Linguistics -----} Sociolinguistics ------} Dialectology
There is a current thread in the debates forum (Los vende patria nos acozan-post #57) in which dialectology issues in the Spanish language have been raised and the response triggered me to initiate this thread because for the most part the response given was correct but it also encompassed many Spanish language issues. Out of the most spoken languages in the world today Spanish is one of the languages that has the most dialectal varieties because it is the official language of twenty countries and spoken in other countries by a percentage of the population. According to sociolinguistics studies and research the fact that it is spoken by a large number of speakers whose country has a different history results in regional varieties and dialects.
Academic Spanish or 'standard' Spanish is Spanish as defined by the RAE. The rules of grammar, vocabulary used and followed by all Spanish speakers maintains the unity and common ground among over more than four hundred million Spanish-speaking people. Any Spanish spoken that deviates from this norm is considered a dialect. However, dialectal Spanish is prevalent in every country and there are common dialectal concepts in the Spanish-speaking world. Some are more common among certain countries usually those with a similar historical background and those located in the same geographical region. Dialects are spoken by the inhabitants of a particular region to a higher or lesser degree depending on their educational and socio-economic background. Since Spanish began to develop in the Americas most of the growth and development initiated in the cities. 'Each city is a complex sociolinguistic microcosm'- (page 8- Spanish dialects by JL). There are many examples of large to medium sized cities in Latin America today that evidence this phenomenon for example Mexico City, Buenos Aires, Bogotá, Caracas and many more.
The discussion in the debates forum was about the authenticity of Dominican Spanish, which can be said for Cuban Spanish, Puerto Rican Spanish or any country’s Spanish. The reason why I referenced these three particular countries is because they are Caribbean based and have similar or in some cases identical syntax structures (correct and erroneous), similar grammar patterns (correct and erroneous), and similar intonation which also has proven to vary region by region all which are, rooted in the history of when Spanish came to the Caribbean.
It is important to be able to differentiate between academic Spanish and dialectal Spanish. Certain syntactic, phonetic and lexical features identify a region or Spanish spoken by a group or nationality. These features may or may not comply with the academic structures of standard Spanish but are considered the norm in that area where the dialect is spoken.
Here are some examples of dialectal Caribbean Spanish (includes grammar, syntactic and morphosyntactic structures that are outside of the academic norm). I am sure most of you can recognize why these examples qualify under the study of socilolinguistic (dialectology) concepts.
1. Hacen años que no te veo ( correct form= Hace años que no te veo)
2. No entendí lo que me dijistes (correct form= No entendí lo que me dijiste).
3. El hombre caminaba delante mío (correct form= El hombre caminaba delante de mí)
4. Incorrect formal command forms ej. cállensen (correct form= cállense), váyansen (correct form= váyanse)
5. Omission of prepositions ej. Siempre me olvido cerrar la puerta (correct form= siempre me olvido de cerrar la puerta).
6. Shortening of words and contractions - to, tá, pa, pal etc.
7. Omission of the when speaking but it should always be written ‘mucha gracia’ s/b ‘muchas gracias’, 'mucho dominicano viven en la ciudad' s/b 'muchos dominicanos viven en la ciudad'.
Examples # 1-5 are dialectal and also incorrect grammatical forms. # 6 & 7 are dialectal forms of Caribbean Spanish but not acceptable forms of formal written Spanish.
PD. There are many examples of dialectal forms in everyday speech of a grammatical, syntactical, lexical and morphological nature.
Disclaimer: this is just a mini overview of a very broad topic. My goal was to just address dialectology with a brief summary and examples in everyday speech.
LDG.
There is a current thread in the debates forum (Los vende patria nos acozan-post #57) in which dialectology issues in the Spanish language have been raised and the response triggered me to initiate this thread because for the most part the response given was correct but it also encompassed many Spanish language issues. Out of the most spoken languages in the world today Spanish is one of the languages that has the most dialectal varieties because it is the official language of twenty countries and spoken in other countries by a percentage of the population. According to sociolinguistics studies and research the fact that it is spoken by a large number of speakers whose country has a different history results in regional varieties and dialects.
Academic Spanish or 'standard' Spanish is Spanish as defined by the RAE. The rules of grammar, vocabulary used and followed by all Spanish speakers maintains the unity and common ground among over more than four hundred million Spanish-speaking people. Any Spanish spoken that deviates from this norm is considered a dialect. However, dialectal Spanish is prevalent in every country and there are common dialectal concepts in the Spanish-speaking world. Some are more common among certain countries usually those with a similar historical background and those located in the same geographical region. Dialects are spoken by the inhabitants of a particular region to a higher or lesser degree depending on their educational and socio-economic background. Since Spanish began to develop in the Americas most of the growth and development initiated in the cities. 'Each city is a complex sociolinguistic microcosm'- (page 8- Spanish dialects by JL). There are many examples of large to medium sized cities in Latin America today that evidence this phenomenon for example Mexico City, Buenos Aires, Bogotá, Caracas and many more.
The discussion in the debates forum was about the authenticity of Dominican Spanish, which can be said for Cuban Spanish, Puerto Rican Spanish or any country’s Spanish. The reason why I referenced these three particular countries is because they are Caribbean based and have similar or in some cases identical syntax structures (correct and erroneous), similar grammar patterns (correct and erroneous), and similar intonation which also has proven to vary region by region all which are, rooted in the history of when Spanish came to the Caribbean.
It is important to be able to differentiate between academic Spanish and dialectal Spanish. Certain syntactic, phonetic and lexical features identify a region or Spanish spoken by a group or nationality. These features may or may not comply with the academic structures of standard Spanish but are considered the norm in that area where the dialect is spoken.
Here are some examples of dialectal Caribbean Spanish (includes grammar, syntactic and morphosyntactic structures that are outside of the academic norm). I am sure most of you can recognize why these examples qualify under the study of socilolinguistic (dialectology) concepts.
1. Hacen años que no te veo ( correct form= Hace años que no te veo)
2. No entendí lo que me dijistes (correct form= No entendí lo que me dijiste).
3. El hombre caminaba delante mío (correct form= El hombre caminaba delante de mí)
4. Incorrect formal command forms ej. cállensen (correct form= cállense), váyansen (correct form= váyanse)
5. Omission of prepositions ej. Siempre me olvido cerrar la puerta (correct form= siempre me olvido de cerrar la puerta).
6. Shortening of words and contractions - to, tá, pa, pal etc.
7. Omission of the
Examples # 1-5 are dialectal and also incorrect grammatical forms. # 6 & 7 are dialectal forms of Caribbean Spanish but not acceptable forms of formal written Spanish.
PD. There are many examples of dialectal forms in everyday speech of a grammatical, syntactical, lexical and morphological nature.
Disclaimer: this is just a mini overview of a very broad topic. My goal was to just address dialectology with a brief summary and examples in everyday speech.
LDG.
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