2003 ATA Annual Conference Proceedings_Topics in Spanish Lexical Dialectology: Back to Basics

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When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for a

people to improvise new words to catch and crystallize the new

realities of a new land; to give birth to a new vocabulary endowed

with its creators’ irrepressible shapes and textures and flavors; to

tell tales taller and funnier than anyone else had ever thought to

before; to establish a body of literature in a national grain; and to

harmonize a raucous chorus of immigrant voices and regional

lingoes–then this truth becomes self-evident: that a nation

possesses the unalienable right to declare its linguistic

independence and to spend its life and liberty in the pursuit of a

voice to sing of itself in its own words.

Richard Lederer

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(From “Topics in Spanish lexical dialectology: back to basics” by Andre Moskowitz in

Proceedings of the 44th Annual Conference of the American Translators Association, Phoenix,

Arizona, U.S.A., November 5-8, 2003. Scott Brennan, comp. American Translators Association,

2005. 287-343. The original publication from the Proceedings included illustrations that

unfortunately do not appear in this file.)

TOPICS IN SPANISH LEXICAL DIALECTOLOGY: BACK TO BASICS

Andre Moskowitz

Keywords: Spanish, regionalisms, terminology, dialectology, lexicography, sociolinguistics.

Abstract: This paper presents information on Spanish-language terms that vary by region.1

0 INTRODUCTION

When giving walking or driving directions to a stranger in Spanish, the usted command doble a

la derecha is used and understood throughout the Spanish-speaking world in the sense of ‘turn

right’ and can be considered the “international,” “standard,” “classic,” “neutral” or “unmarked”

way of saying this. Yet it is by no means the only way. In many countries, other phrases, such as

cruce a la derecha, tuerza a la derecha, vire a la derecha or voltee a la derecha, are more

common. This paper explains which phrases are most frequently used in the sense of ‘turn right’

in each Spanish-speaking country, and provides information on usage that varies by region for a

series of other miscellaneous items that can be considered a very small part of a native speaker’s

“basic vocabulary.”

Some purists decry usages such as voltee a la derecha for ‘turn right’ that deviate from the

international standard as a blight on the language that should be eradicated (or at least avoided in

polite company or “serious” writing), sometimes arguing that such deviations are a threat to

linguistic unity. To many dialectologists, linguists and other diversity enthusiasts, however, cases

of divergence from “standard” or “neutral” usage are among the most interesting facets of

language to study. Yet, in a sense, more regional and more international usages are just opposite

sides of the same coin: each exists only in contrast to the other. On a practical level, information

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on regionalisms can be useful to anyone who communicates with people from other countries or

analyzes their language, such as those involved in international business, international relief

efforts, the language services sector, or anyone who has a relationship with a person from a

different country (especially if communication is conducted primarily, or even partially, in the

other person’s language or dialect). This is because the more one knows about the ins and outs of

a particular country’s local linguistic norm, the greater one’s communicative competence in that

variety of the language.

Although regional variation is the primary focus of this article, aspects of social and contextual

variation are also addressed. For example, an explanation is provided when the use of different

terms or phrases in a given region is marked by diglossia, that is, when complementary social

functions are distributed between two coexisting forms that have the same basic meaning but

correspond to different speech registers, generally a more formal, higher-prestige form, and a

colloquial or popular, lower-prestige form.

Throughout this article, all references to “Latin America,” “Central America,” “the Antilles,”

specific nations, and to the gentilicios corresponding to them (adjectives such as Peruvian, Latin

American, etc.), refer to the Spanish-speaking areas and communities of these regions. The

material presented is catalogued under four general headings: The 3 Rs, Variable Verbs, Moody

Morphology and A Few Other Essentials. The title of each section is either the item’s common

equivalent in United States English or a description of the issue in question.

A) The 3 Rs (readin’, writin’ and ‘rithmetic): 1) name of the letter b, 2) name of the letter v, 3)

name of the letter w, 4) name of the accent mark, 5) division: the way the symbol “÷” is

read in mathematical expressions such as 10 ÷ 5 = 2.

B) Variable Verbs: 1) hurry (up), 2) turn (right/left), 3) turn around (face the other way), 4) pull

(a rope), 5) push (a button): nonstandard verbs, 6) botar: verb commonly used or not?

C) Moody Morphology: 1) diminutives of words ending in t + vowel (e.g. gatito or gatico?), 2)

gender of chance (masculine or feminine?), 3) gender of radio (the device), 4) gender of

riel, 5) gender of sartén, 6) forms of address (tú, vos, usted) used by parent when

addressing child and child when addressing parent.

D) A Few Other Essentials: 1) today, 2) good morning, 3) brown, 4) string / twine, 5) band-aid,

6) styrofoam, 7) cachivaches (regional equivalents).

Each section is divided into four subsections:

1) Summary

2) Terms by Country

3) Details

4) Real Academia Regional Review

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0.1 Summary

These subsections present a synopsis of the regional variation of each item by juxtaposing more

pan-Hispanic forms with more regional ones, and by contrasting regions where more

international or more regional forms are used.

0.2 Terms or Phrases by Country

These subsections consist of lexico-geographic tables in which the terms or phrases used in

Spain and the nineteen Spanish-speaking countries of the Western Hemisphere are presented.

The countries are listed in (more or less) geographical order, and in some of these subsections

the most regionally marked usages appear in boldface.

Information was collected, by one or several of the following methods, from native speakers of

Spanish who have spent most of their lives in a single Spanish-speaking country:

1) through observation in the countries themselves;

2) by showing informants the item, or a picture of the item, or by giving them a description of

the item (sometimes using pantomime) and asking them to give the term or phrase most

commonly used in their region for it; and,

3) by asking informants who are highly proficient in United States English to give the

equivalents of English-language terms and phrases that are used in their native regions.

Informants or respondents were of varying backgrounds and educational levels, although the

majority were well educated. The numbers of respondents from each of the twenty Spanish-

speaking countries that participated in this study were as follows: eight from Paraguay, between

twenty and thirty from Mexico, Cuba, Colombia and Argentina, and between twelve and twenty

from each of the remaining fifteen countries.

In this section, when the data collected indicated that a single term or phrase is clearly dominant

in a particular country, only one term or phrase appears next to the country in question, whereas

when the data showed a fair amount of competition between two or more usages, several are

listed next to the country with the most common usage appearing first; the one exception is

section D4.2 (string / twine), in which the terms are listed alphabetically.

In previous articles on Spanish regionalisms by the author2, actual ratios or percentages of

respondents’ answers were listed, but in this paper the most commonly used terms will be

presented without the ratios. The advantage of providing the statistics is that the reader can see

the actual percentages of the pool of respondents that gave each response. However, since no

specific information on the respondents’ characteristics was offered, these ratios__

it can be

argued__

are of limited use. The advantage of not presenting the statistics is that the reader’s

attention is drawn directly to the author’s conclusions, in which many readers may be more

interested.

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0.3 Details

In these subsections more detailed information is provided on regional variation, contextual

variation, social variation, linguistic attitudes, and spelling/etymological issues. The linguistic

convention of placing an asterisk before a term that is nonexistent or clearly incorrect will be

used (e.g. the incorrect *ve labial).

Some of these subsections have a paragraph entitled “A few also said,” which lists terms that

were given by a small minority of informants from specific countries, typically one to three out

of the fifteen or twenty who were queried or observed. Which of these usages occur in many

other countries, which are used by numerically important groups in specific countries, and which

are highly idiosyncratic (maverick usages) are issues to be resolved by further research.

Other subsections have a paragraph called “Isoglosses.” These paragraphs pose the question of

where the linguistic borders or isoglosses of the terms lie. In which cases do these frontiers

coincide with the countries’ geopolitical borders, and in which cases do they occur somewhere

within one of the countries? In mapping out a series of imaginary overland routes, one wonders

at what point along the trip would most people stop using one term or phrase and start using

another.

0.4 Real Academia Regional Review

These subsections present an evaluation of the 2001 edition of the Diccionario de la Lengua

Española (the Dictionary of the Spanish Royal Academy), often referred to here as the

“Dictionary.” Its coverage of the regional usages described in this article is evaluated using the

following grading scale:

A Corresponding definition, correct regions. This grade is given when the Dictionary

defines the term as used in a particular section of this article and correctly indicates the

countries and/or regions in which the term is used in this sense.

B Corresponding definition, incorrect regions. This grade is given when the Dictionary

defines the term as used in the section and specifies a region or regions but does not

specify them correctly. Its definition either fails to include regions in which the usage

occurs or includes regions where the usage does not occur. However, the grade of B is

raised to an A if the Dictionary’s definition is appropriate, “Amér.” (América, that is,

Spanish-speaking Latin America) is specified in the definition, and the term is used in ten

or more (over 50%) of the nineteen Spanish-speaking Latin American countries.

C Corresponding definition, no regions specified. This grade is given when the Dictionary

defines the term as used in the section but does not specify any countries or regions in

which the term is used in this sense. In essence, it fails to identify the usage as regional.

However, the grade of C is raised to an A if the term is used in at least ten (at least 50%)

of the twenty Spanish-speaking countries.

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D No corresponding definition. This grade is given when the Dictionary does not include in

its definition of the term a sense that corresponds to the section.

F Term not in dictionary. This grade is given when the Dictionary does not list the term at

all.

The purpose of this evaluation is to expose errors, gaps and inconsistencies in specific definitions

in the hope that they will be modified in future editions of the Dictionary so that they accurately

describe usage in the Spanish-speaking world from a more international perspective. At the very

least, the issues raised should be investigated by the Dictionary’s researchers. The same test

could be applied to other monolingual and bilingual Spanish-language dictionaries.

*

* *

There are two general questions the author would like to pose, one addressing nationalist versus

internationalist approaches to dictionary content and definitions, and the other dealing with the

methodology used to collect data on regionalisms.

We can ask the following question regarding approaches to lexicography: Should general

monolingual dictionaries of international languages (such as English and Spanish) restrict their

coverage to the language of a single national variety, or should they try to be international in

scope and attempt to capture the vocabulary and usage of all national varieties of that language?

The American lexicographer Sydney Landau not only advocates the nationalist approach, but

suggests that it is nearly impossible to give in-depth treatment to more than a single national

variety. He believes dictionaries should focus on one national standard, and indicate that this is

their intent in the preface, and possibly even in the title of the dictionary (for example, by titling

a work Dictionary of Australian English rather than Dictionary of the English Language).

If, in the past, British dictionaries, and to a lesser extent American dictionaries,

could assume that the language they represented was simply English, without

qualification, those days are gone. Not only do these dictionaries, quite naturally,

give special attention to the variety that their audience uses and mainly

encounters, but the defining vocabulary (in linguistic terms, the metalanguage)

employs the particular variety as well... Even dictionaries that trumpet their

international coverage reflect a single variety of English in their metalanguage

and can give only a superficial treatment to other varieties. Although most of the

differences between American and British English are known, economic

considerations preclude giving the amount of space that would be required in an

American dictionary for adequate coverage of British English, and vice versa.

Neither Americans nor British are that interested in the minutiae of each other’s

varieties, especially if that means omitting information relating to their own

variety. Other varieties have not been as fully studied as British and American

English and may be in the process of rapid change; there is even less likelihood

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that they will be represented adequately in British or American dictionaries.

Therefore, all English dictionaries should acknowledge, either in their titles or in

their prefatory matter, what variety of English they represent, or at least which

variety is primary, even if their variety happens to be one used by many more

speakers as a mother tongue than as a second or foreign language. I do not think

American dictionaries will find this especially traumatic, as some American

dictionaries, notably in the ESL [English as a second language] field, already use

“American English” in their titles to distinguish them from dictionaries based on

British English. For the British, whose appreciation of their language is

proprietary and deeply felt as part of their country’s history, it may be impossible.

No one disputes the historical priority of British English; we cannot reasonably

expect its speakers to acquiesce to a status merely equivalent to every other. But

whether they acknowledge it or not, their brand of English is no longer the single

standard by which all other varieties are measured. (Landau, 15-16.)

Landau claims that costs and space limitations make it impossible for American dictionaries to

give “adequate coverage” of British English, and vice versa. However, one may ask, how

extensive a coverage is “adequate”? An argument can be made that room should be found in

unabridged or even “college” dictionaries to include usage differences for nouns, adjectives,

verbs (and the other parts of speech that go with them) well beyond common equivalences such

as lift-elevator, lorry-truck, take a decision-make a decision, and attitude to-attitude toward.

Landau also states that neither Americans nor British are very interested in the minutiae of each

other’s varieties, but how interested are most Americans or British in the minutiae of their own

varieties? The answer probably depends on what one means by “minutiae”: the more obscure the

term or item, the less general interest. Clearly, American dictionary editors believe that

Britishisms such as “lift” and “lorry” are of enough interest to Americans to warrant their

inclusion, since most American dictionaries cover these usages.

Landau’s discussion of the need to take a nationalist approach to dictionary writing focuses

primarily on the American and British dictionary markets, but what about those of smaller

English-language countries such as Jamaica and New Zealand? Can a dictionary maker in one of

these countries afford to disregard other varieties of English, especially British or American

usage? Assuming Landau’s arguments are valid for English, are they equally applicable to

Spanish, a multi-national language that is the native language of a majority of speakers in many

small countries but few large ones?

In terms of media impact, Mexico and Spain (and to a lesser extent Colombia, Venezuela and

Argentina) are the big kids on the block in the Spanish-speaking world, but their linguistic

influence beyond their borders is generally less than that of Britain and the United States within

the English-speaking world. One notable exception is the telenovela, a type of melodramatic

television series. Many of these, particularly ones from Mexico, are broadcast throughout the

Spanish-speaking world (and are shown in dubbed form in many non-Spanish-speaking countries

as well). However, in part because these programs are directed at an international market, the

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language used in them is often more deregionalized than that found in British or American

television series, thereby reducing the number of regionalisms that their audiences are exposed

to.

Thus, while large numbers of Mexicans might be interested in buying an exclusively or primarily

Mexican-oriented dictionary, it seems much less likely that a Honduran Spanish Dictionary

which generally disregarded other varieties would be economically viable. Also, many dictionary

users from Spanish American countries have a cultural and linguistic attachment to Spain, and

are interested in the minutiae of Peninsular Spanish. At a minimum, they want to know whether a

particular word is in the Spanish Royal Academy Dictionary for otherwise its legitimacy is

suspect. Because of the strong cultural and commercial ties that exist between Spain and Latin

America, many Spaniards may be interested in some of the details of Latin American Spanish as

well.

Turning now to the methodology used in this study, the following question arises: Is it

reasonable to rely on speakers’ reports of their own usage rather than obtaining the data without

speakers being aware that they are the subject of a linguistic study? The sociolinguist William

Labov and others have stated that speakers’ reports of their own usage are unreliable:

[I]t seems to be virtually impossible to rely on speakers’ reports of their own

usage or of their attitudes to usage, so that we cannot easily find out what people

actually think. Linguists and social psychologists who have investigated popular

attitudes have found that people’s overt claims about language are inaccurate and

often contradict their own actual usage. As Labov... points out, speakers often err

in the direction of standard usages when they respond to field-workers’ questions

about their own usage: they do not reliably report on what they use themselves...

The fact that speakers have knowledge of variants and also knowledge of the

social values attached to them means that speaker reports tend to indicate social

stereotypes rather than personal or community values. (Milroy, 18.)

This phenomenon has been described as the observer’s paradox:

[I]n order to observe and study the kind of language used spontaneously in a

range of situations, we need good quality recordings. Yet if we try to obtain these

using the traditional research instrument of an interview, we define the situational

context and so distort the object of our observation. Since an interview is in itself

a recognisable speech event, a linguistic observer with a tape-recorder is liable to

find his data limited to a single, rather careful style. (Milroy, 127.)

