Central American Spanish

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Central America is politically divided into various sovereign states where Spanish is the official language.

Contents 1 Variation 2 Phonetics and phonology 3 Syntax 4 Lexicon 5 Cross references

[edit] Variation

While most vocabulary is common, each state has its own word, for instance, for "corner store" and "soft drink": In Guatemala, they are abarrotería and agua (water is agua pura). In El Salvador, they are tienda and gaseosa. In Honduras, they are pulpería or in the north trucha and fresco. In Nicaragua, they are pulpería and gaseosa. In Costa Rica, they are pulpería and gaseosa although they could also be Abastecedor and Refresco or Fresco.

[edit] Phonetics and phonology

In Spanish, few words end in plosives However, many such words are borrowed from English. In Central America, all such stops are usually pronounced like 'c's. The Costa Rican ice cream shop Pops, with franchises in Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua is pronounced by many people as Pocs. Internet is sometimes pronounced Internec, Laptop is pronounced lactoc, and robót pronounced robóc. This is sometimes extended to native Spanish words where such stops are found at the end of a syllable. For example, Aceptar is often pronounced Acectar. Notice that such pronunciations are most common in people with low levels of schooling, as people in the middle and higher classes tend to be a bit more observant of standard pronunciation.

Some other characteristics of Central American phonology include:

• /s/ at the end of a syllable or before a consonant is pronounced like [h], except in central Guatemala and in Costa Rica.
• j (/x/), is aspirated except in some areas of Costa Rica; it is soft as the /h/ in English (e.g.: Yahoo).
• Intervocalic /b/, /d/, and /g/ show no sign of reduction, and are much more pronounced than in most dialects.
• There is no confusion between /l/ and /r/, as in the Caribbean.
• /s/, /z/ and in some cases /c/ (as in cerrar) are pronounced as [s]
• /m/ at the end of a word tends to be pronounced as [n]

[edit] Syntax

The most common form for the second person singular in Central America is vos. Its conjugation follows the pattern, (for “you have”) vos tenés instead of tú tienes, or (for “you sing”) vos cantás instead of tú cantas. The pronoun Usted is used when addressing older, unfamiliar or respected persons, as it is in all Spanish countries; however, in Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Honduras it is frequently used with younger persons. Some communities prefer to use Usted in most conversation, and to rarely use vos or tú at all. The pronouns tú and Usted are mainly used in writings and publications. It is also very common in Central America to use the word "tú" while keeping "vos" verb forms: tú cantás.

[edit] Lexicon

The vocabulary of Central America is very different from that of Mexico, but similar in many ways to that of Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela. For example, Redondel or Rotonda is a Roundabout. However, there are also many words unique to Central America. For example, Chunche or Chochadas means Thing or Stuff.

[edit] Cross references

Caliche slang of El Salvador