Rioplatense Spanish
Encyclopedia
Rioplatense Spanish or River Plate Spanish is a dialectal variant (or simply, a "dialect") of the Spanish language
spoken mainly in the areas in and around the Río de la Plata basin
(or River Plate region) of Argentina
and Uruguay
, and also in Rio Grande do Sul
, although features of the dialect are shared with the varieties of Spanish spoken in Eastern Bolivia
and Chile
. The usual word employed to name the Spanish language in this region is castellano (Castilian) and seldom español (Spanish) (see: Names given to the Spanish language
).
Note that while this article refers to Rioplatense Spanish as a single dialect, there are distinguishable differences among the varieties spoken in Argentina and in Uruguay, as described below.
, La Plata
, Mar del Plata
, Santa Fe
and Rosario
in Argentina, Montevideo
in Uruguay, and far south of Rio Grande do Sul
in Brazil, the five 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
.
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.
Spanish of the time, because of the diversity of settlers and immigrants to Argentina and Uruguay:
, Quechua
and others were incorporated into the local form of Spanish.
Some words of Amerindian origin commonly used in Rioplatense Spanish are:
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.
N.B. Baúl means trunk (although not necessarily in the sense of a car trunk) in all varieties of Spanish.
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:
NOTE: In this example, not to pronounce the 'r' in "irte" and "parar" is considered less educated speech.
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
, and published in Bilingualism: Language and Cognition (ISSN
1366-7289), Buenos Aires 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
.
One of the features of the Argentinian and Uruguayan speaking style is the voseo
: the usage of the pronoun vos for the second person singular, instead of tú. In other Spanish-speaking regions where voseo is used, it is typically considered a nonstandard lower-class sociolectic or regional variant (Central American Spanish
, however, is a notable exception); whereas in Argentina, voseo is standard. Vos is used with forms of the verb that resemble those of the second person plural (vosotros) in traditional (Spain's) Peninsular Spanish.
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:
Tú amás is only used in some parts of Uruguay, where it coexists with Vos amás. However, tú and vos are not interchangeably used, but rather vos denotes a more intimate relationship between the parties in conversation. In formal speech, usted ama. Ustedes is used throughout all of Latin America for both the familiar and formal. In Spain, 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
:
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).
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 tú conjugation, some speakers do use the classical vos conjugation, employing the vosotros form minus the i in the final diphthong. Many consider only the tú subjunctive forms to be correct.
In the preterite
, an s is often added, for instance (vos) perdistes. This corresponds to the classical vos conjugation found in literature. Compare Iberian Spanish form vosotros perdisteis. However, it is often deemed incorrect.
Other verb forms coincide with tú after the i is omitted (the vos forms are the same as tú).
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.
) 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.
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
spoken mainly in the areas in and around the Río de la Plata basin
La Plata Basin
The Río de la Plata Basin , sometimes called the Platine basin or Platine region, is the name given to the hydrographical area that covers parts of Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay...
(or River Plate region) of Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
and Uruguay
Uruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
, and also in Rio Grande do Sul
Rio Grande do Sul
Rio Grande do Sul is the southernmost state in Brazil, and the state with the fifth highest Human Development Index in the country. In this state is located the southernmost city in the country, Chuí, on the border with Uruguay. In the region of Bento Gonçalves and Caxias do Sul, the largest wine...
, although features of the dialect are shared with the varieties of Spanish spoken in Eastern Bolivia
Media Luna
The Media Luna or Media Luna Ampliada refers to a group of four departments – Santa Cruz, Beni, Pando, and Tarija – in Bolivia which became the geographic area of opposition to the national government led by Evo Morales and the Movement for Socialism...
and Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
. The usual word employed to name the Spanish language in this region is castellano (Castilian) and seldom español (Spanish) (see: Names given to the Spanish language
Names given to the Spanish language
There are two names given to the Spanish language: Spanish and Castilian . Spanish speakers from different countries or backgrounds can show a preference for one term or the other, or use them indiscriminately, but political issues or common usage might lead speakers to prefer one term over the...
).
Note that while this article refers to Rioplatense Spanish as a single dialect, there are distinguishable differences among the varieties spoken in Argentina and in Uruguay, as described below.
