Spanish Language Varieties in Spain and in Mexico

Spanish Language Varieties in Spain and in MexicoSpanish lingual communication varieties in Spain and in Mexico.George Bernard Shaw regarded Great Britain and the States as two countries divided by a common linguistic outgrowth. This stall can be also applied to Spain and Mexico, the Spanish-speaking countries with dissimilar voice communication varieties and parlances that go been formed under the set of particularised historical, cultural, political and hearty events. Despite the fact that Spanish is spoken in many countries, the study varieties of Spanish can be observed in Latin the States and Spain, where the delivery, according to Cl be Mar-Molinero (2000), is buoyant and secure (p.18).Spanish belongs to the Indo-European spoken lecture family and comes from blunt Latin voice communication, although Spanish vocabulary consists of Italian, French and Arabic words. Spanish language in Latin America has five major varieties the Caribbean, the South American Paci fic, the Argentinian-Uruguyan-Paraguayan, the Central American, and the Highland (or standard) Latin American. However, this classification is too generalised, as it is base only on the differences in pronunciation. Due to the immensity of the territory where Latin American Spanish is spoken (Lipski, 1994 p.3), linguists analyse language varieties along geographical, political, ethnic, musicological and mixer lines (Lipski, 1994 p.3). The residents of Mexico mainly use the Caribbean and Highland Latin American dialects that emerged subsequently the organic law of Peruvian Spanish. Nahuatl dialect that belongs to the Uto-Aztecan language company (Andrews, 1975) and has the greatest puzzle out in central Mexico (Lipski, 1994 p.6) is an ancient Spanish dialect. About one one million million Mexican people speak Nahuatl dialect nowadays. In Spain there are also two principal language varieties the Castilian and the Andalusian dialects that were formed in the middle ages, alt hough some regions of Northern and Southern Spain create another(prenominal) specific dialects. As Spanish language descends from Castile, the Spanish region that became a displace of political significance since the thirteenth century, the Castilian dialect is one of the most far-flung varieties and is accepted as a national criterion in Spain. Mar-Molinero (2000) considers that the phenomenon of Castilianisation was initiated by the Visigoths however, it was only in the eighteenth century when the Castilian dialect displaced other language varieties as a result of Charles III 1768 declaration, demonstrating a profound rival of political prevalence on linguistic prevalence. Mar-Molinero (2000) also states that the Andalusian dialect considerably influenced the formation of the Standard Latin American (pp.36-37), although this viewpoint is potently opposed by sociolinguists. Other crucial language varieties in Spain are Euskara, Galician and Catalan these dialects have some para llels with Portuguese and French languages, although they do not belong to the Indo-European language family. The emergence of these three Spanish varieties is intimately connected with the spread of nationalism. The Levantine varieties also constitute an important group of dialects utilised in such Spanish regions as Alicante, Valencia and Castelln. People in these areas currently use Catalan/Valencian, Murcian, Andalusian, Aragon, and La Manche/Castile dialects.The differences in all these Spanish language varieties attribute to pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar (Penny, 2000). In particular, pronunciation of the Standard Latin American differs from the Castilian, similar to the dissimilarities between British English and American English. In the Castilian dialect the sounds ce or ci are changed into th gracias (thanks) appears as gratheas however, in the Standard Latin American the word gracias is pronounced as gras-see-as. Such separate pronunciation of the word grasseeas i s a characteristic boast of the Standard Latin American dialect. In the Castilian dialect some words are ended in a vocable vowel, losing their last consonants, man two Mexican dialects are characterised by the pronunciation of final consonants. Overall, the saving in Mexico is slow in comparison with the speech in the volume of Spanish regions (Hill Hill, 1986) however, the Caribbean, or Lowland dialect is defined as a rather prompt and lax variety of Spanish language.In accessory to the differences in pronunciation, there are some differences in grammar. In Mexican Spanish ustedes (you) is utilised both for formal and informal address, while in Castilian Spanish there are two words for formal and informal address ustedes and vosotros, respectively. Some verbs in the Caribbean and Highland Latin American dialects have changed their sign forms, acquiring certain Anglicisms and Americanisms. In particular, Mexican residents say, Apliqu a la Universidad (I applied to the univ ersity), while Spanish people utilise a to a greater extent precise form Postul a la universidad. Similarly, Spaniards in Spain prefer to utilise pasado perfecto (the compound