However, it has not been demonstrated that speakers’ reports of their own usage are uniformly

and universally unreliable. Labov’s studies, and many of the studies of researchers who cite this

theory, involved phonological or morphosyntactical variables, rather than strictly lexical

variables. Does the observer’s paradox apply equally to lexical variables (the study of which,

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incidentally, does not require a tape recorder)? If it is true that respondents try to provide

information that conforms to standard usages when responding to field-workers’ questions about

their own usage, which standard do they attempt to imitate, an international standard (in cases

where such a thing exists), or their own regional standard? Presumably, speakers can only imitate

a standard they are familiar with and that exists, and given the divergent data collected in this

study from different countries, it would appear that, if the respondents were consciously or

subconsciously tailoring their responses, it was in the direction of their own regional standards.

Since the primary goal of this study is to determine what these regional standards are, the

methodology used here should prove to be effective, if invalid from a theoretical linguistic

standpoint. Certainly the task of “catching” sufficient numbers of people from all twenty

Spanish-speaking countries “in the act” of using all of the regional language addressed in this

article in spontaneous conversation would be difficult if not impossible. It is worth noting that

many of the respondents interviewed in this study took considerable pride in knowing (and

claiming to use) regional, popular and nonstandard variants, in addition to having a command of

more pan-Hispanic forms. To determine the extent to which the information presented in this

article is accurate, further research will need to be conducted on the same topics using more

surreptitious means of data collection and, perhaps more importantly, by openly testing much

larger numbers of speakers having a much wider range of ages, backgrounds and educational

levels.

A THE 3 Rs (readin’, writin’ and ‘rithmetic)

A1 B (the name of this letter)

A1.1 Summary

In Spain, the letter b is generally called be (with no qualifier) in all contexts. In Latin America, in

contrast, the name used depends on the speech register being used, and the speaker’s country of

origin, socioeconomic class and age: be grande and be larga are the principal middle-register

terms, be de burro is the low-register term, and be labial and be bilabial are high-register terms.

Unlike the middle-register words, the high- and low-register terms exhibit little if any regional

variation. The diglossia that exists in Latin America with respect to this item is largely absent

from Spain.

A1.2 Middle-Register Terms by Country (4 terms)

SPAIN be

MEXICO be grande

GUATEMALA be grande

EL SALVADOR be grande

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HONDURAS be grande

NICARAGUA be grande

COSTA RICA be grande

PANAMA be larga, be grande

CUBA be alta, be larga, be

DOMIN. REP. be larga, be grande

PUERTO RICO be

VENEZUELA be alta, be grande

COLOMBIA be larga, be grande, be

ECUADOR be grande, be larga

PERU be grande, be larga

BOLIVIA be grande, be larga

PARAGUAY be larga

URUGUAY be larga

ARGENTINA be larga

CHILE be larga

A1.3 Details

General: Section A1.2 above lists the “middle-register terms,” but how wide a swath this middle

register encompasses in each region is a question that warrants further study. In Spain, be

corresponds to practically all registers, whereas in Latin America the middle ground

covered by be grande, be larga, etc. expands and contracts, and is displaced up or down,

depending on the region and speech community. The same applies to the middle-register

terms for v presented in section A2.2.

Be: In Spain, be ([be]) refers specifically to the letter b whereas in much of Latin America [be],

when spoken, is ambiguous as it can refer to either b or v. Many Latin Americans

routinely use the ambiguous “[be]” when referring to both letters. The reasons for this are

not entirely clear, but may be partly due to the fact that good spellers know whether most

words are spelled with a b or a v (and perhaps believe specification is unnecessary), and

poor spellers would just as soon gloss over the subject (or avoid it entirely). Semi-literate

people, when shown a word spelled with a b or v and asked if it is spelled correctly, may

answer, “No, con la otra [be]” (literally, “No, with the other b/v”).

Be de burro: Many educated Latin Americans consider be de burro (and other similar, somewhat

comical and unflattering variants such as be de buey, be de bobo, etc.) to be nonstandard

and use them primarily for humorous effect, for example, to mock someone who has

misspelled a word (spelling it with a v instead of a b or vice-versa). However, there is

evidence to suggest that in the Antilles, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica

many educated speakers use be de burro as their everyday word for this letter and this

term may carry less social stigma and less of a humorous load than in other parts of Latin

America. Asking an illiterate person whose last name is Montalbán or Montalván a

question such as “¿Cómo se escribe su apellido, con ve de vaca o con be de burro?” may

be an exercise in futility as it assumes that the person knows how the words vaca and

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burro are spelled. Are linguistic attitudes toward be de burro, be de buey and other

similar variants uniform throughout Latin America, or are they regionally weighted?

Be labial and be bilabial: Be labial and be bilabial are erudite terms used by Latin Americans

who wish to sound highly educated; many indicated that they are terms they were taught

to use in school, but would rarely use in everyday conversation. However, a majority of

educated Bolivians in this study claimed that be labial is their normal, everyday word for

b. Whether or not this is really true is a question for further study, but the fact that many

more Bolivians aspire to use be labial suggests a different linguistic attitude toward the

term. There are also Latin Americans who try to appear more erudite than they really are

and commit errors such as *be labidental (for b).

Age differences: A Costa Rican woman born in 1968 made the following comment in 2003:

“New generations are now taught in school to say be (for b) and uve (for v) and this is

what some young people now use. However, I say be grande and ve pequeña, and my

mom’s generation says be de burro and ve de vaca.” If from each region large numbers

of persons having similar educational levels are compared, what variation will be found

based on age differences?

A few also said: Be alta (Spain, Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, the

Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Colombia, Bolivia), be de bola (Costa Rica), be de

Bolívar (Venezuela), be de bueno (Panama, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico), be

grande (Cuba, Puerto Rico, Paraguay), be larga (Puerto Rico, Venezuela). How common

is be alta in countries other than Cuba and Venezuela?

A1.4 Real Academia Regional Review

Be (A), be alta (A or C?), be bilabial (F), be de burro (F), be grande (F), be labial (F), be

larga (A).

Dictionary definitions: b, “Segunda letra del abecedario español y del orden latino

internacional, que representa un fonema consonántico labial y sonoro. Su nombre es be, be alta o

be larga”; be1, “Nombre de la letra b; be alta and be larga, “be

1.”

The Dictionary should define be bilabial, be labial, be grande and be de burro as all are

frequently used in Latin America. Since in theory any word beginning with a b can be used to

create a name for the letter, how common should the name have to be in order for it to be

included in the Dictionary? Examples include be de buey, be de bobo, be de Bolivia and be de

Bolívar. The issue is complicated by the fact that some of these terms appear to be used more

often in specific regions. For example, be de Bolívar is probably used in Venezuela more than in

any other country. (Por algo se llama la República Bolivariana de Venezuela.)

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A2 V (the name of this letter)

A2.1 Summary

In Spain, the letter v is generally called uve in all contexts. In Latin America, in contrast, the

name used depends on the speech register being used, the speaker’s country of origin,

socioeconomic class and age: uve, ve corta, ve chica and ve pequeña are the principal middle-

register terms, ve de vaca is the low-register term, and ve dental and ve labiodental are high-

register terms. Unlike the middle-register terms, the high- and low-register terms exhibit little if

any regional variation. The diglossia that exists in Latin America with respect to this item is

largely absent from Spain.

A2.2 Middle-register terms by Country (4 terms plus variants)

SPAIN uve

MEXICO ve chica, uve

GUATEMALA ve pequeña, ve chica

EL SALVADOR ve pequeña, ve chica

HONDURAS ve pequeña, ve chica

NICARAGUA ve chica, ve pequeña, uve

COSTA RICA ve pequeña, uve

PANAMA uve, ve chica, ve corta

CUBA uve, ve corta, ve chica

DOMIN. REP. ve corta, ve chica

PUERTO RICO uve, ve corta, ve chica

VENEZUELA ve pequeña, ve chica

COLOMBIA ve pequeña, ve corta, ve chica, uve

ECUADOR ve chica, ve pequeña

PERU ve chica

BOLIVIA ve chica, ve corta

PARAGUAY ve corta

URUGUAY ve corta

ARGENTINA ve corta

CHILE ve corta

A2.3 Details

Uve: Uve is the term used in Spain, while in Latin America school teachers and others have often

attempted to impose its use on students, for the most part unsuccessfully. However, uve

does appear to be used frequently in Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Cuba and Puerto

Rico. Several Costa Ricans and Nicaraguans indicated that young people are now

systematically taught uve in schools and tend to use it more than ve + modifier forms,

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whereas for people born prior to 1965, only the latter forms are used. Is this the case? Is

the use of uve increasing and spreading in Latin America?

Ve chica / ve chiquita / ve pequeña: Ve chiquita, which can be considered a variant of ve chica,

was given by respondents from Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Panama, Cuba,

Venezuela and Colombia. Are ve chica and ve chiquita used in free variation in certain

regions, or are there regional, socioeconomic and/or contextual preferences between the

two (for example, ve chiquita = less formal, ve chica = more formal)? Where ve pequeña

and ve chica are both frequently used, is the former considered more formal than the

latter?

Ve dental and ve labiodental: These terms, and variants such as ve labidental, ve bucodental and

ve dentilabial, are erudite words used in Latin America by those who want to sound

highly educated (as is the case with be labial and be bilabial for the letter b). One also

hears (and reads) Sancho Panza-type errors such as *ve labial, *be vilabial and *ve

semilabial for v. In the case of Bolivia, a significant minority of educated respondents in

this study claimed that ve dentilabial is their normal, everyday word for v.

Ve de vaca: Ve de vaca is considered nonstandard by many educated Latin Americans, but for

many others it is their standard, everyday word for v. However, it carries less stigma and

less of a humorous load than be de burro (b).

A few also said: Uve (the Dominican Republic, Uruguay), uve de Valencia (Spain), uve de vaca

(Panama, Puerto Rico), ve baja (Spain, Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela),

ve corta (Costa Rica, Venezuela, Peru), ve chica (Costa Rica, Uruguay), ve pequeña

(Mexico, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Peru), ve de Víctor (Venezuela),

ve de Victoria (Puerto Rico), ve de Venezuela (Venezuela).

Opinions regarding appropriateness of different names for b and v: There are almost as many

opinions on which names for these letters are “better” and which are “worse” as there are

Spanish speakers. Perhaps the most famous was offered by Joan Corominas, the

etymologist and historical linguist, who voiced his disapproval of all names for v other

than uve in the following comment: “Aunque olvidada por la [Real] Acad.[emia], esta

denominación [uve] es la más usual en Madrid y en muchas partes de España, dentro de

la zona de lengua castellana1; no se conoce en la Arg., ni generalmente en América, si

estoy bien informado. Sin embargo, merecería que se generalizase para desterrar la

denominación ambigua ve, las ridículas ve corta y ve baja y la infundada ve labiodental,

que privan en las repúblicas americanas y en alguna parte de España... 1En catalán y en

portugués, como en los demás romances, se dice ve, y no hay ambigüedad en estos

idiomas que la distinguen fónicamente de la b.” (Corominas, vol. 4, pg. 659.) To what

extent is his censure of names other than uve reasoned and logical, and to what extent is it

a product of his own bias in favor of the form most commonly used in Peninsular

Spanish?


Uve (C), ve baja (C), ve corta (A), ve chica (F), ve chiquita (F), ve dental (F), ve

dentilabial (F), ve de vaca (F), ve labidental (F), ve labiodental (F), ve pequeña (F).

14

Dictionary definitions: v, “Vigésima quinta letra del abecedario español, y vigésima

segunda del orden latino internacional, que representa un fonema consonántico labial y sonoro,

el mismo que la b en todos los países de lengua española. Su nombre es uve, ve, ve baja o ve

corta”; uve, “Nombre de la letra v”; ve, ve baja and ve corta, “uve.”

The Dictionary should define ve dental, ve dentilabial, ve labidental, ve labiodental, ve

chica, ve chiquita, ve pequeña, and ve de vaca since all of these terms are frequently used by

Latin Americans. Should it also define terms such as ve bucodental, ve de Valencia, ve de

Venezuela, ve de Víctor and ve de Victoria that are used less often but are still somewhat

common?

A3 W (the name of this letter)

A3.1 Summary

Doble ve or doble u are used throughout Latin America (with competition between the two terms

in several countries). Ve doble is used in three South American countries and Spain has unique

usages that are not commonly found in any other country.

A3.2 Terms by Country (5 terms)

SPAIN uve doble, doble uve

MEXICO doble u

GUATEMALA doble ve

EL SALVADOR doble ve, doble u

HONDURAS doble ve

NICARAGUA doble ve, doble u

COSTA RICA doble u

PANAMA doble u

CUBA doble ve

DOMIN. REP. doble u

PUERTO RICO doble u, doble ve

VENEZUELA doble ve

COLOMBIA doble u, doble ve

ECUADOR doble ve

PERU ve doble, doble ve

BOLIVIA ve doble, doble ve

PARAGUAY ve doble, doble ve

URUGUAY doble ve

ARGENTINA doble ve

CHILE doble ve

15

A3.3 Details

Spain: Uve doble is considered more correct and, among educated speakers, also appears to be

more common than doble uve.

Doble u vs. doble ve: In Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, and the Dominican Republic, doble u has

minimal competition from doble ve, if any. In Puerto Rico and Colombia, there is

competition between the two names: doble u is used more frequently and doble ve enjoys

higher prestige. In El Salvador and Nicaragua, doble ve is used more often than doble u

and is also more prestigious. In all countries where doble u is used, there are some who

frown upon its use because they believe it is an anglicism, a calque of the English word

for w (“double u”). Among people who are aware of both variants, those who use doble

ve tend to have a negative attitude toward doble u, whereas those who use doble u tend to

have a neutral attitude toward doble ve.

A few also said: Doble u (Honduras), ve ligada (Bolivia).


Doble u (B), doble uve (F), doble ve (A), uve doble (C), ve doble (C).

Dictionary definitions: w, “ f. Vigésima sexta letra del abecedario español, y vigésima

tercera del orden latino internacional, usada en voces de procedencia extranjera... Su nombre es

uve doble, ve doble o doble ve...”; doble u, “f. Méx. uve doble”; doble ve, “f. uve doble”; uve

doble, “f. Nombre de la letra w”; v doble, “f. w”; ve doble, “f. uve doble.”

All names for w that are common in some country should be listed, and the definition of

this letter should read, in pertinent part, “...Su nombre es doble u, doble uve, doble ve, uve doble

o ve doble...” The following terms should be defined as follows: doble u, “f. Col., C. Rica, Méx.,

Pan., P. Rico y R. Dom. Nombre de la letra w”; doble ve, “Nombre de la letra w” (with no

regional specification); ve doble, “Bol., Par. y Perú. Nombre de la letra w”; uve doble and doble

uve, “Esp. Nombre de la letra w.”

A4 ACCENT MARK

A4.1 Summary

Acento and tilde are universal synonyms understood by educated speakers everywhere. However,

in everyday language, acento is used more often than tilde in fifteen countries.

A4.2 Terms by Country (2 terms)

SPAIN acento, tilde

MEXICO acento

GUATEMALA tilde, acento

EL SALVADOR acento, tilde

16

HONDURAS acento, tilde

NICARAGUA acento, tilde

COSTA RICA tilde

PANAMA tilde

CUBA acento, tilde

DOMIN. REP. acento, tilde

PUERTO RICO acento

VENEZUELA acento

COLOMBIA tilde

ECUADOR tilde, acento

PERU acento, tilde

BOLIVIA acento

PARAGUAY acento

URUGUAY acento, tilde

ARGENTINA acento, tilde

CHILE acento

A4.3 Details

General: Some Spanish speakers consider tilde, when used in the sense of ‘accent mark,’ to be

more formal than acento. However, acento gráfico, acento gramatical and acento

ortográfico (‘accent mark’) are even more formal and technical terms as they are in

specific contrast to acento prosódico (‘spoken stress’).

Tilde: Tilde is predominantly feminine almost everywhere it is commonly used. However, all

respondents from Uruguay (as well as one or two from Panama, Colombia and Bolivia),

indicated that tilde is masculine.


Acento (A), tilde (A?).

