Features of the Spanish language in Latin America. Spanish Difference between Spanish and Spanish Latin American

Despite the fact that Spaniards and Latin Americans generally understand each other well, nevertheless, the Spanish language in Latin America has its own characteristics, both in terms of phonetics, grammar, and vocabulary.

In addition, each "national version" of the Spanish language has its own nuances.

Learn more about the difference between Spanish and Latin American language variants from our Spanish expert - Natalia Volkova.

1 Why there are differences

The reasons for this should be sought in the distant past, since the conquerors (conquistadors) from Spain, in particular from Andalusia, played a great influence on the emergence and development of the Spanish language in the Latin American continent. Together with religion (Catholicism), culture and traditions, they brought the Spanish language.

Indigenous languages also influenced the formation of the Spanish language. For example, many Native American words served to designate household items, animals, plants and weather conditions that the Spaniards had not previously encountered in their native land.

2 Lexical Features

The most significant changes have affected the Spanish language in the field of vocabulary. This linguistic aspect is the most mobile, but least of all succumbed to the influence of classical Spanish, as it developed independently and under the influence of local languages and dialects.

If the pronunciation does not always interfere with understanding, then the different meanings of words can complicate the life of a person who owns the classic version. Out of ignorance, you can get into a funny situation!

Different words that have the same meaning

Spain	America Latina
charlar - to chat	platicar - to chat
echar de menos - to be bored	extrañar - to be bored
falda - skirt	pollera - skirt (Spanish for "chicken saleswoman")
gafas - glasses	anteojos - glasses (Spanish for "binoculars")
jersey - sweater	suéter - sweater
ordenador - computer	computadora - computer
ascensor - elevator	elevador - elevator (Spanish for "elevator")
alquilar - to rent / rent	rentar - rent / rent
tonto - stupid	pendejo - stupid
dinero - money	pay - money
¡Que bien! - How good!	¡Que padre! - How good! (Mexico)
¡Genial! - Cool! Cool!	¡Chevere! - Cool! / Cool! (Venezuela)
hermoso - beautiful	lindo - beautiful
ponerse de pie - get on your feet (get up)	pararse - stand up (Spanish for "stop")
acabar de - just to do something	recién + verbo indefinido - just to do something

The lexical stock of Spanish words is very different from Castilian, due to the preservation of a large number of archaisms that you can no longer find in the modern colloquial speech of the Spaniards, as well as Americanisms that the Spaniards are reluctant to let into their speech.

Borrowings from native languages: (taíno, náhuatl, kechua, etc.): maíz - corn, chocolate - chocolate, huracán - hurricane, tiburón - shark, papa - potato, guajira - basket, chacra - farm, batata - sweet potato, aguacate - avocado, cacao - cocoa, canoa - canoe, tiza - chalk.
Often one can observe the replacement of adverbs "aquí" with "acá" and "allí" on "alla".
Adverb "no mas", more often confluent nomas, very popular and serves to reinforce the previous word: ahorita nomas levantate - "Get up now!"

3 Phonetic differences between languages

The Spanish language in Latin America has slight pronunciation features that are very similar to the Andalusian dialect (after all, as we already know, a larger percentage of the conquerors came from this part of Spain).

As for the vowels, in most cases they are pronounced as in the Spanish language of Spain, but the most significant changes are observed in the field of pronunciation of consonants.

