization of word final n is so widespread in the Americas that it is easier to mention those regions that maintain an alveolar n most of Mexico Colombia except for coastal dialects and Argentina except for some northern regions Elsewhere velarization is common although alveolar word final n can appear among some educated speakers especially in the media or in singing Velar word final ŋ is also frequent in Spain especially in southern Spanish dialects Andalusia and the Canary Islands and in the Northwest Galicia Asturias and Leon Local variations EditNorth America Edit Further information North American Spanish Mexican Spanish Spanish language in the United States Isleno Spanish Sabine River Spanish New Mexican Spanish Puerto Rican Spanish Chicano SpanishCentral America Edit Further information Central American Spanish Belizean Spanish Costa Rican Spanish Guatemalan Spanish Honduran Spanish Nicaraguan Spanish Panamanian Spanish Salvadoran SpanishThe Caribbean Edit Further information Caribbean Spanish Cuban Spanish Dominican Spanish Puerto Rican Spanish Trinidadian SpanishSouth America Edit Further information South American Spanish Amazonic Spanish Andean Spanish Bolivian Spanish Chilean Spanish Chilote Spanish Colombian Spanish Ecuadorian Spanish Paraguayan Spanish Peruvian Spanish Peruvian Coast Spanish Rioplatense Spanish Argentinian Spanish Uruguayan Spanish Venezuelan Spanish Maracucho SpanishSee also EditSpanish language in the United States Philippine Spanish Equatoguinean Spanish Spanish Filipino Latin Union Spanish language literature HispanicReferences Edit Lipski J The role of the city in the formation of Spanish American dialect zones El espanol una lengua viva Informe 2021 PDF Report Instituto Cervantes 2021 Archived PDF from the original on 18 February 2020 External links EditDiccionario de americanismos by the Asociacion de Academias de la Lengua Espanola Latin American Dictionary with variants for every country Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Spanish language in the Americas amp oldid 1140914201, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
