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#114704 10/29/03 04:34 PM
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One evening last week I was driving home on a route that I don't take frequently. As usual, I was noting that various establishments had changed hands, become some business other than they were before, ones that I hadn't noticed before (and I should say here that I honestly don't drive around gawking at things instead of paying attention to my driving). I passed a small store with a large sign for groceries/meats/etc. and it said "Hispanish". I looked again, and the sign still had "Hispanish" on it. Now, I know about Spanish, and Hispanic, but this was a new one on me. Anybody else ever seen this? Just curious...



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#114705 10/29/03 04:49 PM
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That's a new one on me, Vanguard. But it did rate 300 google hits. I'm trying to work out both the denotation and the connotation.


#114706 10/29/03 05:31 PM
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I've heard some say the language of the Cubans is so "far removed" from the *Spanish that they know that it is very difficult to decipher what they are saying. I'm positive that this is only a pronunciation issue, but it may explain some cultural differentiations imbedded in "Hispanish".


#114707 10/29/03 05:42 PM
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In general syllable-final esses are not pronounced but this could be seen as just a regional accent. However, they do some serious dropping of syllables in Cuban.

Estar is 'tar

veinte y ocho comes out sounding like bente yosh.

embajada is embajá




#114708 10/29/03 08:52 PM
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"es lo mismo" in Cuban Spanish is pronounced "eh lo meemo." So much for sibilants.




#114709 10/30/03 01:47 AM
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The Andalucians also drop their final esses. They also pronounce their "ll" like the Russian "zh."


#114710 10/30/03 03:33 AM
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Every Spanish-speaking culture has it's dialects and accents that differ from the rest as well as cultural differences. Whenever I speak to someone from a different Hispanic culture, they usually know that my Spanish was learned in Mexico. Perhaps by using Hispanish, they are trying to emphasize the cultural commonalities rather than promote alienation of somewhat like cultures. That's my dos centavos.


#114711 10/30/03 05:44 AM
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Spanish is a living language, spoken at great distances, which thus develops differently in different places. I discovered, to my great surprise, for example, that, in some quarters, the Spanish word "mujer" is used to mean cocaine.


#114712 10/30/03 10:47 AM
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And just maybe it was an advertising ploy, nothing more ...

Just a thought!


#114713 10/30/03 12:31 PM
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before i knew about AWAD, i worked with a cuban--in an office with many other hispanics/latino's.. but Al (alfredo) and Jose, used to play word games (just as we do here-) comparing what word was used in cuba vs. PR for what (the way we compare trunk/boot, subway/undergroung, appartment/flat...

i know very little spanish, but thought the game interesting as a bystander. the common vocabulary in island populations, (and they are fairly close islands) was different. i have no doubts, mexican's have different words/uses for words, as do other populations, just as american english uses a different set from UK, OZ, NZ and at times even Canada!


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