Central American Spanish
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Central America Spanish (Spanish: Español centroamericano) is the general name of the Spanish language dialects spoken in the Central American region. More precisely, the term refers to the Spanish language as spoken in Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Guatemala and Panama.
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[edit] Variation
While most vocabulary is common, each country has its variations, for instance, for "corner store" and "soft drink": In Guatemala, they are tienda and agua (water is agua pura). In El Salvador, they are tienda and gaseosa. In Honduras, they are pulpería (in the north called trucha informally) and fresco. In Nicaragua, they are venta or pulpería and gaseosa. In Costa Rica, they are pulpería and gaseosa although they could also be Abastecedor and Refresco or Fresco.[1]
[edit] Phonetics and phonology
Some characteristics of Central American phonology include:
- /s/ at the end of a syllable or before a consonant is pronounced like [h], except in central Guatemala and in Costa Rica.[citation needed]
- j (/x/), is aspirated except in some areas of Costa Rica; it is soft as the /h/ in English (e.g.: Yahoo).[citation needed]
- There is no confusion between /l/ and /r/, as in the Caribbean.[citation needed]
- /s/, /z/ and in some cases /c/ (as in cerrar) are pronounced as [s][citation needed]
[edit] Voseo
The most common form for the second person singular in Central America is vos[2].
People say "vení" for "come here" or "pedí tu cosa" for "ask for your thing" (see picture).
Its conjugation follows the pattern, (for “you have”) vos tenés instead of tú tienes, or (for “you sing”) vos cantás instead of tú cantas. The pronoun Usted is used when addressing older, unfamiliar or respected persons, as it is in all Spanish countries; however, in Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Honduras it is frequently used with younger people, and in Honduras between husband and wife.[3]
[edit] Lexicon
There are also many words unique to Central America, for example, Chunche or Chochadas means Thing or Stuff in some places[citation needed]. Also the words used to describe children (or kids) is different in various countries, for example in Guatemala they are called "Patojos" while in Honduras they are call them "Guirros", while or "Cipotes" is used in both Honduras and El Salvador, while in Costa Rica they are called "Guilas" or "Carajillos".[citation needed] In Honduras and El Salvador money is called pisto, a term originally used by Maya peoples in Guatemala but considered archaic there.[4]
[edit] References
- ^ Lonely Planet Central America on a Shoestring by Tom Brosnahan, Carolyn Hubbard and Barbara Reioux
- ^ Voseo, el otro castellano de América
- ^ Lonely Planet Central America on a Shoestring by Tom Brosnahan, Carolyn Hubbard and Barbara Reioux
- ^ Honduras slang
[edit] See also
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