Uruguayan Spanish

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Uruguayan Spanish
castellano uruguayo
Pronunciation [espaˈɲoluɾuˈɣwaʝo]
Native to Uruguay
Region Río de la Plata
Native speakers
3,347,800, all users in Uruguay (2014) [1]
L1 users: 3,270,000
L2 users: 77,800
Early forms
Latin (Spanish alphabet)
Official status
Official language in
Flag of Uruguay.svg  Uruguay (de facto)
Regulated by Academia Nacional de Letras
Language codes
ISO 639-1 es
ISO 639-2 spa [2]
ISO 639-3
Glottolog None
IETF es-UY
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Uruguayan Spanish (Spanish : castellano uruguayo), a part of Rioplatense Spanish, is the variety of Spanish spoken in Uruguay and by the Uruguayan diaspora. [3]

Contents

Influences

There is strong influence of Italian and its dialects, particularly Genovese, [4] because of the presence of large Italian communities in the country (for example in Montevideo and Paysandú). The Uruguayan accent differs from the accents of Spain and other Spanish American countries, except for Argentina, due to Italian influence. There are many Italian words incorporated in the language (nona, cucha, fainá ("farinata, chickpea flour crêpe"), chapar, parlar, festichola ("house party"), etc.), as well as words of Italian derivation (for example: mina derived from femmina, or pibe ("child") from pivello). Italian has also altered the meaning of many preexisting Spanish words. For instance, pronto means "soon" in most Spanish dialects, including Argentine Spanish. However in Uruguayan Spanish, pronto instead means "ready", the same meaning as pronto in Italian. [5]

Uruguayan Spanish was also influenced by several native languages. For instance the Uruguayan word pororó meaning "popcorn" originating from the Tupian language Guaraní. Another examples is the word gurí/gurises meaning "kid(s)" which originates from the Guaraní word ngiri, also meaning child.

In the southeastern department of Rocha, as well as along the northern border with Brazil, [6] there is some influence of Brazilian Portuguese, in addition to the Portuguese spoken in northern Uruguay.

Grammar

Tuteo vs voseo

In the southern region of the country including Montevideo, the voseo form of address is used. The second-person pronoun vos is used instead of , along with its associated verbal conjugations. In other areas of the country, tuteo is more commonly used than voseo, such as Rocha and in some parts of Maldonado. [7] In some places, is used as the subjective pronoun with the verb conjugated in accordance to voseo; tú tenés instead of tú tienes (tuteo) or vos tenés (voseo). Use of the tuteo or voseo form of the prepositional pronounti and vos respectively—also varies. [8] Spanish exhibits a fused tuteo prepositional pronoun ti with the preposition con into a single compound word contigo. In contrast to Argentina where contigo is rarely used, Uruguay exhibits more variance between contigo and con vos, with con vos still the more frequent of the two. Though there is much variation, Uruguayan Spanish generally prefers ti as the second-person prepositional pronoun over vos with the exception of con vos.

As with most dialects of Spanish, the formal pronoun usted is used in very formal contexts, such as when speaking to government authorities.

Había vs habían

In Spanish, hay means "there are/is." Though unintuitive, it is technically the third-person impersonal indicative conjugation of haber meaning "to have". Its usage indicating existence originates from Old Spanish's ha ý (“it has there”), ha being the third-person singular present form of aver (“to have”) + ý, a locative pronoun. Since hay is both the plural and singular impersonal present indicative conjugation, the subject's number is irrelevant. However in the imperfect, the impersonal indicative haber splits between the plural and the singular: había ("there was") and habían ("there are"). In prescriptive grammar, había is considered the proper conjugation in both cases. However in Uruguayan Spanish, habían is occasionally used as the plural impersonal imperfect indicative conjugation while in other dialects of Spanish (including Argentinian Spanish) it is essentially never used at all. [9] For example, había flores (literally "there was flowers") is considered proper while habían flores ("there were flowers") is considered improper.

