| Rioplatense Spanish | |
| Also Known As: | Argentine–Uruguayan Spanish |
| Nativename: | Castellano rioplatense[1] (Castellano argentino-uruguayo) |
| Pronunciation: | pronounced as /es/ |
| States: | Argentina, Uruguay |
| Ethnicity: | Argentines Uruguayans |
| Script: | Latin (Spanish alphabet) |
| Familycolor: | Indo-European |
| Fam2: | Italic |
| Fam3: | Latino-Faliscan |
| Fam4: | Romance |
| Fam5: | Italo-Western |
| Fam6: | Western |
| Fam7: | Ibero-Romance |
| Fam8: | West Iberian |
| Fam9: | Castilian |
| Fam10: | Spanish |
| Ancestor: | Proto-Indo-European |
| Ancestor2: | Proto-Italic |
| Ancestor3: | Old Latin |
| Ancestor4: | Vulgar Latin |
| Ancestor5: | Proto-Romance |
| Ancestor6: | Old Spanish |
| Ancestor7: | Early Modern Spanish |
| Nation: | (de facto) (de facto) |
| Agency: | Academia Argentina de Letras Academia Nacional de Letras de Uruguay |
| Isoexception: | dialect |
| Dialects: | Outer Dialects: Norteño (Northern) Guaranítico (Northeastern) Cuyano (Western) Cordobés (Central) Inner Dialects: Litoraleño (Coastal) Bonaerense (Eastern) Patagónico (Southern) Uruguayan |
| Iso1: | es |
| Iso2: | spa[2] |
| Glotto: | none |
| Ietf: | es-AR es-UY |
| Notice: | IPA |
| Map: | Dialectos del idioma español en Argentina.png |
| Mapscale: | 1 |
| Mapcaption: | Spanish dialects in Argentina |
Rioplatense Spanish (pronounced as /es/), also known as Rioplatense Castilian,[3] or River Plate Spanish,[4] is a variety of Spanish[5] [6] [7] originating in and around the Río de la Plata Basin, and now spoken throughout most of Argentina and Uruguay.[8] It is the most prominent dialect to employ voseo (the use of vos in place of the pronoun tú, along with special accompanying conjugations) in both speech and writing. Many features of Rioplatense are also shared with the varieties spoken in south and eastern Bolivia, and Paraguay. This dialect is influenced by Italian languages, due to the historically significant Italian immigration in the area, and therefore has several Italian loanwords and is often spoken with an intonation resembling that of the Neapolitan language of Southern Italy.
As Rioplatense is considered a dialect of Spanish and not a distinct language, there are no credible figures for a total number of speakers. The total population of these areas would amount to some 25–30 million, depending on the definition and expanse.
Rioplatense is mainly based in the cities of Buenos Aires, Rosario, Santa Fe, La Plata, Mar del Plata and Bahía Blanca in Argentina, the most populated cities in the dialectal area, along with their respective suburbs and the areas in between, and in all of Uruguay. This regional form of Spanish is also found in other areas, not geographically close but culturally influenced by those population centers (e.g., in parts of Paraguay, in all of Patagonia and the southern part of Córdoba). Rioplatense is the standard in audiovisual media in Argentina and Uruguay. In the northeast of Uruguay there exists a variety of Portuguese influenced by Rioplatense Spanish, known as Riverense Portuñol. In general, it can be considered that the accent described here is close to the one used by roughly 70% of the Argentine population.
The Spanish brought their language to the area during the Spanish colonization in the region. Originally part of the Viceroyalty of Peru, the Río de la Plata basin had its status raised to Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata in 1776.
Until the massive immigration to the region started in the 1870s, the language of the Río de la Plata had virtually no influence from other languages and varied mainly by localisms. Argentines and Uruguayans often state that their populations, like those of the United States and Canada, comprise people of relatively recent European descent, the largest immigrant groups coming from Italy and Spain.
Several languages, especially Italian, influenced the historical criollo Spanish of the region because of the diversity of the settlers and immigrants to Argentina and Uruguay:
European settlement decimated Native American populations before 1810 as well as during the expansion into Patagonia (after 1870). However, the interaction between Spanish and several of the native languages left visible traces. Words from Guarani, Quechua and other languages were incorporated into the local form of Spanish.
Some words of Amerindian origin commonly used in Rioplatense Spanish are:
See Influences on the Spanish language for a more comprehensive review of borrowings into all dialects of Spanish.
