Lustro

[NanSanPedro]

I found this on my Listin Diario feed: Semana Santa de último lustro ha registrado más de un centenar de defunciones

How do they get 5 years from lustro? They translate it fine in Google Translate but I can't figure it out. Is there such a thing as 1/2 decade?

 

[cavok]

I found this on my Listin Diario feed: Semana Santa de último lustro ha registrado más de un centenar de defunciones

How do they get 5 years from lustro? They translate it fine in Google Translate but I can't figure it out. Is there such a thing as 1/2 decade?

I've never seen or heard that word used that way before, but here's what I found:

Etimología - El origen de la palabra: lustro​

Hoy llamamos así a cualquier período de cinco años, sin detenernos a pensar que no hay nada en esta palabra que parezca sugerir el número cinco. Sin embargo, en la antigua organización militar de los romanos, lustro era el intervalo de cinco años entre dos censos consecutivos en los ejércitos del Imperio.
Originariamente, lustrum era el nombre que se daba en latín a cierto sacrificio de purificación, derivado de lustrare ‘iluminar’, ‘dar brillo’ y, por extensión, ‘purificar’. Las purificaciones rituales tenían lugar cada cinco años y, a partir de cierta época, se aplicó a los intervalos de los momentos en que el ejército ‘se purificaba’ --en el sentido de que ‘se iluminaba con información’-- mediante el censo.

 

[NanSanPedro]

I've never seen or heard that word used that way before, but here's what I found:

Etimología - El origen de la palabra: lustro​

Hoy llamamos así a cualquier período de cinco años, sin detenernos a pensar que no hay nada en esta palabra que parezca sugerir el número cinco. Sin embargo, en la antigua organización militar de los romanos, lustro era el intervalo de cinco años entre dos censos consecutivos en los ejércitos del Imperio.
Originariamente, lustrum era el nombre que se daba en latín a cierto sacrificio de purificación, derivado de lustrare ‘iluminar’, ‘dar brillo’ y, por extensión, ‘purificar’. Las purificaciones rituales tenían lugar cada cinco años y, a partir de cierta época, se aplicó a los intervalos de los momentos en que el ejército ‘se purificaba’ --en el sentido de que ‘se iluminaba con información’-- mediante el censo.

Muchas gracias Sr. Cavok. Muy interesante!!

 

[Lucifer]

This is an exercise on pretentiousness on the part of the Listín Diario, a poorly-written newspaper, when compared with those of other Spanish-speaking nations.

Referring to lustro in oder to illustrate a 5-year period is akin to the NYT writing that 'the Berlin Wall came down three scores and 3 years ago.'

The old conventional wisdom held that, in order to achieve a wide readability, newspapers should be written at 5th-6th grade reading level.

But since the general public in the D.R. hardly reads anything beyond their badly-written WhastApp messages...

 

[CristoRey]

This is an exercise on pretentiousness on the part of the Listín Diario, a poorly-written newspaper, when compared with those of other Spanish-speaking nations.

Referring to lustro in oder to illustrate a 5-year period is akin to the NYT writing that 'the Berlin Wall came down three scores and 3 years ago.'

The old conventional wisdom held that, in order to achieve a wide readability, newspapers should be written at 5th-6th grade reading level.

But since the general public in the D.R. hardly reads anything beyond their badly-written WhastApp messages...

The only Dominicans I know who read more than just WhatsApp/IG y FeyBoo post were raised or educated abroad.
I'm not familiar with the word"lustro"

 

[Lucifer]

I've never seen or heard that word used that way before, but here's what I found:

Etimología - El origen de la palabra: lustro​

Hoy llamamos así a cualquier período de cinco años, sin detenernos a pensar que no hay nada en esta palabra que parezca sugerir el número cinco. Sin embargo, en la antigua organización militar de los romanos, lustro era el intervalo de cinco años entre dos censos consecutivos en los ejércitos del Imperio.
Originariamente, lustrum era el nombre que se daba en latín a cierto sacrificio de purificación, derivado de lustrare ‘iluminar’, ‘dar brillo’ y, por extensión, ‘purificar’. Las purificaciones rituales tenían lugar cada cinco años y, a partir de cierta época, se aplicó a los intervalos de los momentos en que el ejército ‘se purificaba’ --en el sentido de que ‘se iluminaba con información’-- mediante el censo.

Please notice that the word highlighted above, intervalo, does not have an accent which, in that case, should be pronounced in-ter-VA-lo, with emphasis on the next-to-the-last syllable.
I bring this up because Dominicans pronounce it as if it was an esdrújula word (accent in the antepenultimate syllable): in-TÉR-va-lo.

According to "la RAE", the proper pronunciation is in-ter-VA-lo, as in the article above.

