Here is an example of another variety of Andalusian speech. We see here the ever-so lovely and elloquent la Bruja Lola Montero. The main difference heard in la Bruja Lola's accent, compared to other accents from Southern Spain covered before, is that she possesses the linguistic feature known as ceceo: the merger of /s/ and /θ/ into [θ] — the analog phenomenon to seseo (the merger of the same sibilants into [s], the most common pronunciation in the Spanish-speaking world).
Including the ceceo just mentioned, following is a summary of la Bruja Lola's linguistic features, which, in turn, are a description of Andalusian Spanish. Also included are examples taken directly from the video.
- ceceo: /s/ and /θ/ merge into a single phoneme, [θ].
ex. dice ['ðiθe], si [θi], saber [θa'βe], no sé [no'θe], hace ['aθe], sí soy [θi'θoj] - neutralization of /l/ and /r/ in favor of [r] when in closed syllables.
ex. colgar [kɔr'ɣa], culpa [kur'pa], el televisor [ɛrteleβi'θo] - weakening or loss of /s/ in closed-syllables, often rendered as [h], altering the preceding vowel.
ex. vas a [βæ a], quieres ['kjeɾɛ], nosotros [noθotɾɔh], despues [ðɛh'pwɛ], vamos a ver ['βamɔ a'βe], las líneas [læh'lineæ], llamadas [ɟamaðæ], es la misma [ɛhla mĩhma] - Loss of word-final consonants, most frequently of r and l.
ex. televisor [teleβi'θo], control [kɔ̃ŋ'tɾo], decir [ðe'θi], por favor [pɔrfa'βo] - Velarization of n in closed syllables, often leaving only a nasalized vowel.
ex. siguen ['θiɣɛ̃], pueden ['pweðɛ̃], mente ['mɛ̃ŋte], bien [βjɛ̃ŋ]
Full transcription of the video
¿Sí? Chiquilla, pero, ¿cómo vas a
colgar? Entonces, ¿qué quieres?
¡Oye! Sí, Amparo, pero, que dice que si puede colgar.
Pero, ¿cómo vas a colgar? ¿Qué quieres saber, cariño?
Hombre, yo creo que estoy hablando contigo, no estoy hablando con los muñequitos.
Pero, ¿que tú qué quieres, cariño? Despues, me dice... despues, me dice... ustedes... bueno, y eso no es culpa de nosotros que tu televisor se vea malamente. Es que eso sí que no porque aquí no van a ir los técnicos que tu tele... por favor, pásame otra llamada
porque entre tiene el televisor a todo voz, y yo no sé.
Bueno, vamos a ver. Cuando ustedes llaman... son pocas gentes las que les pasa, pero, pasa. Cuando ustedes llaman, no pueden colgar... porque me quieren decir lo que... hombre, yo sí soy adivina, pero pa' eso, tenía que echarle estudio,
y decirte "pues, mira, esto te pasa, lo otro no te pasa".
Pero, como son diez cartas, pues, tienen ustedes que decir una pregunta.
Y entonces, dice "es que se me ve malamente el televisor", cariño. Vamos a ver si con la mente, te puedo ayudar a que se ponga el televisor bien, pero, por favor, cuando llaméis, no decir "¿cuelgo?". Bueno, entonces, si cuelga, entonces, ¿qué?
Bueno, pues, ya siguen las líneas cogiendo llamadas. Aprovechad ahora que ha habido una clarita que se puede... y, ya está allí esa llamada. ¿Sí? Hola. No, dígame "tú". Es la misma. Es la misma persona, ahora quiere que yo le diga. Tú, ¿qué quieres que yo te diga?
Cariño, yo te digo lo que tú quieras.
Hombre, con... yo le pido por favor a control que le diga a esta persona... primero, que si cuelga; y ahora, que yo le diga. Pues, vamos a ver porque es que esto lo que hace es extraviar personas que están allí llamando, y esta persona no se aclara, y es para aclararse.
¡Oye! Sí, Amparo, pero, que dice que si puede colgar.
Pero, ¿cómo vas a colgar? ¿Qué quieres saber, cariño?
Hombre, yo creo que estoy hablando contigo, no estoy hablando con los muñequitos.
Pero, ¿que tú qué quieres, cariño? Despues, me dice... despues, me dice... ustedes... bueno, y eso no es culpa de nosotros que tu televisor se vea malamente. Es que eso sí que no porque aquí no van a ir los técnicos que tu tele... por favor, pásame otra llamada
porque entre tiene el televisor a todo voz, y yo no sé.
Bueno, vamos a ver. Cuando ustedes llaman... son pocas gentes las que les pasa, pero, pasa. Cuando ustedes llaman, no pueden colgar... porque me quieren decir lo que... hombre, yo sí soy adivina, pero pa' eso, tenía que echarle estudio,
y decirte "pues, mira, esto te pasa, lo otro no te pasa".
Pero, como son diez cartas, pues, tienen ustedes que decir una pregunta.