Vocabulary

Much of Uruguayan vocabulary overlaps with Argentina under the banner of Rioplatense. However, there are a few deviations in meaning of words and commonly used parlance that distinguishes Uruguayan Spanish from Argentine Spanish. For instance,

Comparative Vocabulary

Below are vocabulary differences between Uruguay and other Spanish-speaking countries: Argentina, Paraguay, Spain, Mexico, Costa Rica, Chile, and Puerto Rico. It shows how Spanish is different in three continents where there are Spanish-speaking countries (Europe, North America, and South America) and in different regions of those continents (Central America, Caribbean, and Southern Cone). Italian and Brazilian Portuguese have also been influential in Uruguayan Spanish and are also included. While people in Uruguay and most of Argentina speak the dialect Rioplatense, there are some notable differences in vocabulary between the two countries, which are bolded.

American English Uruguay Argentina Chile Paraguay Colombia Mexico Costa Rica Puerto Rico Spain Brazil Italy Ref.
apartment apartamentodepartamentodepartamentodepartamentoapartamentodepartamentoapartamentoapartamentopisoapartamentoappartamento [5] [13]
apricot damascodamascodamascodamascoalbaricoquechabacanoalbaricoquealbaricoquealbaricoquedamascoalbicocca
artichoke alcaucilalcaucilalcachofaalcachofaalcachofaalcachofaalcachofaalcachofaalcachofaalcachofracarciofo
avocado paltapaltapaltaaguacateaguacateaguacateaguacateaguacateaguacateabacateavocado
banana bananabananaplátanobananabananoplátanobananoguineoplátanobananabanana
bean porotoporotoporotoporotofrijolfrijolfrijolhabichuelajudía/alubiafeijãofagiolo
bell pepper morrónmorrónpimientolocotepimentónpimientochile dulcepimientopimientopimentãopeperone
boiler calderapavacalefóncalefóncalefónbóilercalefóncalderacalderacaldeiracaldaia
bra soutiencorpiñososténcorpiñobrasierbrasierbrasierbrasiersujetadorsutiãreggiseno [14]
butter mantecamantecamantequillamantecamantequillamantequillamantequillamantequillamantequillamanteigaburro
car autoautoautoautocarrocarrocarrocarrocochecarromacchina [15]
clothespin palillobrochepinzapinzaganchopinzaprensapinchepinzaprendedormolletta [14]
corn on
the cob
choclochoclochoclochoclomazorcaeloteelotemazorcamazorcaespiga de
milho
pannocchia
earring caravanaaroaroaroaretearetearetepantallapendientebrincoorecchino [5]
gas station bombaestación de serviciobencinerael surtidorbombagasolineríabombagasolineragasolineraposto de gasolinastazione di servizio [5]
grapefruit pomelopomelopomelopomelotoronjatoronjatoronjatoronjapomelotoranjapompelmo
green bean chauchachauchaporoto verdechauchahabichuelaejotevainicahabichuela
tierna
judía verdevagemfagiolino
panties bombachabombachacalzónbombachacalzóncalzóncalzónpantybragacalcinhamutande
pastries biscochosfacturaspastelespastelespastelespan dulcetortaspastelesreposteríapastelariapasticcini [15]
pea arvejaarvejaarvejaarvejaarvejachícharoguisanteguisanteguisanteervilhapisello
peach duraznoduraznoduraznoduraznoduraznoduraznomelocotónmelocotónmelocotónpêssegopesca
peanut manímanímanímanímanícacahuatemanímanícacahueteamendoimarachide
pineapple ananáananápiñapiñapiñapiñapiñapiñapiñaabacaxiananas
popcorn pop / pororópochoclocabritaspororócrispetas/
maíz pira
palomitaspalomitas
de maíz
popcornpalomitaspipocaspopcorn [5]
sandwich [I] refuerzosánguchesánguchesánguchesánduchetortasandwichsánduchesándwichsanduíchetramezzino [5] [15]
sneakers championeszapatillaszapatillaschampionestenisteniszapato tenisteniszapatillas/ playerastênisscarpe da ginnastica [5]
soft drink refrescogaseosabebidagaseosagaseosarefrescogaseosarefrescorefrescorefrigerantebibita [5]
straw pajitapajitabombillapajitapitillopopotepajillasorbetopajitacanudocannuccia
strawberry frutillafrutillafrutillafrutillafresafresafresafresafresamorangofragola [15]
sweet
potato
boniatobatatacamotebatatabatatacamotecamotebatataboniatobatata docepatata dolce [5]
swimming
pool
piscinapiletapiscinapiletapiscinaalbercapiscinapiscinapiscinapiscinapiscina [16]
transit bus [II] ómnibuscolectivomicrocolectivoautobúscamiónautobúsguaguaautobúsônibusautobus [5] [15]
t-shirt remeraremerapoleraremeracamisetaplayeracamisetat-shirtcamisetacamisetamaglietta
  1. Refers to the type of sandwich made with sandwich bread, not a sandwich made with a roll or baguette known as a sub sandwich which has a distinct word in Italian and many Spanish dialects.
  2. Although the official word for bus deviates between Argentina and Uruguay, in both countries the word bondi is used more frequently in colloquial speech.

