Colombian Spanish Explained

Colombian Spanish
Nativename:Spanish; Castilian: Español colombiano
Pronunciation:pronounced as /es/
States:Colombia
Agency:Academia Colombiana de la Lengua
Date:2014
Speakers:46,393,500 in Colombia, all users
Speakers2:L1 users: 46,300,000 (2015)
L2 users: 93,500 (2015)
Script:Latin (Spanish alphabet)
Familycolor:Indo-European
Fam2:Italic
Fam3:Latino-Faliscan
Fam4:Romance
Fam5:Western
Fam6:Ibero-Romance
Fam7:West Iberian
Fam8:Castilian
Fam9:Spanish
Ancestor:Old Latin
Ancestor2:Classical Latin
Ancestor3:Vulgar Latin
Ancestor4:Old Spanish
Ancestor5:Early Modern Spanish
Isoexception:dialect
Dialects:Bogotan (Rolo)
Paisa
Costeño
Cundiboyacense
Valluno
Santanderean
Pastuso
Opita dialect
Llanero
Chocoano
Isleño
Iso1:es
Iso2:spa[1]
Glotto:none
Ietf:es-CO
Notice:IPA
Map:Dialectos Colombia.png
Mapcaption:Spanish Dialects in Colombia.

Colombian Spanish (Spanish; Castilian: español colombiano) is a grouping of the varieties of Spanish spoken in Colombia. The term is of more geographical than linguistic relevance, since the dialects spoken in the various regions of Colombia are quite diverse. The speech of the northern coastal area tends to exhibit phonological innovations typical of Caribbean Spanish, while highland varieties have been historically more conservative. The Caro and Cuervo Institute in Bogotá is the main institution in Colombia to promote the scholarly study of the language and literature of both Colombia and the rest of Spanish America. The educated speech of Bogotá, a generally conservative variety of Spanish, has high popular prestige among Spanish-speakers throughout the Americas.

The Colombian Academy of Language (Spanish; Castilian: Academia Colombiana de la Lengua) is the oldest Spanish language academy after Spain's Royal Spanish Academy; it was founded in 1871.[2]

Although it is subject to debate by academics, some critics argue that Spanish; Castilian: El desierto prodigioso y prodigio del desierto, written in the New Kingdom of Granada during the 1600s by Spanish; Castilian: Pedro de Solís y Valenzuela|italic=no, is the first modern novel of the Spanish America.[3]

Phonology

Vowels

As most other Spanish dialects, standard Colombian Spanish has five vowels: two high vowels (pronounced as //i, u//), two mid vowels (pronounced as //e, o//) and one open vowel (pronounced as //a//). Colombian Spanish, like most other Spanish varieties, tends to resolve vowels in hiatus as diphthongs. There is regional differentiation as, in formal speech, Caribbean speakers are more likely to diphthongize than those from inland areas. However, there is no difference in informal speech.[6]

Personal pronouns

Diminutives

Common expressions

Slang words

Slang speech is frequent in popular culture. In the Paisa Region and Medellín, the local slang is named "Parlache."[12] Many slang expressions have spread outside their original areas and are now commonly understood throughout the country.[13]

Many of the words have been popularized by the Colombian media, such as Alonso Salazar's book, No nacimos pa' semilla,[14] Victor Gaviria's movie , or Andrés López Forero's monologue La pelota de letras ("The Lettered Ball") as well as many other cultural expressions, including telenovelas, magazines, news coverage, jokes, etc..

Some slang terms, with their literal translations and meanings, include the following:

Dialects

John M. Lipski groups Colombian dialects phonologically into four major zones. Canfield refers to five major linguistic regions. Flórez proposes seven dialectal zones, based on phonetic and lexical criteria. Still others recognize eleven dialect areas, as listed below.

Caribbean dialect

See main article: article and Caribbean Spanish.

The Caribbean or Coastal (costeño) dialect is spoken in the Caribbean Region of Colombia. It shares many of the features typical of general Caribbean Spanish and is phonologically similar to Andalusian Spanish. Word-final pronounced as //n// is realized as velar pronounced as /[ŋ]/. Syllable-final pronounced as //s// is typically pronounced pronounced as /[h]/ and sk costa ("coast") is pronounced pronounced as /[ˈkohta]/ and rosales ("roses") becomes pronounced as /[roˈsaleh]/. The most notable and distinguishable varieties of Atlantic Colombian accents are Samario (Considered the most articulated Atlantic Colombian accent and rhotic), Barranquillero (Mostly rhotic), Cartagena (Mostly non-rhotic and fast-spoken) and Montería (Sinú Valley Accent, strictly non-rhotic, plosive and very marked wording like Received Pronunciation in British English).

