2003_ata annual conf proceedings_back to basics_moskowitz

7/22/2019 2003_ATA Annual Conf Proceedings_Back to Basics_Moskowitz

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Proceedingsof the

th nnualConferenceof the

Al1lericQn Translators Association

November 5 8 2 3Phoenix Arizona

Compiled by Scott renn n

Published by the American Translators Association


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Copyright 2003meric n ranslators ssociation

Manufactured in the United States o America

All Rights Reserved. No part o this book may be reproduced in any form without the writtenpermission o the publisher.

ISBN: 0-914175-20-3

Price: ATA members: 50; non-members: 60

Order from: American Translators Association225 Reinekers Lane, Suite 590Alexandria, VA 22314USAPhone: (703) 683-6100; Fax: (703) 683-6122E-mail: [email protected]

Cover Design: Ellen Banker

No editorial intervention was undertaken by the Editor unless absolutely necessary and only theproduction schedule allowed. The Editor s task was solicit contributions, to arrange themthematically and sequentially, and assist in other editorial matters.


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h n in the course of human events it becomes necessary fo r apeople to improvise new words to catch and crystallize the newrealities ofa new land; to give birth to a new vocabulary endowedwith its creators irrepressibleshapes and texturesandflavors; to telltales taller andfunnier than anyone else hadever thought to before;to establish a body ofliterature in a nationalgrain; n to harmonizea raucous chorus ofimmigrantvoices and regional lingoes then thistruth becomes self evident: that a nation possesses the unalienableright to declare its linguistic independence and to spend its life andliberty in the pursuit ofa voice to sing ofitselfin its own words.ichard ederer


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andering ocks1967 by Tony Smith 1912-1980 .Stainless steel. National Gallery Art, Washington D.C.


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TOPICS IN SPANISH LEXICAL DIALECTOLOGY BACK TO BASICSAndre Moskowitz

Keywords Spanish, regionalisms, terminology, dialectology, lexicography, sociolinguistics.Abstract This paper presents information on Spanish-language terms that vary by region.

o INTRODUCTIONWhen giving walking or driving directions to a stranger in Spanish, the usted command doble lderech is used and understood throughout the Spanish-speaking world in the sense of t um rightand can be considered the international, standard, classic, neutral or unmarked way ofsaying this. Yet it is by nomeans the onlyway. n many countries, other phrases, such as cruce lderech tuerz l derech vire l derech or voltee derech are more common. This paperexplains whichphrases aremost frequentlyused in the senseof tum right in each Spanish-speakingcountry, and provides information on usage that varies by regionfo r a series o fother miscellaneousitems that can be considered a very small part of a native speaker s basic vocabulary.Some purists decry usages such as voltee l derech for turn right that deviate from theinternational standard as a blight on the language that should be eradicated (or at least avoided inpoli te company or serious writing), sometimes arguing that such deviations are a threat tolinguistic unity. To many dialectologists, linguists and other diversity enthusiasts, however, casesof divergence from standard or neutral usage are among the most interesting facets of languageto study. Yet, in a sense, more regional and more international usages are just opposite sides of thesame coin: each exists onlyin contrast to the other. On a practical level, information on regionalismscan be useful to anyone who communicates with people from other countries or analyzes theirlanguage, such as those involved in international business, international reliefefforts, the languageservices sector, or anyone who has a relationship with a person from a different country (especiallyifcommunication s conducted primarily,or evenpartially, in the otherperson s languageor dialect).This s because the more one knows about the ins and outs of a particular country s local linguisticnorm, 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 contextualvariation are also addressed. Forexample, an explanation is providedwhen the use ofdifferent termsor phrases in a given region s marked by diglossi that is, when complementary social functions

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are distributed between two coexisting forms that have the same basic meaning but correspond todifferent speech registers, generallyamore formal, higher-prestige form, anda colloquial or popular,lower-prestige form.Throughout this article, all references to Latin America, Central America, the Aritilles,specific nations, and to the gentilicios corresponding to them (adjectives such as Peruvian, LatinAmerican, etc.), refer to the Spanish-speaking areas and communities of these regions. The materialpresented is catalogued under four general headings: The 3 Rs, Variable Verbs, Moody Morphologyand A Few Other Essentials. The title of each section is either the item s common equivalent inUnited States English or a description of the issue in question.A) The 3 (readin , writin and rithmetic): 1 name of the letter 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 inmathematical 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 (arope), 5) push (a button): nonstandard verbs, 0) botar: verb commonly used or not?C) Moody Morphology: I diminutives ofwords ending in t vowel (e.g. gatito or gatico? , genderofchance (masculine or feminine?), 3) genderof radio (the device), 4) genderofriel,5) genderofsartin, 6) forms ofaddress tli, vos, usted used by parentwhen addressing childand 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:I) Summary2) Terms by Country3) Details4) Real Academia Regional Review0.1 SummaryThese subsections present a synopsis ofthe regional variation ofeach item by juxtaposingmore panHispanic forms with more regional ones, and by contrasting regions where more international ormore regional forms are used.0.2 Terms or Phrases by CountryThese subsections consist of lexico-geographic tables in which the terms or phrases used in Spainand the nineteen Spanish-speakingcountriesoftheWesternHemisphere arepresented.The countriesare listed in (more or less) geographical order, and in some of these subsections the most regionallymarked usages appear in boldface.

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Information was collected, by one or several of the following methods, from native speakers ofSpanish who have spent most of their lives in a single Spanish-speaking country: 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 thei tem (sometimes using pantomime) and asking them to give the term or phrase most

commonly used their region for it; and,3) by asking informants who are highly proficient in United States English to give the equivalentsofEnglisb-Ianguage terms and phrases that are used in their native regions.

Informants or respondentswereofvarying backgrounds and educational levels, althoughthemajoritywerewell educated.Thenumbers ofrespondents from each ofthe twentySpanish-speakingcountriesthat participated in this study were as follows: eight from Paraguay, between twentyand thirty fromMexico, Cuba, Colombiaand Argentina, and between twelve and twenty from eachofthe remainingfifteen countries.In this section, when the data collected indicated that a single term or phrase is clearly dominant ina particular country, onlyone term or phrase appears next to the country question, whereaswhenthe data showed a fair amount of competition between two or more usages, several are listed nextto the countrywith 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 authorl, actual ratios or percentages ofrespondents answers were listed, but in this paper the most commonly used terms will be presentedwithout the ratios. The advantage of providing the statistics is that the reader can see the actualpercentages of the pool of respondents that gave each response. However, since no specificinformation on the respondents characteristics was offered, these r tios it can be argued-are oflimited use. The advantage of not presenting the statistics is that the reader s attention is drawndirectly to the author s conclusions, in which many readers may be more interested.0.3 DetailsIn these subsections more detailed information is provided on regional variation, contextualvariation, social variation, linguistic attitudes, and spelling/etymological issues. The linguisticconvention ofplacing 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 weregiven by a small minority of informants from speci fic countries, typically one to three out of thefifteen or twenty who were queried or observed. Which of these usages occur in many othercountries, which are used by numerically important groups in specific countries, and which arehighly idiosyncratic (maverick usages) are issues to be resolved by further research.

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Othersubsections havea paragraphcalled Isoglosses. These paragraphs pose the question ofwherethe linguistic borders or isoglosses of the terms lie. which cases do these frontiers coincide withthe countries' geopolitical borders, and in which cases do they occur somewhere within one of thecountries? mapping out a series of imagin;;uy overland routes, one wonders at what point alongthe trip would most people stop using one term or phrase and start using another.0.4 Real cademia Regional ReviewThese subsections present an evaluation of the 2001 edition of the Diccionario de la LenguaEspanola (theDictionaryof 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 gradingscale: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 countriesand/or regions in which the term is used in this sense.B Correspondingdefinition, incorrect regions.This gradeis given when theDictionarydefines

the term as used in the section and specifies a region or regions but does not specify themcorrectly. Its defmition either fails to include regions in which the usage occurs or includesregions where the usage does not occur. However, the grade ofB is raised to an A if theDictionary's definition is appropriate, Amer. America, that is, Spanish-speaking LatinAmerica) is specified in the definition, and the term is used in ten or more (over 50 ) of thenineteen Spanish-speaking Latin American countries.C Corresponding definition, no regions specified. This grade is given when the Dictionarydefines the term as used in the section but does not specify any countries or regions inwhichthe term is used in this sense. essence, it fails to identify the usage as regional. However,the grade of is raised to an A if the term is used in at least ten (at least 50 ) of the twentySpanish-speaking countries.

D No correspondingdefinition. This grade is given when the Dictionarydoes not include in itsdefinition 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 defmitionsin the hope that they will be modified in future editions of the Dictionary so that they accuratelydescribe usage in the Spanish-speaking world from a more international perspective. t the veryleast, the issues raised should be investigated by the Dictionary's researchers. The same test couldbe applied to other monolingual and bilingual Spanish-language dictionaries.

There are two general questions the author would like to pose, one addressing nationalist versusinternationalist approaches to dictionary content and definitions, and the other dealing with themethodology used to collect data on regionalisms.


