Panamanian Spanish

Panamanian Spanish is geographically defined as the form of Spanish spoken in the country of Panama in Central America.

The variations among different speaker groups of the same language can be lexical (vocabulary), phonological (pronunciation), morphological (word forms), or in the use of syntax (grammar).

Historically, Panama and Colombia were part of the same political entity. Colombia, governed from the Real Audiencia of Panama during the 16th century, then part of Castilla de Oro, with its capital in Panama, during the 17th century, and after independence from Spain, Panama voluntarily became part of the Republic of Gran Colombia along with Venezuela and Ecuador, with its capital in Bogota. From the colonial times and periods and also during most of the 19th century and until 1903, and even though there are still lexical similarities shared by the two countries (e.g., pelao in both Colombia and Panama means "kid" or "child"), phonetically Panamanian Spanish is more closely associated with the Spanish as spoken in the coastal areas around the Caribbean, specifically Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and the Atlantic coast of Colombia and Venezuela.

Phonology and Phonetics

The main characteristic of Caribbean Spanish is the aspiration of the /s/ sound at the end of a syllable or word, such as in the word cascada, pronounced [kahˈkaða] (more like an English "h") instead of [kasˈkaða]. This aspiration is also observed in the coastal regions of Peru and Ecuador and in Chile, Argentina and Uruguay, and in Andalucia and the Canary Islands of Spain.

Another change observed in Panamanian Spanish is the substitution of a [ʃ] sound (as in the English word "she") for words containing a "ch" spelling; e.g., muchacho [muˈʃaʃo], primarily among less educated speakers, although it can sometimes be observed among better educated speakers; this is common to Andalusian Spanish. In the later case both the "ch" and the [ʃ] sounds can be heard in the same phrase.

The letters /g/ (before /e/ or /i/) and /j/ are pronounced as /h/; this is common to Caribbean and other Latin American Spanish dialects, Canarian, and Andalusian Spanish dialects.

Lexicon

Lexically, Panamanian Spanish presents a variety of new terms introduced and being incorporated into the daily language all the time. The following quotation shows some common Panamanian expressions:

"Vecina, yo no soy vidajena, y no me gusta esa vaina ... pero te voy a contar un bochinche...
pero si me das de comer un poco de chicheme, concolón, carimañola, sancocho y mondongo....
Ese man flacuchento y ñato vestido de guayabera azul y sombrero montuno que viene allí ... Su motete ya no tiene ñame, guineo ni guandú. Lo que tiene es un pocotón de chécheres. Según la comadre fula radiobemba, el cambio en ese laopé no se debe a una macuá ..." ¹

¹From Carlos "Cubena" Guillermo Wilson, "El aporte cultural de la etnia negra en Panamá"

[Note: laopé = pelao ("boy")]

Further reading

External links

en Wikcionario