Island dialect

This is the dialect spoken on the islands of San Andrés, Providencia, and Santa Catalina in Colombia's Caribbean Region. It is marked by a mixture of Caribbean Spanish with some features of English. Syllable-final pronounced as //r// can be realized, in addition to the flap pronounced as /[ɾ]/, the trill pronounced as /[r]/, and the lateral [l], as the alveolar approximant pronounced as /link/, the last being thought to be an influence of British English. Thus, verso ("verse") becomes pronounced as /[ˈbeɹso]/ (alongside pronounced as /[ˈbeɾso]/, pronounced as /[ˈberso]/, or pronounced as /[ˈbelso]/); invierno ("winter") becomes pronounced as /[imˈbjeɹno]/ (alongside pronounced as /[imˈbjeɾno]/, pronounced as /[imˈbjerno]/, or pronounced as /[imˈbjelno]/), and escarlata ("scarlet") becomes pronounced as /[ehkaɹˈlata]/ (alongside pronounced as /[ehkaɾˈlata]/, pronounced as /[ehkarˈlata]/, or pronounced as /[ehkaˈlata]/).

Word-final pronounced as //r//, when followed by a vowel-initial word, is usually realized as a tap, an approximant, or the lateral pronounced as /[l]/, as in amopronounced as /[ɾ~ ɹ ~ l]/ eterno ("eternal love"). If it is when followed by a consonant or a pause, it may be realized as any of those sounds or as a trill or elided, as in amopronounced as /[r ~ ɾ ~ ɹ ~ l ~ ∅]/ paterno ("paternal love").

That phonetic characteristic is not exclusive to Colombians, whose ancestry is traced back to the Spanish period before the British invasion, under British territorial rule, and the recovery of Spanish control. It is also used by Raizals, by whites of British descent, and by descendants of mainland Colombians. The dialect of native Spanish-speakers in the area is closer to the Nicaraguan dialect of the Caribbean coast, reflecting the geographical location of the archipelago, off the coast of Nicaragua. Similar to Chocano and Isleño, there is a strong African influence in this dialect, owing to a large population of Afro-descendants in the region.

Chocó or Pacific dialect

See main article: Chocoano Spanish and Equatorial Spanish.

This dialect extends beyond the Department of Chocó throughout the Pacific coast and is said to reflect African influence in terms of intonation and rhythm. Characteristically, syllable-final pronounced as //s// is frequently either debuccalized and pronounced as pronounced as /[h]/ or omitted, as in the Caribbean dialect (see above). Like the Caribbean dialect, word-final pronounced as //n// is realized as velar pronounced as /[ŋ]/, pronounced as //d// is replaced by pronounced as //r// in some words, and syllable-final pronounced as //l// and pronounced as //r// are often merged, as in Caribbean Spanish. This dialect is also spoken by Afro-Colombians living inland in the departments of Cauca and Valle del Cauca.

Cundiboyacense dialect

The Cundiboyacense dialect is spoken mainly in the departments of Cundinamarca and Boyacá (Cundiboyacense High Plateau). It uses the expression Spanish; Castilian: sumercé or Spanish; Castilian: su merced (literally "your grace") often as a formal second-person singular pronoun. The pronoun Spanish; Castilian: usted is used when two people speak in an informal situation. Spanish; Castilian: Tuteo (the use of the pronoun Spanish; Castilian: ) is usual in conversation between a man and woman of similar ages. Occasionally, the pronoun Spanish; Castilian: usted may be used briefly in extremely-informal speech between couples or family members or to reprehend someone, depending on the tone of voice.

Rolo dialect

"Rolo" (a name for the dialect of Bogotá) is also called cachaco. It is an area of strong Spanish; Castilian: ustedeo, the familiar use of the pronoun Spanish; Castilian: usted. The dialect follows many patterns similar to those of the Cundiboyacense dialect (preservation of syllable-final pronounced as /[s]/, preservation of pronounced as //d// in the Spanish; Castilian: -ado ending, preservation of the Spanish; Castilian: ll/y contrast (i.e., no Spanish; Castilian: [[yeísmo]]), etc.), but it has only marginal use of the formal second-person pronoun Spanish; Castilian: sumercé. This dialect is the basis of standard Spanish of Colombia.