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can ask the following question regarding approaches to lexicography: ::ihouta generalmonolingual dictionaries of international languages (such as English and Spanish) restrict theircoverage to the language of a single national variety, or should they try to be international in scopeand attempt to capture the vocabulary and usage of all national varieties of that language? TheAmerican lexicographer Sydney Landau not only advocates the nationalist approach, but suggeststhat it is nearly impossible to give in-depth treatment to more than a single national variety. Hebelieves dictionaries should focus on one national standard, and indicate that this is their intent inthe preface, and possibly even in the title of thedictionary (for example, by titling a workDictionary Australian English rather than Dictionary the English Language .

If, in the past, British dictionaries, and to a lesserextent Americandictionaries, couldassume that the language they representedwas simplyEnglish, without qualification,those days are gone. Not only do these dictionaries, quite naturally, give specialattention.to the variety that their audience uses and mainly encounters, but thedefining vocabulary (in linguistic terms, the metalanguage employs the particularvariety as well... Even dictionaries that trumpet their international coverage reflecta single variety of English in their metalanguage and can give only a superficialtreatment to othervarieties. Althoughmostofthe differences betweenAmericanandBritish English are known, economic considerations preclude giving the amount ofspace that would be required in an American dictionary for adequate coverage ofBritish English, and vice versa. Neither Americans nor British are that interested inthe minutiae of each other s varieties, especially if that means omitting informationrelating to their own variety. Other varieties have notbeen as fully studied as Britishand American English and m ybe in the process of rapid change; there is even lesslikelihood that they will be represented adequately in British or Americandictionaries. Therefore, all English dictionaries should acknowledge, either in theirtitles or in their prefatory matter, what variety of English they represent, or at leastwhich variety is primary, even if their variety happens to be one used by manymorespeakers as a mother tongue than as a second or foreign language. I do not thinkAmerican dictionaries will find this especially traumatic, as some Americandictionaries, notably in the ESL [English as a second language] field, already useAmerican English in their titles to distinguish them from dictionaries based onBritish English. or the British, whose appreciation of their language is proprietaryand deeply felt as part of their country s history, it may be impossible. No onedisputes the historical priority ofBritish English; we cannot reasonably expect itsspeakers to acquiesce to a status merely equivalent to every other. But whether theyacknowledge it or not, their brand of English is no longer the single standard bywhich all other varieties are measured. (Landau, 15-16.)

Landau claims that costs and space limitations make it impossible for American dictionaries to giveadequate coverage of British English, and vice versa. However, one may ask, how extensive acoverage is adequate ? An argument canbe made that room should be found in unabridged or evencollege dictionaries to include usage differences for nouns, adjectives, verbs (and the other partsof speech that go with them) well beyond common equivalences such as lift-elevator lorry-truck

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take a decision make a decision and attitude to attitude toward. Landau .also states that neitherAmericans norBritish are very interested intheminutiae ofeach other s varieties, but how interestedare most Americans or British in the minutiae ofth ir own varieties? The answer probablydependson what one means by minutiae : the more obscure the term or item, the less general i n t ~ r s tClearly, American dictionaryeditors believe thatBritishisms suchas lift and lorry are ofenoughinterest to Americans to warrant their inclusion, since most American dictionaries cover theseusages.Landau s discussion ofthe need to take a nationalist approach to dictionarywritingfocuses primarilyon the American and British dictionary markets, but what about those of smaller English-languagecountries such as Jamaica and NewZealand?Can a dictionarymaker in oneofthese countries affordto disregard other varieties ofEnglish, especially British or American usage? Assuming Landau sarguments are valid for English, are they equally applicable to Spanish, a multi-national languagethat 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 andArgentina) are the big kids on the block in the Spanish-speakingworld, but their linguistic influencebeyond their borders is generally less than that ofBritain and the United Stateswithin the Englishspeaking world. One notable exception is the telenove/a a type ofmelodramatic television series.Manyofthese, particularlyones fromMexico, arebroadcastthroughout the Spanish-speakingworld(and are shown in dubbed form in manynon-Spanish-speaking countries aswell). However, in partbecause these programs are directed at an international market, the language used in them is oftenmore deregionalized than that found in British or American television series, thereby reducing thenumber of regionalisms that their audiences are exposed to.Thus, while large numbers ofMexicans might be interested in buying an exclusively or primarilyMexican-oriented dictionary, it seems much less likely that a Honduran SpanishDictionarywhichgenerally disregarded other varieties would economically viable. Also, many dictionary usersfrom Spanish American countries have a cultural and linguistic attachment to Spain, and areinterested in the minutiae of Peninsular Spanish. At a minimum, they want to know whether aparticular word is in the SpanishRoyal AcademyDictionary 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 ofLatin American Spanish as well.Turning now to the methodology used in this study, the following question arises: it reasonableto rely on speakers reports oftheir own usage rather than obtaining the datawithout speakers beingaware that they are the subject of a linguistic study? The sociolinguist William Labov and othershave 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 usageor of their attitudes to usage, so thatw cannot easily find out what people actuallythink. Linguists and social psychologists who have investigated popular attitudeshave found that people s overt claims about language are inaccurate and oftencontradict their own actual usage. As Labov... points out, speakers often err in the

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direction of standard usages when they respond to field-workers questions abouttheir own usage: they do not reliably report on what they use themselves... The factthat speakers have knowledge of variants and also knowledge of the social valuesattached to them means that speaker reports tend to indicate social stereotypes ratherthan 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 rangeof situations,we need good quality recordings. Yet ifwe y to obtain these using thetraditional research instrumentofan interview, we define the situational context andso distort the objectofour observation. Since an interview is in itselfa recognisablespeech event, a linguistic observer with a tape-recorder is liable to find his datalimited to a single, rather careful style. (Milroy, 127.)

However, it has not been demonstrated that speakers reports of their own usage are uniformly anduniversally unreliable. Labov s studies, and manyof the studies ofresearchers who cite this theory,involvedphonological ormorphosyntactical variables, ratherthan strictly lexical variables. Does theobserver s paradox apply equally to lexical variables (the study ofwhich, incidentally, does notrequire a tape recorder)? f it is true that respondents y to provide information that conforms tostandard usages when responding to field-workers questions about theirown usage, which standarddo theyattempt to imitate, an international standard (in cases where such a thing exists), or theirownregional standard? Presumably, speakers can only imitate a standard they are familiar with and thatexists, and given the divergent datacollected this study from different countries, it would appearthat, if the respondents were consciously or subconsciously tailoring their responses, it was in thedirection of their own regional standards. Since the primary goal ofthis study is to determinewhatthese regional standards are, the methodology used here should prove to be effective, ifinvalid froma theoretical linguisticstandpoint. Certainlythe task ofcatching sufficient numbers ofpeople fromall twenty Spanish-speakingcountries in the act of using all of the regional language addressed inthis article in spontaneous conversation would edifficult ifnot impossible. t is worth noting thatmany ofthe respondents interviewed in this study took considerable pride inknowing (and claimingto use) regional, popular and nonstandard variants, in addition to having a command ofmore panHispanic forms. To determine the extent t which the information presented in this article isaccurate, further research will need to be conducted on the same topics using more surreptitiousmeans ofdata collection and, perhaps more importantly, yopenly testing much larger numbers ofspeakers having a much wider range of ages, backgrounds and educational levels.

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A TH E 3 Rs readin , writin and rithmetic) t (the name of this letter)Al.1 SummaryIn Spain, the letter b is generally called (with no qualifier) in all contexts. n Latin America, incontrast, the name used depends on the speech register being used, and the speaker s country oforigin, socioeconomic class and age: grande and be larga are the principal middle-register terms,bede burro is the low-registerterm, and labial and be bilabialare high-register terms. Unlike themiddle-register words, the high- and low-register tenns exhibit little if any regional variation. Thediglossia that exists in Latin America with respect to this item is largely absent from Spain.A1 2 Middle-Register Terms by Country 4 terms)SPAINMEXICOGUATEMALAELSALVADORHONDURASNICARAGUACOSTA RICAPANAMACUBADOMIN. REP.PUERTO RICOVENEZUELACOLOMBIAECUADORPERUBOLIVIAPARAGUAYURUGUAYARGENTINACHILE

A 3 Details

bebe grandebe grandebe grandebe grandebe grandebe grandebe larga, be grandebe alta, be larga, bebe larga, be grandebebe alta, be grandebe larga, be grande, bebe grande, be largabe grande, be largabe grande, be largabe largabe largabe largabe larga

General: Section A1.2 above lists the middle-register terms, but how wide a swath this middleregister encompasses in each region is a question that warrants further study. In Spain, becorresponds to practically all registers, whereas in LatinAmerica themiddle ground coveredby be grande be larga etc. expands and contracts, and is displaced up or down, dependingon the region and speech community. The same applies to the middle-register terms for vpresented in section A

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Be: Spain, [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 routinelyuse the ambiguous [be) when referring to both letters. The reasons for this are not entirelyclear, but may be partly due to the fact that good spellers know whether most w ~ arespelled with a b or a v and perhaps believe specification is unnecessary), and poor spellerswould just as soon gloss over the subject or avoid it entirely). Semi-literate people, whenshown a word spelled witha b or vand asked if it is spelled correctly,may answer, No, conla otra [be) literally, No, with the other b/v .