Location
Rioplatense is mainly based in the cities of Buenos AiresBuenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
, La Plata
La Plata
La Plata is the capital city of the Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina, and of La Plata partido. According to the , the city proper has a population of 574,369 and its metropolitan area has 694,253 inhabitants....
, Mar del Plata
Mar del Plata
Mar del Plata is an Argentine city located on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, south of Buenos Aires. Mar del Plata is the second largest city of Buenos Aires Province. The name "Mar del Plata" had apparently the sense of "sea of the Río de la Plata region" or "adjoining sea to the Río de la Plata"...
, Santa Fe
Santa Fe, Argentina
Santa Fe is the capital city of province of Santa Fe, Argentina. It sits in northeastern Argentina, near the junction of the Paraná and Salado rivers. It lies opposite the city of Paraná, to which it is linked by the Hernandarias Subfluvial Tunnel. The city is also connected by canal with the...
and Rosario
Rosario
Rosario is the largest city in the province of Santa Fe, Argentina. It is located northwest of Buenos Aires, on the western shore of the Paraná River and has 1,159,004 residents as of the ....
in Argentina, Montevideo
Montevideo
Montevideo is the largest city, the capital, and the chief port of Uruguay. The settlement was established in 1726 by Bruno Mauricio de Zabala, as a strategic move amidst a Spanish-Portuguese dispute over the platine region, and as a counter to the Portuguese colony at Colonia del Sacramento...
in Uruguay, and far south of Rio Grande do Sul
Rio Grande do Sul
Rio Grande do Sul is the southernmost state in Brazil, and the state with the fifth highest Human Development Index in the country. In this state is located the southernmost city in the country, Chuí, on the border with Uruguay. In the region of Bento Gonçalves and Caxias do Sul, the largest wine...
in Brazil, the five 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
Riverense Portuñol language
The Riverense Portuñol/Portunhol, also known as Fronterizo/Fronteiriço or just Portuñol/Portunhol, is a mixed language formed from Portuguese and Spanish. It is spoken on the border between Uruguay and Brazil, and more specifically in the region of the twin cities of Rivera and Santana do...
.
Influences on the language
The Spaniards brought their language to the area during the Spanish colonizationSpanish colonization of the Americas
Colonial expansion under the Spanish Empire was initiated by the Spanish conquistadores and developed by the Monarchy of Spain through its administrators and missionaries. The motivations for colonial expansion were trade and the spread of the Christian faith through indigenous conversions...
in the region. Originally part of the Viceroyalty of Peru
Viceroyalty of Peru
Created in 1542, the Viceroyalty of Peru was a Spanish colonial administrative district that originally contained most of Spanish-ruled South America, governed from the capital of Lima...
, the Río de la Plata basin had its status lifted to Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata
Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata
The Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, , was the last and most short-lived Viceroyalty of the Spanish Empire in America.The Viceroyalty was established in 1776 out of several former Viceroyalty of Perú dependencies that mainly extended over the Río de la Plata basin, roughly the present day...
in 1776.
Until the massive immigration to the region
Immigration to Argentina
Immigration in Argentina, can be divided in several major stages:* Spanish colonization starting in the 16th century, integrating the indigenous inhabitants ....
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
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, comprise people of relatively recent European descent, the largest immigrant groups coming from Italy and Spain.
European immigration
Several languages influenced the criolloCriollo (people)
The Criollo class ranked below that of the Iberian Peninsulares, the high-born permanent residence colonists born in Spain. But Criollos were higher status/rank than all other castes—people of mixed descent, Amerindians, and enslaved Africans...
Spanish of the time, because of the diversity of settlers and immigrants to Argentina and Uruguay:
- 1870–1890: mainly SpanishSpanish languageSpanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
, BasqueBasque languageBasque is the ancestral language of the Basque people, who inhabit the Basque Country, a region spanning an area in northeastern Spain and southwestern France. It is spoken by 25.7% of Basques in all territories...