One can often observe in speech a simplification of the diphthong in the Rioplat zone: quieto (quiet) turns into queto, tiempo (time) in tempo, tú piensas (do you think) in vos pensás.
Quite often in spoken language there is a transition o -> u: t o davía (still) -> t u avia.
Another common phenomenon is the transition of an unstressed e-> i: tu abr e s - you open -> vos abr i s, tu com e s (you eat) -> vos com i s.
Phenomenon " seseo", when s, z, c = s, typical for all of Latin America: sins (c) ero - sincere, s (c) iudad - city, entons (c) es - then.
There are areas, especially the Países de la Plata, that preserve "ll - castellano". However, the phenomenon of "yeísmo" is widespread - when the sound "ll", is pronounced like " y"(th), for example, caballo -> caba yo. This phenomenon is especially common in the northern part of Argentina. Along with it also occurs "zeismo"- when "ll" pronounced like a sound "j", for example, in the word - calle (street) -> catze.
You can often see weakening "s" into a breathy sound "h" and even its complete disappearance at the end of a word/syllable, as in the words este (this one) -> e h te, mosca (fly) -> mo h ca, además (besides) -> ademá, me gusta (I like it) -> me guta.
aspirated "h" often identified with sound "j"(Russian "x") especially in the verb - huir (to run away) -> juir;
Often "f" goes into "j", especially in spelling "fu": fuego (fire) -> juego, fuerte (strong) -> juerte.
Mixing sounds "r" and "l"(at the end of a syllable) - when "r" is pronounced like "l" and vice versa. The word golpe (strike) -> will be read as Gorpe, puerta (door) -> puelta.
Characteristic for all of Latin America is the loss of the intervowel letter "r", so the preposition "para" will look like this: pa -> p': vent pa'ca- go here.
Frequent stress shift: país (country) -> pais, maíz (corn) -> maiz. Of two adjacent vowels, the stress falls on the strong one: paraíso (paradise) -> paraiso, caído (fallen) -> Caido.

4 word formation

For Latin America in the field of word formation, an abundance of diminutive suffixes is very characteristic. "missito" from "mismo", "igualito" from "igual", "ahorita" from "ahora".

Latin Americans are much more resourceful than Spaniards in creating new words and verbs. While the Spaniards use several words or verb constructions, the inhabitants of the Latin American continent invent one word to describe these actions and objects.

Examples: estar en una reunión -> sessionar- to be in a meeting, tocar el timbre (de la puerta) -> timbrar- knock on the door, bailar el tango -> tangear- dance tango, responsable por las relaciones publicas -> relaxationista- responsible for public relations.

5 Grammar and syntactic differences

One of the most significant grammatical phenomena of the Spanish language of the Latin American variant is considered " voceo"- is the use of a personal pronoun "vos" instead of "tu". Used to address both children and adults.
Complete absence of a personal pronoun "vosotros", the form is used instead "ustedes".¡Escuchad! (Listen!) -> ¡Escuchan!
Some nouns have the opposite gender than in classical Spanish: la llamada (call) -> el llamado, el color (color) -> la color. This is not at all surprising, since this is a characteristic feature of the Andalusian dialect, and the origins of this manifestation come from the ancient Spanish language, because in those days many nouns did not have a fixed gender and were used with both.
Phenomenon loismo- application of the pronoun "lo"(acusativo) instead of "le", "les" not only for objects, but also for persons, has become more widespread and freer than in Spain: le veo -\u003e lo veo(I see him).
Verbs also have some changes in the present tense in the second person singular: tú tienes -> vos tenes(you have), tú hases -> vos haces(you do), tú eres -> vos sos(you're). Ejemplo: ¿Vos tenes una computadora?
The use of verbs of motion is mainly in reflexive form: venir (come) -> venir se, entrar (enter) -> entrar se.
Preference for the use of the temporary form Preterito Indefinido(yo dije - I said) instead Preterito Perfecto(yo he dicho - I said) like in the north of Spain.
Freer use of the adverb "recipient". Unlike in Spain, where it defines and precedes the participle (recién nacido/ recién llegado), it can define any part of speech -> recien me compre el sueter I just bought myself a sweater.

That's all the main differences between the Spanish language of Latin America, from the classical version, which is spoken in Spain.

Knowing in advance all the features of the "Latin American version", you will be able to travel and communicate freely even with such subtleties and differences between language options.

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Countries:	Mexico, Colombia, Argentina and other Latin American countries, the Caribbean and the USA.
official status:	Argentina, Bolivia, Venezuela, Guatemala, Honduras, Dominican Republic, European Union, Western Sahara, Spain, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Mexico, Nicaragua, New Mexico (USA), Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico ( USA), El Salvador, Uruguay, Chile, Ecuador, Equatorial Guinea
Total number of carriers:	385 million (430-450 million including people for whom Spanish is a second language).