Rioplatense Spanish distinguishes itself from other dialects of Spanish by the pronunciation of certain consonants.
| Dento-alveolar | Palatal | Velar | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | ||||||
| Stop | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | ||
| Continuant | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /link/ ~ pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /ink/ | |||||
| Lateral | pronounced as /ink/ | ||||||||
| Flap | pronounced as /ink/ | ||||||||
| Trill | pronounced as /ink/ | ||||||||
Aspiration of pronounced as //s//, together with loss of final pronounced as //r//, tend to produce a noticeable simplification of the syllable structure, giving Rioplatense informal speech a distinct fluid consonant-vowel-consonant-vowel rhythm:
Spanish; Castilian: Si querés irte, andate. Yo no te voy a parar.
"If you want to go, then go. I'm not going to stop you."
pronounced as /si keˈɾe ˈite anˈdate ˈʃo no te ˈβoj a paˈɾa/
Rioplatense Spanish, especially the speech of all of Uruguay and the Buenos Aires area in Argentina, has intonation patterns that resemble those of Italian dialects.[15] This correlates well with immigration patterns, since both Argentina and Uruguay have received large numbers of Italian settlers since the 19th century.
According to a study conducted by National Scientific and Technical Research Council of Argentina[16] Buenos Aires and Rosario residents speak with an intonation most closely resembling Neapolitan. The researchers note this as a relatively recent phenomenon, starting in the beginning of the 20th century with the main wave of Southern Italian immigration. Before that, the porteño accent was more like that of Spain, especially Andalusia,[17] and in case of Uruguay, the accent was more like Canarian dialect.
One of the features of the Argentine and Uruguayan speaking style is the Spanish; Castilian: [[voseo]]: the usage of the pronoun Spanish; Castilian: vos for the second person singular, instead of Spanish; Castilian: tú. In other Spanish-speaking regions where Spanish; Castilian: voseo is used, such as in Chile and Colombia, the use of voseo has at times been considered a nonstandard lower speaking style, whereas in Argentina and Uruguay it is standard.
The second person plural pronoun, which is Spanish; Castilian: vosotros in Spain, is replaced with Spanish; Castilian: ustedes in Rioplatense, as in most other Latin American dialects. While Spanish; Castilian: usted is the formal second person singular pronoun, its plural Spanish; Castilian: ustedes has a neutral connotation and can be used to address friends and acquaintances as well as in more formal occasions (see T–V distinction). Spanish; Castilian: Ustedes takes a grammatically third- person plural verb.
As an example, see the conjugation table for the verb Spanish; Castilian: amar (to love) in the present tense, indicative mode:
| Person/Number | Peninsular | Rioplatense | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st sing. | Spanish; Castilian: yo amo | Spanish; Castilian: yo amo | |
| 2nd sing. | Spanish; Castilian: tú amas | Spanish; Castilian: vos amás | |
| 3rd sing. | Spanish; Castilian: él ama | Spanish; Castilian: él ama | |
| 1st plural | Spanish; Castilian: nosotros amamos | Spanish; Castilian: nosotros amamos | |
| 2nd plural | Spanish; Castilian: vosotros amáis | Spanish; Castilian: ustedes aman[18] | |
| 3rd plural | Spanish; Castilian: ellos aman | Spanish; Castilian: ellos aman |
Although apparently there is just a stress shift (from Spanish; Castilian: '''a'''mas to Spanish; Castilian: am'''á'''s), the origin of such a stress is the loss of the diphthong of the classical Spanish; Castilian: vos inflection from Spanish; Castilian: vos amáis to Spanish; Castilian: vos amás. This can be better seen with the verb "to be": from Spanish; Castilian: vos sois to Spanish; Castilian: vos sos. In vowel-alternating verbs like Spanish; Castilian: perder and Spanish; Castilian: morir, the stress shift also triggers a change of the vowel in the root:
| Peninsular | Rioplatense | |
|---|---|---|
| Spanish; Castilian: yo pierdo | Spanish; Castilian: yo pierdo | |
| Spanish; Castilian: tú pierdes | Spanish; Castilian: vos perdés | |
| Spanish; Castilian: él pierde | Spanish; Castilian: él pierde | |
| Spanish; Castilian: nosotros perdemos | Spanish; Castilian: nosotros perdemos | |
| Spanish; Castilian: vosotros perdéis | Spanish; Castilian: ustedes pierden | |
| Spanish; Castilian: ellos pierden | Spanish; Castilian: ellos pierden |
For the Spanish; Castilian: -ir verbs, the Peninsular Spanish; Castilian: vosotros forms end in Spanish; Castilian: -ís, so there is no diphthong to simplify, and Rioplatense Spanish; Castilian: vos employs the same form: instead of Spanish; Castilian: tú vives, Spanish; Castilian: vos vivís; instead of Spanish; Castilian: tú vienes, Spanish; Castilian: vos venís (note the alternation).