Be de burro: Many educated Latin Americans consider de burro and other similar, somewhatcomical and unflatteringvariants such as bede buey, bede bobo, etc.) to be nonstandard anduse them primarily for humorous effect, for example, to mock someonewho has misspelleda word spelling it with a v instead of a b or vice-versa). However, there is evidence tosuggest that in theAntilles,EI Salvador,Honduras, Nicaragua andCostaRicamanyeducatedspeakers use de burro as their everydayword for this letter and this term may carry lesssocial stigma and less of a humorous load than in other parts ofLatin America Asking anilliterate personwhose last name isMontalban or Montalvan a question such as lComo seescribe su apellido, con ve de vaca 0 con be de burro? may be an exercise in futility as itassumes that the person knows how the words vaca and burro are spelled. Are linguisticattitudes toward de burro, bede buey andother similar variants uniform throughout LatinAmerica, or are they regionally weighted?

Be labial and bilabial: Be labial and bilabial are erudite terms usedby Latin Americans whowish to sound highly educated; many indicated that they are terms they were taught to usein school, but would rarely use in everyday conversation. However, a majority of educatedBolivians in this study claimed that labial is their normal, everydayword for b. Whetheror not this is reallytrue is a question for further study, but the fact that many more Boliviansaspire to use labial suggests a different linguistic attitude toward the term. There alsoLatin Americans who tr y to appear more erudite they really are and commit errors suchas *be labidental for b .

Age differences: A Costa Rican woman born in 1968 made the following comment in 2003: Newgenerations are now taught in school to say be for b and uve (for v and this is what someyoung people now use. However, I saybegrande and vepequeiia, and my mom s generationsays de burro and ve de vaca. If from each region large numbers of persons havingsimilar educational levels are compared, what variat ion wil l be found based on agedifferences?

A few also said: Be alta Spain,Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, the DominicanRepublic, Puerto Rico, Colombia, Bolivia), de bola (Costa Rica), be de BolivarVenezuela), de bueno panama, theDominicanRepublic, PuertoRico), begrande Cuba,Puerto Rico, Paraguay), be larga puerto Rico, Venezuela). How common is alta incountries other than Cuba and Venezuela?

Real Academia Regional ReviewBe A), be alta (A or C?), be bilabial F), be de burro F), be grande F), labial F), be

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Dictionary definitions: b Segunda letra del abecedario espanol y del orden latinointernacional, que representa un fonema consonantico labial y sonoro. Su nombre es be be alta 0be larga ; bel Nombre de la letra be alta and be larga bel

The Dictionary should define be bilabial be labial be grande and be de burro as all arefrequently used in LatinAmerica. Since in theory anyword beginningwith a b can be used to createa name for the letter, how common should the name have to be in order for it to be included in theDictionary? Examples include be de buey be de bobo be de Bolivia and de Bolivar. The issueis complicated by the fact that some of these terms appear to be usedmore often in specific regions.For example, be de Bolivar is probably used inVenezuelamore than in anyother country. (por algose llama la Republica Bolivariana de Venezuela.)A2 V(the name of this letter)A2 1 ummaryIn Spain, the letter v is generally called uve in all contexts. In Latin America, in contrast, the nameused depends on the speechregisterbeing used, the speaker s countryoforigin. socioeconomic classand age: uve ve corta ve chica and vepequena are the principal middle-register terms, ve de vacais the low-registerterm, and ve dental and ve labiodental arehigh-register terms. Unlike the middleregister terms, the high- and low-register terms exhibit little if any regional variation. The diglossiathat exists in Latin America with respect to this item is largely absent from Spain.A2.2 Middle-register terms by ountry 4 terms plus variants)SPAINMEXICOGUATEMALAELSALVADORHONDURASNICARAGUACOSTA RICAPANAMACUBADOMIN. REP.PUERTO RICOVENEZUELACOLOMBIAECUADORPERUBOLIVIAPARAGUAYURUGUAYARGENTINACHILE

uveve chica, uveve pequefia, ve chicave pequefia, ve chicave pequefia, ve chicave chica, ve pequefia, uveve pequefia, uveuve, ve chica, ve cortauve, ve corta, ve chicave corta, ve chicauve, ve corta, ve chicave pequefia, ve chicave pequefia, ve corta, ve chica, uveve chica, ve pequefiave chicave chica, ve cortave cortave cortave cortavecorta

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A2.3 DetailsUve: Uve is the term used in Spain, while in Latin America school teachers and others have oftenattempted to impose its use on students, for the most part unsuccessfully. However, uve doesappear to be used frequently in Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Cuba and Puerto Rico.

Several Costa Ricans and Nicaraguans indicated that young people are now systematicallytaught uve in schools and tend to use it more than ve modifier forms, whereas for peopleborn prior to 1965, only the latter forms are used. Is this the case? Is the use of uve increasingand spreading in Latin America?

echica / ve chiquita / ve pequefia: echiquita,which can be considered a variant of ve chica, wasgiven by respondents from Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Panama, Cuba, Venezuelaand olombi Are ve chica and ve chiquita used in free variation in certain regions, or arethere regional, socioeconomic and/or contextual preferences between the two for example,ve chiquita = less formal, ve chica = more formal)? Where v pequefia and ve chica are bothfrequently used, is the former considered more formal than the latter?

edental and ve labiodental: These terms, and variants such as ve labidental. ve bucodental and vedentilabial, are erudite words used in Latin America by those who want to sound highlyeducated as is the case with labial and be bilabial for the letter b). One also hears andreads) Sancho Panza-type errors such as *ve labial, *be vilabial and *ve semilabial for v Inthe case ofBolivia, a significant minorityofeducated respondents in this studyclaimed thatve dentilabial is their normal, everydayword for v.

ede vaca: ede vaca is considered nonstandard by manyeducated Latin Americans, but for manyothers it is their standard, everydayword for v However, it carries less stigma and less of ahumorous load than de burro b).A few also said: Uve the Dominican Republic, Uruguay), uve de Valencia Spain), uve de vacaPanama, Puerto Rico), ve baja Spain, Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela), vecorta Costa Rica, Venezuela, Peru), ve chica CostaRica, Uruguay), ve pequefia Mexico,Cuba, the Dominican Republic, PuertoRico, Peru), ve de Victor Venezuela), ve de VictoriaPuerto Rico), ve de Venezuela Venezuela).Opinions regarding appropriateness of different names for b and There are almost as manyopinions on which names for these letters are better and which are worse as there areSpanish speakers. Perhaps the most famous was offered by Joan Corominas, the etymologistand historical linguist, who voiced his disapproval of all names for v other than uve in thefollowing comment: Aunque olvidadapor la [Real] Acad.[emia], esta denominaci6n [uve]es la mas usual en Madrid y en muchas partes de Espana, dentro de la zona de lenguacastellana l no se conoce en la Arg., ni generalmente en America, si estoy bien informado.Sin embargo, mereceria que se generalizase para desterrar la denominaci6n ambiguave, lasridiculas ve corta y ve baja y la infundada ve labiodental, que privan en las repliblicasamericanas y en alguna parte de Espana... lEn catalan y en portugues, como en los demasromances, se dice ve, y no hay ambigiiedad en estos idiomas que la distinguen f6nicamentede la b. Corominas, vol. 4, pg. 659.) To what extent is his censure ofnames other thanwreasoned and logical, and to what extent is it a product of his own bias in favor of the formmost commonly used in Peninsular Spanish?

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l Real Academia Regional ReviewUve (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), vepequena (F).Dictionary definitions: v Vigesimaquinta letradel abecedario espanol, yvigesima segtindadel orden latino intemacional, que representa un fonema consonantico labial y sonoro, elmismoquela b en todos los paises de lengua espanola. Su nombre es uve ve ve baja 0 v corta ; uve Nombrede la letra v ; ve ve baja and ve carta uve.TheDictionaryshoulddefine ve dental vedentilabial v labidental ve labiodental ve chicave chiquita v pequena and ve de vaca since all of these terms are frequently used by LatinAmericans. Should it also define terms such as ve bucodental ve de Valencia ve de Venezuela vede Victor and ve de Victoria that are used less often but are still somewhat common?AJ W the name of this letter)AJ.I SummaryDoble ve or doble u are used throughout Latin America (with competition between the two terms inseveral countries). edoble is used in three South American countries and Spain has unique usagesthat are not commonly found in any other country.AJ.2 Terms by CountI1 (5 termsSPAINMEXJCOGUATEMALAELSALVADORHONDURASNICARAGUACOSTA RICAPANAMACUBADOMIN. REP.PUERTO RICOVENEZUELACOLOMBIAECUADORPERUBOLIVIPARAGUAYURUGUAYARGENTINACHILE

uve doble, doble uvedoble udoble vedoble ve, doble udoble vedoble ve, doble udoble udoble udoble vedoble udoble u, doble vedoble vedoble u doble vedoble veve doble, doble veve doble. doble veve doble, doble vedoble vedoble vedoble ve


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AJ.3 DetailsSpain: Uve doble is considered more correct and, among educated speakers, also appears to bemore

common than doble uve.Doble u vs. doble ve: Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, and the Dominican Republic, doble it hasminimal competition from doble ve if any. n Puerto Rico and Colombia, there iscompetition between the two names: doble u is used more frequently and doble ve enjoyshigher prestige. El Salvador and Nicaragua, doble ve is usedmore often than doble u andis also more prestigious. n all countries where doble u is used, there are some who frownupon its use because they believe it is an anglicism, a calque of the English word for w double u ). Amongpeople who are aware ofboth variants, thosewho use doble ve tend tohave a negative attitude toward doble u whereas those who use doble u tend to have aneutral attitude toward doble ve.

