La "Nueva gram?tica" presented by la Real Academia Espa?ola

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.

One language, many variations

Since this new reference has been released some good articles have been appearing in various newspapers in the Spanish-speaking world. I really enjoyed this one in El D?a (de Bolivia). I think it clarifies some key concepts and notions about the new version of such a valuable reference for Spanish.


The previous version in 1931 has little representation or reference to Spanish spoken in Latin America for two key reasons:

- lack of resources
- lack of information

What the new reference includes (after eleven years of hard work by the twenty-two academies) is what all regions share or have in common from a grammatical perspective and then the variations by country or by region among other concepts of grammar. Although there's an abundant variety that exists, there's still some grammatical forms considered incorrect and regular textbooks teach and provide examples of the standard across the board like Spanish heard in the news or in journalism.

An article published in El Pa?s (de Espa?a) about this new reference divides the linguistic regions of the Spanish-speaking world accurately IMO (since I have seen a few other divisions). These divisions will help those who are curious about the variations in Spanish to understand the similarities and differences (thus reducing the need to speculate) if you compare Spanish spoken by region and then by country. The DR is categorized under Las Antillas which includes Cuba and PR. And just to add to the break down by region, one also has to remember the greatest influence of all even prior to forming these categories is the Spanish spoken by the Spaniards who came to the New World in the sixteenth and seventeenth century.

Since Spanish in Spain varied so will the Spanish in Latin America due to their influences. Also, one must keep in mind some phonetic variations heard in Spain did not make it to Latin America. A key example is el seseo (the /th/ sound in words like Barcelona) is very characteristic of Northern Spain. Combine this with the influence of other languages spoken in Latin America during the colonial period will clarify the variety that exists in Spanish which includes grammar, vocabulary, and phonetics.

This reference for sure is not 'light' reading but is one that can shed light on the many questions about the spoken and written variety that exists in the language. There's still what is considered 'standard' Spanish then one can observe and analyze the spoken variations by country and by region. For example, compare a speaker from Spain vs. Argentina vs. Cuba- same language, many variations, all speakers can understand each other (some may say it takes some getting used to). However, the major differences are accents, expressions, vocabulary etc. just like in English, French and any language where there is broad range of regional variances.


.: El D?a :.



-MP.

Amazon.com

It will be released on Amazon soon. You can pre-order it for $199.99. However, if you wait until after the release the price may drop a bit as Amazon normally offers discounts.

Amazon.com: Nueva gramatica de la Lengua Espanola, R.A.E y Asociacion de Academias de la Lengua Espanola (Spanish Edition) (9788467032079): Real Academia de la Lengua, Asociacion de Academias Americanas: Books


I am not sure if I will purchase this reference as yet. No doubt regarding its value, it's right up my alley and the type of reference I would like to have in my possession. However, I will not have time to go through it right now the way I would like to and that for me is frustrating.

I think anyone who is avid about Spanish will find something interesting and worthy about this reference. According to articles from Dominican newspapers as referenced in my first post, the Dominican academy of language affiliated to the Real Academia did contribute as well as Puerto Rico. Their contribution was predictable which is the change of /r/ to /l/ in many words- amol, hablal, comel etc. These variations are definitely heard in the DR as well and to a limited degree by some Cuban speakers.

There also seems to be a strong focus on the gender of nouns which is a definite reflection of today's world and how Spanish has had to adapt. Words like el juez, and the feminine version used in some countries 'la jueza' and what about variations such as the diminutive form of la mano- la manito OR la manita (which is heard quite a bit. I know what is considered correct) but just throwing it out there for food for thought. These are the types of questions/ queries that this reference details in depth.

Here is a PDF preview of the reference which includes a table of contents. It's quite detailed so you can clearly see what to expect.

http://asale.org/ASALE/pdf/folletonvagramatica.pdf


-MP.