 

[cavok]

Please notice that the word highlighted above, intervalo, does not have an accent which, in that case, should be pronounced in-ter-VA-lo, with emphasis on the next-to-the-last syllable.
I bring this up because Dominicans pronounce it as if it was an esdrújula word (accent in the antepenultimate syllable): in-TÉR-va-lo.

According to "la RAE", the proper pronunciation is in-ter-VA-lo, as in the article above.

With what Spanish grammar I do know, that's they way I would have pronounced it: in-ter-VA-lo.

 

[NanSanPedro]

The only Dominicans I know who read more than just WhatsApp/IG y FeyBoo post were raised or educated abroad.
I'm not familiar with the word"lustro"

I will say though I do see some of the older Domincanos/as reading the actual newspaper. I noticed it more in San Pedro than here in BC. I used to smirk at anyone reading the actual newspaper as I have used online sources now for close to 20 years. Then I realized they're reading, and that's something the youngers don't do so well.

 

[Lucifer]

With what Spanish grammar I do know, that's they way I would have pronounced it: in-ter-VA-lo.

And that would the correct way, but it's the only word I'm willing to mispronounce when in the D.R... and only in the D.R.

 

[Marianopolita]

Please notice that the word highlighted above, intervalo, does not have an accent which, in that case, should be pronounced in-ter-VA-lo, with emphasis on the next-to-the-last syllable.
I bring this up because Dominicans pronounce it as if it was an esdrújula word (accent in the antepenultimate syllable): in-TÉR-va-lo.

According to "la RAE", the proper pronunciation is in-ter-VA-lo, as in the article above.

The average Spanish speaker does not know anything about accents in Spanish when they write although h/she speaks well. What they may have learned in school is long forgotten. If they know a word has an accent it’s due to memorization but not because they know or remember the rules of accentuation. Forget even knowing the difference between más and mas or de or dé.

Technology has made the problem more blatant and even worse because in emails, social media, message board communication etc. people write without the accent marks for three reasons:

1) quick communication and not to slow it down

2) they don’t know where the accent goes on the word but they know it has one

3) they don’t know if the word has an accent or not and then it becomes a guessing game

Furthermore abuse of the language irks me when my I see how the rules of capitalization are not followed. For e.g. days of the week, months, seasons, adjectives of nationality etc are not capitalized in Spanish. To write el Dominicano in the middle of a sentence is incorrect, or el Lunes. I see a lot of foreigners doing this.

The problem of accentuation is not exclusive to Dominicans but the pronunciation for e.g. the way how Dominicans say Canadá is crazy as I said in the previous thread DR is the only Latin country where I hear that. Cánada….

 

[Marianopolita]

And that would the correct way, but it's the only word I'm willing to mispronounce when in the D.R... and only in the D.R.

Why would you say a word incorrectly on purpose? Is it just to sound local or not like you speak better?


There is no way I would do that knowingly.

 

[Marianopolita]

I agree with what was mentioned above. The Dominican population is not known for its reading habit and it shows. I always assess by the average speaker how h/she speaks which tells me how h/she writes. In a country where speech is extremely informal with a lot of jerga and a very dominant vernacular don’t expect much of a strong command in writing. Some may be able to read and write well but their educational path and exposure to Spanish is not that of the average Dominican. In the the land of tú tá loco, e‘ pa’lante que vamo‘, k lo k forget about writing the language of Cervantes well. I am sure many are challenged to read Listín Diario.

 

[Memo]

I've never seen or heard that word used that way before, but here's what I found:

Etimología - El origen de la palabra: lustro​

Hoy llamamos así a cualquier período de cinco años, sin detenernos a pensar que no hay nada en esta palabra que parezca sugerir el número cinco. Sin embargo, en la antigua organización militar de los romanos, lustro era el intervalo de cinco años entre dos censos consecutivos en los ejércitos del Imperio.
Originariamente, lustrum era el nombre que se daba en latín a cierto sacrificio de purificación, derivado de lustrare ‘iluminar’, ‘dar brillo’ y, por extensión, ‘purificar’. Las purificaciones rituales tenían lugar cada cinco años y, a partir de cierta época, se aplicó a los intervalos de los momentos en que el ejército ‘se purificaba’ --en el sentido de que ‘se iluminaba con información’-- mediante el censo.

The English word is lustrum. Not commonly in use, obviously--but a legitimate term nonetheless.

 

[Lucifer]

The average Spanish speaker does not know anything about accents in Spanish when they write although h/she speaks well. What they may have learned in school is long forgotten. If they know a word has an accent it’s due to memorization but not because they know or remember the rules of accentuation. Forget even knowing the difference between más and mas or de or dé.

Technology has made the problem more blatant and even worse because in emails, social media, message board communication etc. people write without the accent marks for three reasons:

1) quick communication and not to slow it down

2) they don’t know where the accent goes on the word but they know it has one

3) they don’t know if the word has an accent or not and then it becomes a guessing game

Furthermore abuse of the language irks me when my I see how the rules of capitalization are not followed. For e.g. days of the week, months, seasons, adjectives of nationality etc are not capitalized in Spanish. To write el Dominicano in the middle of a sentence is incorrect, or el Lunes. I see a lot of foreigners doing this.