, GalicianGalician languageGalician is a language of the Western Ibero-Romance branch, spoken in Galicia, an autonomous community located in northwestern Spain, where it is co-official with Castilian Spanish, as well as in border zones of the neighbouring territories of Asturias and Castile and León.Modern Galician and...
and Northern Italian speakers and some from FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, GermanyGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, and other EuropeEuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an countries. - 1910–1945: again from Spain, Southern Italy and in smaller numbers from across Europe; Jewish immigration—mainly from RussiaRussiaRussia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
and PolandPolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
from the 1910s until after World War IIWorld War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
—was also significant. - English-speakers—from BritainUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and IrelandRepublic of IrelandIreland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
—were not as numerous as the Italians, but were influential in industry, business, education and agriculture. In the case of the English immigrants, they were certainly influential within the upper middle class.
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 GuaraniGuaraní language
Guaraní, specifically the primary variety known as Paraguayan Guaraní , is an indigenous language of South America that belongs to the Tupí–Guaraní subfamily of the Tupian languages. It is one of the official languages of Paraguay , where it is spoken by the majority of the population, and half of...
, Quechua
Quechua languages
Quechua is a Native South American language family and dialect cluster spoken primarily in the Andes of South America, derived from an original common ancestor language, Proto-Quechua. It is the most widely spoken language family of the indigenous peoples of the Americas, with a total of probably...
and others were incorporated into the local form of Spanish.
Some words of Amerindian origin commonly used in Rioplatense Spanish are:
- From QuechuaQuechua languagesQuechua is a Native South American language family and dialect cluster spoken primarily in the Andes of South America, derived from an original common ancestor language, Proto-Quechua. It is the most widely spoken language family of the indigenous peoples of the Americas, with a total of probably...
: gauchoGauchoGaucho is a term commonly used to describe residents of the South American pampas, chacos, or Patagonian grasslands, found principally in parts of Argentina, Uruguay, Southern Chile, and Southern Brazil...
(orig. wakcha "poor person") - From GuaraniGuaraní languageGuaraní, specifically the primary variety known as Paraguayan Guaraní , is an indigenous language of South America that belongs to the Tupí–Guaraní subfamily of the Tupian languages. It is one of the official languages of Paraguay , where it is spoken by the majority of the population, and half of...
: pororó (popcorn)
- See Influences on the Spanish languageInfluences on the Spanish languageThe Spanish language has a long history of borrowing words, expressions and subtler features of other languages it has come in contact with.Spanish developed from Vulgar Latin, with influence from Celtiberian , Basque and Arabic, and Visigothic in the north of the Iberian Peninsula.-Formative...
for a more comprehensive review of borrowings into all dialects of Spanish.
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
Calque
In linguistics, a calque or loan translation is a word or phrase borrowed from another language by literal, word-for-word or root-for-root translation.-Calque:...
) technical words from American English, while Peninsular Spanish tends to borrow or calque them from British English or from French.
| Rioplatense | Castilian Castilian Spanish Castilian Spanish is a term related to the Spanish language, but its exact meaning can vary even in that language. In English Castilian Spanish usually refers to the variety of European Spanish spoken in north and central Spain or as the language standard for radio and TV speakers... |
Andalusian Andalusian Spanish The Andalusian varieties of Spanish are spoken in Andalusia, Ceuta, Melilla and Gibraltar. They include perhaps the most distinct of the southern variants of peninsular Spanish, differing in many respects from northern varieties, and also from Standard Spanish... |
Mexican Mexican Spanish Mexican Spanish is a version of the Spanish language, as spoken in Mexico and in various places of Canada and the United States of America, where there are communities of Mexican origin.... |
Chilean Chilean Spanish Chilean Spanish is the variety of Spanish spoken in most of Chile. Though still entirely mutually intelligible with standard Spanish, Chilean Spanish has distinctive pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, and slang usage... |
