Rioplatense Spanish

Rioplatense Spanish
Español rioplatense
Pronunciation [espaˈɲol ri.oplaˈtense]
Native to Argentina, Uruguay
Native speakers
Unknown (date missing)
Latin (Spanish alphabet)
Language codes
ISO 639-3
Glottolog None
Approximate area of Rioplatense Spanish with Patagonian variants included.

Rioplatense Spanish (Spanish: español rioplatense, locally castellano rioplatense)[1] is a dialect[2][3][4] of the Spanish language spoken mainly in the areas in and around the Río de la Plata Basin of Argentina and Uruguay.[5] It is also referred to as River Plate Spanish or Argentine Spanish.[6] Being the most prominent dialect to employ voseo in both speech and writing, many features of Rioplatense are also shared with the varieties spoken in Eastern Bolivia, Chile, and Peru. This dialect is often spoken with an intonation resembling that of the Neapolitan language of Southern Italy, but there are exceptions. The usual word employed to name the Spanish language in this region is castellano (English: Castilian) and seldom español (English: Spanish; see Names given to the Spanish language).

Due to the fact that Rioplatense is merely a peculiar dialect and not a language, there are no credible figures for a total number of speakers. Generally, native speakers of Spanish who were raised in Uruguay or the majority of Argentina are assumed to speak Rioplatense (at least informally) just as, for instance, Americans would be assumed to speak American English, rather than any other variety of English. The total population of these areas would amount to some 25–30 million, depending on the definition and expanse.

Location

Rioplatense is mainly based in the cities of Buenos Aires, Rosario, Santa Fe, La Plata and Mar del Plata in Argentina, and Montevideo in Uruguay, the most populated cities in the dialectal area, along with their respective suburbs and the areas in between. 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 and in all of Patagonia). Rioplatense is the standard in audiovisual media in Argentina and Uruguay. To the north, and northeast exists the hybrid Riverense Portuñol.

Influences on the language

The Spaniards 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 lifted 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.

European immigration

Several languages, and especially Italian, influenced the criollo Spanish of the time, because of the diversity of settlers and immigrants to Argentina and Uruguay:

Influence of indigenous populations in Argentina

European settlement decimated Native American populations before 1810, and also during the expansion into Patagonia (after 1870). However, the interaction between Spanish and several of the native languages has left visible traces. Words from Guarani, Quechua and others were incorporated into the local form of Spanish.

Some words of Amerindian origin commonly used in Rioplatense Spanish are:

pochoclo (pop + choclo, from choqllo, corn) -- popcorn in Argentina

See Influences on the Spanish language for a more comprehensive review of borrowings into all dialects of Spanish.

Linguistic features

Vocabulary

Differences between dialects of Spanish are numerous; about 9,000 Rioplatense words are not used or, in many cases, even understood elsewhere. These include many terms from the basic vocabulary, such as words for fruits, garments, foodstuffs, car parts, etc., as well as local slang.

Rioplatense vocabularies continue to diverge from Peninsular Spanish: Rioplatense Spanish tends to borrow (or calque) technical words from American English, while Peninsular Spanish tends to borrow or calque them from British English or from French.