A few also said: Doble u Honduras), ve ligada Bolivia).AJ.4 Real Academia Regional Review

Doble u B), doble uve F), doble ve A), uve doble C), ve doble C).Dictionarydefinitions: w f Vigesimasextaletradel abecedario espanol, yvigesima terceradel orden latino intemacional, usada en voces de procedencia extranjera... Su nombre es uve doblevedoble 0 doble ve... ; doble u f. Mex. uve doble ; doble ve f. uve doble ; uvedoble f. Nombrede la letra w v doble Hf w ; ve doble f. uve doble.All names for w that are common in some country shouldbe listed, and the definitionof this

letter should read, in pertinent part, .....Su nombre es doble u doble uve doble ve uve doble 0 vedoble .. The following terms should be defined as follows: doble u Hf tol. Rica Mex. Pan.P. Rico y Dom. Nombre de la letra w ; doble ve Nombre de la letra w with no regionalspecification); ve doble Bol. Par. y PerU. Nombre de la letra w uve doble and doble uve Esp.Nombre de la letra wA4 ACCENT MARKA4.1 SummaryAcento and tilde are universal synonyms understood by educated speakers everywhere. However, ineveryday language, acento is used more often than tilde in fifteen countries.A4.2 Terms by Country 2 termsSPAINMEXICOGUATEMALAELSALVADORHONDURASNICARAGUA

acento, tildeacentotilde, acentoacento, tildeacento, tildeacento, tilde

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COSTA RICAPANAMACUBADOMIN. REP.PUERTO RICOVENEZUELACOLOMBIAECUADORPERUBOLIVIAPARAGUAYURUGUAYARGENTINACHILErA4.3 Details

tildetildeacento, tildeacento, tildeacentoacentotildetilde, acentoacento, tildeacentoacentoacento, tildeacento, tildeacento

General: SomeSpanish speakers consider tilde when used in the senseof accentmark, to bemoreformal than acento. However, acento grajico acento gramatical and acento ortograjico( accent mark ) are even more formal and technical terms as they are in specific contrast toacento prosodico ( spoken stress ).Tilde: Tilde is predominantly feminine almost everywhere it is commonly used. However, allrespondents from Uruguay (as well as one or two from Panama, Colombia and Bolivia),indicated that tilde is masculine.

A4.4 Real Academia Regional ReviewAcento (A), tilde (A?).Dictionary definitions: acento 2. Tilde, rayita oblicua que en la ortografia espanolavigentebaja de derecha a izquierda de quien escribe 0 lee. Se usa para indicar en determinados casos la

mayor fuerza espiratoria de la silaba cuya vo ll Ileva, p ej., camara simbolo util alla salio; ytambien para distinguir una palabra 0 forma de otra escrita con iguales letras, p ej., solo adverbio,frente a solo adjetivo; 0 con ambos fines a la vez, p. ej., tomo frente a tomo; ii pronombrepersonal,frente a el articulo ; tilde amb. Virgulilla rasgo que se pone sobre algunas abreviaturas, el quelIeva la y cualquierotro signo que sirva para distinguir una letra de otra denotar su acentuaci6n. m c f [Usado mas como femenino]

The definition of tilde is much broader than sense two of acento but perhaps tilde shouldinclude a separate sense of accent mark like the definition ofacento graficcr m. acento rayitaoblicua que baja de derecha a izquierda) -so that itwill be clear to the Dictionaryuser that tilde canbe a synonym of acento. Also, in the definition of acento the example of solo adverb, asdistinguished from solo adjective, is given when, in fact, the Dictionary itself does not currentlymake this distinction in its own language; it spells the word solo without an accent markwhen usedas an adverb. Like most spelling reforms, this one is not without controversy.

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DIVISION SYMBOL How to say expressions such as 1 5 2 )AS.I SummaryDividido entre is more common than dividido r in most countries. Dividido with no prepositionis commonlyused in four countries, and Ecuador has a unique usage that is notcommon in any othercountry.AS.2 Phrases by Country 5 phrases plus variants)SPAINMEXICOGUATEMALAELSALVADORHONDURASNICARAGUACOSTA RICAPANAMACUBADOMIN. REP.PUERTO RICOVENEZUELACOLOMBIAECUADORPERUBOLIVIAPARAGUAYURUGUAYARGENTINACHILE

AS.3 Details

dividido) entre, dividido pordividido) entredividido) entredividido) entredividido) entredividido) entre, dividido pordividido) entre, dividido pordividido) entredividido) entre, dividido pordividido) entredividido) entre, dividido pordividido) entredividido, dividido por, dividido) entre, dhidido endividido) paradividido) entredividido) entredivididodivididodivididodividido por

Dividido entre vs. dividido por: Where there is competition between the two phrases, dividido entreis used more frequently than dividido r in almost all countries, but the latter is consideredmore fonnal than the fonner. Some consider dividido entre to be incorrect when used toexpress mathematical fonnulae, but acceptable in phrases such as dividido entre las cincopersonas. Dividido entre is often abbreviated to entre e.g. diez entre cinco igual a dos.Dividido: An example ofdividido used with no preposition isdiez dividido cinco igual a dos. OneGuatemalan said that some young people in her country are now using dividido with nopreposition although she herselfand the vast majorityofGuatemalans queried in this studysaid they used dividido entre or entre . Is preposition dropping in this phrase an innovationthat is spreading to regions of the Spanish-speaking world in which it was not used

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Colombia: Colombia is the one country in which four different phrases are used: dividido divididopor dividido entre or entre and dividido n Which Colombians saywhich phrases?Ecuador: Divididopara is often shortened to para e.g. diezpara cinco igual dos.A few also said: Diezpartido cinco (Guatemala), dividido n (EI Salvador), dividido r (Mexico,Guatemala, EI 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 as10 5 2 (under the verb dividir or under any of the prepositions entre par etc.), i t gives noinformation on this item's regional variation. Should it?

B VARIABLE VERBSBl HURRY UPB1.1 SummaryApurate is commonlyused in almost all ofLatin America. Spain, Mexico, the DominicanRepublicand Puerto Rico have phrases that are not common in any other country.Note: For the sake ofbrevity, and assuming the situation to be a commandgiven to a friend or same-generation relative (rather than, for example, to a stranger or to a group of several people), thephrases listed in section B1.2 below are given only in the tu and/or vas forms, not in the ustedustedes or vosotros forms. Even in this limited situation, however, there are regions where peopletend to address mends and relatives as usted (e.g. interior Colombia, apurese apurele .B1.2 Phrases by Country (10 phrases plus variants)SPAINMEXICOGUATEMALAELSALVADORHONDURASNICARAGUACOSTA RICAPANAMACUBADOMIN. REP.PUERTO RICOVENEZUELACOLOMBIA

date prisaaptirate, andale correle, aptirale, oraleapurate/aptirateapurate/aptirateapurate/aptirateapurate/aptirateapurate/aptirateaptirateapuratedate pronto date rapidoavanza aptirateaptirateapurate/apurate, aptirale/apurale

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ECUADORPERUBOLIVIAPARAGUAYURUGUAYARGENTINACHILE

B1.3 Details

aptirateapurateapurate/aplirateapurate/aplirateapurate/aplirateapurateaptirate

General:Muevete, or movete in voseante regions ( move it ), is used universally as a more informal,aggressive and often ruder equivalent ofapurate. Dale also seems to be widely used: Is thisphrase part ofGeneral Spanish?Spain: Dateprisa is the standard, everyday phrase used in the sense ofhurry up, but apresurateand apresurese are used more formal language. Who in Spain uses apurate and/or apurain the sense ofhurry up and what are the connotations of these phrases vis-a.-vis dateprisa(i.e. more/less familiar, more/less insistent)?Mexico: Andale (the tu form) is more common than andele and andenle or andenles, but the ustedand ustedes forms are also used. The same applies to correle corrale and corranle orcorranles are also used), but orale, which does not derive from a verb, is an invariableexpression (i.e. there is o *orele, *orenle nor *orenles . What are the speech registers andconnotations of andale, correle and orale in Mexican Spanish? When used in the sense ofhurry up, are these phrases more or less equivalent to General Latin American Spanishapurate, are they closer meaning to slangy phrases such as socale (Costa Rica) or metele(River Plate region), or are they somewhere in between? Buyele (the tu form) and buigale(the usted form) are reportedly used by uneducated people the sense ofhurry up in SanLuis Potosi, Jalisco and Michoad.n (and elsewhere?), but t is unclear what the etymologyof these phrases is; perhaps they derive from the verb huir, to flee .El Salvador. Honduras Nicaragua: A/igerate and a/igerale (and a/igerate and aligerale are alsoused in the sense of urry up.

Dominican Republic: Apurate is also used, but less often than date pronto or date rapido.Venezuela: In some western regions of the country voseo is used (see section C6.3).Paraguay: Guarani phrases and their approximate equivalents include pya and pu he py ( hurryup ,pu eke make it fast ), and neike move it ).Informal phrases: The following phrases are informal, slangy(and potentiallyoffensive) equivalentsof apurate: echale bola (Venezuela), metele and metele pata (Uruguay, Argentina),pone/elponle (Costa Rica), socalelsocale (Costa Rica; other variants include socQ/soca,socalalsocala and soca l tubalsoca la tuba .

B1.4 Real Academia Regional ReviewAndale or D?), apurale (F), apurate A , avanza (B?), correle (F), date prisa (C), date

pronto F , date rapido (F), orale F .

