Amazonic Spanish (español amazónico), also known as Loreto-Ucayali Spanish or Jungle Spanish (español de la selva), is a variety of Spanish spoken in the Amazon, especially in the Peruvian Amazon provinces of Loreto and Ucayali. Amazonic Spanish is also spoken in areas of Brazil adjoining Loreto and Ucayali and in the Amazonas Department of Colombia.[1][2][3]
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One of the distinguishing features of Amazonic Spanish is the method of constructing the possessive form: speakers say "de la X su Y" (of the X its Y), instead of standard Spanish "la Y de X" (the Y of X).[3][4] Another dinstinctive grammatical feature is the use of possessive forms in place of certain genitive forms; compare standard Spanish "Le preguntó a la yaminahua delante de mi" (He asked the Yaminahua woman in front of me) with the Loreto-Ucayali "Le preguntó a la yaminahua en mi delante" (He asked the Yaminahua woman in my front).[5]
As in other dialects of Spanish, personal names are prefixed with a definite article (el or la, depending on the gender).[3]
In the initial position, [f] and [x] are allophones, e.g., Juana is pronouned /fana/.[3]
Amazonic Spanish also incorporates words and expressions borrowed from local indigenous languages.
Amazonic Spanish is sometimes classified as a separate language from standard Spanish, as for example by the Ethnologue; Amazonic Spanish even has its own ISO 639-3 code.[2] However, Ethnologue's reasons for doing this are poorly documented.
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