Día de la lengua española, 23 de abril de 2006

[Lesley D]

I can’t resist posting this article because when I read news such as this about the Spanish language it makes me feel so good- actually that’s an understatement more like euphoric but it just reinforces my belief that being able to speak a language, and more than one is a privilege and blessing that should not be taken for granted.

Tomorrow, April 23, 2006 is international Spanish day. A celebration of the Spanish language and of course El Tiempo (a newspaper from Bogota, Colombia) is one of the first papers thus far with an article about the celebration.

I highlighted the key aspects discussed in the article:

* more than four hundred million people speak Spanish as a first language and more than one hundred million speak Spanish as a second language. It is the second most popular language of communication on the Internet.

* historically Spanish has influenced other languages especially from a lexical (vocabulary) standpoint. For example French, English and German. This is so true. If you pursue advanced studies in Spanish you will better understand this point that the article makes.

* in the North (meaning the US) the situation is complex bien compleja with the many varieties of Spanish spoken for example Spanglish (refer to the most recent thread on this subject matter). Spanglish is also referred to as US Spanish among other variations such as Tex-Mex, border lingo, pocho (I have never heard of this one).

* In spite of some English Language only laws in sixteen states Spanish as a spoken language keeps penetrating the vernacular speech of the US.

* The highest concentration of Spanish speaking states are: California, Texas, New York, Florida and Illinois.

* Spanish survives in high dialectal zones around the world (some of which I have mentioned in past threads) this can be viewed from two sides of world South America vs. Europe. In South America you have the following mixtures:

i) portuñol (entre Uruguay y Brasil),
ii) el guarañol (entre el guaraní y el español, en el Paraguay)
iii) el yanito (híbrido entre español e inglés del campo de Gibraltar)- this languagae is actually a pidgin.
iv) Two criolla languages- el palenquero de Colombia, o el habla bozal caribeña

* In Europe since Spain is part of the European community the importance of Spanish in that region is shaping again among other commonly spoken languages in Europe.

My comments in brief:

Spanish is one of the languages of the future. If you like Spanish and you don’t speak it, get on the bandwagon now. Spanish is here to stay!


-LDG.

Article-El Tiempo

[Mirador]

Originally Posted by Lesley D

* more than four million people speak Spanish as a first language and more than one hundred million speak Spanish as a second language. It is the second most popular language of communication in the Internet.

-LDG.

Probably a typo, maybe should read four hundred million people....?

This morning I read in a Venezuelan newspaper where the Minister of Infrastructure was proposing a program to rescue the local native (ethnic) languages in danger of extinction. (There are 12 distinct native languages, and about 21 dialects spoken in Venezuela). The Minister mentioned that in some localities, the spoken native language was down to just one person, usually an elder. The program would involve the elders as language teacher....

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[Lesley D]

Yes, a typo. I will correct it. Thanks.

That's interesting data about the situation of dialects spoken in Venezuela. I was not aware. Most likely these dialects are common in cities outside of the larger ones like Caracas and Maracaibo.

Did the article mention where and the names of the native languages and dialects? I am just curious.


-LDG.

[macocael]

Originally Posted by Lesley D

My comments in brief:

Spanish is one of the languages of the future. If you like Spanish and you don’t speak it, get on the bandwagon now. Spanish is here to stay!


-LDG.

Article-El Tiempo

I am on and loving it. As for four hundred million native speakers and one hundred million others, it is interesting that French cannot compete in this, though France too had a large colonial empire. (I am assuming that the numbers for French are lower. Course if I were in Africa, I would probably wonder why I wasnt hearing too much Spanish.)

I do find that Spanish is a boon in so many places. In NYC I am constantly approached by people who speak to me first in Spanish. Now I dont look spanish, caribbean or Latino or whatever, but they seem to assume that Spanish is a good bet, so it must be the sheer number of speakers. Plus I find that on the photographers' website I help to run we are now getting many Spanish speakers from all over Latin America but also parts of Asia, and we are all merrily conversing in Spanish. It is great for me, because it has led me to contacts with Spanish language publications that otherwise I would never have considered as venues for my work, but it represents a huge market. Photographers from Spanish speaking countries, by the way, are beginning to make huge inroads on the international awards scene, and we are now seeing more initiatives from their countries to support such work.

Well I wish everyone a happy Spanish Language Day!

[Lesley D]

Macocael,

You are absolutely correct the presence of the Spanish language today dwarfs the French speaking population although the number may not be as far off as it may seem I am referring more to the 'importance' that the French language has today from a global perspective. It certainly is not what it used to be. The demise of the French language slowly occurred over the last twenty years with the biggest impact in the last ten. French is still an important language in Europe especially in Western Europe, then the shift is right to Africa with many French speaking nations. Then the Canadian French mosaic is very unique and really limited to two provinces followed by some presence in the Caribbean and South America. French has lost ground and will continue to lose ground overtime.

Interesting that you comment on France's colonial empire because it is a key factor and also leaves me wondering when I become analytical. Italy did not play a role in colonization and Italian is the official language of only one country only with approx. 55 million + speakers and the langauge continues to survive whereas French in comparison seems to be struggling on a global scale.

From a business perspective depending on where one is being able to speak Spanish will open doors, no question about it. As you stated it has already for you and that will continue. Languages always open doors but in this day and age the language itself is a key factor. Spanish will continue to increase as an important global language of communication and it will be to the advantage of those who can speak it especially in years to come.