English English language English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria... (US American English American English is a set of dialects of the English language used mostly in the United States. Approximately two-thirds of the world's native speakers of English live in the United States.... /UK British English British English, or English , is the broad term used to distinguish the forms of the English language used in the United Kingdom from forms used elsewhere... ) |
Italian Italian language Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia... |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| durazno | melocotón | melocotón | durazno | durazno | peach | pesca |
| damasco | albaricoque | albaricoque | chabacano | damasco | apricot | albicocca |
| frutilla | fresa | fresa | fresa | frutilla | strawberry | fragola |
| papa | patata | patata/papa | patata | papa | potato | patata |
| poroto | judía/alubia | habichuelas | frijol | poroto | bean | fagiolo |
| sweater/suéter/pulóver | jersey | jersey | suéter | suéter/chomba/chaleco | sweater/pullover | pullover |
| moño | pajarita | pajarita | moño | (corbata) humita | bowtie | farfallino |
| auto/coche | coche | coche | carro/coche | auto | car | auto(mobile) |
| celular | móvil | móvil | celular | celular | cell phone/mobile | cellulare |
| computadora | ordenador | ordenador | computadora | computador | computer | computer |
| baúl (del auto) | maletero | maletero | cajuela | maleta (del auto)/maletero | (car) trunk/boot | baule |
| valija | maleta | maleta | veliz/maleta/petaca | maleta | luggage or suitcase | valigia |
| pollera | falda | falda | falda | falda | skirt | gonna |
| ricota | requesón | requesón | requesón | ricota | ricotta cheese | ricotta |
| remera | camiseta | playera | camiseta/playera | polera/camiseta | T-shirt | maglietta |
| pancho | perrito | salchicha | hotdog/jocho | hotdog/completo | hotdog | hot dog/salsiccia |
| pibe/chico/botija | chaval | chaval | chavo/chavalo/muchacho/chamaco/bato/chico | lolo/cabro/chico | boy | ragazzo |
N.B. Baúl means trunk (although not necessarily in the sense of a car trunk) in all varieties of Spanish.
Phonology
Rioplatense Spanish distinguishes itself from other dialects of Spanish by the pronunciation of certain consonants.- Like many other dialects, Rioplatense features yeísmoYeísmoYeísmo is a distinctive feature of many dialects of the Spanish language, which consists of the loss of the traditional palatal lateral approximant phoneme and its merger into the phoneme , usually realized as a palatal fricative or affricate. In other words, ‹ll› and ‹y› represent the same sound...
: the sounds represented by ll (historically the palatal lateral /ʎ/) and y (historically the palatal approximant /j/) have fused into one. Thus, in Rioplatense, se cayó "he fell down" is homophonous with se calló "he became silent". This merged phoneme is generally pronounced as a postalveolar fricative, either voicedVoiced postalveolar fricativeThe voiced palato-alveolar fricative or voiced domed postalveolar fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is Z. An alternative symbol used in some...
[ʒ] in the central and western parts of the dialect region (this phenomenon is called zheísmo) or voicelessVoiceless postalveolar fricativeThe voiceless palato-alveolar fricative or voiceless domed postalveolar fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in many spoken languages, including English...
[ʃ] in and around Buenos Aires (called sheísmo) These are the sounds in English measure and mission, or the French j and ch, respectively.
- In popular speech, the fricative /s/ has a tendency to become 'aspirated' before another consonant (the resulting sound depending on what the consonant is, although stating it is a voiceless glottal fricativeVoiceless glottal fricativeThe voiceless glottal transition, commonly called a "fricative", is a type of sound used in some spoken languages which patterns like a fricative or approximant consonant phonologically, but often lacks the usual phonetic characteristics of a consonant...
, [h], would give a clear idea of the mechanism) or simply in all syllable-final positions in less educated speech. This change may be realized only at the word level or it may also cross word boundaries. That is, esto es lo mismo "this is the same" is pronounced something like [ˈe̞ʰto̞ ˈe̞ʰ lo̞ ˈmiʰmo̞], but in las águilas azules "the blue eagles", /s/ in las and águilas might remain [s] as no consonant follows: [las ˈaɣilas aˈsule̞ʰ], or become [h]; the pronunciation is largely an individual choice.
- In some areas, speakers tend to drop the final r sound in verb infinitives. This elision is considered a feature of uneducated speakers in some places, but it is widespread in others, at least in rapid speech.
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 ke̞ˈɾe̞ ˈit̪e̞ ãn̪ˈd̪at̪e̞. ʃo̞ no̞ t̪e̞ βo̞i a paˈɾa
NOTE: In this example, not to pronounce the 'r' in "irte" and "parar" is considered less educated speech.