Llanero or Eastern plains dialect

See main article: article and Llanero Spanish.

Llanero covers a vast area of the country with a low population density. It is spoken in the eastern plains of the country from the Cordillera Oriental (the eastern mountain range of the Andes). It has a characteristic influence of inland Colombian settlers, the difference is that syllable-final pronounced as //s// is typically aspirated pronounced as /[h]/ like Caribbean and Pacific dialects, even /s/ before vowels is aspirated.

Opita dialect

The Opita dialect is spoken mostly in the departments of Tolima and Huila, mostly in the central and southern parts of the Magdalena River Valley. It is said to show strong influence of indigenous languages and is noted for its slow tempo and unique intonation. As in most of the Americas, the dialect has Spanish; Castilian: [[yeísmo]] and Spanish; Castilian: [[seseo]]. The dialect is traditionally characterised by the use of the second-person pronoun Spanish; Castilian: usted (or Spanish; Castilian: vusted in some rural areas) in formal circumstances but also in familiar ones (in which most other dialects would use Spanish; Castilian: , see "Spanish; Castilian: ustedeo" above). However, Spanish; Castilian: is gaining ground with young people. The use of Spanish; Castilian: [[voseo]] is rare.

Paisa dialect

See main article: Paisa dialect.

The Paisa dialect is spoken in the Colombian coffee production areas, such as Antioquia, Quindío, Risaralda, Caldas, and the northernmost parts of Tolima and Valle del Cauca. Paisa Spanish has an apicoalveolar pronounced as /link/, between pronounced as /link/ and pronounced as /link/, as in northern and central Spain. Paisa Spanish, a "voseante" dialect, often uses Spanish; Castilian: vos, rather than Spanish; Castilian: , for the familiar singular "you" pronoun. The role of that Spanish; Castilian: [[voseo]] usage in forming the distinct Paisa linguistic identity was reinforced by its use in the works of several Paisa writers, including Tomás Carrasquilla,[7] Fernando González Ochoa, Manuel Mejía Vallejo, Fernando Vallejo, and Gonzalo Arango.

Pastuso dialect

See main article: article and Andean Spanish.

The Pastuso dialect is spoken in the southwest ll of the country. One feature is apicoalveolar pronounced as /[s̺]/, between pronounced as /link/ and pronounced as /link/, as in northern and central Spain. However, unlike Paisa, speakers typically conserve the "ll"/"y" distinction (the dialect has no Spanish; Castilian: [[yeísmo]]), and in some areas, the Spanish; Castilian: r is pronounced as a voiced apical sibilant. Contrary to the usual tendency in Spanish to weaken or relax the sounds pronounced as //b//, pronounced as //d//, and pronounced as //ɡ// between vowels, Pastuso-speakers tend to tense those sounds with more emphasis than in other dialects.[25]

Santanderean dialect

Santanderean is spoken mostly in the northeastern part of the country in Santander and Norte de Santander Departments. There is a strong use of Spanish; Castilian: ustedeo in both informal and formal contexts.

Valluno dialect

The Valluno dialect, or español vallecaucano, is spoken in the valley of the Cauca River between the Western and Central cordilleras. In Cali, the capital of Valle del Cauca, there is strong use of Spanish; Castilian: [[voseo]] (the use of the pronoun Spanish; Castilian: vos instead of other dialects, which use Spanish; Castilian: ), with its characteristic verb forms.

The Valluno dialect has many words and phrases not used outside of the region. People commonly greet one another with the phrase "Spanish; Castilian: ¿Q'hubo vé, bien o qué?". Also, it is common to be asked "Spanish; Castilian: ¿Sí o no?" when assessing agreement to rhetorical statements. Thong sandals are referred to as Spanish; Castilian: chanclas, and plastic bags (Spanish; Castilian: bolsas elsewhere) are called Spanish; Castilian: chuspas. As in other areas, a Spanish; Castilian: chocha is another crude word for "vagina", and Spanish; Castilian: chucha refers to an opossum. A Spanish; Castilian: pachanguero is someone who dances or parties all night long.