My best example to those who question the importance of Spanish is Miami. Spanish in Miami is an important language of business. It is the financial center of Latin America in the USA. Take a drive down Brickell Avenue. Whether one likes the language or not and lives in the Miami area, Spanish is a must. The concentration of Spanish speakers in the Miami greater area emphasizes the importance of speaking an important global language such as Spanish.


-LDG.

[Chirimoya]

I'm honoured to see that my humble llanito/yanito made it into the article, although the summary confusingly groups it with the Latin American mixtures.

[macocael]

Actually Italy played a small role in the colonization of Africa. There were two phases. In the most recent, Mussolini invaded Ethiopia (1935) and Somaliland (1940) in an effort to control East Africa. Didnt last long. Prior to that Italy tried to get in on the 19th century division of spoils in Africa, also with little success. In 1889 Italy invaded Eritrea and in 1895 tried to extend its rule to Ethiopia but was humiliated at the battle of Adowa. It retained Eritrea however. In 1897 Somaliland was divided between Italy and the UK. Their hold on the area didnt last long.

It is interesting that French is losing ground, particularly in the past ten years. I wonder what is behind all that? I know that in Africa, "native" languages are spoken just as readily as French, in some cases more so; and in Haiti, for example, the majority of people do not in fact speak French, they speak Kreyol, which is rather different. Many of them will follow you somewhat if you speak French, but they cannot respond to you in French (course, the middle class can). Whereas in Latin American countries where other languages are spoken it does seem that Spanish is still common parlance and retains its hold.

[Mirador]

Originally Posted by Lesley D

...Did the article mention where and the names of the native languages and dialects? I am just curious. -LDG.

The Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela establishes as official languages, along with Spanish, the languages and dialects currently in use by the indigenous ethnic groups of Venezuela. The following is a list of those languages/dialects according to linguistic groups (the numbers in parenthesis refer to the number of individuals speaking the language/dialect according to the 2001 census):

Arawak group: añú (2), baniva (434), baré (160), kurripako (2.019), lokono (140), piapoko (1.033), warekena (199) y wayuu (119.000).

Caribe group: akawayo (644), eñepá (2.551), kari´ña (3.311), pemón (14.730), wanai (15), yavarana (119), ye´kuana (3.566) y yukpa (3.285).

Chibcha group: barí (1.203)

Guajibo group: jivi (8.428) y kuiva (310).

Sáliva group: maku (266), sáliva (17) y wótuja (8.734).

Tupí group: yeral (435)

Yanomama group: sanemá (1.669) y yanomami (6.119)

Outside recognized linguistic classifications: jodi (526), puinave (568), pumé (4.061), sapé (25), uruak (39) y waraw (18.696).

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[Lesley D]

Macocael-

Many factors contribute to shift in languages today. Globalization is playing a key role, which has enabled certain Latin American markets to open up and expand worldwide. The USA is an important factor for obvious reasons and statistically is the fifth largest Spanish country in the world which is an incredible statistic considering the official language of US is not Spanish. With such a significant presence in the US, Spanish as an essential living language will continue to be important on a global scale with strong pockets of concentration.

In essence it’s hard to specify why French has dropped significantly in ranking in a relatively short period of time but it’s visible at least to those who are involved in languages as professionals. A few years ago I had conversations with others involved in the language sphere. For example professors, linguists, translators and we all agreed that the shift is not only a statistic; one can see it in the classroom as well. The interest of students in learning Spanish (I refer specifically to Montreal and Toronto) is higher than ever and students continue to choose Spanish over French. This is just one example. In the USA the Spanish language in education has always been present, bilingual education continues to be an option, the presence of Spanish in the US will continue because of the high concentration of Spanish speakers. What will be a factor, as I have mentioned umpteen times is the quality of Spanish which is a problem in the USA more so than in Canada (as yet).

Thanks for the historical piece on Italy’s role in colonization.

Mirador-

Thanks for those details. It’s interesting and the number of speakers per dialect group is low. Those dialects will phase out for sure.


Chirimoya-

I think the article was just making a general comment and not necessarily implying that el yanito was a dialectal form of Spanish spoken in the Americas. At least that’s how I interpreted it. They were just making a general comment about dialectal zones.

Pero el español actual pervive entre grandes zonas dialectales de fuerte compenetración bilingüe con lenguas indígenas en otros países americanos, como el portuñol (entre Uruguay y Brasil), el guarañol (entre el guaraní y el español, en el Paraguay), el yanito (híbrido entre español e inglés del campo de Gibraltar), además de lenguas de tipo criollo en contacto con la española que han ido creando cierta mezcla de tipo pidgin, como el palenquero de Colombia, o el habla bozal caribeña.


-LDG.

Originally Posted by macocael

It is interesting that French is losing ground, particularly in the past ten years. I wonder what is behind all that?

[Mirador]

Originally Posted by Lesley D

...Mirador- Thanks for those details. It’s interesting and the number of speakers per dialect group is low. Those dialects will phase out for sure.... -LDG.

Actually, by declaring them "official" languages and establishing conservation programs, the Venezuelan State prevents their dissapearance. All languages are an irreplaceable part of the cultural heritage of mankind. No language is better than another. Like natural species, languages should be protected from extinction, and those in danger of dissapearance should be given status akin to UNESCO's natural biological reserves...

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