1
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
2
(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
3
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
4
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.
5
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
7
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
8
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,
9
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
10
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
11
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.)
12
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,
13
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?
A2.4 Real Academia Regional Review
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).
A3.4 Real Academia Regional Review
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.
A4.4 Real Academia Regional Review
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).
A5.4 Real Academia Regional Review
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.
B2.4 Real Academia Regional Review
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).
B3.4 Real Academia Regional Review
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).
B4.4 Real Academia Regional Review
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).
B5.4 Real Academia Regional Review
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).
Isoglosses: If you took a trip between the cities indicated below, at what point would most
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).
B6.4 Real Academia Regional Review
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.
C2.4 Real Academia Regional Review
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
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 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.
C3.4 Real Academia Regional Review
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
EL SALVADOR masculine
HONDURAS masculine
NICARAGUA masculine
COSTA RICA masculine
PANAMA masculine
CUBA masculine, do not use
DOMIN. REP. masculine
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).
C4.4 Real Academia Regional Review
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
COSTA RICA masculine
PANAMA masculine, feminine
CUBA masculine, feminine
DOMIN. REP. masculine
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?
C5.4 Real Academia Regional Review
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?
D2.4 Real Academia Regional Review
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?
Isoglosses: If you took a trip between the cities indicated below, at what point would most
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?
D3.4 Real Academia Regional Review
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
D4.4 Real Academia Regional Review
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).
D5.4 Real Academia Regional Review
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
D6.4 Real Academia Regional Review
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?
D7.4 Real Academia Regional Review
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.
55
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?
56
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.
57
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.
59
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).
Top Related