Dictionary definitions: acento, “2. Tilde, rayita oblicua que en la ortografía española

vigente baja de derecha a izquierda de quien escribe o lee. Se usa para indicar en determinados

casos la mayor fuerza espiratoria de la sílaba cuya vocal la lleva, p. ej., cámara, símbolo, útil,

allá, salió; y también para distinguir una palabra o forma de otra escrita con iguales letras, p. ej.,

sólo, adverbio, frente a solo, adjetivo; o con ambos fines a la vez, p. ej., tomó frente a tomo; él,

pronombre personal, frente a el, artículo”; tilde, “amb. Virgulilla o rasgo que se pone sobre

algunas abreviaturas, el que lleva la ñ, y cualquier otro signo que sirva para distinguir una letra

de otra o denotar su acentuación. U. m. c. f. [Usado más como femenino]”

The definition of tilde is much broader than sense two of acento, but perhaps tilde should

include a separate sense of ‘accent mark’ like the definition of acento gráfico__

“m. acento (||

rayita oblicua que baja de derecha a izquierda)”__

so that it will be clear to the Dictionary user

that tilde can be a synonym of acento. Also, in the definition of acento, the example of sólo,

adverb, as distinguished from solo, adjective, is given when, in fact, the Dictionary itself does

17

not currently make this distinction in its own language; it spells the word solo without an accent

mark when used as an adverb. Like most spelling reforms, this one is not without controversy.

A5 DIVISION SYMBOL (How to say expressions such as “10 ÷ 5 = 2”)

A5.1 Summary

Dividido entre is more common than dividido por in most countries. Dividido with no

preposition is commonly used in four countries, and Ecuador has a unique usage that is not

common in any other country.

A5.2 Phrases by Country (5 phrases plus variants)

SPAIN (dividido) entre, dividido por

MEXICO (dividido) entre

GUATEMALA (dividido) entre

EL SALVADOR (dividido) entre

HONDURAS (dividido) entre

NICARAGUA (dividido) entre, dividido por

COSTA RICA (dividido) entre, dividido por

PANAMA (dividido) entre

CUBA (dividido) entre, dividido por

DOMIN. REP. (dividido) entre

PUERTO RICO (dividido) entre, dividido por

VENEZUELA (dividido) entre

COLOMBIA dividido, dividido por, (dividido) entre, dividido en

ECUADOR (dividido) para

PERU (dividido) entre

BOLIVIA (dividido) entre

PARAGUAY dividido

URUGUAY dividido

ARGENTINA dividido

CHILE dividido por

A5.3 Details

Dividido entre vs. dividido por: Where there is competition between the two phrases, dividido

entre is used more frequently than dividido por in almost all countries, but the latter is

considered more formal than the former. Some consider dividido entre to be incorrect

when used to express mathematical formulae, but acceptable in phrases such as dividido

entre las cinco personas. Dividido entre is often abbreviated to entre, e.g. diez entre

cinco igual (a) dos.

18

Dividido: An example of dividido used with no preposition is diez dividido cinco igual (a) dos.

One Guatemalan said that some young people in her country are now using dividido with

no preposition (although she herself and the vast majority of Guatemalans queried in this

study said they used dividido entre or entre). Is preposition dropping in this phrase an

innovation that is spreading to regions of the Spanish-speaking world in which it was not

used previously?

Colombia: Colombia is the one country in which four different phrases are used: dividido,

dividido por, dividido entre or entre, and dividido en. Which Colombians say which

phrases?

Ecuador: Dividido para is often shortened to para, e.g. diez para cinco igual dos.

A few also said: Diez partido cinco (Guatemala), dividido en (El Salvador), dividido por

(Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Dominican Republic,

Venezuela, Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, Argentina).


Since the Dictionary provides no guidance on how to say mathematical expressions such

as “10 ÷ 5 = 2” (under the verb dividir or under any of the prepositions entre, por, etc.), it gives

no information on this item’s regional variation. Should it?

B VARIABLE VERBS

B1 HURRY UP!

B1.1 Summary

Apúrate is commonly used in almost all of Latin America. Spain, Mexico, the Dominican

Republic and Puerto Rico have phrases that are not common in any other country.

Note: For the sake of brevity, and assuming the situation to be a command given to a friend or

same-generation relative (rather than, for example, to a stranger or to a group of several people),

the phrases listed in section B1.2 below are given only in the tú and/or vos forms, not in the

usted, ustedes or vosotros forms. Even in this limited situation, however, there are regions where

people tend to address friends and relatives as usted (e.g. interior Colombia, apúrese, apúrele).

B1.2 Phrases by Country (10 phrases plus variants)

SPAIN date prisa

MEXICO apúrate, ándale, córrele, apúrale, órale

GUATEMALA apurate/apúrate

19

EL SALVADOR apurate/apúrate

HONDURAS apurate/apúrate

NICARAGUA apurate/apúrate

COSTA RICA apurate/apúrate

PANAMA apúrate

CUBA apúrate

DOMIN. REP. date pronto, date rápido

PUERTO RICO avanza, apúrate

VENEZUELA apúrate

COLOMBIA apúrate/apurate, apúrale/apurale

ECUADOR apúrate

PERU apúrate

BOLIVIA apurate/apúrate

PARAGUAY apurate/apúrate

URUGUAY apurate/apúrate

ARGENTINA apurate

CHILE apúrate

B1.3 Details

General: Muévete, or movete in voseante regions (‘move it’), is used universally as a more

informal, aggressive and often ruder equivalent of apúrate. Dale also seems to be widely

used: Is this phrase part of General Spanish?

Spain: Date prisa is the standard, everyday phrase used in the sense of ‘hurry up,’ but apresúrate

and apresúrese are used in more formal language. Who in Spain uses apúrate and/or

apura in the sense of ‘hurry up’ and what are the connotations of these phrases vis-à-vis

date prisa (i.e. more/less familiar, more/less insistent)?

Mexico: Ándale (the tú form) is more common than ándele and ándenle or ándenles, but the

usted and ustedes forms are also used. The same applies to córrele (córrale and córranle

or córranles are also used), but órale, which does not derive from a verb, is an invariable

expression (i.e. there is no *órele, *órenle nor *orenles). What are the speech registers

and connotations of ándale, córrele and órale in Mexican Spanish? When used in the

sense of ‘hurry up,’ are these phrases more or less equivalent to General Latin American

Spanish apúrate, are they closer in meaning to slangy phrases such as socale (Costa Rica)

or metele (River Plate region), or are they somewhere in between? Búyele (the tú form)

and búigale (the usted form) are reportedly used by uneducated people in the sense of

‘hurry up’ in San Luis Potosí, Jalisco and Michoacán (and elsewhere?), but it is unclear

what the etymology of these phrases is; perhaps they derive from the verb huir, ‘to flee’.

El Salvador, Honduras & Nicaragua: Aligerate and aligerale (and aligérate and aligérale) are

also used in the sense of ‘hurry up.’

Dominican Republic: Apúrate is also used, but less often than date pronto or date rápido.

Venezuela: In some western regions of the country voseo is used (see section C6.3).

20

Paraguay: Guaraní phrases and their approximate equivalents include pya’e and pu’a he py

(‘hurry up’), pu’a eke (‘make it fast’), and néike (‘move it’).

Informal phrases: The following phrases are informal, slangy (and potentially offensive)

equivalents of apúrate: échale bola (Venezuela), metele and metele pata (Uruguay,

Argentina), ponele/ponle (Costa Rica), socale/sócale (Costa Rica; other variants include

socá/soca, socala/sócala and socá la tuba/soca la tuba).

B1.4 Real Academia Regional Review

Ándale (A or D?), apúrale (F), apúrate (A), avanza (B?), córrele (F), date prisa (C), date

pronto (F), date rápido (F), órale (F).

Dictionary definitions: ándale (defined under andar), “expr. coloq. Méx. U. para animar a

alguien a hacer algo”; ándele (defined under andar), “Col. y Méx. expr. coloq. ándale”;

apurarse, “4. Apremiar, dar prisa. En América, u. m. c. prnl. [usado más como pronominal]”;

avanzar, “5. Perú y P. Rico. Darse prisa”; darse prisa, “fr. coloq. Acelerarse, apresurarse en la

ejecución de algo”.

Ándale and ándele are defined under andar, but apúrale and apúrele, etc. are not defined

under apurar and ought to be. In addition, the definition of ándale needs to be considerably

expanded as the phrase has many senses in Mexican Spanish including ‘Please,’ ‘Come on!,’ ‘Go

for it!,’ ‘Be a sport!,’ ‘Way to go!,’ ‘Exactly!’ and ‘You’re welcome.’ Oftentimes the phrase has

no specific meaning but is merely used to add emphasis and/or enthusiasm: examples include

¡Ándale, qué bien te ves!, ¡Ándale, ganaste!, Ándale, hazlo por favor (pleading), and ¡Ándale, no

te atrevas! (challenging, goading).

Is avanza used in Peru in this sense as the Dictionary claims? Darse prisa is defined

under prisa with no regional specification (Esp.), but darse pronto and darse rápido are not

defined under pronto or rápido, respectively, and should be with the appropriate regional

specification (R. Dom.). Why is darse prisa defined as colloquial usage? Date prisa seems to be

standard, rather neutral usage compared to colloquial phrases such as muévete and the more

formal apresúrese.

B2 TURN (RIGHT/LEFT)

B2.1 Summary

Doble a la derecha and doble a la izquierda are used everywhere and can be considered

General Spanish phrases. However, in many countries another verb or locution is used more

often than doblar.

For ease, and assuming the situation to be one in which someone is giving directions to a

stranger (rather than to a friend or a group of several people), the commands listed in section

B2.2 below are given only in the usted form, not in the tú, vos, ustedes or vosotros forms. Even

21

in this limited situation, however, there are regions in which people often address strangers as

tú or vos (e.g. dobla and doblá in the Antilles and Argentina, respectively).

B2.2 Phrases by Country (11 verbs/verbal phrases plus variants)

SPAIN tuerza, gire, doble

MEXICO dé vuelta

GUATEMALA cruce, dé vuelta

EL SALVADOR cruce, dé vuelta, váyase

HONDURAS doble, dé vuelta

NICARAGUA doble, cruce, dé vuelta

COSTA RICA doble

PANAMA gire, doble, vire

CUBA doble

DOMIN. REP. doble

PUERTO RICO vire, coja, doble

VENEZUELA cruce, doble

COLOMBIA voltee

ECUADOR vire

PERU voltee, doble

BOLIVIA doble

PARAGUAY doble

URUGUAY doble, gire

ARGENTINA doble, gire

CHILE doble

B2.3 Details

General: Where doblar and another verb or phrase are commonly used, there is often diglossia,

with doblar occupying the higher-register position and the other verbs or phrases

occupying lower-register positions. For example, in Venezuela and parts of Central

America, some consider cruce a la derecha to be less formal than doble a la derecha

while others believe the former phrase is nonstandard or simply “incorrect.”

A few also said: Coja a la derecha (Spain, Costa Rica, Panama, Cuba, the Dominican Republic,

Colombia), dé vuelta a la derecha (Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Chile), gire a la derecha

(Mexico, El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador,

Paraguay, Chile; is gire a la derecha universal?), haga una derecha (El Salvador,

Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Ecuador, Bolivia),

tome la derecha (Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama, Chile), tire a la derecha (Spain), tuerza

a la derecha (Colombia, Peru, Bolivia), váyase a la derecha or vaya a la derecha (Spain,

Venezuela), vire a la derecha (Mexico, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Peru, Chile),

voltee a la derecha (Mexico, Guatemala, Panama, Puerto Rico, Venezuela). Some

respondents from Spain, Uruguay and Argentina indicated that gire a la derecha is used

22

more in giving driving directions while the other phrase (tuerza a la derecha or doble a la

derecha) is used more in giving directions to a pedestrian.


Coger (D), cruzar (D), dar (D), doblar (A), girar (C?), hacer (D), ir (D), tirar (C?),

tomar (A), torcer (C), virar (D), voltear (B), vuelta (D).

Dictionary definitions: doblar, “11. Pasar a otro lado de una esquina, cerro, etc.,

cambiando de dirección en el camino. U. t. c. intr. [Usado también como intransitivo] Doblaron

a la otra calle. Doblé a la derecha”; girar, “6. Desviarse o cambiar con respecto a la dirección

inicial. La calle gira a la derecha”; tirar, “30. Dirigirse a uno u otro lado. Al llegar a la esquina,

tire usted a la derecha”; torcer, “7. Dicho de una persona o de una cosa: Desviar la dirección que

llevaba, para tomar otra. El escritor tuerce el curso de su razonamiento. U. t. c. intr. El camino

tuerce a mano derecha. U. t. c. prnl. [Usado también como pronominal] El coche se torció hacia

la cuneta”; virar, “intr. Mudar de dirección en la marcha de un automóvil u otro vehículo

semejante”; voltear, “6. Ven. doblar la esquina.”

Doblar is the standard General Spanish phrase and all regional synonyms should be

cross-referenced to it with the appropriate regional specifications. For example, this sense of

cruzar could be defined as “El Salv., Guat., Nic. y Ven. doblar (|| cambiar de dirección). Crucé a

la derecha” and that of voltear as “Chile, Col., Guat., Méx., Pan., Perú, P. Rico y Ven. doblar (||

cambiar de dirección). Volteé a la derecha.”

B3 TO TURN AROUND (face the other way)

B3.1 Summary

Darse la vuelta and/or darse vuelta are used everywhere, but in many countries other phrases

such as voltearse, virarse or volverse are used more often than darse (la) vuelta.

B3.2 Phrases by Country (5 verbs/verbal phrases plus variants)

SPAIN darse la vuelta, volverse, girarse

MEXICO voltearse, darse (la) vuelta

GUATEMALA voltearse, darse (la) vuelta

EL SALVADOR voltearse, darse (la) vuelta

HONDURAS voltearse, darse (la) vuelta

NICARAGUA voltearse, darse (la) vuelta

COSTA RICA volverse, darse (la) vuelta, voltearse

PANAMA voltearse, darse (la) vuelta, girarse, virarse

CUBA virarse, darse (la) vuelta, voltearse

DOMIN. REP. virarse, voltearse, darse (la) vuelta

PUERTO RICO virarse, voltearse, darse (la) vuelta

23

VENEZUELA voltearse, darse (la) vuelta

COLOMBIA voltearse, darse (la) vuelta, girarse

ECUADOR voltearse, darse (la) vuelta

PERU voltearse, darse (la) vuelta

BOLIVIA darse (la) vuelta

PARAGUAY darse (la) vuelta

URUGUAY darse vuelta

ARGENTINA darse vuelta

CHILE darse vuelta, girarse

B3.3 Details

General: Some Spanish speakers from different countries indicated that saying gírate might

indicate that the person should turn 90 degrees (¼ turn), whereas date la vuelta would

generally mean turning 180 degrees (doing an about-face). As one Spaniard put it, “Tú te

puedes girar un poco, pero darte la vuelta un poco suena raro.” Do some speakers use

different phrases to make finer distinctions in meaning such as ‘turning one’s head back’

vs. ‘turning completely around (turning entire body)’? What are Spanish speakers’

attitudes toward the use of the different phrases and how do these attitudes vary by

region?

Variants: When used in the sense of ‘turn around,’ the reflexive forms (las formas pronominales)

of the verbs and verb phrases__

voltearse, darse vuelta, darse la vuelta and girarse__

are

generally much more common than the nonreflexive forms__

voltear, dar vuelta, dar la

vuelta and girar. Only the reflexive forms virarse and volverse were offered by those

who indicated these verbs (no one said virar nor volver is used in the sense of ‘turn

around/face the other way’), but an equal number of Mexicans in this study used voltear

and voltearse. Darse vuelta appears to be more common than darse la vuelta in El

Salvador, Costa Rica, Uruguay, Argentina and Chile, whereas in Spain, Mexico,

Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia and Paraguay darse la vuelta seems to be more common. In

Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico,

Venezuela and Peru, the data collected were inconclusive (they indicated a fair amount of

competition between darse vuelta and darse la vuelta).


