Central American Spanish

Central American Spanish (Spanish: "español centroamericano") is the general name of the Spanish language dialects spoken in the Central America. More precisely, the term refers to the Spanish language as spoken in Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Panama, and the Mexican state of Chiapas.

Variation

While most vocabulary is common, each country has its variations, for instance, for "corner store" and "soft drink": In Guatemala, they are "tienda" and "agua" (water is "agua pura"). In El Salvador, they are "tienda" and "gaseosa". In Honduras, they are "pulpería" (in the north called "trucha" informally) and "fresco". In Nicaragua, they are "venta" or "pulpería" and "gaseosa". In Costa Rica, they are "pulpería" and "gaseosa" although they could also be "abastecedor" and "refresco" or "fresco". [Lonely Planet Central America on a Shoestring by Tom Brosnahan, Carolyn Hubbard and Barbara Reioux]

Phonetics and phonology

Some characteristics of Central American phonology include:
* /s/ at the end of a syllable or before a consonant is pronounced like [h] , except in Guatemala and in Costa Rica.Fact|date=March 2008
* "j" (/x/), is aspirated except in some areas of Costa Rica; it is soft as the /h/ in English (e.g.: Yahoo).Fact|date=March 2008
* There is no confusion between /l/ and /r/, as in the Caribbean.Fact|date=March 2008
* /s/, /z/ and in some cases /c/ (as in "cerrar") are pronounced as [s] Fact|date=March 2008

Voseo

The most common form for the second person singular in Central America is "vos".fact|date=September 2008

People say "vení" for "come here" or "pedí" tu cosa" for "ask for your thing" (see picture).

Its conjugation follows the pattern, (for “you have”) "vos tenés" instead of "tú tienes", or (for “you sing”) "vos cantás" instead of "tú cantas". The pronoun "usted" is used when addressing older, unfamiliar or respected persons, as it is in all Spanish countries; however, in Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Honduras it is frequently used with younger people, and in Honduras between husband and wife, and friends. And it's also used with most, if not all, profanities. [Lonely Planet Central America on a Shoestring by Tom Brosnahan, Carolyn Hubbard and Barbara Reioux]

Lexicon

There are also many words unique to Central America, for example, "chunche" or "chochadas" means "thing" or "stuff" in some placesFact|date=March 2008. Also the words used to describe children (or kids) is different in various countries, for example in Guatemala they are called "patojos" while in Honduras they're called "güirros", "chigüin", or "cipotes" is used in both Honduras and El Salvador, while in Costa Rica they are called "guilas" or "carajillos".Fact|date=March 2008 In Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador money is called "pisto", a term originally used by Maya peoples in Guatemala. [ [http://www.hondirectorio.com/slang.htm Honduras slang] ]

References

See also

*Spanish dialects and varieties
*Caliche