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El sistema olfativo es el sistema sensorial utilizado para la olfatibilidad. Este sistema es con frecuencia considerado, junto con el sistema gustativo.

Spanish or Castilian(Spanish español o castellano) is an Ibero-Romance language that originated in the medieval kingdom of Castile, which included the modern territory of the province of Burgos and the regions of La Rioja and Cantabria.

It belongs to the Indo-European family of languages (Romance group, Ibero-Romance subgroup). Writing based on the Latin alphabet.

Latin American Spanish language is somewhat different from ordinary Spanish. It is influenced by local Latin American languages and dialects. However, the general meaning of the text can be understood in most cases.

Spanish is the mother tongue of 358 million people (World Almanac, 1999 estimates). And if you also take into account people for whom Spanish is a second language, this figure will increase, and will be approximately 430-450 million. Spanish is the most common language on the continent of South America.

Spanish language is very unstable and constantly changing. There are many dialects of Spanish: Puerto Rican Spanish, Venezuelan Spanish, Murcian Spanish, Mexican Spanish and others. As well as a number of derivatives from Spanish: Ladino (Sephardic), Chabacano (Philippines), Papiamentu (Caribbean) and Palenquero.

Spanish alphabet

Spanish uses the Latin alphabet + an additional letter "ñ" ([ɲ]).

Letter	Pronunciation (Spanish)	Pronunciation (rus)
aa	a	a
bb	be	be
CC	ce	se
Dd	de	de
ee	e	e
FF	efe	efe
gg	ge	xe
hh	ache	ache
II	i	and
jj	jota	jota
Kk	ca	ka
Ll	ele	ele
mm	eme	eme
Nn	ene	ene
Ññ	ene	enier
Oh	o	o
pp	pe	ne
Qq	cu	ku
Rr	ere	era
Ss	ese	essay
Tt	te	those
Uu	u	at
vv	uve	uwe
www	uve double	uwe doble
xx	equis	ekis
Yy	i griega	and griega
Zz	ceda	gray hair

Until 1994, ch, ll, and rr were considered separate letters.

The stress in Spanish words falls on the last syllable if the word ends in a consonant (except n or s). If the word ends in a vowel or consonants n or s, then the stress falls on the penultimate syllable.

Online Spanish Latin American Translators

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Differences between Spanish from Latin America and Spain

We are often asked about the differences between the Spanish spoken in Spain and Latin America. However, even if there are slight differences in the types of Spanish, it must be emphasized that all Spanish speakers understand each other, no matter where they come from: from Cadiz or Cusco, Salamanca or Buenos Aires.

As mentioned above, there are differences between Spanish from Spain and Latin America. There are even subtypes of Spanish depending on the regions of Latin America or Spain!

First, let's think about the origin of the name of the language itself. In Latin America, it is often called Castilian (after the region of Castile), instead of Spanish. At the same time, in some regions of Spain where other languages such as Galician and Catalan are also spoken, Spanish is considered the official language.

Why are there differences?

When the Spanish conquistadors traveled the world to spread "Catholicism" in exchange for precious metals, they carried with them a language that would later change in their homeland.

A linguist named Marquardt coined the term "retraso colonial" or "colonial delay" to describe the phenomenon whereby a language in colonial countries remained unchanged in contrast to the language in its country of origin. An example is the use of "Fall" in the US and "Autumn" in the UK. When the British colonists went to the US, "Fall" was more common than in the Latin version of British English. Some time later, the word "fall" became obsolete in the UK, but still continues to be used in the United States. This process occurs not only with the vocabulary of the language, but also in grammar.

Later, immigrant groups from different parts of Europe brought their linguistic traditions to Latin America. In turn, these groups encountered local linguistic features, which combined to create local dialects.

pronoun vos

The colonies were formed by groups of Spaniards from different regions of Spain. In addition, they all spoke their own dialect, which was transmitted to the colonies. Over time, due to limited communication with Spain (it took several centuries for the invention of the telephone), the language began to develop and acquire the characteristics of local colonists. Some elements of the brought "original" Spanish have been preserved, others have changed.