Intonation
Preliminary research has shown that Rioplatense Spanish, and particularly the speech of the city of Buenos Aires, has intonationIntonation
Intonation may refer to:*Intonation , the variation of tone used when speaking*Intonation , a musician's realization of pitch accuracy, or the pitch accuracy of a musical instrument*Intonation Music Festival, held in Chicago...
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
National Scientific and Technical Research Council
The National Scientific and Technical Research Council is an Argentine government agency which directs and co-ordinates most of the scientific and technical research done in universities and institutes....
of Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, and published in Bilingualism: Language and Cognition (ISSN
International Standard Serial Number
An International Standard Serial Number is a unique eight-digit number used to identify a print or electronic periodical publication. Periodicals published in both print and electronic form may have two ISSNs, a print ISSN and an electronic ISSN...
1366-7289), Buenos Aires residents speak with an intonation most closely resembling Neapolitan
Neapolitan language
Neapolitan is the language of the city and region of Naples , and Campania. On October 14, 2008 a law by the Region of Campania stated that the Neapolitan language had to be protected....
. 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
Porteño
Porteño in Spanish is used to refer to a person who is from or lives in a port city, but it can also be used as an adjective for anything related to those port cities....
accent was more similar to that of Spain, especially Andalusia
Andalusia
Andalusia is the most populous and the second largest in area of the autonomous communities of Spain. The Andalusian autonomous community is officially recognised as a nationality of Spain. The territory is divided into eight provinces: Huelva, Seville, Cádiz, Córdoba, Málaga, Jaén, Granada and...
.
Pronouns and verb conjugation
Voseo
Voseo is the use of the second person singular pronoun vos in many dialects of Spanish. In dialects that have it, it is used either instead of tú, or alongside it....
: the usage of the pronoun vos for the second person singular, instead of tú. In other Spanish-speaking regions where voseo is used, it is typically considered a nonstandard lower-class sociolectic or regional variant (Central American Spanish
Central American Spanish
Central American Spanish is the general name of the Spanish language dialects spoken in Central America...
, however, is a notable exception); whereas in Argentina, voseo is standard. Vos is used with forms of the verb that resemble those of the second person plural (vosotros) in traditional (Spain's) Peninsular Spanish.
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
T-V distinction
In sociolinguistics, a T–V distinction is a contrast, within one language, between second-person pronouns that are specialized for varying levels of politeness, social distance, courtesy, familiarity, or insult toward the addressee....
). 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:
| Person/Number | Peninsular | Rioplatense |
|---|---|---|
| 1st sing. | yo amo | yo amo |
| 2nd sing. | tú amas | vos amás or tú amás¹ |
| 3rd sing. | él ama | él ama |
| 1st plural | nosotros amamos | nosotros amamos |
| 2nd plural | vosotros amáis | ²ustedes aman |
| 3rd plural | ellos aman | ellos aman |
Tú amás is only used in some parts of Uruguay, where it coexists with Vos amás. However, tú and vos are not interchangeably used, but rather vos denotes a more intimate relationship between the parties in conversation. In formal speech, usted ama. Ustedes is used throughout all of Latin America for both the familiar and formal. In Spain, 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
Root (linguistics)
The root word is the primary lexical unit of a word, and of a word family , which carries the most significant aspects of semantic content and cannot be reduced into smaller constituents....
:
| Peninsular | Rioplatense |
|---|---|
| yo pierdo | yo pierdo |
| tú pierdes | vos perdés or tú 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).
| Verb | Standard Spanish | Castilian Castilian Spanish Castilian Spanish is a term related to the Spanish language, but its exact meaning can vary even in that language. In English Castilian Spanish usually refers to the variety of European Spanish spoken in north and central Spain or as the language standard for radio and TV speakers... in plural |
Rioplatense | Chilean Chilean Spanish Chilean Spanish is the variety of Spanish spoken in most of Chile. Though still entirely mutually intelligible with standard Spanish, Chilean Spanish has distinctive pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, and slang usage... |
Maracaibo Voseo | English English language English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria... (US American English American English is a set of dialects of the English language used mostly in the United States. Approximately two-thirds of the world's native speakers of English live in the United States.... /UK British English British English, or English , is the broad term used to distinguish the forms of the English language used in the United Kingdom from forms used elsewhere... ) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cantar | tú cantas | vosotros cantáis | vos cantás | tú cantai | vos cantáis | you sing |
| Correr | tú corres | vosotros corréis | vos corrés | tú corrís | vos corréis | you run |
| Partir | tú partes | vosotros partís | vos partís | tú partís | vos partís | you leave |
| Decir | tú dices | vosotros decís | vos decís | tú decís | vos decís | you say |
- Hablá más fuerte, por favor. "Speak louder, please." (hablad in Peninsular)
- Comé un poco de torta. "Eat some cake." (comed in Peninsular)
- Vení para acá. "Come over here." (venid in Peninsular)
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 tú conjugation, some speakers do use the classical vos conjugation, employing the vosotros form minus the i in the final diphthong. Many consider only the tú subjunctive forms to be correct.
