Different Dialects.

Question

Peace Everybody,

Random question: What, if any, are the differences in dialects amongst spanish speakers? For example, how does a spanish speaking person from Mexico sound different than someone speaking spanish in Argentina, etc.?

Thanks!!!

Vivi

Answer 1

Each time an expert in linguistics tries to classify dialects or regions, he or she ends up with a different result from all the other ones who tried before, and the reason is because there are no dialects, but a continuum of variations from region to region, so rich and varied, that you can't really speak of dialects, but local varieties of Spanish. Mexico, in any case, although it shares many features in terms of pronunciation with other regions, it uses a large amount of words (or terms) that are unique to this country. The same is true with Argentina, although it has a couple of very distinct features with countries like Mexico: namely, the pronunciation of the LL and Y, and the local vocabulary.

In any case, formal and written Spanish differs so little from one place to another (the spelling doesn't change at all), that it is often virtually impossible to tell the difference from country to country (even in Spain!). The main differences are in the spoken and colloquial expressions.

Thanks for the explaination!!! - Vivi0808, Dec 28, 2010