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Dictionary definitions: andale (defined under andar), expr. coloq.Mh:. U. para animar aalguien a hacer algo ; ande/e (defined under andar), Col. y Mh:. expr. coloq. andale ; apurarse,4. Apremiar, dar prisa En America, u m. c pm . [usado mas como pronominal) ; avanzar, 5.Pero y P Rico. Darse prisa ; darse prisa, fr coloq. Acelerarse, apresurarse en la ejecucion dealgo .

Anda/e and imde/e are defined under andar, but apura/e and apure/e, etc. are not definedunder apurar and ought to be. addition, the definition of andale needs to be considerablyexpanded as the phrase has many senses in Mexican Spanish including 'Please,' 'Come on ,' 'Gofor it ,' B ea sport ,' W ay to go ,' 'Exactly ' and 'You're welcome.' Oftentimes the phrase has nospecific meaningbut is merely used to add emphasis and/or enthusiasm: examples include jAnda/e.que bien te vesf, jAnda/e. ganastef, Anda/e. haz/o rfavor (pleading), and jAnda/e. no te atrevasf(challenging, goading).

Is avanza used in Peru in this sense as the Dictionary claims? Darseprisa is defmed underprisa with no regional specification Esp.), but darsepronto and darse rapido are not defined underpronto or rapido. 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 neutralusage compared to colloquial phrases such as muevete and the more formal apresurese.B2 TURN RIGHTILEFT)B2.1 SummaryDob/e a /a derecha and dob/e a /a izquierda are used everywhere and can be considered GeneralSpanish phrases. However, in many countries another verb or locution is used more often thandob/ar.Forease. and assuming the situation to be one inwhich 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 beloware given only in the usted form, not in the tu, vos, ustedes or vosotros forms. Even in this limitedsituation, however, there are regions in which people often address strangers as or vos (e.g.dob/a and dob/d in the Antilles and Argentina, respectively).B2.2 Phrases by Country 11 verbs/verbal phrases plus variants)SPAINMEXICOGUATEMALAELSALVADORHONDURASNICARAGUACOSTA RlCAPANAMACUBADOMIN REP.

tuerza, gire, doblede vueltacruce, de vueltacruce, de vuelta, vilyasedoble, de vueltadoble, cruce, de vueltadoblegire. doble, viredobledoble

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PUERTORlCOVENEZUELACOLOMBIAECUADORPERUBOLIVIAPARAGUAYURUGUAYARGENTINACHILE

B2.3 Details

vire, coja, doblecruce, doblevolteevirevoltee, dobledobledobledoble, giredoble, giredoble

General: Wheredob/ar and another verb or phrase are commonlyused, there is often diglossia, withdobfar occupying the higher-register position and the other verbs or phrases occupyinglower-register positions. For example, in Venezuela and parts of Central America, someconsider cruce a fa derecha to be less formal than dobfe a fa derecha while others believethe former phrase is nonstandard or simply incorrect.

A few also said: Coja a fa derecha Spain, Costa Rica, Panama, Cuba, the Dominican Republic,Colombia), de vuefta a fa derecha puerto Rico, Venezuela, Chile), gire a fa derechaMexico, EI Salvador, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay,Chile; isgirea fa derecha universal?), hagauna derecha El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua,Panama, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Ecuador, Bolivia), tome fa derechaHonduras, Costa Rica, Panama, Chile), tire a fa derecha Spain), tuerza a fa derechaColombia, Peru, Bolivia), vayasea fa derecha or vaya a fa derecha Spain,Venezuela), virea fa derecha Mexico, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Peru, Chile), voftee a fa derechaMexico, Guatemala, Panama, Puerto Rico, Venezuela). Some respondents from Spain,Uruguay and Argentina indicated that gire a fa derecha is used more in giving drivingdirections while the other phrase tuerza a fa derecha or dobfe a fa derecha) is used morein giving directions to a pedestrian.

B2.4 Real Academia Regional ReviewCoger D), cruzar D), dar D), dob/ar A), girar C?), hacer D), ir D), tirar C?), tomar

A), torcer C), virar D), voftear B), vuefta D).Dictionary definitions: dob/ar, 1 I. Pasar a otro lado de una esquina, cerro, etc., cambiando

de direccion en el camino. U 1 c intr. [Usado tambien como intransitivo] Dobfaron a fa otra calle.Doble a fa derecha ; girar, 6. Desviarse cambiar con respecto a la direccion inicial. a callegiraa fa derecha ; tirar, 30. Dirigirse a uno u otro lado. AfUegara fa esquina. tire usteda fa derecha ;torcer, 7. Dicho de una persona 0 de una cosa: Desviar la direccion que llevaba, para tomar otraEf escritor tuerce ef curso de su razonamiento. U. 1 c. intr. f camino tuerce a mana derecha. U.1 c pmL [Usado tambien como pronominal] f coche se torcio hacia fa cuneta ; virar, intr. Mudarde direccion en la marcha de un automovil u otro vehiculo semejante ; voftear, 6. en doblar laesquina

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Doblar is the standard General Spanish phrase and all regional synonyms should be crossreferenced to it with the appropriate regional specifications. For example, this sense o fcnaarcouldbe defined as E Sa/v., Guat., Nic. y Ven doblar cambiarde direcci6n). Cruce a a derecha andthat of vo/tear as Chile, Col., Guat., Mix., Pan., PerU P Rico y Ven. doblar cambiar dedirecci6n). Vo/tee a a derecha.B3 TO TURN AROUND face th e other way)B3.1 SummaryDarse /a vue/ta and/or darse vue/ta are used everywhere, but in many countries other phrases suchas vo/tearse, virarseo r vo/verse are used more often than darse la) vue/taoB3.2 Phrases by Country 5 verbs/verbal phrases plus variants)SPAINMEXICOGUATEMALAELSALVADORHONDURASNICARAGUACOSTA RICAPANAMACUBADOMIN. REP.PUERTO RICOVENEZUELACOLOMBIAECUADORPERUBOLIVIAPARAGUAYURUGUAYARGENTINACHILE

B3.3 Details

darse la vueIta, volverse, girarsevoltearse, darse la) vueltavoltearse, darse la) vueItavoltearse, darse la) vueltavoltearse, darse la) vueltavoltearse, darse la) vueltavolverse, darse Ia) vuelta, voltearsevoltearse, darse la) vuelta, girarse, virarsevirarse, darse la) vuelta, voltearsevirarse, voltearse, darse la) vueltavirarse, voltearse, darse la) vueltavoltearse, darse la) vueltavoltearse, darse la) vuelta, girarsevoltearse, darse la) vueltavoltearse, darse la) vueltadarse la) vueltadarse la) vueltadarse vueltadarse vueltadarse vuelta, girarse

General: Some Spanish speakers from different countries indicated that sayinggratemight indicatethat the person should tu m 90 degrees v turn), whereas date /a vue/ta would generallymeanturning 180 degrees doing an about-face). As one Spaniard pu t it. u te puedes girar unpoco, pero darte /a vue/ta un poco suena raro. Do some speakers use different phrases tomake finer distinctions in meaning such as turning one s head back vs. turning completely

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around (turning entire body) ? What are Spanish speakers attitudes toward the use of thedifferent phrases and how do these attitudes vary by region?

Variants: When used in the sense of turn around, the reflexive fonns (lasformas pronominales)of the verbs and verb phrases-vo/tearse, darse vue/ta, darse /a vue/ta and girarse-aregenerallymuchmore common thanthe nonreflexive fonns-vo/tear, darvuelta, dar /a vueltaand girar. Only the reflexive fonns virarse and vo/versewere offered by thosewho indicatedthese verbs (no one said virar nor vo/ver is used in the sense of turn around/face the otherway ), but an equal number of Mexicans in this study used vo/tear and vo/tearse. Darsevuelta appears to bemore commonthandarse /a vue/ta in El Salvador, CostaRica, Uruguay,Argentina and Chile, whereas in Spain, Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia and Paraguaydarse la vue/ta seems to be more common. In Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama,Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Venezuela and Peru, the data collected wereinconclusive (they indicated a fair amount of competition between darse vue/ta and darse/a vue/ta).