See also

References

  1. Spanish → Uruguay at Ethnologue (21st ed., 2018) Closed Access logo transparent.svg
  2. "ISO 639-2 Language Code search". Library of Congress. Retrieved 21 September 2017.
  3. "Rioplatense Spanish".
  4. Meo Zilio, Giovanni (1963–64). "Genovesismos en el español rioplatense". Nueva Revista de Filología Hispánica. T. 17, No. 3/4 (1963/1964) (3/4): 245–263. JSTOR   40297676.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Richards, Olly. "The Complete Guide To Uruguayan Spanish". StoryLearning. Retrieved 13 December 2024.
  6. D. Lincoln Canfield, Spanish Pronunciation in the Americas (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1981), p. 89.
  7. Weyers, Joseph R. (3 September 2014). "The Tuteo of Rocha, Uruguay: A Study of Pride and Language Maintenance". Hispania. 97 (3): 382–395. doi:10.1353/hpn.2014.0087. ISSN   2153-6414. S2CID   144945948.
  8. Eddington, David Ellingson (9 November 2019). "A corpus study of grammatical differences between Uruguayan and Argentinian Spanish". Isogloss. Open Journal of Romance Linguistics. 6 (6) (published 27 October 2020). doi:10.5565/rev/isogloss.90 via RACO.
  9. Eddington, David Ellingson (9 November 2019). "A corpus study of grammatical differences between Uruguayan and Argentinian Spanish". Isogloss. Open Journal of Romance Linguistics. 6 (6) (published 27 October 2020). doi:10.5565/rev/isogloss.90 via RACO.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "The Insider's Guide to Uruguayan Slang: What You Need to Know". Listen & Learn. 22 May 2024. Retrieved 17 December 2024.
  11. 1 2 3 4 "Uruguayan Slang Terms". Live Lingua. Retrieved 17 December 2024.
  12. 1 2 Higgs, Karen A (14 March 2017). "Expressions you'll only hear in Uruguay". GURU'GUAY. Retrieved 17 December 2024.
  13. "How To Say "Apartment" In Spanish". mostusedwords. 18 June 2023. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
  14. 1 2 Garcia, Kevin. "Argentina Spanish and Uruguay Spanish: the difference". Spanish With Kevin. Retrieved 17 December 2024.
  15. 1 2 3 4 5 "10 words with different meanings in different Spanish countries". Lingoda . 1 November 2023. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
  16. Pepper. "Kitchen Sink? How to Correctly Say Swimming Pool in Spanish". Professor Pepper. Retrieved 14 December 2024.