Dar (la) vuelta (D?), girar (D?), virar (D), voltear (B), volver (C).

Dictionary definitions: volver, “27. Girar la cabeza, el torso, o todo el cuerpo, para mirar

lo que estaba a la espalda; voltear, “9. Méx. y Ven. Girar la cabeza o el cuerpo hacia atrás. U. t. c.

prnl.”

Regional specifications need to be added to the definition of volver (C. Rica and Esp.),

and those of voltear must be considerably expanded to “Col., C. Rica, Cuba, Ecuad., El Salv.,

Guat., Hon., Méx., Nic., Pan., Perú, P. Rico, R. Dom. y Ven.” Alternatively, voltear’s regional

specifications could be “Am. Cent., Ant. [Antillas], Col., Ecuad., Méx., Perú y Ven.” in order to

24

save some space, or simply “Am.” even though this would be an overgeneralization. Another

alternative would be to include no regional specification for this sense of voltear(se) on the

grounds that this usage is common in over half the Spanish-speaking world (in at least 14

countries to be specific). Which approach is preferable?

B4 TO PULL (pull a rope, pull open a door)

B4.1 Summary

Jalar/halar are the most commonly used verbs in fifteen countries (jalar more in spoken

language and halar more in educated written language), tirar de and/or tirar in four countries,

and Paraguay and Nicaragua have highly regional usages.

B4.2 Verbs/Phrases by Country (4 verbs/verb phrases plus variants)

SPAIN tirar de

MEXICO jalar

GUATEMALA jalar

EL SALVADOR jalar

HONDURAS jalar

NICARAGUA jalar, guiñar

COSTA RICA jalar

PANAMA jalar/halar

CUBA halar/jalar

DOMIN. REP. halar/jalar

PUERTO RICO halar/jalar

VENEZUELA jalar/halar

COLOMBIA jalar/halar

ECUADOR jalar

PERU jalar

BOLIVIA jalar

PARAGUAY estirar

URUGUAY tirar de, tirar

ARGENTINA tirar de, tirar

CHILE tirar, tirar de

B4.3 Details

Spain: Tirar de is the dominant expression in most regions of Spain, but jalar/halar may be used

in some regions in certain contexts. If so, where? In Andalucía? (See section B4.4

below.) Also, is the verb estirar (which in General Spanish has the closely related

25

meaning of ‘stretch’) commonly used in Spain, or some regions of Spain, in the sense of

‘pull’?

Nicaragua: Some consider guiñar to be nonstandard when used in the sense of ‘pull.’ Are there

differences in meaning, register, or situational context between jalar and guiñar?

Jalar vs. halar: In all countries where jalar and halar are used, there are those who look askance

at the use of the former. However, there is evidence to suggest that in the Antilles, and to

a lesser extent in Panama, Venezuela and Colombia, jalar is more stigmatized and less

accepted than in the other countries where the two verbs are used. In the Antilles, many

educated people__

perhaps a majority__

consider jalar to be uneducated and “low-class,”

whereas in Mexico, most of Central America, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia, jalar is

generally accepted in spoken language and even in many forms of written

communication. Signs on doors, however, often say “Hale” rather than “Jale” even in

countries where jalar enjoys considerable acceptance. (“Tire” is what appears on this

type of sign in non-jalar/halar countries, and sometimes in jalar/halar countries as well,

although some of the signs may be imported.) In countries where jalar and halar are

used, what are Spanish speakers’ attitudes toward the two verbs and how do these

attitudes vary by region?

Tirar vs. tirar de: In the educated speech of Argentina and Uruguay, tirar de is more common

than tirar in the sense of ‘pull,’ whereas in Chile tirar is more common.

Isoglosses: If you took a trip between the cities indicated below, at what point would most

people stop using one verb in the sense of ‘pull’ and start using a different verb? Lima to

Santiago de Chile (jalar>tirar), La Paz to Asunción (jalar>estirar), La Paz to Buenos

Aires (jalar>tirar de), La Paz to Santiago de Chile (jalar>tirar), Asunción to Buenos

Aires (estirar>tirar de).


Estirar (D), guiñar (D), halar (B), jalar (A?), tirar (C), tirar de (C).

Dictionary definitions: halar, “2. And., C. Rica, Cuba, Hond., Nic., Pan. y Ven. Tirar

hacia sí de algo”; jalar, “tr. coloq. halar (|| tirar de un cabo). || 2. coloq. tirar (|| hacer fuerza para

traer)”; tirar, “24. Dicho de personas, animales o vehículos: Hacer fuerza para traer hacia sí o

para llevar tras sí.”

Halar is defined with regional specifications, but not jalar, which is defined in sense one

in terms of halar. Are we to suppose, then, that the use of jalar is also regionally marked? If so,

in what regions did the Dictionary mean to indicate that jalar is used? If not, why define a

General Spanish word in terms of a regionalism? Also, in the definition of jalar, why gloss the

word “halar” with the explanation “(|| tirar de un cabo)” since cabo is a marked term (the

Dictionary lists it with a maritime contextual specification), rather than defining jalar as “halar

(|| tirar de una cuerda)” as cuerda is an unmarked, General Spanish term? If the Real Academia is

implying that in Spain jalar is used specifically in a maritime setting (i.e. by sailors), it should

indicate this in the definition.

Since jalar/halar are used in many more countries than tirar or tirar de, an argument can

be made for defining tirar (de) in terms of jalar/halar rather than vice versa. The definition of

26

jalar is divided into two senses, “tirar hacia sí de algo” and “hacer fuerza para traer,” but what is

the difference between them, if any?

B5 TO PUSH (A BUTTON): popular, nonstandard (low-prestige) verbs

B5.1 Summary

Apretar, oprimir, presionar and pulsar are the standard terms used by educated speakers

everywhere, although perhaps not everywhere with equal frequency. Apretar is generally more

neutral usage whereas oprimir, presionar and pulsar tend to be considered more technical and/or

formal. The verbs dar and tocar are also used in this sense somewhat informally (e.g. darle al

botón, tocar la tecla). However, in many countries there is a popular, nonstandard (lower-

prestige) usage, a verb that is used in the sense of ‘push a button’ alongside the standard verbs

and which, in many cases, is more common in everyday language.

B5.2 Regional/Popular Verbs by Country (7 verbs)

SPAIN no regional/nonstandard verb found

MEXICO puchar, apachurrar

GUATEMALA apachar

EL SALVADOR puyar

HONDURAS puyar

NICARAGUA empujar

COSTA RICA estripar

PANAMA empujar

CUBA no regional/nonstandard verb found

DOMIN. REP. empujar?

PUERTO RICO empujar

VENEZUELA no regional/nonstandard verb found

COLOMBIA espichar

ECUADOR aplastar

PERU no regional/nonstandard verb found

BOLIVIA no regional/nonstandard verb found

PARAGUAY no regional/nonstandard verb found

URUGUAY no regional/nonstandard verb found

ARGENTINA no regional/nonstandard verb found

CHILE no regional/nonstandard verb found

B5.3 Details

General: The social stigma attached to the regional/nonstandard usages listed in section B5.2

above is not uniform. For example, many Colombians from the Department of

27

Cundinamarca and Costa Ricans indicated that espichar and estripar, respectively, are

considered “low-class” or “incorrect” and some claimed they do not use them. Educated

and/or upwardly mobile women from these countries appear to be particularly averse to

using them. In Guatemala and Ecuador, on the other hand, apachar and aplastar,

respectively, are widely used by educated speakers and carry much less social stigma

than espichar and estripar in their respective countries. Puyar in Honduras and El

Salvador are also censored though apparently not as much as estripar and espichar. What

regional and popular verbs are used in the countries listed above with “no

regional/nonstandard verb found” and what is their level of acceptance?

Mexico: Which Mexicans use puchar and which use apachurrar in the sense of ‘push’? Less

educated Mexicans from certain regions, norteños, ones who have lived in the United

States?

Colombia: Espichar seems to be particularly common in the popular speech of Cundinamarca

and apparently is not used in many other regions of the country.

A few also said: Hundir (Panama, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Colombia).


Apachar (A), apachurrar (D), aplastar (D), empujar (D), espichar (D), estripar (D),

puchar (F), puyar (D).

Apachar is defined as “3. Guat. Pulsar un botón.” Which of the above terms should be

defined with speech-register specifications such as “coloq.” (colloquial), “vulg.”

(popular/vulgar), or “malson.” (vulgar)?

B6 BOTAR: is this verb commonly used in the sense of ‘to throw out’ or not?

B6.1 Summary

Botar is commonly used in the sense of ‘to throw out’ everywhere except Spain, Paraguay,

Uruguay and Argentina.

B6.2 Botar = ‘throw out’: commonly used or not?

SPAIN no

MEXICO yes, but less common than tirar

GUATEMALA yes, but less common than tirar

EL SALVADOR yes

HONDURAS yes

NICARAGUA yes

COSTA RICA yes

PANAMA yes

CUBA yes

28

DOMIN. REP. yes

PUERTO RICO yes

VENEZUELA yes

COLOMBIA yes

ECUADOR yes

PERU yes

BOLIVIA yes

PARAGUAY no

URUGUAY no

ARGENTINA no

CHILE yes

B6.3 Details

Spain, Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina: The verbs tirar and/or echar are commonly used in the

sense of ‘to throw out.’

Countries other than Spain, Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina: The verb botar is commonly used

in the sense of ‘to throw out,’ ‘to kick out’ and other related senses (though less so in

Mexico and Guatemala).


people stop using botar in the sense of ‘throw away’ and start using primarily tirar and/or

echar? La Paz to Asunción (botar>tirar/echar), La Paz to Buenos Aires

(botar>tirar/echar), Santiago de Chile to Buenos Aires (botar>tirar/echar).


The Dictionary defines botar, without regional or other usage specification, as “tr.

Arrojar, tirar, echar fuera a alguien o algo” which suggests that botar is commonly used in the

senses of ‘throw out/throw away’ and ‘kick out’ in Peninsular Spanish. While this is directly

contradicted by the data collected in this study, its respondents were largely middle-class and

upper-middle-class people from large cities. In Spain, is botar commonly used in the general

sense of ‘throw out’ in all regions and in all walks of life, as the Dictionary’s definition implies,

or is it used more in certain regions, in certain contexts, and/or among certain sectors (e.g. by

sailors throwing something overboard)? The same questions can be asked with respect to the

River Plate region.

29

C MOODY MORPHOLOGY

C1 DIMINUTIVES OF WORDS ENDING IN T + VOWEL

C1.1 Summary

The -ito diminutive is the predominant suffix for words ending in t + vowel (e.g. gatito, patita,

momentito, Albertito) everywhere except Costa Rica, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela,

Colombia, and possibly a few regions of Spain where the -ico diminutive (e.g. gatico, patica,

momentico, Albertico) is more common.

Note: In section C1.2 below, gatito/gatico is used as the example.

C1.2 Suffixes for final t + vowel words by country (2 suffixes)

SPAIN gatito, gatico

MEXICO gatito

GUATEMALA gatito

EL SALVADOR gatito

HONDURAS gatito

NICARAGUA gatito

COSTA RICA gatico, gatito

PANAMA gatito

CUBA gatico

DOMIN. REP. gatico

PUERTO RICO gatito

VENEZUELA gatico

COLOMBIA gatico

ECUADOR gatito

PERU gatito

BOLIVIA gatito

PARAGUAY gatito

URUGUAY gatito

ARGENTINA gatito

CHILE gatito

C1.3 Details

Spain: Although the vast majority of Spaniards in this study said they used gatito, patita and

momentito, two respondents, one from Murcia and one from Navarra, stated they use

gatico, patica and momentico. To the extent that words ending in t + vowel, and words in

general, take the -ico diminutive in certain regions of Spain such as Andalucía, Aragón,

30

Murcia and Navarra (see definition of -ico in section C1.4 below), what are the

differences in meaning, connotation or register between gatito and gatico or hermanito

and hermanico? In these regions, do the -ico forms serve as a class, age or rural marker?

Specifically, do older, more rural and less educated people use the -ico forms more often

than younger, urban and more educated people?

Costa Rica: Costarricenses (Costa Ricans) are popularly called “ticos” (especially by Central

Americans) because they often use the -ico suffix with words ending in t + vowel (e.g.

gatico). In fact, however, there is social stratification in Costa Rica with regard to the two

suffixes: With words ending in t + vowel, the -ico diminutive is used more by older, rural

and less educated people, and the -ito diminutive more by younger, urban and middle-

and upper-class people. Linguistic attitudes also play a role. For example, upwardly

mobile women are more likely to use -ito diminutives than men of their same social class.

And some upper-class men (including yuppies), who would like to think of themselves as

“real Costa Ricans,” may consciously or subconsciously choose to say gatico. What is

certain is that, for Costa Ricans, the use of words like gatico vs. gatito is a social and

identity marker to a much greater extent than it is in Cuba, the Dominican Republic,

Venezuela and Colombia where -ito diminutives for words ending in t + vowel are

relatively rare and -ico diminutives are more or less standard usage.

Cuba, Dominican Republic, Colombia & Venezuela: Forms such as gatico, patica and

momentico are much more widely used than gatito, patita and momentito. There is,

however, linguistic insecurity in some circles surrounding the -ico forms and statements

such as “Nosotros decimos gatico, pero lo correcto es gatito” are not uncommon. Some

from these countries claim that there are meaning or register differences between gatito

and gatico: that gatico is colloquial whereas gatito is more formal, that a gatito is a

smaller kitten than a gatico, or that gatito is a kitten that is referred to in a more

affectionate way. However, no independent evidence (i.e. contrastive usage) was found to

corroborate any of these claims. Still others said they generally use the -ico forms except

for un momentito as they consider it to be more refined than un momentico. Would some

people from these countries generally say espere un momentito (usted command) to a

person they did not know well, but espera un momentico or espérate un momentico (tú

commands) to friends?

Calentito/calentico vs. calientito/calientico: In many Spanish-speaking countries, perhaps in a

majority, the terms calientito or calientico are much more common in everyday

speech__

for example, when referring to the temperature of food or water__

than calentito

or calentico. Yet many educated Spanish speakers do not accept the diphthonged forms

and insist that calentito or calentico are the only correct ones. Is the level of acceptance

that calientito and/or calientico enjoy uniform throughout the Spanish-speaking world or

does this vary by region? If it varies diatopically, where are calientito and calientico

generally accepted by educated speakers, and where are they social markers? In which, if

any regions, do most speakers spontaneously say phrases such as “una comida rica y

calentita” and where would most say “una comida rica y calientita”? The difficulty in

resolving such issues is that in rapid speech the audible difference between calentito and

calientito is sometimes hard to perceive. It is also possible that many of those who object

31

to calientito, write calentito, and may try to say calentito, but often end up saying

calientito. Thus some may use calientito in spoken language and calentito in written

language. However, if most people say calientito or calientico, why shouldn’t these

forms be accepted as legitimate in both spoken and written language? Caliente >

calientito or calentito is similar to other derivations of diphthonged base forms in which

the stressed syllable changes in the derived form. Compare it to the following derivations:

viejo > viejito (*vejito is not a grammatical form); bueno > buenísimo or bonísimo,

Puerto Rico > puertorriqueño or portorriqueño (where both derived forms are possible,

the meaning is the same, but the registers may be different). Another interesting minimal

pair is enterrado (‘buried’) vs. entierrado (‘dirty, soiled’).

Other diminutive forms: Several women in this study (mostly from Spain) indicated they use un

momentín, un poquitín, and other -ín forms in addition to momentito and poquitito, etc.