B3.4 Real Academia Regional Review ar(la) vue/ta (D?), girar (D?), virar (D), voltear (B), vo/ver (C).Dictionarydefinitions: vo/ver, 27. Girar la cabeza, el torso, 0 todo el cuerpo, para mirar 10que estaba a la espalda; voltear, 9. Mex y Ven Girar la cabeza 0 el cuerpo hacia atras. U. c pml.Regional specifications need to be added to the definition of vo/ver c Rica and Esp.), and

those of vo/tear must be considerably expanded to Col., Rica, Cuba, Ecuad., E Sa/v., Guat.,Hon., Mex Nic., Pan., Peru, P Rico, R Dom. y Ven. Alternatively, voltear s regionalspecifications couldbe Am. Cent., Ant. [Antillas], Col., Ecuad.,Mex Peru y Ven. in order to savesome space, or simply Am. even though this would be an overgeneralization. Another alternativewould be to include no regional specification for this sense ofvo/tear(se) on the grounds that thisusage is common in over half the Spanish-speaking world (in at least 4countries to be specific).Which approach is preferable?B4 TO PULL (pull a rope, pul l open a door)B4.1 SummaryJalarlhalar are the most commonly used verbs in fifteen countries (ja/ar more in spoken languageand ha/ar more in educated written language), tirar de and/or tirar in four countries, and Paraguayand Nicaragua have highly regional usages.84.2 Verbs/Phrases by Country (4 verbs/verb phrases plus variants)SPAINMEXICOGUATEMALAELSALVADORHONDURAS

tirar dejalarjalarjalarjalar

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NICARAGUACOSTA RICAPANAMACUBADOMIN. REP.PUERTO RICOVENEZUELACOLOMBIAECUADORPERUBOLIVIAPARAGUAYURUGUAYARGENTINACHILE

B4.3 Details

jalar, guiiiarjalarjalarlhalarhalar/jalarhalar/jalarhalar/jalarjalarlhalarjalarlhalarjalarjalarjalarestirartirar de, tirartirar de, tirartirar tirar de

Spain: Tirar de is the dominant expression in most regions of Spain, butjalarlhalarmay be used insome regions incertaincontexts. Ifso, where? nAndalucia? (See sectionB4.4below.)Also,is the verb estirar (which in General Spanish has the closely related meaning of stretch )commonly used in Spain, or some regions of Spain, in the sense of pull ?Nicaragua: Some consider guiiiar to be nonstandard when used in the sense of pull. Are theredifferences in meaning, register, or situational context betweenjaJar and guiiiar?Jalar vs. zalar all countrieswhere l r and /zalar are used, there are those who look askance atthe use of the former. However, there is evidence to suggest that in the Antilles, and to a

lesser extent in Panama, Venezuela and Colombia, l r is more stigmatized and lessaccepted than in the other countries where the two verbs are used. n the Antilles, manyeducated people-perhaps a majority-consider l r to be uneducated and low-class,whereas in Mexico, most of Central America, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia,jalar is generallyaccepted in spoken language and even in many forms ofwritten communication. Signs ondoors, however, often say Hale rather than Jale even in countries where l r enjoysconsiderable acceptance. Tire is what appears on this type of sign in non-jalarlhalarcountries, and sometimes injalarlhalar countries as well, although some of the signs maybe imported.) countries where l r and /zalar are used, what are Spanish speakersattitudes toward the two verbs and how do these attitudes vary by region?

Tirar vs. tirar de n the educated speech of Argentina and Uruguay, tirar de is more common thantirar 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 peoplestop using one verb in the sense of pull and start using a different verb? Lima to Santiagode Chile jalar>tirar), a Paz to Asuncion jalar>estirar), a Paz to Buenos Airesjalar>tirar de), a Paz to Santiago de Chile jalar>tirar), Asuncion to Buenos Airesestirar>tirar de).

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B4.4 Real Academia Regional ReviewEstirar D , guiiiar (D), halar B),jalar (A?), tirar e), tirar de (C).Dictionary definitions: halar, 2. And., C Rica, Cuba, Hond., Nic., Pan. y en Tirar hacia

sl de algo ;jalar, tr. coloq. halar II tirar de un cabo). 112 coloq. tirar II hacer fuerza para traer) ;lirar, 24. Dichode personas, animales 0 vehiculos: Hacer fuerza para traerhacia sl 0 para llevar trassi.Halar is defined with regional specifications, but notjalar, which is defined in sense one in

terms ofhalar. Are we to suppose, then, that the use ofj l r is also regionallymarked? If so, inwhatregions did the Dictionary mean to indicate thatjalar is used? If not, whydefine a General Spanishword in terms ofa regionalism? Also, in the definition ofjalar,why gloss the word halar with theexplanation II tirar de un cabo) since cabo is amarked term (theDictionary lists itwith a maritimecontextual specification), rather than definingjalar as halar tirar de una cuerda) as cuerda isan unmarked, General Spanish term? If the Real Academia is implying that in p inj l r is usedspecifically in a maritime setting (i.e. by sailors), it should indicate this in the definition.

Sincejalarlhalar are used in many more countries than tirar or tirar de, an argument can bemade for defining lirar de) in terms ofjalarlhalar rather than vice versa. The definition ofj l r isdivided into two senses, t irar hacia sl de algo and hacer fuerza para traer, but what is thedifference between them, if any?BS TO PUSH (A BUTION : popular, nonstandard (low-prestige) verbsBS.l SummaryAprelar, oprimir,presionarandpulsar are the standard tenns used by educated speakerseverywhere,although perhaps not everywhere with equal frequency. Aprelar is generally more neutral usagewhereas oprimir, presionar and pulsar tend to be considered more technical and/or fonnal. Theverbs dar and toear are also used in this sense somewhat informally (e.g. darle al boton, tocar latecla). However, in manycountries there is a popular, nonstandard (lower-prestige) usage, a verb thatis used in the sense of push a button alongside the standard verbs and which, in many cases, ismore common in everyday language.BS.2 RegiooaVPopular Verbs by Country 7 verbs)SPAINMEXICOGUATEMALAELSALVADORHONDURASNICARAGUACOSTA RICAPANAMACUBADOMIN. REP.

no regional/nonstandard verb foundpuchar, apachurrarapacharpuyarpuyarempujarestriparempujarno regional/nonstandard verb foundempujar?

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PUERTO RICOVENEZUELACOLOMBIAECUADORPERUBOLIVIAPARAGUAYURUGUAYARGENTINACHILE

B5.3 Details

empujarno regional/nonstandard verbfoundespicharaplastarno regional/nonstandard verbfoundno regional/nonstandard verbfoundno regional/nonstandard verb foundno regional/nonstandard verbfoundno regional/nonstandard verb foundno regional/nonstandard verbfound

General: The social stigma attached to the regionaVnonstandard usages listed in section B5.2 aboveis not uniform. For example, many Colombians from the Department ofCundinamarca andCosta Ricans indicated that espichar and estripar, respectively, are considered low-classor incorrect and some claimed they do not use them. Educated and/or upwardly mobilewomen from these countries appear to be particularlyaverseto using them. In Guatemala andEcuador, on the otherhand, apachar and aplastar, respectively, arewidely usedby educatedspeakers and carry much less social stigma than espichar and estripar in their respectivecountries. Puyar in Honduras and El Salvador are also censored though apparently not asmuch as estripar and espichar. What regional and popular verbs are used in the countrieslisted above with no regionaVnonstandard verb found and what is their level ofacceptance?

Mexico: Which Mexicans use puchar and which use apachurrar in the sense of push LesseducatedMexicans from certainregions, norte,ios, oneswho have lived intheUnited States?Colombia: Espichar seems to be particularly common in the popular speech ofCundinamarca andapparently 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 O , aplastar 0 , empujar 0 , espichar (D), estripar O ,puchar(F), puyar 0 .

Apachar is defined as 3. Guat. Pulsar un boton. Which of the above terms should bedefined with speech-register specifications such as coloq. (colloquial), vulg. (popular/vulgar),or malson. (vulgar)?B6 BOT R is this verb commonly used in the sense of tothrow out or not?B6 SummaryBotar is commonly used in the sense of to throw out everywhere except Spain, Paraguay, Uruguayand Argentina.

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B6.2 Botar = throw out commonly used or not?SPAINMEXICOGUATEMALAELSALVADORHONDURASNICARAGUACOSTA RICAPANAMACUBADOMIN. REP.PUERTO RICOVENEZUELACOLOMBIAECUADORPERUBOLIVIAPARAGUAYURUGUAYARGENTINACHILE

B6.3 Details

noyes, but less common than tiraryes, but less common than tiraryesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesnononoyes

Spain, Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina: The verbs tirar and/or echar are commonly used n thesense of to throw out.Countries other than Spain, Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina: The verb botar is commonly used inthe sense of to throw out, to kick out and other related senses (though less so n Mexicoand Guatemala).

Isoglosses: If you took a trip between the cities indicated below. at what point would most peoplestop using botar n the sense of throwaway and start using primarily tirar and/or echar?La paz to Asuncion 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 Utr Arrojar,tirar, echar fuera a alguien 0 algo which suggests that botar s commonly used in the senses ofthrow out/throwaway and kick out in Peninsular Spanish. While this is directly contradicted bythe data collected in this study, its respondents were largely middle-class and upper-middle-classpeople from large cities. n Spain, is botar commonly used in the general sense of hrow out n allregions and n all walks of life, as the Dictionary s definition implies, or is t used more in certain

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regions, in certain contexts, and/or among certain sectors e.g. by sailors throwing somethingoverboard ? The same questions can be asked with respect to the River Plate region.

