As with most languages, the
dialects that make up the Spanish language vary widely across the globe. Caribbean
Spanish sounds much from different from Spanish in Argentina, which again
sounds different from Spanish in Spain, and so on. But these variations are
associated with much more than just region; to native speakers of a language,
these syntactic, phonological, and semantic variations carry specific social,
cultural, economic, or even political connotations that contribute to
linguistic context. These biases inform us not just about the language itself,
but also about social and cultural biases within society.
A few years
ago, I performed a case study on these biases in Venezuelan Spanish for an
upper-level Spanish course at my high school. This project had two purposes: (1) to highlight
the regional differences in Spanish dialects, and (2) to identify
sociolinguistic biases within regional Spanish dialects. For this
study, I interviewed four native speakers with distinct demographic
backgrounds, yet who all were born in Venezuela, about their perceptions of
other dialects of Spanish. Specifically, I asked two questions:
- What are three countries that speak the [most/least] correct Spanish? (Why?)
- What are three countries that speak the [most/least] pleasant-sounding Spanish? (Why?)
Linguists generally shy away from
labeling one dialect as more “correct” or “pleasant” than another, but to a
native speaker, these preconceived notions are inscribed into the language
itself, so I elected to interview “average” native speakers as opposed to
academic experts on the Spanish language. Two participants were family members,
one of whom still lives in Caracas, one participant was an exchange student at
my high school, and the last participant was a fellow parish member and a
middle-aged mother.
The results of my study revealed a
couple trends worthy of note. Three out of the four participants selected Spain
as one of these countries. Since it is the birthplace of modern Spanish, the
country of Spain is often considered the region with the most correct and “pure”
Spanish, whereas the languages of the Americas has become “mixed” with
indigenous languages.
For the most part, the
participants’ answers to which dialects they found least pleasant followed
their answers for least correct, but one participant’s choice of Spain as the
least pleasant form of Spanish was particularly notable. As justification for
her stance, she said, “No entiendo la canal de television española,” (“I do not
understand Spanish television channels.”), which shows that the only real
contact she had with Peninsular Spanish (that is, from the
Spanish peninsula) has been through television.
She complained that she was able to understand some words but the
meaning of the sentences she heard was lost in the accent. This anecdote
highlights the major influence that technology, especially digital media and
communication, exerts on linguistics perceptions and exposure to other
languages.
Certainly,
these kinds of sociocultural perceptions exist in English as well, and it is
important to recognize these biases. For instance, the English spoken by a
upper-middle class Londoner is typically seen as the most correct – and often
the most pleasant – by many English speakers, while it is reasonable to assume
that a strong American Southern drawl would score lower on both correctness and
pleasantness metrics. By identifying and reasoning about these biases in
Spanish, I hope to encourage others to take a step back and identify similar
biases in their own native languages, and to consider their sources and
consequences in daily conversation.
I think this concept of regional variation is a very interesting one, and especially relevant to a language like Spanish, which is the official language of so many countries around the world. And these variations occur not only between countries, but also between regions within a single country. For example, in Colombia, the Spanish spoken in Bogotá is very different from that spoken on the coast, or even that spoken in Medellín, which is a mere 10 hours’ bus ride away (more or less). The accents and inflections are different; the vocabulary is different; the expressions are different. . . . And even between 2 cities as geographically near to one another as Bogotá and Medellín, the differences are often marked enough that just a small amount of speech will tell you which city the speaker comes from, and many speakers will assume implicit cultural differences between speakers of “paisa" and “rolo” dialects. (“Paisa” is used to refer to the Spanish spoken in Medellín (and other surrounding areas), while “rolo” refers to the Spanish most commonly used in Bogotá.)
ReplyDeleteAnd as Kevin mentioned, there are important sociocultural perceptions linked to these regional linguistic variations. While the terms “paisa” and “rolo” are used by academics to describe linguistic regions within Colombia, they are also used by everyday Colombians, and are used to mark both linguistic and cultural differences – they are used not only to refer to the dialect of Spanish an individual speaks, but also to refer to that individual (i.e.: Bogotanos are often referred to as “rolos”), and each term carries inherent stereotypes.
There is a mutually-informative relationship between linguistic variation and sociocultural variation. Each informs the other, and both are inextricably linked.
I think even more interesting than the sociolinguistic differences between different Spanish dialects, is the power that each of these dialects has to understand each other. Having lived in a suite of 4 different Spanish dialects last year, each with its own words and pronunciations, I can attest to the fact that it is incredibly easy to expand one's own vocabulary and phrasal lexicon to cater to wider, cross-dialect audiences. What interests me the most is how exposure to distinct Spanish dialects, through song or writing or some other form of media, helps paint a sharper cognitive picture of the use of language. Moreover, this does not apply exclusively to Spanish, it can be found in the relationship between British and American English as well. There are different phrases, spellings and uses of language in both.
ReplyDeleteIn all honesty, I think that it is a disservice to the learner not to be exposed to different dialects of the target language to be learnt. Be it Portuguese, Spanish, English or any other. These different dialects help "complete" the venn diagram of understanding of the use of language as a whole, and not region-restricted.
This post has made me reflect, as a native Spanish speaker, on what makes Spanish correct or beautiful. Yes, Spanish has its roots in Spain, however, language is an evolving phenomena. When Spanish became the go-to language of the majority of Latin America new words and expressions were added. These changes were not, I argue, a form of pollution of the purity of the language, but an evolution. Spanish was now able to be used to more perfectly describe a vast new world. This evolution is reflected in the fact that the Real Academia Española (rae.es), the governing body of the Spanish language based in Spain, is constantly adding and modifying the language based on cultural changes in Latin American countries. Therefore, I dislike saying that there is a correct form of Spanish, instead I argue there are many. However, I find your discussion of the sociolinguistic perception that Spanish from Spain to be perceived as most correct extremely fascinating as it highlights deep-seated historical and social consequences of Latin American colonialism.
ReplyDeleteYour assertion that "to native speakers of a language, these syntactic, phonological, and semantic variations carry specific social, cultural, economic, or even political connotations that contribute to linguistic context" really resonated with me. A few years ago, I spent four months in Argentina, where I slowly saw my spoken Spanish transform from the Central American/Mexican vernacular I learned in school (my teacher was from Guadalajara) into the Argentine one. After the initial shock of realizing just how different these two forms of Spanish were, I quickly became aware of some of the cultural and political connotations of the language. While the Argentinians seem to take pride in their unique dialect, it also seems to reflect some feelings of superiority to other Latin American Spanish-speaking countries. This is a gross generalization, of course, but nevertheless it does seem accurate on some level. After returning to the States, I was teased for my newly-acquired Argentinian accent by my friends who grew up speaking Mexican spanish. They joked that my new accent made me sound stuck-up and arrogant. It occurred to me that this connection between language could reflect a sort of dialogue between different cultures. Our perceptions of other forms of language and the meaning behind them can reflect complicated relationships between cultures and societies.
ReplyDeleteThanks for writing this post - I have always talked about and thought hard about the different dialects of Spanish but this sums up some really good points. Like you said, I think it is crucial to take a step back after gaining such knowledge and check one's own biases. We sometimes judge how someone speaks before the content of what they say. I see this happen a lot in the US and wonder if it also happens in other places. I'm sure it does? Personally, my parents are from Peru so I guess you can say we speak Peruvian Spanish. When I speak to someone from Spain in Spanish, I almost feel like they speak a different language because they dialects and pronunciations are different. That always fascinates me too..
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