Andrés Caicedo was the main writer to depict the vernacular usage of language accurately.[26]

Sources

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: ISO 639-2 Language Code search. Library of Congress. 21 September 2017.
  2. Web site: La Academia Colombiana de la Lengua celebra el 150.º aniversario de su fundación.
  3. La Novela en la Colonia . The Savrvs . May–August 1993 . 38 . 2 .
  4. Rodríguez de Montes . María Luisa . Oclusivas aspiradas sordas en el español colombiano . Thesaurus . 1972 . XXVII . 3. 583–586. 4 January 2022. 0040-604 X. Instituto Caro y Cuervo. Bogotá. es.
  5. Book: Díaz Romero, Camilo Enrique . November 2017 . Sobre las realizaciones alofónicas aspiradas y debucalizadas de los fonemas fricativos del español hablado en Boyacá, Colombia: observaciones fonéticas y fonológico-tipológicas exploratorias . On the aspirated and debuccalized allophonic realizations of the fricative phonemes of the Spanish spoken in Boyacá, Colombia: exploratory phonetic and phonologic-typological observations . https://www.researchgate.net/publication/321277929 . es . Tendencias actuales en fónetica experimental. Cruce de disciplinas en el centenario del "Manual de Pronunciación Española" (Tomás Navarro Tomás) . Current trends in experimental phonetics. Crossroads of disciplines on the centennial of the "Manual of Spanish Pronunciation" (Tomás Navarro Tomás) . Marrero Aguiar . Victoria . Estebas Vilaplana . Eva . Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia . Madrid .
  6. Book: Garrido . Marisol . Holmquist . Jonathan . Lorenzino . Augusto . Sayahi . Lotfi . Selected Proceedings of the Third Workshop on Spanish Sociolinguistics . 2007 . Cascadilla Proceedings Project . Somerville, MA . 978-1-57473-418-8 . 30–37 . Diphthongization of Mid/Low Vowel Sequences in Colombian Spanish . http://www.lingref.com/cpp/wss/3/paper1523.pdf.
  7. Book: Desarrollo sociolingüístico del voseo en la región andina de Colombia (1555–1976). Degruyter.com. 16 October 2017. 10.1515/9783110404142. 2015. Díaz Collazos. Ana María. 9783110404142.
  8. Book: Schmidely, Jack . La personne grammaticale et la langue espagnole. 1983. 2902618476. Presses Universitares de France.
  9. Book: Subject Pronoun Expression in Spanish: A Cross-Dialect Perspective. Carvalho. Ana M.. Rafael. Orozco. Naomi Lapidus . Shin. Georgetown University Press. 2015. 9781626161702. Washington, DC. 21.
  10. Web site: How To Speak Colombian Spanish . Colombian Spanish . 18 March 2020.
  11. Book: Breve Diccionario de Colombianismos . 1996 . Academia Colombiana de la Lengua . Bogotá . 13 . 3a .
  12. Web site: Parlache. 30 August 2004. rincondelvago.com.
  13. Web site: Antioquia University- Communications Portal. udea.edu.co.
  14. Alonso Salazar, No nacimos pa' semilla: La cultura de las bandas juveniles de Medellín (CINEP: 1990)
  15. Web site: Gaviria Piedrahíta . Moisés . "Ave María Pues", ¿Cuál es su origen? . Colomba Me Gusta . 28 September 2016 . 18 March 2020.
  16. Web site: Speak Spanish as a native: useful Colombian slang . Colombia Spanish . 13 April 2024.
  17. Web site: Zannie . Marisa . Frases y palabras que solo los Colombianos entienden . El Universal . 6 August 2019 . 18 March 2020.
  18. Web site: Speak Spanish as a native: useful Colombian slang . Colombia Spanish . 13 April 2024.
  19. Web site: Speak Spanish as a native: useful Colombian slang . Colombia Spanish . 13 April 2024.
  20. Web site: Speak Spanish as a native: useful Colombian slang . Colombia Spanish . 13 April 2024.
  21. Web site: Speak Spanish as a native: useful Colombian slang . Colombia Spanish . 13 April 2024.
  22. Web site: Speak Spanish as a native: useful Colombian slang . Colombia Spanish . 13 April 2024.
  23. News: Esta es la razón por la que le dicen pola a la cerveza . 13 April 2024 . El Tiempo . 31 January 2022.
  24. Web site: Speak Spanish as a native: useful Colombian slang . Colombia Spanish . 13 April 2024.
  25. Web site: SOBRE ALGUNAS FORMAS DE PRONUNCIAR MUCHOS COLOMBIANOS EL ESPAÑOL DATOS Y PROBLEMAS . 16 October 2017 . Cvc.cervantes.es.
  26. Book: Desarrollo sociolingüístico del voseo en la región andina de Colombia (1555–1976). 24 April 2015. Degruyter.com. 16 October 2017. 10.1515/9783110404142. Díaz Collazos. Ana María. 9783110404142.