Selected vocabulary differences
Rioplatense Castilian Andalusian Mexican Chilean English (US/UK) Italian Neapolitan
durazno melocotón melocotón durazno durazno peach pesca 'o ppièzzeco
damasco albaricoque albaricoque chabacano damasco apricot albicocca 'a crisòmmola/'a crisciùmmola
frutilla fresa fresa fresa frutilla strawberry fragola 'a fràvula/'a vràvuja
papa patata patata/papa papa papa potato patata 'a patàna/'a patànn'
poroto judía/alubia habichuelas frijol poroto bean fagiolo 'o fasulo/'o fasciulo
sweater/suéter/pulóver jersey jersey suéter suéter/chomba/chaleco sweater/pullover maglione/pullover 'o maglion
moño pajarita pajarita moño (corbata) humita bowtie farfallino 'a natìcola/'a pullomma
depravado guarro guarro jarioso depravado depraved porcellino 'o scapucchiune
auto coche coche carro/auto/coche auto car auto (mobile); macchina 'a màchina/'o ccarro
celular móvil móvil celular celular cell phone/mobile cellulare, telefonino 'o cellular
computadora ordenador ordenador computadora computador computer computer 'o compiutèr/'u ccumpùter/'u 'mpùter
baúl (del auto) maletero maletero cajuela maletero (car) trunk/boot baule 'o bbagùgghje/'o bbagùllo
valija maleta maleta maleta/petaca maleta luggage or suitcase; valise valigia 'a balìce/'a bajìce
pollera falda falda falda falda/pollera skirt gonna 'a faùda/'a gunnèddra
ricota requesón requesón requesón ricota ricotta cheese ricotta 'a rrecutt'/'a recotta
remera camiseta playera camiseta/playera polera/camiseta T-shirt maglietta 'a cammìsa
pancho perrito salchicha hotdog/jocho completo/completo frankfurter/hot dog würstel 'o wiustell
niño/pibe/chico chaval chaval chavo/muchacho/chamaco/bato/chico lolo/cabro chico boy ragazzino 'o ninno/'o guàglio/'o guajò/'o guagliòne

Phonology

Rioplatense Spanish distinguishes itself from other dialects of Spanish by the pronunciation of certain consonants.

Aspiration of /s/, together with loss of final /r/ and some common instances of diphthong simplification, tend to produce a noticeable simplification of the syllable structure, giving Rioplatense informal speech a distinct fluid consonant-vowel-consonant-vowel rhythm:

Si querés irte, andate. Yo no te voy a parar.
"If you want to go, then go. I'm not going to stop you."
 [si keˈɾe ˈite ãnˈdate  

Intonation

Preliminary research has shown that Rioplatense Spanish, and particularly the speech of the city of Buenos Aires, has intonation patterns that resemble those of Italian dialects. This correlates well with immigration patterns. Argentina has received huge numbers of Italian settlers since the 19th century.

According to a study conducted by National Scientific and Technical Research Council of Argentina[9] 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 similar to that of Spain, especially Andalusia.[10]

Pronouns and verb conjugation

In this map of voseo countries, the spread of the dialect is clearly illustrated. Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay are represented by dark blue on the map, Rioplatense Spanish is spoken in these regions. Argentina is the largest country that uses the voseo, and it is associated as exclusively belonging to that nation.

One of the features of the Argentine and Uruguayan speaking style is the voseo: the usage of the pronoun vos for the second person singular, instead of . In other Spanish-speaking regions where 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 vosotros in Spain, is replaced with ustedes in Rioplatense, as in most other Latin American dialects. While usted is the formal second person singular pronoun, its plural 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). Ustedes takes a grammatically third- person plural verb.

As an example, see the conjugation table for the verb amar (to love) in the present tense, indicative mode:

Inflection of amar
Person/Number Peninsular Rioplatense
1st sing. yo amo yo amo
2nd sing. tú amas vos amás
3rd sing. él ama él ama
1st plural nosotros amamos nosotros amamos
2nd plural vosotros amáis ustedes aman¹
3rd plural ellos aman ellos aman
(¹) Ustedes is used throughout all of Latin America for both the familiar and formal. In Spain, outside of Andalusia, it is used only in formal speech for the second person plural.

Although apparently there is just a stress shift (from amas to amás), the origin of such a stress is the loss of the diphthong of the ancient vos inflection from vos amáis to vos amás. This can be better seen with the verb "to be": from vos sois to vos sos. In vowel-alternating verbs like perder and morir, the stress shift also triggers a change of the vowel in the root:

Inflection of perder
Peninsular Rioplatense
yo pierdo yo pierdo
tú pierdes vos perdés
él pierde él pierde
nosotros perdemos nosotros perdemos
vosotros perdéis ustedes pierden
ellos pierden ellos pierden

For the -ir verbs, the Peninsular vosotros forms end in -ís, so there is no diphthong to simplify, and Rioplatense vos employs the same form: instead of tú vives, vos vivís; instead of tú vienes, vos venís (note the alternation).