What groups use momentín, and how is its use distinguished from that of

momentito/momentico? The -illo diminutive, which in most varieties of Spanish is

derogatory, is commonly used as a nonderogatory diminutive in parts of Mexico and

Central America, but its frequency of use, meanings and connotations (vis-à-vis -ito

and/or -ico) need to be investigated. For example, some Mexicans have indicated that un

poquillo refers to a smaller amount than un poquito, and have described cases of

lexicalization, such as un platito (a small plate) vs. un platillo (prepared food, a dish), in

which diminutive suffixes, when attached to given words in certain contexts, result in a

specific meaning that is different from the effect these suffixes normally create. (In

Mexican Spanish, as in all varieties of the language, platillos, in the context of classical

music, still refer to ‘cymbals’ and platillos voladores still mean ‘flying saucers.’)

Isoglosses: If you took a trip between Bogotá and Quito, at what point would most people stop

saying gatico and start saying gatito? There is anecdotal evidence that, unlike most

Colombians, pastusos (Colombians from the city of Pasto, or from anywhere in the

southern border department of Nariño) say gatito. It would not be surprising if the

dividing line lay somewhere in southern Colombia, rather than in the adjacent Ecuadoran

province of El Carchi, since Nariño was historically part of Ecuador.

C1.4 Real Academia Regional Review

-ico (B), -ito (A).

Dictionary definitions: -ico, “suf. And., Ar., Mur., Nav., Col., C. Rica, Cuba y Ven. Tiene

valor diminutivo o afectivo. Ratico, pequeñica, hermanico. A veces, toma las formas -ececico, -

ecico, -cico. Piececico, huevecico, resplandorcico. En Colombia, C. Rica, Cuba y Venezuela,

solo se une a radicales que terminan en -t-. Gatico, patica. Muchas veces se combina con el

sufijo -ito. Ahoritica, poquitico”; -ito3, “suf. Tiene valor diminutivo o afectivo. Ramita,

hermanito, pequeñito, callandito, prontito. En ciertos casos toma las formas -ecito, -ececito, -

cito. Solecito, piececito, corazoncito, mujercita.”

“R. Dom.” needs to be added to the regional specifications for the definition of -ico, and

to the description of countries in which -ico only gets attached to radicals ending in t.

32

C2 CHANCE: masculine, feminine, or word seldom used?

C2.1 Summary

Chance is generally masculine everywhere except Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina and Chile

(where it is feminine to the extent the word is used), Spain (where the word is rarely used), and

Peru (where the situation is unclear).

C2.2 Masculine, feminine, or do not use the word chance?

SPAIN do not use

MEXICO masculine, do not use

GUATEMALA masculine

EL SALVADOR masculine

HONDURAS masculine

NICARAGUA masculine

COSTA RICA masculine

PANAMA masculine

CUBA masculine

DOMIN. REP. masculine

PUERTO RICO masculine

VENEZUELA masculine

COLOMBIA masculine

ECUADOR masculine

PERU feminine, do not use, masculine

BOLIVIA masculine

PARAGUAY do not use, feminine

URUGUAY feminine

ARGENTINA feminine

CHILE do not use, feminine

C2.3 Details

General: In all countries where chance is widely used in informal language, there are those who

object to its use and deny that it is even a word in Spanish. Statements such as “no se dice

chance, se dice oportunidad” are common everywhere.

Spain: A few Spaniards indicated that they use chance in a humorous, imitative way because of

the influence of Latin American telenovelas, but the vast majority said they do not use

chance.

Mexico: While chance is clearly masculine in Mexico, many respondents in this study indicated

they do not use the word. Are peoples’ attitudes in Mexico toward chance different from

the attitudes that exist in other countries where chance is commonly used?

33

Peru: The respondents queried in this study were split almost evenly between una chance

(feminine) un chance (masculine) and “do not use.” What percentage of Peruvians use

chance as a masculine word, what percentage use it as a feminine word, what percentage

do not use the word at all, and what are the characteristics of each group?

Paraguay & Chile: Respondents from these two countries were split fairly evenly between

“feminine” and “do not use.” To what extent is chance used in Paraguay and Chile?

Reasons for two different genders of chance: Why is chance masculine in some countries and

feminine in others? In Uruguay and Argentina, is chance feminine because the word was

incorporated there directly from French and people were conscious of its origin and

feminine gender in French? In countries where chance is masculine, did it enter Spanish

by way of English and not directly from French, and then become a masculine word

because loanwords that do not end in a are generally incorporated into Spanish as

masculine words? Compare, for example, the opposing forces that have created initial

competition between el internet / la internet and el (worldwide) web / la (worldwide)

web, terms which have been incorporated into Spanish as both masculine and feminine

nouns: masculine because they are loanwords that do not end in a, and feminine because

many of the Spanish speakers who first used these words in the 1980s and 1990s knew

English and knew that “net” and “web” can mean red and telaraña, respectively, both

feminine words. A Spanish-language internet search conducted in mid 2003 of el internet

/ la internet and el web / la web resulted in thousands of hits for both masculine and

feminine forms, but the latter were about twice as numerous as the former.


Chance is defined as “(Del fr. chance). amb. Oportunidad o posibilidad de conseguir

algo. No tiene chance para ese cargo.” Should the Dictionary specify chance’s preferred genders

in specific countries, and should the etymology read “(Del fr. chance, o del fr. chance por vía del

ingl. chance)”?

C3 RADIO (the device): masculine or feminine?

C3.1 Summary

When used to refer to the device, radio is generally masculine everywhere except Spain,

Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina and Chile (where it is generally feminine) and Peru and Bolivia

(where el radio and la radio compete).

C3.2 Radio (the device): masculine or feminine?

SPAIN feminine

MEXICO masculine

GUATEMALA masculine

34


HONDURAS masculine

NICARAGUA masculine


PANAMA masculine

CUBA masculine


PUERTO RICO masculine

VENEZUELA masculine

COLOMBIA masculine

ECUADOR masculine

PERU masculine, feminine

BOLIVIA feminine, masculine

PARAGUAY feminine

URUGUAY feminine

ARGENTINA feminine

CHILE feminine

C3.3 Details

Peru & Bolivia: In Peru, twice as many respondents stated that radio (in the sense of ‘device’)

was masculine as those who stated it was feminine, whereas in Bolivia the opposite was

the case. Is radio predominantly masculine in Peru and predominantly feminine in

Bolivia, or is there considerable competition between el radio and la radio in both

countries?

Radio in the sense of radioemisión or la emisora: The overwhelming majority of respondents

from all countries indicated that radio, when used to refer to the broadcast or the station,

is feminine. However, the respondents were largely middle- and upper-middle-class

persons and in many cases it was clear to them that the information was being solicited in

a test situation. However, some of those who indicated el radio for the device also

indicated el radio for the station/broadcast; none of those who said la radio for the device

said el radio for the station/broadcast. The distinction between the device, the broadcast

and the station is sometimes hazy, for example, in a phrase such as escuchar el/la radio

in which one listens to all three. Note that in dialects (or sociolects) in which radio =

device is masculine, and radio = station/broadcast is feminine, el radio has a different

meaning from la radio, whereas for other speakers la radio or el radio can refer to both

the device and the station/broadcast.


Radio is defined as “(Acort.[amiento]) amb. coloq. radiorreceptor.” Should the

Dictionary indicate where radio (when used in the sense of the device) is predominantly

feminine and where it is predominantly masculine? Also, can radio in this sense currently be

35

considered colloquial usage? Is not radio in fact standard usage and radiorreceptor uncommon

in any but the most formal and/or technical language? Indeed, radiorreceptor may soon be

archaic usage, if it is not already so.

C4 RIEL: masculine, feminine, or word seldom used?

C4.1 Summary

Riel is predominantly masculine everywhere except Ecuador and Bolivia where it is generally

feminine. In Puerto Rico the two genders may be in competition.

C4.2 Masculine, feminine, or do not use the word riel?

SPAIN masculine, do not use

MEXICO masculine

GUATEMALA masculine


HONDURAS masculine

NICARAGUA masculine


PANAMA masculine

CUBA masculine, do not use


PUERTO RICO do not use, masculine, feminine

VENEZUELA masculine

COLOMBIA masculine

ECUADOR feminine

PERU masculine

BOLIVIA feminine

PARAGUAY masculine

URUGUAY masculine

ARGENTINA masculine

CHILE masculine

C4.3 Details

Spain & Cuba: The vast majority of Spaniards and Cubans queried indicated that riel is

masculine, but several from both countries stated that they do not use this term at all. Of

these, some indicated that they use el raíl or el rail whereas others said they use words

such as el ferrocarril, el carril, la línea del tren, la vía del tren, etc. Still others said they

use riel for ‘curtain rod’ and raíl for ‘railroad track.’ According to Corominas, when the

railroad was introduced in Spanish-speaking countries, the English word “rail” was

36

adopted in Spain to refer to railroad tracks, and was generally pronounced raíl, whereas

in Mexico and Peru (and elsewhere in Latin America?) the Spanish word riel was used in

this sense instead of the English word because it sounded like rail/raíl and because of its

related, already existing senses (Corominas, vol. 4, pg. 13).

Puerto Rico: Respondents were evenly divided in their opinion on whether riel is masculine,

feminine or not used. Of those who do not use the word, some said it is because there are

no longer any trains in Puerto Rico while others said they use some other word or phrase

(ferrocarril, vía del tren, etc.). Is riel predominantly masculine, feminine or seldom used

in Puerto Rico?

Ecuador & Bolivia: Why is riel predominantly feminine in these two countries? Is it because riel

was always masculine in Spain, but based on the analogy of other words ending in -iel,

such as hiel, miel and piel (which are feminine in General Spanish), some Ecuadorans

and Bolivians began applying the feminine gender to riel and this usage somehow

became predominant? If so, how did this come about? Or is it because, at some point in

the past, riel was once used as a feminine noun in some regions of Spain (perhaps at one

point el riel and la riel were in competition), and its use as a feminine noun in Ecuador

and Bolivia is an archaic usage__

an “archaism” from the perspective of the rest of the

Spanish-speaking world__

that has survived to the present day in these two countries? This

assumes that the Dictionary’s etymology of Spanish riel is correct, that is, that it comes

from Catalan riell which, in turn, comes from Latin regella (see section C4.4 below). The

Diccionario Crítico Etimológico de la Lengua Castellana makes no mention of riel ever

having been used as a feminine noun in any variety of Spanish (Corominas, vol. 4, pg.

13).


Riel is defined as “(Del cat. riell, y este del lat. regella). m. Barra pequeña de metal en

bruto. || 2. Carril de una vía férrea.”

The Dictionary indicates that riel is a masculine noun without comment or caveat. Should

the Dictionary say the word is masculine in its gender specification, and then in the body of the

definition state “En Bol., Ecuad. y P. Rico, u. c. f. [usado como femenino]”? Or should it

indicate the word is “amb.” in its gender specification?

The Dictionary defines raíl and rail as “Carril de las vías férreas” without any regional

specifications. Should “Cuba y Esp.” be specified in the definitions’ regional specifications?

C5 SARTÉN: masculine, feminine, or word seldom used?

C5.1 Summary

A certain degree of competition between el sartén and la sartén exists in most if not all regions

of the Spanish-speaking world. However, in educated speech (el habla culta), the word appears

to be more often masculine in Mexico, most of Central America, the Antilles, Colombia,

37

Ecuador and Bolivia, and more often feminine in Spain, Peru, Paraguay and Argentina. In

Uruguay and Chile there appears to be strong competition between el sartén and la sartén.

C5.2 Masculine or feminine?

SPAIN feminine

MEXICO masculine

GUATEMALA masculine

EL SALVADOR less common, masculine, feminine

HONDURAS less common, masculine

NICARAGUA less common, masculine


PANAMA masculine, feminine

CUBA masculine, feminine


PUERTO RICO masculine, feminine

VENEZUELA masculine, feminine

COLOMBIA masculine, feminine

ECUADOR masculine

PERU feminine

BOLIVIA masculine

PARAGUAY feminine

URUGUAY masculine, feminine

ARGENTINA feminine

CHILE masculine, feminine

C5.3 Details

General: Some respondents from many countries indicated that they say both el sartén

(masculine) and la sartén (feminine), or were unsure of the word’s “correct” gender.

Even in regions where the masculine gender is predominant, many respondents claimed

that they try to say “la sartén,” that they should say “la sartén,” or that the feminine form

is really the correct one. In addition, a number of those who indicated they generally use

the masculine form stated that they use the feminine form in the expression tener la

sartén por el mango. How do attitudes toward the gender of this word vary among

educated speakers from different regions of the Spanish-speaking world, and what are the

regional, age, and social-class preferences within each country?

Spain: The overwhelming majority of those interviewed in this study were under the age of fifty

and indicated la sartén, but two said that el sartén is used by older Spaniards. Corominas

states that el sartén is the predominant usage in Asturias, but this statement was

published in the 1950s (Corominas, vol. 4, pg. 159).

El Salvador, Honduras & Nicaragua: In these countries, other terms are used in the sense of

‘frying pan’ more often than sartén: cacerola (El Salvador, Honduras); cazuela

38

(Nicaragua); fridera (Honduras, the Oriente region of Guatemala); paila (Nicaragua);

sartena (El Salvador, ceramic pan, generally with two small handles, orejas, rather than

one long handle). Some Nicaraguans indicated that a sartén is a small paila, and some

Hondurans indicated that a sartén is a small fridera.

Panama, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Venezuela & Colombia: In this study, more people from these

countries said el sartén than la sartén, but not significantly more, and several said they

use both genders or were unsure. What is the situation in these countries?

Uruguay & Chile: Respondents were split almost down the middle with regard to the gender of

sartén.

Argentina: The respondents in this study were nearly unanimous in indicating la sartén, but the

vast majority were middle-class and upper-middle-class Argentines, under the age of

fifty, from Buenos Aires, Rosario, or other major cities. One indicated that her elderly

mother used el sartén (although she herself says la sartén). However, Corominas states

that the masculine gender is “absolutamente general en la Arg.” (Corominas, vol. 4, pg.

158-159). Who currently says el sartén in Argentina?


Sartén is defined as “f. Recipiente de cocina, generalmente de metal, de forma circular,

poco hondo y con mango largo, que sirve para guisar. En muchos lugares de América y España

u. c. m. [usado como masculino].”

Since sartén is masculine in well over half the Spanish-speaking world, it should be

defined as “amb. [ambiguo] Recipiente de cocina...” rather than prescribing that the word be

feminine. Should the Dictionary go further and give specific information about where sartén is

predominantly masculine and where it is generally feminine or just indicate “amb.”? The

Dictionary’s vague description of sartén’s regional distribution (“En muchos lugares de América

y España”) is not particularly useful, but perhaps it is the best that can be done given that both

genders are used to some extent in most if not all regions. To turn the matter on its head, one can

argue that the other alternative would be to define sartén as a masculine noun and then state, “En

España y algunos lugares de América u. c. f.”

C6 FORMS OF ADDRESS (parent-to-child and child-to-parent)

C6.1 Summary

The forms of address–usted, tú or vos–people use to address their parents and those used by

parents to address their children vary according to factors such as state of mind, age,

socioeconomic class, region and family tradition. In some countries, people who are older, rural,

and of a lower socioeconomic class are more likely to use a nonreciprocal form of address

(parent addressing child as tú or vos and child addressing parent as usted), and people who are

younger, urban, and of a higher socioeconomic class are more likely to use a reciprocal form of

address (parent and child each addressing the other as tú, vos or usted).

39

Note: What is presented below in section C6.2 are typical forms of address used in normal

communication (i.e. not when people are angry or upset) by middle- and upper-class speakers

under the age of 50 from the capitals and other large cities of the respective countries. Forms that

children use in addressing their parents are listed first in initial capital letters, and forms that

parents use in addressing their children are listed second, after the hyphen, in all lower-case

letters.

