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La alternancia de códigos ocurre cuando alguien que habla varios idiomas y alterna entre dos idiomas en una conversación. Aunque Spanglish es uno de los ejemplos más comunes de este concepto, me gusta cómo este sitio web da ejemplos de alternancia de código en una variedad de idiomas. Algunos ejemplos que este sitio web proporciona son las combinaciones de Inglés y Francés, Árabe y Inglés, Mandarín y Inglés, y Hindi y Inglés. También este artículo discute la diferencia entre alternancia de código y la mezcla de código. La mezcla de código es similar a la alternancia de código, pero usualmente se usa involuntariamente cuando una persona no conoce la palabra o frase correcta para usar en uno de los idiomas.

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Seçkin Esen is working as an English language teacher in Turkey. He obtained his Bachelor's degree in ELT from Hacettepe University in 2010.

Code Switching in Speech

The ability to communicate our thoughts, emotions, and opinions to others is truly a remarkable skill. But not only does our language communicate who we are, but our use of language can influence our self-concept and identity. It goes both ways: Cultural influences are reflected in our language and also influence how we conceptualize who we are and where we come from. (The social aspect of language is studied by sociolinguistics, a subdivision of linguistics which studies social factors.)

Bilingual communities use certain strategies to make communication more effective and meaningful. One of these tricks is "code switching," which we can observe mostly in second- or foreign-language classes. Code switching refers to the use of two languages within a sentence or discourse. It is a natural conflation that often occurs between multilingual speakers who have two or more languages in common.

Here, we will focus on the definition of code switching, the reasons for using code switching, the types of code switching and their definitions, and examples and suggestions for teachers using code switching to teach a foreign or second language.

What Is Code Switching?

Code switching is when a speaker alternates between two or more languages (or dialects or varieties of language) in one conversation. This phenomenon can be observed in the following examples.

What Are Some Examples of Code Switching?

If you have an exam next week, şimdiden çalışmaya başlamalısın. (English + Turkish)

Gracias for the lovely gift. Está awesome! (Spanish + English)

Pwede ba tayo mag dinner sa Barney's Burgers later? I want protein! (Tagalog + English)

Are we eating chez ta mère demain? (English + French)

Saweyti l-homework tabaa'ik? (Arabic + English)

Nó còng đang celebrate cái sinh nhật. (Vietnamese + English)

Ní yào qù get pizza with me ma? (Mandarin + English)

Who Uses Code Switching?

Code switching occurs mostly in bilingual communities. Speakers of more than one language are known for their ability to code switch or mix their language during their communication. As Aranoff and Miller (2003:523) indicate, many linguists have stressed the point that switching between languages is a communicative option available to a bilingual member of a speech community, just as switching between styles or dialects is an option for the monolingual speaker.

Does the Term "Code Switching" Refer Only to Speech, or Does It Include Actions Also?

Since its inception, the term "code switching" has expanded to encapsulate any situation in which speakers finds themselves switching from one accepted vocabulary, cadence, style, or set of rules to another. For example, you'd probably speak to a potential employer differently than you would address a close friend, so you might switch from casual language to professional-speak in certain settings. Another example is how many African Americans describe playing different roles in different settings and with different micro-cultures, and talk about how they must be very careful to speak with an academic vocabulary and cadence in any interaction with a police officer.

What About Code Switching With Dialects?

Yes, someone might code switch within one language by mixing dialects or types of vernacular. You can mix academic-speak with street-speak, for example, or slip mid-sentence into baby-talk.

Reasons Speakers Use Code Switching

There are a number of possible reasons for switching from one language to another; three are described below.

To Fulfill a Need. A speaker who may not be able to express him/herself in one language might switch to another to compensate for the deficiency. As a result, the speaker may be triggered into speaking in the other language for a while. This type of code switching tends to occur when the speaker is upset, tired, or distracted in some manner, or when they are less fluent in one language.

To Express Solidarity. Switching also commonly occurs when an individual wishes to express solidarity with a particular social group. Rapport is established between the speaker and the listener when the listener responds with a similar switch.