C MOODY MORPHOLOGYCI DIMINUTIVES OF WORDS ENDING IN VOWELCl I SummaryThe -ito diminutive is the predominant suffix for words ending n t vowel e.g. gatito patita .momentito A/benito everywhere except Costa Rica, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela,Colombia, and possibly a few regions of Spain where the -ico diminutive e.g. gatico patieamomentico A/bertieo is more common.Note: section Cl below, gatito/gatico is used as the example.Cl Suffixes for final t vowel words by country suffixesSPAINMEXICOGUATEMALAELSALVADORHONDURASNICARAGUACOSTA RICAPANAMACUBADOMIN. REP.PUERTO RiCOVENEZUELACOLOMBIAECUADORPERUBOLIVIAPARAGUAYURUGUAYARGENTINACHILE

gatito, gaticogatitogatitogatitogatitogatitogatico, gatitogatitogaticogaticogatitogaticogaticogatitogatitogatitogatitogatitogatitogatito

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C1.3 DetailsSpain: Although the vast majority of Spaniards in this study said they used gatito, patita and

momentito, two respondents, one fromMurcia and one from Navarra, stated they usegatieo,patiea and momentieo. To the extent that words ending in t vowel, and words in general,take the -ieo diminutive in certain regions of Spain such as Andalucia, Aragon, Murcia andNavarra (see definition of -ieo in sectionCI below), what are the differences in meaning,connotation or register between gatito and gatieo or hermanito and hermanieo? n theseregions, do the -ieo forms serve as a class, age or rural marker? Specifically, do older, morerural and less educated people use the -ieo forms more often than younger, urban and moreeducated people?Costa Rica: Costarrieenses (Costa Ricans) are popularly called ticos (especially by CentralAmericans) because they often use the -ieo suffix with words ending in t vowel (e.g.gatieo). n fact, however, there is social stratification in Costa Rica with regard to the twosuffixes: With words ending in t vowel, the -ieo diminutive is used more by older, ruraland less educated people, and the -ito dinlinutive more by younger, urban and middle- andupper-class people. Linguistic attitudes also playa role. For example, upwardly mobilewomen are more likelyto use -ito diminutives thanmen oftheir same social class. And someupper-class men (including yuppies), who would like to think of themselves as real CostaRicans, may consciously or subconsciouslychoose to saygatieo. What is certain is that, forCostaRicans, the use ofwords likegatieo vs. gatito is a social and identitymarker to a muchgreater 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 -ieo diminutives aremore or less standard usage.Cuba. Dominican Republic. Colombia Venezuela: Forms such as gatieo,patiea and momentieoare much more widely used than gatito, patita and momentito. There is, however, linguisticinsecurity in some circles surrounding the -ieo forms and statements such as Nosotrosdecimos gatieo, pero correcto es gatito are not uncommon. Some from these countriesclaim that there are meaning or register differences betweengatito and gatieo: that gatieo iscolloquialwhereasgatito is more formal, that agatito is a smaller kitten thanagatieo, or thatgatito is a kitten that is referred to n a more affectionate way. However, no independentevidence (i.e. contrastive usage) was found to corroborate any of these claims. Still otherssaid they generally use the -ieo forms except for momentito as theyconsider it to bemorerefined than un momentieo. Would some people from these countries generally say espereunmomentito ustedcommand)to a personthey did not know well, but espera momentieoor esperate un momentieo tli commands) to friends?

Calentitolcalentico vs. calientito/calientico: n many Spanish-speaking countries, perhaps in amajority, the terms calientito or calientico are muchmore common in everyday speech-forexample, when referring to the temperature of food orwater than ealentitoor calentico. Yetmany educated Spanish speakers do not accept the diphthonged forms and insist thatcalentito or calentico are the only correct ones. s the level of acceptance that calientitoand/or calientieo enjoyuniform throughout the Spanish-speakingworld or does this vary byregion? If it varies diatopically, where are calientito and calientico generally accepted byeducated speakers, and where are they social markers? n which, if any regions, do most

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speakers spontaneously say phrases such as una comida rica y calentita and where wouldmost say una comida rica y ealientita ? The difficulty in resolving such i ssues is that inrapid speech the audible difference between ca/entito and ealientito is sometimes hard toperceive. It is also possible that many of those who object to ealientito,write ea/entitp\ andmay try to say ealentito, bu t often end up saying calientito. Thus some mayuse ealientito inspoken language and ea/entito in written language. However, ifmost people say ca/ientitoor calientieo,why shouldn t these forms be accepted as legitimate inboth spoken andwrittenlanguage? Caliente> calientito or ealentito is similar to other derivations of diphthongedbase forms in which the stressed syllable changes in the derived form. Compare it to thefollowing derivations: viejo> viejito *vejito is not a grammatical form); bueno> buenisimoor bon/simo, Puerto_Rico>puertomquefio or portorriquefio (where both derived fonus arepossible, the meaning is the same, but the registers may be different). Another interestingminimal pair is enterrado ( buried ) vs. entierrado ( dirty, soiled ).

Other diminutive forms: Several women in this study (mostly from Spain) indicated they use unmomentin, unpoquitin, and other -in forms in addition tomomentito and poquitito, etc. Whatgroups use momentin, and how is its use distinguished from that ofmomentito/momentieo?The -ilio diminutive, which in most varieties ofSpanish is derogatory, is commonlyused asa nonderogatory diminutive inpartsofMexico andCentral America,bu t its frequencyofuse,meanings and connotations (vis-A-vis -ito and/or -ieo) need to be investigated. For example,some Mexicans have indicated that poquilio refers to a smaller amount than un poquito,and have descI1bed cases of lexiealization, such as platito (a small plate) vs. un platillo(prepared food, a dish), in which diminutive suffixes, when attached to given words incertain contexts, result in a specific meaning that is different from the effect these suffixesnormally create. In Mexican Spanish, as in all varieties of the language, platillos, in thecontext of classical music, still refer to cymbals andplatillos voladores still mean flyingsaucers. ) .Isoglosses: If you took a trip between Bogota and Quito, at what point would most people stopsaying gatico and start saying gatito? There is anecdotal evidence that, unl ike mos tColombians,pastusos (Colombians from the cityofPasto, or from anywhere in the southernborder department ofNariiio) saygatito. would not be surprising if the dividing line laysomewhere in southern Colombia, ra ther than in the adjacent Ecuadoran province of ElCarchi, since Narino was historically part of Ecuador.

CI.4 Real Academia Regional Review-ico B , -ito A .Dictionary definitions: -ico, suf. And., Ar., Mur., Nav., Col., Rica, Cuba y Ven. Tiene

valor diminutivo 0 afectivo. Ratieo, pequefiica, hermanico. A veces, toma las formas -ececico, ecico, -cico. Piececico, huevecico, resplandorcico. En Colombia, C. Rica, Cuba y Venezuela, solose une a radicales que terminan en -t-. Gatieo, patica. Muchas veces se combina con el sufijo -ito.Ahoritica, poquitieo ; -it03 , suf. Tiene valor diminutivo 0 afectivo. Ramita, hermanito, pequefiito,callandito, prontito. En ciertos casos toma las formas -ecito, -ececito, -cito. Solecito, piececito,eorazoncito. mujercita.

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R. Dom. needs to be added to the regional specifications for the definition of -ico and tothe description of countries in which -ico only gets attached to radicals ending in C CHANCE: masculine, feminine, or word seldom used?C t SummaryChance is generally masculine everywhere except Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina and Chile (whereit is feminine to the extent the word is used), Spain (where the is rarelyused), andPeru (wherethe situation unclear).C2.2 Masculine, feminine, or do not use the word chance?SPAINMEXICOGUATEMALAELSALVADORHONDURASNICARAGUACOSTA RICAPANAMACUBADOMIN. REP.PUERTO RICOVENEZUELACOLOMBIAECUADORPERUBOLIVIAPARAGUAYURUGUAYARGENTINACHILE

C2.3 Details

do not usemasculine, do not usemasculinemasculinemasculinemasculinemasculinemasculinemasculinemasculinemasculinemasculinemasculinemasculinefeminine, do not use masculinemasculinedo not use femininefemininefemininedo not use feminine

General: In all countries where chance is widely used in informal language, there are those whoobject to its use and deny that it is even a word in Spanish. Statements such as no se dicechance se dice oportunidad are common everywhere.

Spain: A few Spaniards indicated that they use chance in a humorous, imitative waybecause of theinfluence ofLatin American telenovelas but the vast majority said theydo not use chance.

Mexico: While chance is clearlymasculine inMexico. manyrespondents inthis studyindicated theydo not use the word. Are peoples attitudes in Mexico toward chance different from theattitudes that exist in other countries where chance is commonly used?

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Peru: The respondents queried in this studywere split almost evenlybetween una chance (feminine)un chance (masculine) and do not use What percentage of Peruvians use chance as amasculine word, what percentage use it as a feminine word, what percentage do not use theword at all, and what are the characteristics of each group?

Paraguay Chile: Respondents from these two countries were split fairly evenly betweenfeminine 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 andfeminine in others? n Uruguay and Argentina, is chance feminine because the word wasincorporated there directly from French andpeoplewere consciousofits origin and femininegender in French? n countries where chance is masculine, did it enter Spanish by way ofEnglish and not directly fromFrench, and then become a masculineword because loanwordsthat do not end in 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) webla(worldwide) web, terms which havebeen incorporatedinto Spanish as both masculine and feminine nouns: masculine because they are loanwordsthat do not end in and feminine because manyofthe Spanish speakers who first used thesewords in the 1980s and 1990s knew English and knew that net and web can mean redand telarana, respectively, both feminine words. A Spanish-language internet searchconducted in mid 2003 of el internet lainternet and el weblaweb resulted in thousandsofhits for both masculine and feminine forms, but the latter were about twice as numerousas the former.

C2.4 Real Academia Regional ReviewChance is defined as (Del fro chance). ambo Oportunidad 0 posibilidad de conseguir algo.