C6.2 Parent-Child Forms of Address by Country

SPAIN Tú - tú

MEXICO Tú - tú

GUATEMALA Usted - tú/vos/usted

EL SALVADOR Usted - tú/vos/usted

HONDURAS Usted - tú/vos/usted

NICARAGUA Usted - vos

COSTA RICA Usted/Vos - usted/vos

PANAMA Usted/Tú - tú

CUBA Tú - tú

DOMIN. REP. Usted/Tú - tú

PUERTO RICO Tú - tú

VENEZUELA Tú - tú

COLOMBIA Usted/Tú/Vos - usted/tú/vos

ECUADOR Usted/Tú/Vos - tú/vos

PERU Tú - tú

BOLIVIA Usted/Tú/Vos - tú/vos

PARAGUAY Vos - vos

URUGUAY Vos/Tú - vos/tú

ARGENTINA Vos - vos

CHILE Usted/Tú - usted/tú

C6.3 Details

General: The forms of address most often used by the lower socioeconomic classes and by

people from places other than the major cities were not studied here and may differ

considerably from those listed above in section C6.2. Nor is the issue of the different verb

morphologies (conjugations) that are used in the different regions in combination with the

pronouns tú and vos addressed here, such as the out-of-the-ordinary tú sabés, vos sabes

and vos sabís, in addition to the ordinary tú sabes and vos sabés. For an excellent, yet

succinct discussion of the use of vos in Latin America, see John Lipski’s El español de

América, chapter 5, “La variación social en el español de América” (pgs. 159-162, the

section entitled Estudio de un caso: el uso de “vos”).

40

Venezuela: The reciprocal Tú - tú paradigm between parent and child is the norm among the

middle and upper classes in the cities of central and eastern Venezuela, but other forms of

address that include vos and usted may be common in parts of western Venezuela such as

the state of Zulia and the Andean region.

Colombia: Parent-child forms of address show great regional variation, as do forms of address in

general within Colombia: in the Costa (Atlantic Coast) region, Tú - tú is common; in

Western Colombia, where vos is used, Usted - vos and Vos - vos, as well as Usted - usted

are used; in Bogotá, Tú - tú is often heard among middle and upper-class persons; and in

many parts of interior Colombia, Usted - usted is common (e.g. in the department of

Santander).

Peru: The parent-child form of address paradigm for middle- and upper-class people from Lima

is Tú - tú, but what is the paradigm in cities of the Peruvian Sierra (highlands), such as

Huancayo, Ayacucho and Puno, or in northern cities such as Trujillo, Chiclayo and

Piura? The majority of respondents queried on this issue were limeños.

Chile: Many lower- and working-class Chileans use a special pronoun-less voseo (see Lipski, pg.

161).

Reciprocal/nonreciprocal, formality/informality: One way of categorizing regions is to ask

whether parent-child forms of address among middle- and upper-class urban people are

generally “reciprocal” (Tú - tú, Vos - vos or Usted - usted), or often “nonreciprocal”

(Usted - tú or Usted - vos). Parent-child forms of address among these groups are by and

large reciprocal in Spain, Mexico, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Peru, Paraguay,

Uruguay and Argentina, whereas in Central America, the Dominican Republic,

Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia and possibly Chile, nonreciprocal paradigms have, to a

considerable degree, resisted the general trend toward greater reciprocity between parents

and children. Many of the countries in which nonreciprocal parent-child forms of address

are predominant are also countries in which people tend to go from using usted to using

tú or vos much more slowly and under a much narrower range of circumstances, places

such as Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, and most of Central America. The Dominican

Republic is a notable exception, a country in which strangers often establish a tuteante

relationship quickly (if not instantaneously), yet many people address their parents as

usted.

Uniformity within countries and linguistic change: There is evidence to suggest that a

generational erosion of nonreciprocal forms of address between parents and children may

be taking place in regions where they have traditionally been dominant, particularly in

large urban centers. In other words, in traditionally nonreciprocal countries there are now

many families in which people born between 1955 and 1975 address their parents as

usted, but their children address them, and their grandparents, as tú. Which countries’

parent-child forms of address are more stable and monolithic, and which show a higher

degree of social, regional and/or generational fragmentation?

41

D A FEW OTHER ESSENTIALS

D1 TODAY

D1.1 Summary

Hoy is universal, but hoy día is also commonly used in the sense of ‘today’ in Ecuador, Peru,

Bolivia and Chile.

D1.2 Terms by Country (2 terms)

SPAIN hoy

MEXICO hoy

GUATEMALA hoy

EL SALVADOR hoy

HONDURAS hoy

NICARAGUA hoy

COSTA RICA hoy

PANAMA hoy

CUBA hoy

DOMIN. REP. hoy

PUERTO RICO hoy

VENEZUELA hoy

COLOMBIA hoy

ECUADOR hoy, hoy día

PERU hoy día, hoy

BOLIVIA hoy día, hoy

PARAGUAY hoy

URUGUAY hoy

ARGENTINA hoy

CHILE hoy, hoy día

D1.3 Details

Hoy día: Some from Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Chile claim hoy día is more emphatic than hoy.

Others say the two are equivalent, or that they generally use only one of the two forms.

Why is the use of hoy día in the sense of ‘today’ an essentially “Andean” phenomenon,

one that occurs in what are often thought of as the core Andean countries? Is this usage

an archaism that survived in this region?

42

D1.4 Real Academia Regional Review

Hoy (A), hoy día (D).

Hoy día is defined under hoy as “~ día, u [usado] ~ en día. locs. advs. En esta época, en

estos días que vivimos” and is defined under día as “hoy ~, u hoy en ~ (|| en el tiempo

presente).”

In the definition of hoy día, the additional sense of “Bol., Chile, Ecuad. y Perú. hoy (|| en

este día)” needs to be added. What does the Dictionary mean by usado in “~ día, u [usado] ~ en

día”? Does this mean that hoy día is used in the sense of hoy en día, or that hoy en día is used

more often than hoy día in the sense of ‘nowadays’? The Dictionary should not use abbreviations

that its users can not reasonably be expected to understand.

D2 GOOD MORNING

D2.1 Summary

Buenos días is universal, but buen día is also commonly used as a greeting in Bolivia, Paraguay,

Uruguay and Argentina.

D2.2 Terms by Country (2 terms)

SPAIN buenos días

MEXICO buenos días

GUATEMALA buenos días

EL SALVADOR buenos días

HONDURAS buenos días

NICARAGUA buenos días

COSTA RICA buenos días

PANAMA buenos días

CUBA buenos días

DOMIN. REP. buenos días

PUERTO RICO buenos días

VENEZUELA buenos días

COLOMBIA buenos días

ECUADOR buenos días

PERU buenos días

BOLIVIA buenos días, buen día

PARAGUAY buen día, buenos días

URUGUAY buen día, buenos días

ARGENTINA buen día, buenos días

CHILE buenos días

43

D2.3 Details

Buen día: The use of buen día as a greeting (in the sense of ‘good morning’) appears to be

somewhat less common in Bolivia than in Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina, but in all

four countries buen día is less formal than buenos días. For example, a person from one

of these countries might say buen día to a friend or co-worker (assuming he or she does

not say hola, qué tal or some other informal expression), whereas a teacher entering a

classroom will invariably say buenos días (at which time all students are supposed to

stand up). Thus, in these four countries buenos días occupies a higher speech register

than buen día: there is diglossia with respect to this item. Is buen día commonly used as a

greeting in countries other than Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina (for example,

in some areas of Peru or Chile)? Why is the use of buen día concentrated in the River

Plate region?


Buen día (B), buenos días (A).

Dictionary definitions: buenos días, “expr. U. como salutación familiar durante la

mañana”; buen día, “expr. Arg. y Chile. buenos días.”

Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay need to be added to the regional specifications of buen

día and Chile may need to be removed. The phrase buenos días is not an inherently informal or

familiar greeting and therefore should not be defined as a “...salutación familiar...” but simply as

a “...salutación...” since in General Spanish buenos días has informal counterparts such as qué tal

but no formal equivalent; in the River Plate region buenos días tends to be slightly formal.

D3 BROWN

D3.1 Summary

Café is the most commonly used term in ten countries, and marrón in seven or eight. Panama,

Cuba, Puerto Rico and Colombia have highly regional usages.

D3.2 Terms by Country (6 terms plus variants)

SPAIN marrón

MEXICO café

GUATEMALA café

EL SALVADOR café

HONDURAS café

NICARAGUA café

COSTA RICA café

PANAMA chocolate

44

CUBA carmelita, marrón

DOMIN. REP. marrón

PUERTO RICO braun/brown, marrón

VENEZUELA marrón

COLOMBIA café, marrón, rapé, carmelita

ECUADOR café

PERU marrón

BOLIVIA café

PARAGUAY marrón

URUGUAY marrón

ARGENTINA marrón

CHILE café

D3.3 Details

General: The color that was tested was a medium shade of brown (neither a very light brown, nor

a particularly dark brown). To what extent can the different regional Spanish terms listed

in section D3.2 above be considered generic equivalents of English “brown”?

Cuba: Carmelita is the predominant term in Havana, but there is some evidence to suggest that

marrón may be more common than carmelita in the Oriente (eastern Cuba).

Puerto Rico: Some stated that brown–pronounced and sometimes written braun–is used more

often in spoken language whereas marrón is more frequent in written language. To what

extent is this true?

Colombia: Café is the predominant term in the interior of the country, but in the Costa rapé and

marrón are more common. In the Costa, rapé seems to be more common in Cartagena

and points west, while marrón appears to be more common in Barranquilla and points

east. Some Colombians indicated that carmelita is a generic term for ‘brown’ and others

said it is a lighter shade of brown than café. In the different regions of Colombia, what

are the meanings and usage frequencies of café, marrón, rapé and carmelita?

Peru: The overwhelming majority of Peruvians in this study indicated that marrón is the generic

term for brown. However, a small minority said they used café, and of these two

indicated that café is a different shade of brown (one said café is darker than marrón,

another said café is lighter). What distinctions, if any, do Peruvians make between

marrón and café?


people stop using one term for a generic ‘brown’ and start saying another? San José to

Panama City (café>chocolate), Panama City to Bogotá (chocolate>rapé>marrón>café),

Caracas to Bogotá (marrón>café), Quito to Lima (café>marrón), Lima to La Paz

(marrón>café), Lima to Santiago de Chile (marrón>café), La Paz to Asunción

(café>marrón), Buenos Aires to Santiago de Chile (marrón>café), Havana to Santiago de

Cuba (carmelita>marrón). The trips from Lima to the capitals of Peru’s surrounding

Spanish-speaking countries would be especially interesting because this is the only region

in which marrón is flanked on three sides by café.

45

Plural forms: In the regions where the respective words for ‘brown’ are used, how do attitudes

vary with regard to the acceptability of plural forms such as the following equivalents of

‘brown shoes’? Zapatos de color café, zapatos cafés, zapatos de color marrón, zapatos

marrones, zapatos de color carmelita, zapatos carmelitos, zapatos carmelitas, zapatos de

color braun, zapatos brauns. Are expressions such as zapatos cafeses universally

censored as “nonstandard” and “uneducated” or are they accepted in colloquial speech in

some regions?


Braun (F), brown (F), café (B), carmelita (B), chocolate (D), marrón (C), rapé (D).

Dictionary definitions: marrón, “Dicho de un color: Castaño, o de matices parecidos. U.

t. c. s. m. [Usado también como sustantivo masculino] || 2. De color marrón”; café, “6. adj.

Chile, Ecuad., Méx. y Ur. marrón (|| color)”; carmelita, “3. (Por alus. al del hábito de los

carmelitas). Bol., Chile y Cuba. Se dice del color pardo, castaño claro o acanelado.”

All of the above terms, including café and marrón, should be defined with regional

specifications: café, “Bol., Col., C. Rica, Chile, Ecuad., El Salv., Hond., Guat., Méx. y Nic.

Castaño, o de matices parecidos” and marrón, “Arg., Col., Cuba, Esp., Par., Perú, P. Rico, R.

Dom., Ur. y Ven. Castaño, o de matices parecidos.” Is carmelita commonly used in Bolivia and

Chile in the sense of “pardo” as the Dictionary indicates? No evidence of this was uncovered in

this study, nor was any Uruguayan encountered who used café in the sense of ‘brown.’

D4 STRING / TWINE

D4.1 Summary

Cuerda is a generic General Spanish term that can refer to ‘string’ or ‘twine’ (and also ‘rope’),

but many countries have other more regional names for these items.

Note: In section D4.2 below, the terms corresponding to each country are listed in alphabetical

order.

D4.2 Other Terms for ‘String’ and/or ‘Twine’ by Country (about 15 terms plus variants)

SPAIN cordel, cordón

MEXICO cordón, mecate

GUATEMALA cáñamo, pita

EL SALVADOR cáñamo, cordel, mecate, pita

HONDURAS cabuya, cáñamo, cordel, cordón, mecate

NICARAGUA cabuya, mecate

COSTA RICA cordón, cáñamo, manila, mecate

PANAMA cordón

46

CUBA cáñamo, cordel, cordón

DOMIN. REP. cabuya, cáñamo, cordón, gangorra

PUERTO RICO cabuya, cordel, cordón

VENEZUELA cabuya, guaral, mecate, pabilo

COLOMBIA cabuya, cordón, guasca, piola, pita

ECUADOR cabuya, piola

PERU cordón, pita

BOLIVIA cordel, cordón, pita

PARAGUAY liña, piolín

URUGUAY piolín, piola

ARGENTINA cordel, cordón, piolín, piola

CHILE cáñamo, cordel, lienza, pita, pitilla

D4.3 Details

General: In addition to cuerda, many Spanish speakers use General Spanish hilo and/or soga

modified by qualifiers to refer to ‘string’ and/or ‘twine’ such as hilo gordo, hilo grueso,

hilo mediano, hilo de atar, soga fina, soga delgada, etc. Also, diminutive forms such as

cordelito, cordoncito, mecatillo/mecatito, piolita and soguilla/soguita are used in some

regions to refer to strings and/or twines that are thinner than the strings, twines and ropes

referred to by the base forms (cordel, cordón, mecate, piola and soga).

Spain: Some respondents indicated that bramante is used in the sense of ‘twine.’

El Salvador: Cabuya refers to a ‘cigarette butt’ (colilla, pucho).

Uruguay & Argentina: Hilo sisal refers to a type of string often used for tying up packages.

Cordel and cordón: These terms are used in many countries to refer to some type of ‘string’ or

‘twine,’ but how (if at all) do their meanings differ by region?

A few also said (for ‘string’ or ‘twine’): Cabuya (Cuba), curricán (Colombia), chaura

(Uruguay), hilo pabilo (Panama), liña (Bolivia, department of el Beni), maroma

(Argentina), mecahilo (Mexico), pabilo (Peru), sucho (Panama).

Rope: In addition to cuerda and soga, which appear to be used everywhere (though not

everywhere with equal frequency), the following terms were offered in the sense of

‘rope’: lazo (Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Colombia; the term was offered in these

countries in the sense of a generic rope, not specifically a ‘lasso’ or ‘lariat’), piola

(Paraguay), reata (Mexico). In addition, cabo was offered in the sense of a thick rope

(such as one used on ships) by respondents from different countries.

Spelling: Because words for ‘string,’ ‘twine’ and ‘rope’ are often used primarily in spoken

language, many people are uncertain as to the proper spelling, and the following

“alternate” spellings were offered by quite a few educated individuals: cabulla, laso,

pavilo, riata, zoga. (Some would haughtily assert that anyone who uses such spellings

can not be considered educated. However, an argument can be made that being a good

speller is only one of many criteria rather than a necessary but insufficient condition.)

47


Cabo (A?), cabuya (B), cáñamo (B), cordel (A), cordón (A), cuerda (A), gangorra (F),

guaral (A), hilo (A), lienza (D), liña (D), manila (B), mecate (A), pabilo (A), piola (C or D?),

piolín (B), pita (B), pitilla (A), soga (A or D?).

Dictionary definitions: cuerda, “Conjunto de hilos de lino, cáñamo, cerda u otra materia

semejante, que torcidos forman un solo cuerpo más o menos grueso, largo y flexible. Sirve para

atar, suspender pesos, etc... || 13. cordel”; cabo, “13. Mar. Cuerda (|| de atar o suspender pesos)”;

cabuya, “4. Am. Cuerda, y especialmente la de pita”; cáñamo, “6. Chile, C. Rica y Hond.