- Espero que veas or Espero que veás "I hope you can see" (Peninsular veáis)
- Lo que quieras or (less used) Lo que querás "Whatever you want" (Peninsular queráis)
In the preterite
Preterite
The preterite is the grammatical tense expressing actions that took place or were completed in the past...
, an s is often added, for instance (vos) perdistes. This corresponds to the classical vos conjugation found in literature. Compare Iberian Spanish form vosotros perdisteis. However, it is often deemed incorrect.
Other verb forms coincide with tú after the i is omitted (the vos forms are the same as tú).
- Si salieras "If you went out" (Peninsular salierais)
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 tú (compare youYou
You is the second-personpersonal pronoun, both singular and plural, and both nominative and objective case, in Modern English. The oblique/objective form you functioned originally as both accusative and dative)...
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 has been replaced by a verbal phrase (periphrasisPeriphrasis
In linguistics, periphrasis is a device by which a grammatical category or grammatical relationship is expressed by a free morpheme , instead of being shown by inflection or derivation...
) 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:
- Creo que descansaré un poco → Creo que voy a descansar un poco (I think I will rest a little → I think I am going to rest a little)
- Mañana me visitará mi madre → Mañana me va a visitar mi madre (Tomorrow my mother will visit me → Tomorrow my mother is going to visit me)
- La visitaré mañana → La voy a visitar mañana (I will visit her tomorrow → I am going to visit her tomorrow)
The present perfect (Spanish: Pretérito perfecto compuesto), just like pretérito anterior, is rarely used: the simple past replaces it.
- Juan no ha llegado todavía → Juan no llegó todavía (Juan has not arrived yet → Juan did not arrive yet)
- El torneo ha comenzado → El torneo comenzó (The tournament has begun → The tournament began)
- Ellas no han votado → Ellas no votaron (They have not voted → They did not vote)
See also
- Diccionario de argentinismosDiccionario de argentinismosDiccionario de argentinismos is an authoritative dictionary of the Spanish language as occurring in Argentina prior to 1911. It was published in 1911 under the auspices of the Comisión Nacional del Centenario and printed in Buenos Aires by Imprenta de Coni Hermanos .The introduction begins with a...
(book) - Immigration to ArgentinaImmigration to ArgentinaImmigration in Argentina, can be divided in several major stages:* Spanish colonization starting in the 16th century, integrating the indigenous inhabitants ....
- LunfardoLunfardoLunfardo is a dialect originated and developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in the lower classes in Buenos Aires and the surrounding Gran Buenos Aires, and from there spread to other cities nearby, such as Rosario and Montevideo, cities with similar socio-cultural situations...
, Buenos Aires slang argotArgotAn Argot is a secret language used by various groups—including, but not limited to, thieves and other criminals—to prevent outsiders from understanding their conversations. The term argot is also used to refer to the informal specialized vocabulary from a particular field of study, hobby, job,... - Spanish dialects and varietiesSpanish dialects and varietiesSpanish dialects and varieties are the regional variants of the Spanish language, some of which are quite divergent from one another, especially in pronunciation and vocabulary, and less so in grammar....
- VoseoVoseoVoseo is the use of the second person singular pronoun vos in many dialects of Spanish. In dialects that have it, it is used either instead of tú, or alongside it....
External links
Diccionario argentino-español- Argentine Spanish Slang Dictionary
- Jergas de habla hispana Spanish dictionary specializing in slang and coloquial expressions, featuring all Spanish-speaking countries, including Argentina and Uruguay.