| Verb | Standard Spanish | Castilian in plural | Rioplatense | Maracaibo Voseo | English (US/UK) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cantar | tú cantas | vosotros cantáis | vos cantás | tú cantái | vos cantáis | you sing | |
| Correr | tú corres | vosotros corréis | vos corrés | tú corrí | vos corréis | you run | |
| Partir | tú partes | vosotros partís | vos partís | tú partí | vos partís | you leave | |
| Decir | tú dices | vosotros decís | vos decís | tú decí | vos decís | you say |
The imperative forms for Spanish; Castilian: vos are identical to the imperative forms in Peninsular but stressing the last syllable:
When in Peninsular the imperative has one syllable, a vowel corresponding to the verb's class is usually added. The second syllable is stressed:
In some such cases, the verb stem also undergoes other changes:
In the case of the verb ser (to be), the imperative form remains monosyllabic: Sé bueno. "Be good"
The verb ir (to go) is never used in this form. The corresponding form of the verb andar (to walk, to go) substitutes for it.
The plural imperative uses the Spanish; Castilian: ustedes form (i. e. the third person plural subjunctive, as corresponding to ellos).
As for the subjunctive forms of Spanish; Castilian: vos verbs, while they tend to take the Spanish; Castilian: tú conjugation, some speakers do use the classical Spanish; Castilian: vos conjugation, employing the Spanish; Castilian: vosotros form minus the i in the final diphthong. Many consider only the Spanish; Castilian: tú subjunctive forms to be correct.
In the preterite, an s is sometimes added, for instance (vos) perdistes. This corresponds to the classical Spanish; Castilian: vos conjugation found in literature. Compare Iberian Spanish form vosotros perdisteis.
Other verb forms coincide with Spanish; Castilian: tú after the i is omitted (the Spanish; Castilian: vos forms are the same as Spanish; Castilian: tú).
| Standard Spanish | Rioplatense / other Argentine | Maracaibo Voseo | Castilian in plural | English (US/UK) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| lo que quieras | lo que quieras/querás | lo que querái | lo que queráis | whatever you want | |
| espero que veas | espero que veas/veás | espero que veái | espero que veáis | I hope you can see | |
| no lo toques | no lo toqués | no lo toquís | no lo toquéis | don't touch it | |
| si salieras | si salierai | si salierais | if you went out | ||
| si amaras | si amarai | si amarais | if you loved | ||
| vivías | vivíai | vivíais | you lived | ||
| cantabas | cantabai | cantabais | you sang | ||
| dirías | diríai | diríais | you'd say | ||
| harías | haríai | haríais | you'd do |
In the old times, Spanish; Castilian: vos was used as a respectful term. In Rioplatense, as in most other dialects which employ Spanish; Castilian: voseo, this pronoun has become informal, supplanting the use of Spanish; Castilian: tú (compare you in English, which used to be formal singular but has supplanted the former informal singular pronoun thou). It is used especially for addressing friends and family members (regardless of age), but may also include most acquaintances, such as co-workers, friends of one's friends, etc.
Although literary works use the full spectrum of verb inflections, in Rioplatense (as well as many other Spanish dialects), the future tense tends to use a verbal phrase (periphrasis) in the informal language.
This verb phrase is formed by the verb ir ("to go") followed by the preposition a ("to") and the main verb in the infinitive. This resembles the English phrase to be going to + infinitive verb. For example:
The present perfect (Spanish: Pretérito perfecto compuesto), just like pretérito anterior, is rarely used: the simple past replaces it. However, the Present Perfect is still used in Northwestern Argentina, particularly in the province of Tucumán.
But, in the subjunctive mood, the present perfect is still widely used:
In Buenos Aires a reflexive form of verbs is often used - "se viene" instead of "viene', etc.
In Chilean Spanish there is plenty of lexical influence from the Argentine dialects suggesting a possible "masked prestige" otherwise not expressed, since the image of Argentine things is usually negative. Influences run across the different social strata of Chile. Argentine tourism in Chile during summer and Chilean tourism in Argentina would influence the speech of the upper class. The middle classes would have Argentine influences by watching football on cable television and by watching Argentine programs in the broadcast television. La Cuarta, a "popular" tabloid, regularly employs lunfardo words and expressions. Usually Chileans do not recognize the Argentine borrowings as such, claiming they are Chilean terms and expressions. The relation between Argentine dialects and Chilean Spanish is one of "asymmetric permeability", with Chilean Spanish adopting sayings of the Argentine variants but usually not the other way around.[19] Despite this, people in Santiago, Chile, value Argentine Spanish poorly in terms of "correctness", far behind Peruvian Spanish, which is considered the most correct form.[20]
Some Argentine words have been adopted in Iberian Spanish such as pibe, piba[21] "boy, girl", taken into Spanish slang where it produced pibón,[22] "very attractive person".