Selected Conjugation Differences in Present Indicative
Verb Standard Spanish Castilian in plural Rioplatense Chilean 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 vos are identical to the plural imperative forms in Peninsular minus the final -d (stress remains the same):

The plural imperative uses the ustedes form (i. e. the third person plural subjunctive, as corresponding to ellos).

As for the subjunctive forms of vos verbs, while they tend to take the conjugation, some speakers do use the classical vos conjugation, employing the vosotros form minus the i in the final diphthong. Many consider only the subjunctive forms to be correct.

In the preterite, an s is sometimes added, for instance (vos) perdistes. This corresponds to the classical vos conjugation found in literature. Compare Iberian Spanish form vosotros perdisteis. However, it is incorrect.

Other verb forms coincide with after the i is omitted (the vos forms are the same as ).

Other Conjugation Differences
Standard Spanish Rioplatense / Argentine Chilean Maracaibo Voseo Castilian in plural English (US/UK)
lo que quieras lo que quierás/querás lo que querái lo que queráis whatever you want
espero que veas espero que 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

Usage

In the old times, vos was used as a respectful term. In Rioplatense, as in most other dialects which employ voseo, this pronoun has become informal, supplanting the use of (compare you in English, which used to be formal singular but has replaced and obliterated 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.

Usage of tenses

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 spoken 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.

Influence on Chilean Spanish

In Chilean Spanish there is plenty of lexical influence from the Argentine dialects suggesting a "masked prestige" otherwise not expressed, since the image of Argentinian things is otherwise 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 in cable television and by watching Argentine programs in the broadcast television. La Cuarta, a "popular" newspaper, 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 would be one of "asymmetric permeability", with Chilean Spanish adopting sayings of the Argentine variants but usually not the other way around.[11]

See also

References

  1. locally [kasteˈʃano rioplaˈtense] or [kasteˈʒano-]
  2. Orlando Alba, Zonificación dialectal del español en América ("Classification of the Spanish Language within Dialectal Zones in America"), in: César Hernández Alonso (ed.), "Historia presente del español de América", Pabecal: Junta de Castilla y León, 1992.
  3. Jiří Černý, "Algunas observaciones sobre el español hablado en América" ("Some Observations about the Spanish Spoken in America"). Acta Universitatis Palackianae Olomucencis, Facultas Philosophica Philologica 74, pp. 39-48, 2002.
  4. Alvar, Manuel, "Manual de dialectología hispánica. El español de América", ("Handbook of Hispanic Dialectology. Spanish Language in America."). Barcelona 1996.
  5. Resnick, Melvyn: Phonological Variants and Dialects Identification in Latin American Spanish. The Hague 1975.
  6. Del Valle, José, ed. (2013). A Political History of Spanish: The Making of a Language. Cambridge University Press. pp. 212–228. ISBN 9781107005730.
  7. Charles B. Chang, "Variation in palatal production in Buenos Aires Spanish". Selected Proceedings of the 4th Workshop on Spanish Sociolinguistics, ed. Maurice Westmoreland and Juan Antonio Thomas, 54-63. Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project, 2008.
  8. Díaz-Campos, Manuel (2014). Introducción a la sociolinguistica hispana. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
  9. Colantoni, Laura; Gurlekian, Jorge (August 2004). "Convergence and intonation: historical evidence from Buenos Aires Spanish". Bilingualism: Language and Cognition. Cambridge University press. 7 (2): 107–119. ISSN 1366-7289. doi:10.1017/S1366728904001488.
  10. "Napolitanos y porteños, unidos por el acento - 06.12.2005 - lanacion.com". Lanacion.com.ar. 2005-12-06. Retrieved 2015-08-11.
  11. Salamanca, Gastón; Ramírez, Ariella (2014). "Argentinismos en el léxico del español de Chile: Nuevas evidencias". Atenea. 509: 97–121. Retrieved 16 January 2016.

Further reading

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