One notable example of this process is the use of the pronoun vos, especially in Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay. Originally, vos was a second person plural pronoun ("you"), but came to be used as a courtesy in the second person singular ("you"), and later as an address among close friends ("you"). This pronoun was widely used in Spain at the time when the language came to South America. However, after some time it went out of the language of Spain, but still remained popular among the inhabitants of Rio de la Plata. Today, like 150 years ago, in a noisy cafe in Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay or Uruguay, you will often hear “¿de dónde sos?” instead of “¿de donde eres?” (where are you from?)

The use of vos and its various forms of conjugation in some places in Latin America is gaining popularity due to the use among small groups of people in Bolivia, Chile, Nicaragua, Guatemala and Costa Rica.

It is important to emphasize that both forms of the pronoun tú or vos (you) will be understood by Spanish speakers all over the world. Choosing one or the other pronoun will only indicate your country of origin or Spanish learning.

You are ustedes

Another difference in Spanish in Latin America is the use of ustedes (more formal) instead of vosotros (you, plural, informal). This means that when coming to Spain, students must remember one more form of the verb conjugation.

For example, in Spain you might say, ¿Cuál fue la última película que visteis? (what was the last movie you watched) to your friends, but probably tell your grandparents ¿Cuál fue la última película que vieron? (What was the last movie you saw?) In Latin America, the second form is used in both cases.

Ustedes (you) is also used in the Canary Islands. Only the Balearic Islands and Spain use vosotros (you). If you use only the Latin American version, you will be perfectly understood in Spain. And they will even consider you very polite!

Special words

Computadora (computer in Latin America) – ordenador (computer in Spain)

The vast majority of Spanish words are universal. But there are also special cases, such as teléfono móvil/celular (mobile phone) and ordenador/computadora (computer), in which the second word is taken from Latin American Spanish. There are also many other words that are used differently depending on the dialect. For example, in Spain they say bolígrafo (handle), in Chile they say lápaz pasta, in Argentina they say lapicera, and so on.

In general, the difference in vocabulary is no greater than between British and American English.

However: some words are still best used with caution. For example, in Spain, the verb coger means to take, catch, bring. In Latin America, coger is a colloquial term often used to describe... an act of love.

Pronunciation

The biggest differences in Spanish are in pronunciation, but even these are not so fundamental. For example, in many areas of Central America, the letter s is not always pronounced at the end of a word, and some other syllables may be omitted. In Argentina, the double l (ll), which is usually pronounced as a "ya" sound, has a "sh" sound.

Perhaps the most significant difference between pronunciation in Spain and Latin America is the notion of "ceceo" (pronunciation of interdental sound), which is common in Madrid and elsewhere in Spain. According to legend, this style of pronunciation was copied by the Spanish nobility from King Fernando. As is often the case, the legend remains only one of the guesses. Another explanation for this may be the origin of these sounds from ancient Castilian.

However, this does not explain why these elements of pronunciation did not come to the colonies. Not all changes in the language lend themselves to logic ... just like in English.

Naturally, you will absorb the accent of the region in which you are learning Spanish, but this will absolutely not be a problem for mutual understanding. We all have our own peculiarities of pronunciation and they can't be better or worse! If you acquire a particular accent while learning Spanish or any other language, it becomes part of your personality and reflects your experience and lifestyle. Which Spanish is better to learn: from Spain or Latin America?

Some people think that the Spanish language in Colombia is the purest and most beautiful. Others say Spanish in Argentina is the sexiest. And still others believe that Spanish in Madrid is the most correct, because the center of the Royal Academy of the Spanish Language is located there. Therefore, when choosing a place to study Spanish, you need to consider where you would like to live, what places to visit and, of course, your budget . Rest assured that whatever variety of Spanish you speak will be understood throughout the Spanish-speaking world.

First of all, it should be noted that Latin America is huge, and the dialects of different Latin American countries can differ from each other no less than from the European one. Venezuelan Spanish cannot be confused with Argentinean, and Chilean - with Cuban. The difference between Spanish dialects within Spain is also sometimes enormous. A significant proportion of Hispanics are descended from settlers from Andalusia and the Canary Islands, so it is not surprising that varieties of Spanish in these regions are often more similar to Latin American than to Castilian.