Y entonces, dice "es que se me ve malamente el televisor", cariño. Vamos a ver si con la mente, te puedo ayudar a que se ponga el televisor bien, pero, por favor, cuando llaméis, no decir "¿cuelgo?". Bueno, entonces, si cuelga, entonces, ¿qué?
Bueno, pues, ya siguen las líneas cogiendo llamadas. Aprovechad ahora que ha habido una clarita que se puede... y, ya está allí esa llamada. ¿Sí? Hola. No, dígame "tú". Es la misma. Es la misma persona, ahora quiere que yo le diga. Tú, ¿qué quieres que yo te diga?
Cariño, yo te digo lo que tú quieras.
Hombre, con... yo le pido por favor a control que le diga a esta persona... primero, que si cuelga; y ahora, que yo le diga. Pues, vamos a ver porque es que esto lo que hace es extraviar personas que están allí llamando, y esta persona no se aclara, y es para aclararse.
10 comments:
I just saw your comment on Baković's post in Language Log. I was about to reply there, but it seemed better to move this debate to a more private place. No quiero que me interpretes mal, y me pareces una persona sensata, por lo que espero que valores la posibilidad de conocer la opinión de otros españoles que no coinciden con las de aquellos que conoces. So let me tell you first a pair of facts:
1) There is a lot of demagoguery in the debate on languages in Spain, in _all_ sides. In particular, Baković's remark applies perfectly to a large group of people who (apparently) promote bilingualism but (in practice) are only pursuing the expansion of Spanish. That is what he heard, and that is indeed going on.
2) There are _many_ people who have web pages (blogs, for instance) in their own language, and are absolutely indifferent to nationalist issues and politics. There are also anti-nationalist pages written entirely in Catalan. I can send links if you are interested.
And finally, a matter of opinion. IMHO, the thing about different languages in the Senate is indeed as you claim a political issue, not really a linguistic issue, related to (Catalan and Basque) nationalism. The fact that until now only Spanish was allowed is also a political issue related to (Spanish) nationalism.
Some misinformed Spaniards do think that we only use Catalan because of nationalism/independentism. I hope that you won't immediately classify me as a bigot when we could have a friendly discussion...
Maybe I should have written "think that if we use Catalan it is only because"... It is not the case that anybody uses only Catalan. Sorry for filling the thread with off topic entries.
I was surprised, looking at the Wikipedia map, just how prevalent ceceo is in Andalusia; I was under the impression that it was a minority usage there, and that seseo dominated. Perhaps it's because Seville and Cordoba are seseantes? That may mean there are more seseo-speakers even if ceceo covers more territory.
I was even more surprised by this map in the Guardian showing where the national languages of Spain are spoken. I had no idea that the non-Castilian ones were so restricted. I suppose, though, that "Castilian influenced by X" has a wider distribution, and "Castilian with an X accent" an even wider one. At least, this is the pattern in much of Europe, as in South Wales, where Welsh is no longer spoken, but rather English with a Welsh accent (contrasted with North Wales, where both Welsh and English are spoken, but the English is not very Welshy because it is more recent and based on standard models).
@Joaquim: No, no te preocupes. Para eso sirven las discusiones, para exponer nuestros puntos de vista. A veces difirieren en cada persona, pero no quiere decir que no se respeten. :))
Te invito a que te animes a escribir ya sea en catalán o en castellano. La audiencia de esta bitácora entiende al menos un idioma romance.
@John C.: Good observation, there. Seseo has enjoyed of more acceptance because it is the most prevalent in Spanish, since it is what exists in all of Latin America. The situation in Andalusia is interesting because you actually find all three possible outcomes for the realization of the sibilants, depending on the region: distinción (both [s] and [θ] are present as phonemes), seseo, and ceceo. When you think of Andalusian speech, however, seseo and ceceo are the first things that come to your head.
And, which map on The Guardian are you referring to (you seem to have put the wrong link there)? The one I "scolded" for having the wrong name labels?
One more thing: I don't have any research data to back this up, but, ceceo exists in Latin America as well. I know I've read that it's been documented in remote parts of South America. What I can tell you, personally, though, is that it also exists in parts of El Salvador. There are groups of Salvadoreans here in Los Angeles who are consistently ceceantes, so much to the point that when I've seen people from other nationalities imitate a Salvadorean accent in jest, it is usually accompanied by a lisp (to them), or what we know as ceceo.
D'acord
Just out of curiosity: when Latin-American linguists talk about seseo an ceceo, do they pronounce "ceceo" as [θeθeo], adopting the phoneme that doesn't occur in their native dialect?
Isn't it a bad idea to give Dialect A and Dialect B two different names that, if read phonetically, would be pronounced exactly the same by all speakers of Dialect A?
I have seen discussions (in Spanish) that revolve around this point. So, yes, the terminology is very Castilian-centric. In a linguistic context, one would differentiate, in speech, between seseo and ceceo, regardless of the region.
Also, I received a few requests about adding a transcription for what La Bruja Lola says, and I have added it now.
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