Bramante de cáñamo”; cordel, “Cuerda delgada... || 5. And., Bol., Col. y Nic. zumbel (|| cuerda

que se arrolla al peón)”; cordón, “Cuerda, por lo común redonda, de seda, lino, lana u otra

materia filiforme”; guaral, “Ven. Cordel de grosor mediano, hecho generalmente con hilos de

algodón o cocuiza, torcidos en dos o más ramales. || 2. Ven. Cordel para pescar”; hilo, “Hebra

larga y delgada de una materia textil, especialmente la que se usa para coser”; hilo bramante,

“Cordel delgado de cáñamo”; liña, “ant. línea. || 2. ant. Hebra de hilo”; manila (defined under

manilo), “Nic. Fibra de cáñamo utilizada como cuerda”; mecate, “Am. Cen., Méx. y Ven. Cordel

o cuerda hecha de cabuya, cáñamo, pita, crin de caballo o similar”; pabilo, “3. Ven. Hilo grueso,

resistente, poco tramado, hecho de algodón, que se emplea, entre otras cosas, para tejer

alpargatas, hamacas o cubrecamas”; piola, “Cuerda delgada”; piolín, “Arg., Chile, Méx., Perú y

Ur. Cordel delgado de cáñamo, algodón u otra fibra”; pita, “Bol. Cordel de cáñamo”; pitilla,

“Chile. Cordón delgado usado generalmente para envolver paquetes”; soga, “Cuerda gruesa de

esparto.”

Cuerda is a General Spanish and generic term and its senses one and thirteen should be

combined into a single sense which would read simply “Conjunto de hilos de lino, cáñamo, cerda

u otra materia semejante, que torcidos forman un solo cuerpo largo y flexible. Sirve para atar,

suspender pesos, etc...”; in other words, the phrase “más o menos grueso” should be eliminated.

Most of the other terms should then be defined in terms of cuerda with the appropriate thickness

and/or material qualifiers and regional specifications. For example, piola could be defined as

“Arg., Col., Ecuad. y Ur. Cuerda delgada para atar. || 2. Par. Cuerda gruesa para atar.” Cabuya

could perhaps be defined as “Col., Ecuad., Hon., Nic., P. Rico, R. Dom. y Ven. Cuerda delgada,

generalmente hecha de cáñamo, fique, henequén, mezcal, pita, sisal, yute u otra fibra natural.”

Guatemala, El Salvador, Cuba and the Dominican Republic need to be added to the

regional specifications of cáñamo. Costa Rica needs to be added to the regional specifications of

manila; is manila used in this sense in Nicaragua as the Dictionary indicates? Guatemala, El

Salvador, Colombia, Perú and Chile (and elsewhere?) need to be added to the regional

specifications of pita. How should the Dictionary deal with diminutives such as piolín, pitilla and

soguilla that are diatopically marked forms?

The Dictionary will also need to define regional expressions that are used with the above

words for ‘string,’ ‘twine’ and ‘rope.’ For example, in Venezuela, jalar mecate means to ‘flatter’

or ‘brownnose’ and a jalamecate (also called a jalabolas) is a ‘brownnoser.’

48

D5 BAND-AID

D5.1 Summary

Tirita is used in Spain and curita (and/or variants such as cura) in Latin America.

D5.2 Terms by Country (2 commonly used terms plus variants)

SPAIN tirita

MEXICO curita

GUATEMALA curita

EL SALVADOR curita

HONDURAS curita

NICARAGUA curita, cura

COSTA RICA curita

PANAMA curita

CUBA curita

DOMIN. REP. curita

PUERTO RICO curita

VENEZUELA curita

COLOMBIA curita, cura

ECUADOR curita

PERU curita

BOLIVIA curita

PARAGUAY curita

URUGUAY curita

ARGENTINA curita

CHILE (parche) curita

D5.3 Details

Chile: Parche curita is used more often than curita.

A few also said: Bandaid (Mexico, Colombia, Bolivia, Argentina), bandita (Mexico, El

Salvador, Venezuela), cura (Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama, Puerto Rico), esparadrapo

(Puerto Rico), paratrapo (Puerto Rico).


Cura (D), curita (A), parche curita (F), tirita (C).

Dictionary definitions: tirita, “Tira adhesiva por una cara, en cuyo centro tiene un apósito

esterilizado que se coloca sobre heridas pequeñas para protegerlas”; curita, “(De Curitas, marca

reg.). f. tirita”; tela adhesiva, “Arg. esparadrapo”; tira emplástica, “Ur. esparadrapo.”

49

The Dictionary should include regional specifications for its definitions of tirita (Esp.)

and perhaps curita (Am.), include a sense corresponding to ‘band-aid’ in its definition of cura,

and define the term parche curita with a regional specification (Chile). It would make sense to

cross-reference tirita to curita rather than the other way around since the latter term is commonly

used in eighteen more countries than the former.

D6 STYROFOAM

D6.1 Summary

Most of the common names for ‘styrofoam’ are used in only one country.

D6.2 Terms by Country (over 20 terms plus variants)

SPAIN poliespán, corcho blanco, porexpán

MEXICO unicel

GUATEMALA duropor(t)

EL SALVADOR durapax

HONDURAS estairofón/styrofoam, fon/foam, durapax

NICARAGUA poroplás(t)

COSTA RICA estereofón

PANAMA fon/foam, estairofón/styrofoam

CUBA poliespuma

DOMIN. REP. corcha (espuma)

PUERTO RICO fon/foam, estairofón/styrofoam

VENEZUELA anime

COLOMBIA icopor

ECUADOR espumaflex, (es)pumaf(l)ón

PERU tecnopor, ternopol, poroflex

BOLIVIA plastoformo

PARAGUAY isopor

URUGUAY espumaplás(t)

ARGENTINA telgopor, tergopol

CHILE plumavit, aislapol

D6.3 Details

General: The majority of the words listed in section D6.2 above were originally brand names

which, like English “styrofoam,” have become generic terms. Some Spanish speakers do

not use any specific name for the material in question, but instead refer to a ‘styrofoam

cup’ as a vaso térmico and styrofoam balls or chips used for packing as bolas de

embalaje.

50

Spain: Corcho blanco sometimes gets reduced to just corcho.

Panama: Some pronounce foam with two syllables [fo-AM], and some with one as if it were

written fon or fom.

Dominican Republic: Corcha espuma is often pronounced as if written colcha espuma, even by

educated speakers.

Ecuador: Espumaflex is used more in the Sierra (Highland Region), and espumaflón (and its

variants espumafón, esplumafón, plumafón, pumafón, etc.) are used more in the Costa

(Coastal Region).

Peru: In more technical language, is there a difference between tecnopor, ternopol and poroflex

(i.e. different types of ‘styrofoam’)?

Paraguay: The use of isopor is the result of Brazilian influence: it is the Brazilian Portuguese

word for ‘styrofoam.’ (Esferovite is the Continental Portuguese term.)

Argentina: Some claim that telgopor is the only correct term and that tergopol is a barbarism.

However, many of those who gave tergopol were educated Argentines.

Chile: A majority of Chileans gave plumavit, but many others offered aislapol. Of those who use

both terms, some say aislapol is the same as plumavit, some indicated they refer to two

different types of ‘styrofoam,’ and some say aislapol is a type of styrofoam panel used

for insulation.

Technical terms: Technical terms include poliestireno expandido, espuma de poliestireno and

EPS / e-pe-ese (from the English acronym for “expanded polystyrene”). Also the English

word styrofoam (with various pronunciations) is used by specialists in many Spanish-

speaking countries, though nowhere as often as in Honduras, Panama and Puerto Rico.

A few also said: Coroplá(s) and foroplá(s) (Nicaragua), escarcha (Honduras, small pieces of

styrofoam = ‘hielo seco’), espuma plástica (Uruguay), estiroplano (Ecuador), estiropor

(Mexico), hielo seco (Mexico, Panama, the Dominican Republic; especially for the small

styrofoam pieces used for packaging), nieve seca (Mexico, the Dominican Republic =

‘hielo seco’), polifón (Uruguay), tergopor (Argentina), tergopol, telgopor and tergopor

(Paraguay).

Spelling: Since the terms presented in section D6.2 above are often used primarily in spoken

language, and their pronunciation varies in some cases, many educated speakers are

uncertain as to how they should be spelled. The following are some “alternate” spellings:

durapás and durapacks (El Salvador, Honduras), duropor and duroport (Guatemala),

espuma flex (Ecuador), espumaplás and espumaplast (Uruguay; these derive from

espuma plástica), hicopor (Colombia), hieloseco and nieveseca (Mexico, Panama, the

Dominican Republic), pluma foam and pluma fom (Ecuador), pluma vit (Chile),

poliespán and poliexpán (Spain), porespán (Spain), poroplast, poroplás and poroplá

(Nicaragua), unisel (Mexico). Poliespán and poliexpán derive from poliestireno

expandido, which would suggest that poliexpán would be “correct,” but the spelling

poliespán was offered by far more respondents, perhaps because in Spain the letter x

tends to be pronounced like an s when it occurs before a consonant. All of these spelling

(and in some cases etymological) issues will need to be resolved in order for these terms

to be included in Spanish-language dictionaries.

51


Anime (D), corcha espuma (F), corcho blanco (F), durapax (F), duroport (F), espumaflex

(F), espumaflón (F), espumafón (F), espumaplás (F), espumaplast (F), foam (F), hielo seco (D),

icopor (F), isopor (F), nieve seca (F), plastoformo (F), plumaflón (F), plumavit (F), poliespán

(F), poliexpán (F), poliespuma (F), poroplast (F), tecnopor (F), telgopor (F), tergopol (F),

ternopol (F), unicel (F).

None of the common names for styrofoam is properly defined in the Dictionary,

including those used in Spain. What is the reason for this lacuna? Is it because the Real

Academia has a disdain for nontechnical names for technical items, or is it a case of ignorance is

bliss?

D7 CACHIVACHES (odds and ends, stuff, junk)

D7.1 Summary

Most countries have regionalisms that are similar in meaning to General Spanish cachivaches in

that they refer to ‘things,’ ‘stuff,’ ‘junk,’ and/or ‘odds and ends,’ are colloquial and often

pejorative, and are generally used in the plural form.

D7.2 Terms by Country (over 25 terms)

SPAIN cacharros, trastos, chismes

MEXICO chácharas, triques, chivas, chunches

GUATEMALA chunches, tiliches, charadas

EL SALVADOR chunches, tiliches, volados, calaches

HONDURAS chunches, tiliches, calaches, tarantines

NICARAGUA chunches, chereques, carajadas, tiliches, calaches, tarantines

COSTA RICA chunches, chécheres, tiliches, carajadas

PANAMA chécheres, chunches

CUBA tarecos, trastes, trastos

DOMIN. REP. tereques

PUERTO RICO tereques, viejeras, jodiendas

VENEZUELA corotos, peroles, chécheres, macundales, trastes

COLOMBIA chécheres, pendejadas, maricad(it)as, trastes, chócoros

ECUADOR tereques

PERU ?

BOLIVIA ?

PARAGUAY ?

URUGUAY ?

ARGENTINA ?

CHILE cachureos

52

D7.3 Details

General: How do the meanings of the above terms differ in their respective regions, particularly

with regard to: a) the size of the object, b) the level of pejorativeness conveyed by the

speaker, and c) the term’s speech register such as colloquial or vulgar? Which are more

like cachivaches (larger, uglier and more useless), and which are more like chucherías

(smaller and cuter)?

Mexico: Is tiliche commonly used in Mexico or certain parts of Mexico (southern Mexico?)?

El Salvador: Tarantines often refer to ‘pots, pans, plates and other kitchen utensils.’

Nicaragua: Tarantines often refer to ‘containers.’

Venezuela: Chécheres is used primarily in Western Venezuela (especially the state of Zulia).

Colombia: Chócoros is used mainly in the Costa.

Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay & Argentina: What regional equivalents of cachivaches are

used in these countries? Very few respondents offered any, but surely some must exist.

Peru, Bolivia and Paraguay probably have indigenous terms (in Quechua, Aymara and/or

Guaraní) that are similar in meaning to cachivaches and are used by Spanish speakers

even in primarily Spanish-language utterances.

A few also said: Bártulos (Spain), bichos (Venezuela), cochinadas (Guatemala), cojudeces

(Peru), cherevecos (Costa Rica), churres (Cuba), desgracias (El Salvador), macundos

(Venezuela), mugres (Mexico), muleles (Panama), shmates (Argentina, among Jews,

Yiddish term), varas (Costa Rica), vyro re’í (Paraguay, Guaraní term). Also, the term

huevadas, sometimes spelled güevadas (and sometimes appearing in the diminutive form

huevaditas/güevaditas) is used in Ecuador, Peru and Chile; how, if at all, does its

meaning and level of vulgarity vary regionally?


Cacharro (A or C?), cachureo (A), calache (B), carajada (A), coroto (A or B?),

cháchara (A or C?), charada (D), chéchere (B), chereque (F), chisme (C), chiva (B), chunche

(F), huevada (B?), jodienda (D), macundal (A), maricada (F), pendejada (D), perol (A),

porquería (A or C?), tarantín (A or B?), tareco (A, B or D?), tereque (A, B or D?), tiliche (A or

B?), traste (B or D?), trasto (A, C or D?), trique (A), viejera (A), volado (A?).

Dictionary definitions: cachivache, “despect. Vasija, utensilio, trebejo. U. m. en pl. || 2.

despect. Cosa rota o arrinconada por inútil. U. m. en pl.”; chuchería, “Cosa de poca importancia,

pero pulida y delicada”; bártulos, “m. pl. Enseres que se manejan”; cacharro, “4. coloq. Aparato

viejo, deteriorado o que funciona mal”; cachureo, “coloq. Chile. Objeto inútil. || 2. coloq. Chile.

Conjunto variado de objetos desechados”; calache, “2. m. El Salv. Utensilio pequeño y viejo. || 3.

Hond. Mueble viejo y desvencijado. U. m. en pl.”; carajada, “C. Rica y Hond. cosa (|| objeto)”;

coroto, “m. coloq. Col. y Ven. Objeto cualquiera que no se quiere mencionar o cuyo nombre se

desconoce. || 2. coloq. Col. y Ven. Cacharro de la cocina o de la vajilla”; cháchara, “3. pl.

Baratijas, cachivaches”; chéchere, “m. coloq. Col., C. Rica, El Salv. y Ven. trasto (|| cosa vieja).

U. m. en pl. || 2. coloq. Col., C. Rica y Ven. Objeto en general. U. m. en pl.”; chisme, “2. coloq.

53

Baratija o trasto pequeño”; chiva, “2. Ven. Toda prenda de vestir o cualquier otro objeto, por lo

común usado, que se regala, alquila o vende. || 3. pl. Méx. enseres”; huevada, “coloq. Chile.

Cosa, asunto, situación”; macundales, “pl. coloq. Ven. enseres”; muérgano, “Col. Objeto inútil,

antigualla”; perol, “2. Ven. Objeto cuyo nombre se ignora, no se recuerda o no se quiere

mencionar”; porquería, “2. coloq. Cosa vieja, rota o que no desempeña su función como

debiera”; tarantín, “Am. Cen., Cuba y R. Dom. Cachivache, trasto. || 3. pl. El Salv. Utensilios de

cocina”; tareco, “coloq. Can., Cuba y Ur. trebejo (|| utensilio, instrumento)”; tereque, “Ecuad.,

Nic., P. Rico y Ven. trebejo (|| utensilio, instrumento). En Ecuador, u. m. en pl.”; tiliche, “Am.