Among the notable features of the Spanish language in Spain are the following:

1. When referring to a group of people in Spain, the pronoun "vosotros/vosotras" (in oblique cases - os) is usually used. In Latin America, the pronoun "ustedes" (in oblique cases - "los / las, les") is used instead with the verb form of the third person plural; in Spain, this form is considered polite.

2. In addition, in some regions of Latin America, instead of the pronoun "tú" ("you"), they use the pronoun "vos" (but in oblique cases it's still "te") and use a special verb form with it, reminiscent of the second person plural European Spanish. This is especially pronounced in Argentina and Uruguay: they say "vos hablás" (not "tú hablas"), "vos sos" (not "tu eres"), and in the imperative mood - "vení" (not "ven ") and even "andate" (not "vete"). This usage is called "voseo" and the specifics of the verb conjugation vary greatly from country to country and city to city. In addition to Argentina and Uruguay, voseo is found in Chile, Paraguay, the Venezuelan state of Zulia, some cities in Colombia, and in some countries of Central America.

3. In some areas of Spain, the sounds [s] (indicated by the letter S) and [θ] (interdental consonant, indicated by the letters Z and C) are distinguished, they say about this phenomenon "distinción". In Latin America and some other areas of Spain, no such distinction is made, but always [s] (or [h], see below), this phenomenon is called "seseo". In some parts of Andalusia (Spain), on the contrary, they always say [θ] instead of [s], this is called "ceceo" (as far as I know, ceceo is also found on the Peruvian coast); in some Andalusian cities (Granada, Cordoba) they pronounce an intermediate sound between [s] and [θ].

It is worth noting that in Spain outside of Andalusia [s] is pronounced somewhat lispingly. In Latin America, this lisping [s] is typical only for the province of Antioquia in Colombia.

4. In some areas of Spain, Y and LL are still distinguished and LL is pronounced as a particularly soft "l" [ʎ]. It is said that the same distinction was preserved in the Andes (perhaps because the [ʎ] sound is also found in Quechua). Most of Latin America (and a significant part of Spain) pronounce Y and LL in exactly the same way (the so-called "yeísmo") - like "y", "j", and in some countries (Argentina, Uruguay) even like "zh" or "sh".

5. In Spain, the so-called "perfect" is very often used in the meaning of the past tense (the verb "haber" in the present tense plus the passive participle): "he comido, has llegado". In Argentina and Uruguay, they almost never say this, but use a different form (the so-called "simple past"): "comí, llegaste" (and sometimes even "llegastes", although this is not very literate). In other countries (at least in Venezuela), the perfect and the simple past perform different functions, corresponding very approximately to the Russian perfect and imperfect forms.

6. In Spain (except in the Canary Islands and Andalusia already known to us), it is usually not difficult to pronounce the sounds [s] and [n] at the end of a syllable. But on the Caribbean coast, as well as in Andalusia and the Canaries, we usually say [h] (and sometimes nothing at all) and [ŋ] (back language sound, as in the English word "sing"). In other countries (Argentina, Uruguay), [n] is pronounced like in Spain, but [s] is almost never, so Buenos Aires is actually Buenoh Aireh.

7. Of course, the use of very many words differs, and very seriously - this is not a curb with a curb for you. In Spain and Peru "car" is "coche", while in Venezuela and Ecuador it is "carro". In Spain "to be bored" is "echar de menos" and in Latin America it is "extrañar". In Spain, "cool" or "cool" is "guay", on the Caribbean coast, in Ecuador and Peru - "chévere", and in Argentina neither of these is spoken. As noted above, "coger" in Spain means "to take", and in some Latin American countries it means "to have sex" (moreover, in Venezuela they ask him the question "who?" - "cogerse a alguien", and in Argentina - you can just "with whom?" - "coger con alguien"); in this case "take" should be translated as "agarrar" or "tomar".

Each country, and even city, has its own local words (the so-called "modismos"). In Venezuela, this is, for example, "vaina" or "broma" ("thingy", literally "pod" and "joke") and "pana" ("friend"), in Argentina - "che" (universal interjection for all occasions ) and "boludo" ("moron", but in general close friends are often called so), in Chile - "pololo / polola" ("(someone's) boyfriend / (someone's) girl").