No tiene chance para ese cargo. Should the Dictionary specify chance s preferred genders inspecific countries, and should the etymologyread (Del r chance, 0 del fro chance por via del ing .chance) ?C3 R DIO the device): masculine or feminine?C3.1 SummaryWhen 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 radioand la radio compete).C3.2 Radio the device): masculine or feminine?SPAINMEXICOGUATEMALAEL SALVADORHONDURAS

femininemasculinemasculinemasculinemasculine

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NICARAGUACOSTA RICAPANAMACUBADOMIN. REP.PUERTO RICOVENEZUELACOLOMBIAECUADORPERUBOLIVIAPARAGUAYURUGUAYARGENTINACHILE

C3.3 Details

masculinemasculinemasculinemasculinemasculinemasculinemasculinemasculinemasculinemasculine, femininefeminine, masculinefemininefemininefemininefeminine

Peru & Bolivia: In Peru, twice as many respondents stated that radio (in the sense of 'device') wasmasculine as those who stated itwas feminine, whereas inBolivia the opposite was thecase.Is radio predominantlymasculine in Peru and predominantly feminine in Bolivia, or is thereconsiderable competition between ef radio and fa radio in both countries?

adioin the sense of radioemision or fa emisora The overwhelming majority ofrespondents fromall countries indicated that radio when used to refer to the broadcast or the station, isfeminine. However, the respondents were largely middle- and upper-middle-class personsand in many cases it was clear to them that the infof 11ation was being solicited in a testsituation. However, some of those who indicated ef radio for the device also indicated efradio for the station/broadcast; none of those who said radio for the device said ef radiofor the station/broadcast. The distinction between the device, the broadcast and the stationis sometimes hazy, for example, in a phrase such as escuchar eflfa radio inwhichone listensto all three. Note that in dialects (or sociolects) in which radio device is masculine, andradio stationlbroadcast is feminine, ef radio hasa differentmeaning from fa radio whereasfor other speakers fa radio or ef radio can refer to boththe device and the stationlbroadcast.

C3.4 Real Academia Regional ReviewRadio is defined as (Acort.[amiento]) mbo coloq. radiorreceptor Should theDictionary

indicate where radio (when used in the sense of the device) is predominantly feminine and whereit is predominantly masculine? Also, can radio in this sense currently be considered colloquialusage? s not radio in fact standard usage and radiorreceptor uncommon in anybut themost formaland/or technical language? Indeed, radiorreceptor maysoon be archaic usage, ifit is not already so.

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C4 RIEL masculine, feminine, or word seldom used?C4.1 SummaryRiel is predominantly masculine everywhere except Ecuador and Bolivia where it is generallyfeminine. Puerto Rico the two genders may be in competition.C4.2 Mascul ine , feminine, or do not use tbe word riel?SPAINMEXICOGUATEMALAELSALVADORHONDURASNICARAGUACOSTA RICAPANAMACUBADOMIN REP.PUERTO RICOVENEZUELACOLOMBIAECUADORPERUBOLIVIAPARAGUAYURUGUAYARGENTINACHILE

C4.3 Details

masculine, do not usemasculinemasculinemasculinemasculinemasculinemasculinemasculinemasculine, do not usemasculinedo not use masculine, femininemasculinemasculinefemininemasculinefemininemasculinemasculinemasculinemasculine

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, someindicated that they use rail or el rail whereas others said they use words such as elferrocarril el carril la linea del tren via del tren etc. Still others said they use riel for'curtain rod' and rail for 'railroad track.' According to Corominas, when the railroad wasintroduced in Spanish-speaking countries, the English word rail was adopted in Spain torefer to rai lroad tracks, andwas generally pronounced rail whereas inMexico and Peru(andelsewhere Latin America?) the Spanish word riel was used in this sense instead of theEnglish word because it sounded like raillrail and because of its related, already existingsenses (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

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longer any trains in Puerto Rico while others said they use some other word or phraseiferrocarril, via del tren, etc.). s riel predominantlymasculine, feminine or seldom used inPuerto Rico?

Ecuador Bolivia: Why is riel predominantly feminine in these two countries? Is it because rielwas always masculine in Spain, but based on the analogy ofother words ending in -iel, suchas hiel, miel and piel (which are feminine in General Spanish), some Ecuadorans andBolivians began applying the feminine gender to riel and this usage somehow becamepredominant? If so, how did this come about? Or is it because, at some point in the past, rielwas once used as a feminine noun in some regions ofSpain (pt:.rhaps at one point el riel andla riel were in competition), and its use as a feminine noun in Ecuador and Bolivia is anarchaic usage-an archaism from the perspective of the rest of the Spanish-speakingworld-that has survived to the present day in these two countries? This assumes that theDictionary's etymology of Spanish riel is correct, that is, that t comes from Catalan riellwhich, in tum, comes from Latin regella (see section C4.4 below). TheDiccionario CriticoEtimol6gico de la Lengua Castellanamakes no mention of riel ever having been used as afeminine noun in any variety of Spanish (Corominas, vol. 4, pg. 13).

C4.4 Real Academia Regional ReviewRiel is defined as (Del cat.riell, y este dellat. regella).m. Barra pequefiade metal enbruto.

2 Carril de una via ferrea.The Dictionary indicates that riel is a masculine noun without comment or caveat. Shouldthe Dictionary say the word is masculine in its gender specification, and then in the body of thedefinition state EnBol., Ecuad. y P. Rico, u c [usado como femenino) ? Or should it indicatethe word is amb. in its gender specification?The Dictionary defines rail and rail as Carril de las vias ferreas without any regionalspecifications. Should Cuba y Esp be specified in the definitions' regional specifications?C5 S RTEN masculine, feminine, or word seldom used?C5.1 SummaryA certain degree of competition between el sarten and la sarten exists in most if not all regions ofthe Spanish-speaking world. However, in educated speech el habla culta), the word appears to bemore often masculine in Mexico, most ofCentral America, the Antilles, Colombia, Ecuador andBolivia, and more often feminine in Spain, Peru, Paraguay and Argentina. n Uruguay and Chilethere appears to be strong competition between el sarten and la sarten.C5.2 Masculine or feminine?SPAINMEXICOGUATEMALAELS LV DOR

femininemasculinemasculineless common, masculine, feminine

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HONDURASNICARAGUACOSTA RICAPANAMACUBADOMIN. REP.PUERTO RICOVENEZUELACOLOMBIAECUADORPERUBOLiVIAPARAGUAYURUGUAYARGENTINACHILEC5.3 Details

less common, masculineless common, masculinemasculinemasculine, femininemasculine, femininemasculinemasculine, femininemasculine, femininemasculine, femininemasculinefemininemasculinefemininemasculine, femininefemininemasculine, feminine

General: ome respondents from manycountries indicated that they say both el sarten (masculine)and la sarten (feminine), or were unsure of the word's correct gender. Even in regionswhere the masculine gender is predominant, many respondents claimed that they try to sayla sarten, that they should say la sarten, or that the feminine form is really the correctone. addition, a number of those who indicated they generally use the masculine formstated that they use the feminine form in the expression tener la sarten por e/ mango. Howdo attitudes toward the gender of this word vary among educated speakers from differentregions of the Spanish-speaking world, and what are the regional, age, and social-classpreferences within each country?

Spain: The overwhelmingmajorityof those interviewed in this studywere under the age of fifty andindicated la sarten, but two said that sarten is used y older Spaniards. Corominas statesthat sarten is the predominant usage in Asturias, but this statement was published in the1950s (Corominas, vol. 4, pg. 159).

EI Salvador, Honduras Nicaragua: n these countries, other terms are used in the sense of 'fryingpan' more often thansarten: cacerola (EI Salvador, Honduras); cazuela Nicaragua);fridera(Honduras, the Oriente region of Guatemala); pai/a (Nicaragua); sartena (El Salvador,ceramic pan, generally with two small handles, orejas, rather than one long handle). SomeNicaraguans indicated that a sarten is a small pai/a, and some Hondurans indicated that asarten is a smallfridera.

Panama. Cuba. PuertoRico, Venezuela Colombia: n this study, more people from these countriessaid sarten than la sarten, but not significantly more, and several said they use bothgenders or were unsure. 'What is the situation in these countries?

Uruguay Chile: Respondents were split almost down the middle with regard to the gender ofsarten.


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Argentina: The respondents in this studywere nearly unanimous in indicating sarten, but the vastmajoritywere middle-class and upper-middle-class Argentines, underthe age of fifty, fromBuenos Aires, Rosario, or other major cities. One indicated that her elderly mother used sarten (although she herselfsays sarten . However, Cororninas states that the masculinegender is absolutamente general en la Arg. (Corominas, vol. 4, pg. 158-159). Whocurrently says sarten in Argentina?

CS.4 Real Academia Regional ReviewSarten 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 America y Espana u. c. m.[usado como masculino].

Since sarten ismasculine in well over half the Spanish-speaking world, it should be definedas amb. [ambiguo] Recipiente de cocina... rather than prescribing that the word be feminine.Should the Dictionary go further and give specific information about where sarten is predominantlymasculine and where it is generally feminine or just indicate amb. ? The Dictionary's vaguedescription of sarten s regional distribution ( En muchos lugares de America y Espai'ia ) is notparticularly useful, but perhaps it is the best that can be done given that both genders are used tosome extent in most if not all regions. To turn the matter on its head, one n argue that the otheralternative would be to define sarten as a masculine noun and then state, En Espana y algunoslugares de America U. C. f.C6 FORMS OF ADDRESS (parent-to-child and chiId-to-parent)C6.1 SummaryThe forms ofaddress-usted, u or vos-people use to address their parents and those used by paren

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