The problem of accentuation is not exclusive to Dominicans but the pronunciation for e.g. the way how Dominicans say Canadá is crazy as I said in the previous thread DR is the only Latin country where I hear that. Cánada….

The article about the word's etymology is well written, and that includes the proper placement of accents.

My observation was on the word intervalo, and the fat that it doesn't have, and doesn't need, an accent, contrary to the way Dominicans pronounce it, with emphasis on the antepenultimate syllable.
I don't know if the word is mispronounced in other Spanish-speaking countries, but I do know that it it mispronounced in the D.R.

 

[Marianopolita]

The article about the word's etymology is well written, and that includes the proper placement of accents.

My observation was on the word intervalo, and the fat that it doesn't have, and doesn't need, an accent, contrary to the way Dominicans pronounce it, with emphasis on the antepenultimate syllable.
I don't know if the word is mispronounced in other Spanish-speaking countries, but I do know that it it mispronounced in the D.R.

I understood your post and I was just adding to the discussion based on your comment.

My focus is on the fact that accentuation is a problem for many in Spanish especially the written rules.

 

[Lucifer]

Why would you say a word incorrectly on purpose? Is it just to sound local or not like you speak better?


There is no way I would do that knowingly.

No one, absolutely NO ONE, pronounces intervalo properly in the D.R.
I think I'd sound weird and crazy if I was to pronounce it properly when in the D.R. or in the presence of Dominicans anywhere.
Now, in the company of folks from other nationalities, I have to resort to the proper pronunciation.

And intervalo is the only word for which I make an exception.
However, I won't capitulate with a host of other commonly mispronounced words in the D.R., such as enchufLe and others.

While "la RAE" has already accepted some anglicisms, I refuse to succumb to most of them: parquear, parqueo, etc...

But I try to be as flexible as possible, depending on the situation: I would much rather play around with words, with the knowledge that it's just a game.

Por ejemplo:

Yo guasapeo
Tú guasapeas
.
.
.
Vosotros guasapeáis

I even go as far as mispronouncing words as if I hailed from Baní: Or de wer in place of 'all the way'.

 

[Lucifer]

The article about the word's etymology is well written, and that includes the proper placement of accents.

My observation was on the word intervalo, and the fat that it doesn't have, and doesn't need, an accent, contrary to the way Dominicans pronounce it, with emphasis on the antepenultimate syllable.
I don't know if the word is mispronounced in other Spanish-speaking countries, but I do know that it it mispronounced in the D.R.

The fact of the fat.

 

[Marianopolita]

No one, absolutely NO ONE, pronounces intervalo properly in the D.R.
I think I'd sound weird and crazy if I was to pronounce it properly when in the D.R. or in the presence of Dominicans anywhere.
Now, in the company of folks from other nationalities, I have to resort to the proper pronunciation.

And intervalo is the only word for which I make an exception.
However, I won't capitulate with a host of other commonly mispronounced words in the D.R., such as enchufLe and others.

While "la RAE" has already accepted some anglicisms, I refuse to succumb to most of them: parquear, parqueo, etc...

But I try to be as flexible as possible, depending on the situation: I would much rather play around with words, with the knowledge that it's just a game.

Por ejemplo:

Yo guasapeo
Tú guasapeas
.
.
.
Vosotros guasapeáis

I even go as far as mispronouncing words as if I hailed from Baní: Or de wer in place of 'all the way'.

Your reason for going with the incorrect pronunciation in the DR is exactly what I thought. When in Rome do what the Romans do I guess.


Thanks to the RAE that keeps the language unified. While variations exist there is a standard for situations like these. The DPD is excellent too.

 

[Lucifer]

Your reason for going with the incorrect pronunciation in the DR is exactly what I thought. When in Rome do what the Romans do I guess.


Thanks to the RAE that keeps the language unified. While variations exist there is a standard for situations like these. The DPD is excellent too.

Yes, absolutely. But I refuse to pronounce enchufe with an 'L' after 'F' as most Dominicans do, or talk about el parqueo del Blue Mall, preferring estacionamiento, el carro está estacionado, estacioné el carro cerca del edificio...

So, inTÉRvalo is the sole exception, but it's wrong.

 

[Marianopolita]

@Lucifer

The topic of accentuation and where to put the stress reminds me of English speakers and their incorrect accentuation in Spanish. If you watch a baseball game you hear the incorrect pronunciation in the highest form. All those mispronounced last names of the players is really awful.

Ask an English commentator to say Alcántara, Berríos, Pérez- this has to be the worst pronunciation all over the US, López, Jiménez etc. all wrong