After years of gathering linguistic data from all over the Spanish-speaking world, the twenty-two language academies in Latin America combined with the Real Academia, the governing body of the Spanish language in Spain, released la "Nueva gram?tica de la lengua espa?ola" today. Needless to say grammatical aspects of the language have changed since the last release in 1931, as well as the usage of certain words, grammatical forms, neologisms, syntax structure etc. The greatest variances are notably in Latin America.
However, from the details provided in these four articles about the New Grammar it includes these 'exceptions' or recognizes them as forms of Spanish that will be heard in the Spanish-speaking world. This is not to say that they will now be taught as part of Spanish grammar but certain grammatical forms incorporated into the language over the past fifty years and more as well as non standard forms have been recognized as regional variances that are heard in Spanish, the majority in Latin America.
Upon review of some of examples provided of what's included in the New Grammar, I think it will provide insight into the vast array of diversity that Spanish presents. What I found most interesting from the examples provided in the articles are:
1/ the usages of certain suffixes primarily -ingo/ inga, and the reduction of the usage of -ico/ ica according to the article ‘va perdiendo fuerza’ (unless you are Costa Rican) and what they are attached to especially adverbs. For example, ahora + its many diminutive forms. As well, I would like to hear people's thoughts on the suffix -ingo/ inga which apparently is heard/ dominant in the River Plate region of South America but what about its usage and meaning in the Caribbean. (*please note I know what it denotes and the implications of its usage, I was wondering if anyone else has any thoughts to share).
2/ el voseo- an archaic form still prevalent in Latin America gets distinct recognition. It's definitely a regional form still heard by a significant percentage of Spanish speakers in Latin America, the dominate regions being the River Plate and most Central American countries.
3/ 'Ustedes'- is now included as an equivalent of 'vosotros' in Latin America. That's incredible but it also shows the control of the Real Academia. Grammar books have included ustedes and vosotros in verb conjugation tables for decades. Some grammar books recently don't even include 'vosotros'. However, this New Grammar from La Real Academia includes ustedes. This shows how outdated the 1931 version is. Speakers have long since changed their way of speaking as vosostros is not a form used in Latin America * (* not to be confused with el voseo- for example- "vos ten?s" )
4/ sentence structure and regional forms- depending on where you are from, level of education, how you learned Spanish and how people around you speak, sentence structure differences are quite notable and can cause some heated debates among those who like discussing languages. However, considering how vast Spanish is and the amount speakers it has, the language is still governed by one grammar and in this regard I think it's great that the Real Academia has been such an influential governing body in order to maintain a standard to be adhered to across the board.
However, variances are inevitable because of surrounding languages (in the past) in Spain and Latin America which influenced these different syntax patterns. The ones that always stand out in the Caribbean, DR, PR and Cuba was of course mentioned which is the subject/ verb inversion and one that I always note is the placement of a pronoun for example 'yo' before an infinitive. I can't emphasize how many times this comes up in conversation in my circles. Here is an example from the article in Hoy Digital- "?Qu? Luis quiere?" and from a recent post ''Pase por alla antes de yo irme...para que hablemos". These are good examples of non standard syntax patterns heard in the DR or by many Dominican speakers.
I think the articles are good preludes as to what to expect from The New Grammar by the Real Academia and its sister governing bodies in Latin America. However, some of the incorporations seem long overdue. Language is not static and some change faster over a period time than others and I believe Spanish is one of them. IMO, this new grammar reference compliments the previous one and of course provides a much broader scope to its already incredible diversity. Many speakers, including me could have documented many of the observations and submitted them to the panel of reviewers. It will be interesting to see what the next edition includes and my suggestion is they don't wait over fifty years to come out with a new version.
Here are the articles. The best ones are the ones from El Nacional, Hoy Digital and BBC Mundo.
Gramatica: Puede decirse ladronzazos, papases, idolas y chimbamba - ElNacional.com.do
Hay neologismos dominicanos en nueva gram?tica - Hoy Digital
BBC Mundo - Cultura y Sociedad - Un nuevo "mapa" de la lengua espa?ola
Ventana - Aportes de RD a la nueva gram?tica de la lengua
-MP.
* This post is definitely geared towards those who enjoy Spanish beyond the basic concepts. Therefore, I thought I would bring to light these interesting articles about language posted in several Dominican newspapers yesterday which does not happen often. As well, you may consider buying this excellent grammatical reference.
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