Cen. y Méx. Baratija, cachivache, bujería”; traste, “3. And., Am. Cen., Méx y P. Rico. trasto (||

utensilio casero)”; trasto, “Cada uno de los muebles o utensilios de una casa. || 3. despect. Cosa

inútil, estropeada, vieja o que estorba mucho”; trique1, “4. pl. Méx. Trastos, trebejos”; viejera,

“2. P. Rico. Cosa vieja e inservible”; volado, “5. El Salv. cosa (|| asunto, tema).”

Any of the above terms that can be directly cross-referenced to cachivache, a General

Spanish term, should be. The definition could read “cachivache (|| cosa, objeto)” with the

appropriate regional specifications. In order for these terms to be properly defined, the following

questions will also need to be resolved by further research: Is coroto commonly used in

Colombia? Is chéchere used in El Salvador? (Panama needs to be added to chéchere’s regional

specifications.) Why are cacharro, cachureo, coroto, chéchere, chisme, huevada, macundales,

and porquería defined as colloquial, but not carajada, cháchara, chiva, perol and tarantín? And

why are some terms defined as nouns that are only used in the plural__

with the headword itself a

plural noun or with the abbreviation “pl.” in the definition__

while others are listed as mostly used

in the plural with the annotation “U. m. en pl.” [Usado más en plural]? Is it true, for example,

that calaches and chécheres are occasionally used in the singular but never chácharas nor

macundales as the Dictionary’s definitions imply?

APPENDIX 1: ADDITIONAL TOPICS

The following is a small selection of miscellaneous topics in the field of Spanish lexical

dialectology. For the most part, only a few informants from each specified country or region

have been observed or questioned concerning these issues, and findings are tentative.

as soon as. Is there regional variation in the use of apenas, en cuanto and tan pronto como?

Apenas and tan pronto como may be perceived as pertaining to a slightly higher register,

and en cuanto seems to be much more frequently used in spoken language in many Latin

American countries. However, perhaps the phrases are not exact equivalents. In some

cases, llámame apenas sepas seems to be more insistent than llámame en cuanto sepas,

as if the speaker who used the apenas phrase wanted the other person to call immediately

upon finding out the information, whereas the speaker who used the en cuanto phrase

wanted to receive the call soon after but not immediately after. What other more regional

phrases are there such as tan luego como (Mexico)?

54

attorney / lawyer. Abogado is the General Spanish term, but in Mexico and Peru, respectively,

licenciado and doctor seem to be more common in everyday spoken language, especially

when referring to a specific attorney (hablé con el licenciado y me dijo...).

cap (type of hat with visor). Who says gorra and who says cachucha?

cigarette / cigar / pipe. What are the regional preferences for the following items? ‘Cigarette’:

cigarrillo (most countries?), cigarro (Mexico, parts of the Caribbean Basin, and

elsewhere?), pitillo (Spain?), and perhaps other terms (?). ‘Cigar’: cigarro, puro, habano,

and other terms. ‘Pipe’: pipa, cachimba, cachimbo, and other terms. Let us hope that by

the year 2100, tobacco products will no longer be part of any language’s or dialect’s

“basic vocabulary.”

cold (the common cold) / flu. Catarro and resfriado may be universal synonyms for ‘cold,’ and

gripe a universal term for ‘influenza’ or ‘cold,’ but the following are some more regional

terms for ‘cold’ and/or ‘flu’: costipado or constipado (Mediterranean Spain, from

Catalán, cold); flu (Puerto Rico, flu); gripa (Mexico, Colombia, cold/flu; gripa is also

used elsewhere in uneducated speech, but in Mexico and Colombia it is common even

among educated speakers); monga (Puerto Rico, flu); quiebrahuesos and

quebrantahuesos (Costa Rica, flu); resfrío (Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina,

Chile, cold); trancazo (Ecuador, flu).

dijiste vs. dijistes. Based on the analogy of second-person singular conjugations for other tenses,

such as dices, decías, dirás, digas and dijeras, that in standard Spanish do have word-

final s, many Spanish speakers use nonstandard second-person singular preterite forms

with word-final s such as hablastes, comistes and dijistes. While it is clear that these

preterite forms are universally criticized as “uneducated” and “incorrect” by educated

speakers throughout the Spanish-speaking world, for whom the only correct forms are

hablaste, comiste and dijiste, the following questions remain unanswered: In the

uneducated speech of each region, how common are second-person singular preterite

forms with word-final s such as dijistes? In what regions are these forms so commonplace

in the speech of people with a medium level of education that they receive only mild

criticism, if any, from most sectors of society? In short, how, if at all, do frequencies of

use and attitudes toward dijiste/dijistes, etc. vary by region among different groups?

dustpan. Who says pala, who says recogedor, and who says cogedor?

each time / every time. Cada vez que... is a General Spanish way of saying this, but in Mexican

Spanish cada que... is used quite frequently, and not only in informal language. Is this

ellipsis used elsewhere?

hambre. When this term is unmodified and used with the definite article (el hambre), its gender

is not revealed, but in phrases such as tengo mucha hambre, tengo mucho hambre, or

tengo un hambre bárbaro, the word’s gender shows itself to be variable. (Compare el

águila, el área, el hacha, el hada, etc., all of which are clearly feminine, and el calambre,

el fiambre, el matambre, etc., all of which are unambiguously masculine.) What, if any,

are the regional preferences between masculine and feminine for the word hambre? The

Dictionary indicates that hambre is strictly a feminine noun which is clearly not the

whole story.

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how shall I put it (filler phrase used to express uncertainty). Who says cómo le/te diré, who says

cómo le/te dijera, who says other variants, and how are these phrases perceived in

different regions by different groups in terms of “correctness,” “refinement,” etc.?

in the meantime, meanwhile. Mientras tanto and entre tanto are the standard General Spanish

phrases, but in some regions other phrases appear to be used much more often in

everyday language. For example, in Ecuador hasta mientras is the most commonly used

phrase. What other phrases (such as por mientras) are common in other regions?

itch / itchiness. In nontechnical language, there appear to be regional preferences among

comezón (more common in Spain and the Antilles?), picazón (more common in some

South American countries?) and picor (where is this term commonly used?).

kick out (a person). Sacar and/or echar are General Spanish terms used in the sense of ‘kick out’

(remove, make leave), but botar (see section B6) is commonly used in Panama, Cuba, the

Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia (and

elsewhere?). In Mexico and Nicaragua (and elsewhere in Central America?), correr is

commonly used as a transitive verb in this sense. However, there is evidence to suggest

that there may be a distinction in the way some speakers use correr and sacar/echar as a

number of people from these two countries indicated that one says lo correrion del

trabajo when a person is fired (lo despidieron, le dijeron que se fuera), but lo echaron del

bar or lo sacaron del bar when a person is physically removed (for example, by a

bouncer), that is, with the meaning of lo obligaron a salir a la fuerza, a la brava, o a

patadas.

lo vs. la (in certain phrases). Lo pasamos bien or la pasamos bien? Assuming the phrase has no

specific referent (such as la velada or la fiesta that is feminine, or el paseo that is

masculine), are there regional preferences between pasarlo and pasarla? Is a la mejor a

strictly Mexican Spanish equivalent of General Spanish a lo mejor = ‘maybe,’ or is a la

mejor used elsewhere, in countries other than Mexico? How do attitudes toward these

variants vary?

morirse de (la) risa vs. matarse de (la) risa. Are there regional preferences between these

phrases? In Ecuador, matarse de la risa seems to be the most common in everyday

speech, whereas in many other Spanish-speaking countries morirse de la risa or morirse

de risa seem to be the phrases most often used.

perhaps (quizá vs. quizás). Does the intelligentsia in all Spanish-speaking countries prefer quizá

to quizás, or are there places in which quizás is accepted (and even preferred) by all but a

small minority of internationally educated or linguistically conservative groups? In which

countries is quizá a shibboleth that distinguishes the truly educated from the rest, a sine

qua non for being considered cultured by the intelligentsia? In which do those with lower

and middle levels of education__

for the sake of argument, let us narrow the issue to

education in the humanities__

prefer quizás, and even consider this term to be more correct

than quizá? Where, in contrast, do people with lower and middle levels of education also

prefer quizá to such an extent that the use of quizá, in and of itself, is hardly a sign of

anything? In short, how, if at all, do attitudes toward quizá/quizás vary by region among

different groups?

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pinch (verb). Who says pellizcar, and who says peñiscar or peñizcar (spelling?)? The Dictionary

does not list either of the ñ-forms.

scratch (verb). For ‘scratch,’ who says arañar and who says aruñar? The Dictionary defines

aruñar as “coloq. arañar,” but in some varieties of Spanish, people use only or primarily

aruñar. For those who generally use aruñar, one can argue that this verb is not any more

colloquial than arañar is for those who use it primarily or exclusively. What about

regional equivalents for ‘scrape’ (General Spanish raspar), such as rasmillar (Ecuador)

and guayar (Dominican Republic?)?

size. Tamaño (for general dimensions) and talla (for clothing size) are General Spanish terms,

but what about regional terms, especially for tamaño? Porte (Ecuador, and elsewhere?)

and vuelo (Chile, and elsewhere?) are two examples of words that are commonly used in

phrases such as un ___ de este porte/vuelo.

turn on (a light, an appliance). For lights, lamps, flashlights, etc. prender seems to be much

more common than encender in Honduras, Panama, the Dominican Republic, Puerto

Rico, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina and Chile,

whereas encender seems to be quite common (perhaps more common in everyday speech

than prender) in Spain (many regions), Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua,

Costa Rica, Cuba and Bolivia. In countries where prender is more common in everyday

speech, encender is considered by some to be more formal and the prestige term.

However, some speakers stated they use prender for devices and encender for lights and

others indicated the opposite (prender for lights and encender for other appliances).

Some Spanish speakers claimed they use neither prender nor encender for turning on

radios and other electrical devices, but prefer poner or poner en marcha (puso el/la radio,

puso en marcha el aparato). The use of these alternate phrases seems to be particularly

common in Spain and Cuba; some Cubans also indicated they use the phrase echar a

andar for devices. What, if any, are the regional preferences in the way these verbs are

used in these contexts?

turn the page (of a book or magazine). Pasar la página, cambiar la página and dar vuelta a la

página may be General Spanish phrases that, in many cases, are synonymous, but the

following are some more regionally weighted phrases: virar la página (Puerto Rico?,

Ecuador); voltear la página (Mexico, Guatemala?, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Panama,

Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Colombia, Peru); volver la página (Spain,

Chile?).

unless. Is there regional variation in the use of a menos que and a no ser que, or is it merely a

case of uniform diglossia throughout the Spanish-speaking world (a menos que = higher-

register phrase and a no ser que = lower-register phrase)? A no ser que seems to be much

more frequently used in spoken language in many Latin American countries.

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NOTES

1. The author would like to thank Lucrecia Hug and Sharlee Merner Bradley for editing earlier

drafts and making a number of valuable suggestions. In addition, he would like to express his

appreciation to Andy Klatt and Jacki Noh for going out of their way to put him in contact with

many informants/respondents for this study. Last but not least, he would like to thank all of the

native speakers of Spanish who generously gave of their time to answer questions on usage.

2. For information on items in other semantic fields whose names in Spanish vary by region, see

the following works by Andre Moskowitz:

“Topics in Spanish lexical dialectology: la ciudad y los fueros.” Proceedings of the 43rd Annual

Conference of the American Translators Association, Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A.,

November 6-9, 2002. Ed. Scott Brennan. American Translators Association, 2002. 353-

399.

“Topics in Spanish lexical dialectology: folks.” Proceedings of the 42nd Annual Conference of

the American Translators Association, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A., October 31-

November 3, 2001. Ed. Thomas L. West III. American Translators Association, 2001.

268-301.

“Topics in Spanish lexical dialectology: kids’ stuff.” Proceedings of the 41st Annual Conference

of the American Translators Association, Orlando, Florida, U.S.A., September 20-23,

2000. Ed. Thomas L. West III. American Translators Association, 2000. 328-366.

“Topics in Spanish lexical dialectology: food and drink.” Proceedings of the 40th Annual

Conference of the American Translators Association, St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.A.,

November 3-6, 1999. Ed. Ann G. Macfarlane. American Translators Association, 1999.

275-308.

“Topics in Spanish lexical dialectology: the home.” Proceedings of the 39th Annual Conference

of the American Translators Association, Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, U.S.A.,

November 4-8, 1998. Ed. Ann G. Macfarlane. American Translators Association, 1998.

221-253.

“Fruit and vegetable terminology in the Spanish-speaking world: regional variation.”

Proceedings of the 38th Annual Conference of the American Translators Association, San

Francisco, California, U.S.A., November 5-9, 1997. Ed. Muriel M. Jérôme-O’Keeffe.

American Translators Association, 1997. 233-261.

“Clothing terminology in the Spanish-speaking world: regional variation.” Proceedings of the

37th Annual Conference of the American Translators Association, Colorado Springs,

Colorado, U.S.A., October 30-November 3, 1996. Ed. Muriel M. Jérôme-O’Keeffe.

American Translators Association, 1996. 287-308.

“Car terminology in the Spanish-speaking world.” Proceedings of the 36th Annual Conference of

the American Translators Association, Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.A., November 8-12,

1995. Ed. Peter W. Krawutschke. American Translators Association, 1995. 331-340.

“Contribución al estudio del español ecuatoriano.” Unpublished M.A. thesis. Department of

Romance Languages and Literatures, University of Florida. Gainesville, Florida. 1995.

58

“A box of office supplies: dialectological fun” The Georgetown Journal of Languages &

Linguistics. Vol 1.3. Ed. Richard J. O’Brien, S.J. 1990. 315-344.

REFERENCES

Corominas, Joan. 1954. Diccionario Crítico Etimológico de la Lengua Castellana. Bern,

Switzerland: Editorial Francke.

Green, Jonathon. 1996. Chasing the Sun / Dictionary Makers and the Dictionaries They Made.

New York, USA: Henry Holt and Company.

Landau, Sidney I. 2001. Dictionaries / The Art and Craft of Lexicography. 2nd edition.

Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Lederer, Richard. 2003. “Foreword” in Dictionary of Americanisms by John Russell Bartlett.

John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Hoboken, New Jersey, USA. Pgs. v-xiv. (Epigraph from pg. v.)

Lipski, John M. 1996. El español de América. Madrid, Spain: Ediciones Cátedra, S.A.

Milroy, James and Lesley Milroy. 1991. Authority in Language / Investigating Language

Prescription and Standardisation. London, UK and New York, USA: Routledge.

Real Academia Española. 2001. Diccionario de la Lengua Española. 22nd edition. Madrid,

Spain: Editorial Espasa-Calpe, S.A.

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A HISTORICAL NOTE: TWO EMINENT LEXICOGRAPHERS

John Florio (c. 1553-1625)

An Englishman, son of a Florentine

Protestant, John Florio was a lexicographer,

language teacher, courtier, translator,

interpreter, Renaissance scholar and uomo

universale. In 1598, he published an Italian-

English dictionary entitled A Worlde of

Wordes, Or Most copious, and exact

Dictionarie in Italian and English which was

the first dictionary to introduce nonclassical

citations and included slang, obscenities and

words from a number of Italian dialects. He

is also famous for translating Montaigne’s

Essays and in so doing introduced many new

words into the English language including

its, conscientious, endeare, tarnish,

comporte, efface, facilitate, amusing,

debauching, regret, effort and emotion.

(Green, 124-134).

Noah Webster (1758-1843)

Noah Webster was a teacher, grammarian,

essayist, newspaper editor, lawyer, politician,

farmer, scientific observer and a highly

nationalistic lexicographer who promoted a

number of spelling reforms, some of which

would become general practice in the United

States. Examples include dropping the u in

words like honour, substituting k for que in

words like cheque, masque and risque, and

inverting the French-influenced re in centre,

theatre and metre. Other more radical

spelling reforms that he proposed did not

catch on. Webster believed that

Americanisms were a valuable addition to

the English language and that people from

the United States spoke American English, a

separate variety that required a separate

dictionary. He spent fifteen years writing the

American Dictionary of the English

Language, which was published in 1828

(Green, 308-318).

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