tense that is similar to English Present Perfect tense) Yo he viajado a los Estados Unidos (I have travelled to the USA). Mexican people use a more simplified tense pretrito indefinido (English Past Indefinite), for example, Viaj a Estados Unidos (I travelled to the USA). match to Julia Kristeva (1989), Language is so intimately linked to man and society that they are inseparable (p.3) thus, the utilisation of Anglicisms and Americanisms in Mexican Spanish reflects historical and social differences between Spain and Mexico. Duncan Green (1997) points at the impact of the United States on language and identity of Mexican population in particular, the author states that The mass media has conk out a battleground in the struggle to define Latin Americans identity (pp.98-99). The simplification of Spanish lang uage in Mexico reveals that divers(a) social changes modify language, and language shapes the identity of Mexican people. As Mar-Molinero (2000) states, not only does language have an instrumental role as a means of communication, it also has an extremely important symbolic role as marker of identity (p.3). Due to the fact that social identities of Mexican and Spanish people differ, Spanish language of Mexico and Spain is characterised by a rather mingled(a) vocabulary. For instance, the word Okay is translated as Sale in Mexico, and as Chungo in Madrid similarly, the word work is rendered as chambear in Mexico and as currar in Spain.Another difference that distinguishes Mexican Spanish from Spanish in Spain is the saving of archaisms in the Caribbean and Highland Latin American dialects. Such words and expressions as rale (All right), Ya mero (almost) or Qu pedo? (What is going on?) are normal for Mexican Spanish, but they are not utilised in Spain. John Lipski (1994) conside rs that these language varieties emerged as a result of cultural and social interactions of Spain and Mexico with other countries. The Standard Latin American dialect was considerably influenced by Italian and African immigrants who arrived in Latin America at the end of the nineteenth the commencement ceremony of the twentieth centuries (Lipski, 1994 pp.11-12). Skidmore and Smith (2000) reveal the similar viewpoint, claiming that in Latin America languages, food, sports, and music all show profound and continuing African influence (p.356). Simultaneously, the Standard Latin American and the Caribbean dialects reflect native roots, especially Indian roots that are rather distinct in Mexican Spanish. For instance, the language of the Mayans serves as the basis for more than thirty dialects in Mexico, let simply the language of the Aztecs. In particular, many modern Mexican dialects preserve initial and final sounds tl- in certain words, like Nahuatl, Quetzalcoatl, the god of Aztec s, or Tlaxcala, Mexican state. As Skidmore and Smith (2000) point out, Aside from the Mayans, Aztecs, and Incas, there were many other Indian cultures. In the area of modern-day Mexico alone there were over 200 different linguistic groups (p.14). However, the impact of the Castilian language on the formation of Mexican Spanish is the greatest, as the Castilian was the only language taught in Mexican schools with the arrival of Spanish settlers. Thus, three major aspects aggravated the differences between Spanish spoken in Spain and Spanish spoken in Mexico Spanish settlements in Mexico, immigration of English, Italian and African people, and finally, linguistic drift.Analysing Spanish language varieties in Mexico and Spain, the essay demonstrates that the differences mainly exist in spoken language, influencing such linguistic aspects as vocabulary, pronunciation and grammar. The Caribbean and Highland Latin American dialects in Mexico and the Castilian and the Andalusian dialects in Spain are characterised by diverse accent, idioms and unique words, but these variants are integral parts of Spanish language. As a result of various social and political changes, modern Mexican Spanish has been exposed to the process of Americanisation, which considerably simplifies vocabulary and grammar of Spanish dialects in Mexico and intensifies the differences between Mexican Spanish and Spanish spoken in Spain. The spread of travels and mass media changes Spanish language in both Mexico and various areas of Spain, revealing unique cultural identities of different Spanish-speaking groups. BibliographyAndrews, J. R. (1975) Introduction to Classical Nahuatl. Austin, University of Texas.Green, D. (1997) Faces of Latin America. Nottingham, Russell Press, Latin American Bureau.Hill, J. H. and Hill, K.C. (1986) address Mexicano. Tucson, University of Arizona Press.Kristeva, J. (1989) Language The Unknown An Initiation Into Linguistics. London, Harvest Wheatsheaf.Lipski, J.M. (1 994) Latin American Spanish. London, New York, Longman.Mar-Molinero, C. (2000) The Politics of Language in the Spanish-Speaking World from settlement to Globalization. London, New York, Routledge.Penny, R. (2000) Variation and Change in Spanish. Cambridge Cambridge University Press.Skidmore, T. E. and Smith, P.H. (2000) Modern Latin America. fifth edition. Oxford, Oxford University Press.