This list is almost endless, so it's time to stop. Many scientific articles are devoted to the peculiarities of the speech of each particular region. In almost every country in Latin America (everyone except Cuba, where there is almost no internet), the huge number of vloggers and podcasters is an invaluable resource for mastering the nuances of their speech, you just have to want to.

The victorious procession of the Spanish language across Latin America began in the 15th century, when the Spanish conquerors first set foot on the new continent. Spanish in South American countries differs from its classical variant in a number of ways, which are still ongoing. This article will list some of them, the most famous and documented in scientific writings.

Spanish in South America differs from traditional Spanish in some pronunciation features, many of which are also characteristic of the Andalusian dialect. This dialect had a strong influence on "Latin" Spanish, since the inhabitants of Andalusia made up about 60% of the emigrants who moved to the new continent after its conquest.

In Argentina and other parts of South America, the letter y, as well as the combination of letters ll, sounds like a softened Russian "zh" or [Ȝ], for example:
yo - [Ȝo], calle -.
This feature of the language has been called zeí smo. In traditional Spanish, these letters resemble the Russian "y" sound.
In Mexico, Cuba and Argentina, the so-called seseo is often found, that is, the absence of a sound [Ѳ] and replacing it with a sound [s]:
pobreza - , entonces - .
The sound [s] at the end of a word in colloquial speech is often “swallowed”:
libro(s) , mucho(s) , mis amigo(s) ;
in Chile, Cuba and Argentina it sometimes becomes an aspirated [h]:
las casas -, mosca -;
in Mexico, it is clearly pronounced, but the preceding vowel is lost:
tres pesos - .
In many South American countries, the population of rural areas in conversation rearranges the letters in places. For example, instead of l, r can be used, and vice versa:
calamares sounds like , pierna like , soldado like . Instead of h (not pronounced at the beginning of a word), you can hear g: huevos -.

Lexical Features

The main feature of the spoken version of Spanish in Latin America is a whole layer of vocabulary called “Americanisms”. "Americanisms" became part of the language due to the numerous influences of other cultures and nationalities on it. The two main sources of their occurrence are:

pre-existing Spanish words that have changed or acquired new meanings in the course of the evolution of the language;
Indian languages (they were spoken by the indigenous population of the lands conquered by the Spaniards), as well as borrowings of Anglo-Saxon and Italian origin.

So, for example, the word pollera (women's skirt) is widespread in Argentina and a number of other countries in South America, while in Spain it is archaic and is no longer used. The same happened with such words as prieto (black), frazada (blanket) and others. Vereda in Spanish means path, and in Peru and Argentina the same word is translated as sidewalk. Instead of charlar (talk), Latin Americans say platicar, instead of aparcamiento (parking) - estacionamiento, instead of escaparate (window) - vidriera. And there are quite a few such examples.

Words that have entered Spanish through the influence of local language groups are usually called "Indigenisms". Vocabulary such as maíz (corn), hamaca (hammock), tabaco (tobacco), patata (potato), cacique (leader of an Indian tribe), etc. are borrowed from Arawakan and Caribbean languages; cacahuete (peanut), tocayo (namesake), chicle (chewing gum), iucara (cup), chocolate (chocolate) - from Nahuatl, the Aztec language, which was once spoken in what is now Mexico. Another source of words of Indian origin was the Inca languages of Quechua and Aymara. The Incas lived in Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru and partly Chile. Words such as llama (llama), cóndor (condor), caucho (rubber), papa (potato) were borrowed from them.

Most of the indigenous vocabulary preserved in the modern "Spanish-American" language denotes local realities, that is, animals, plants, tools and objects characteristic of South America. Some of the above words have already firmly entered the vocabulary of the inhabitants of Spain and are perceived by them as “their own”, while others are completely unknown to them, for example: cholo (shoes) or ruca (hut). Currently, there are about 123 language families of Indian languages that have left their imprint in the Spanish language of the South American continent.