To Exclude Others. Code switching may also be used to exclude others from a conversation who do not speak the second language. For example, if two people in an elevator in an English-speaking place spoke Spanish, then not only would the others on that elevator who do not speak Spanish would be excluded from the conversation, but also a degree of comfort and intimacy would be established between the Spanish-speakers due to the fact that not all those present in the elevator can listen to their conversation.

Is Code Switching a Bad Thing?

As Skiba (1997) comments, code switching is not a language interference on the basis that it supplements speech. Where it is used due to an inability of expression, code switching provides continuity in speech rather than presenting an interference in language.

When is code switching helpful?

The socio-linguistic benefits of code switching include communicating solidarity with or affiliation to a particular social group, so code switching can be viewed as a means of providing a linguistic advantage rather than an obstruction to communication.

Furthermore, code switching allows a speaker to convey more nuanced attitudes and emotions by choosing from a bigger pool of words that is available to a bilingual person, much like how one might use font, bolding, or underlining in a text document to emphasize points.

Utilizing the second language, then, allows speakers to increase the impact of their speech and use it in a more effective manner.

When is code switching harmful?

If a dominant culture requires all citizens to conform to the dominant language and manner of speaking, or if subcultures are punished in any way for not conforming completely to the language majority, this is harmful.

Code Switching as a Language Interference

In certain settings, code switching might be a barrier to communication rather than an aid. In the classroom, for example, code switching can be seen as language interference since it might impede learning. Although students may see code switching as an acceptable form of communication in society and may feel comfortable switching languages in everyday normal conversation, in some other settings, this type of communication would put those who are not bilingual at a disadvantage, because they would not be able to understand. Therefore, code switching can be both beneficial and a possible language interference, depending on the situation and the context in which it occurs.

Is Code Switching Deliberate or Accidental?

Sometimes, speakers flip from one language to another accidentally, but in many situations, code switching is done deliberately to both create unity or to exclude someone from a conversation. It is seen as a sign of solidarity within a group, and it is also assumed that all speakers in a conversation must be bilingual in order for code switching to occur. Bilinguals do not usually translate from the weaker language to the stronger one. Code switching is used most often when a word doesn't "come."

Types of Code Switching

1. Inter-Sentential
In inter-sentential code switching, the language switch is done at sentence boundaries-words or phrases at the beginning or end of a sentence. This type is seen most often in fluent bilingual speakers. For example: If you are late for the job interview, işe alınmazsın.
2. Intra-Sentential
In intra-sentential code switching, the shift is done in the middle of a sentence, with no interruptions, hesitations, or pauses to indicate a shift. The speaker is usually unaware of the shift. For example: You are sleepy coğu zaman, because you spend a lot of saat in your bed. Different types of switches occur within the clause level and within the word level.
3. Extra-Sentential or Tag Switching
This is the switching of either a single word or a tag phrase (or both) from one language to another. This type is common in intra-sentential switches. It involves the insertion of a tag from one language into an utterance in another language. For example: " Él es de Oaxaca y así los criaron a ellos, if you know what I mean." Another example is how Turkish students use some boundary words like ama (but) or yani (I mean) while speaking English.

Is Code Switching the Same as Code Mixing?

Both involve creating hybrid words or switching between two or more language within phrases, clauses, or from one complete sentence to the next. Some use the terms "code mixing" and "code switching" interchangeably, especially those who study morphology, syntax, and other formal aspects of language, but other areas (like subfields of linguistics, communication, or education theory) have their own extremely specific definitions for code mixing.

The main difference can be summarized like this: Code switching is something speakers do intentionally because they want to express themselves with a personal style or flavor, but code mixing is something speakers might do unintentionally simply because they don't know the correct word or phrase.

What If Speakers Mix Languages Because They Are Not Fluent?

Some researchers call this need-based conflation of languages "code mixing" rather than code switching.

Is Spanglish a Kind of Code Switching?

Linguists regard Spanglish (Spanish + English) as a hybrid language, and many refer to Spanglish as "Spanish-English code-switching," although it also includes lexical and grammatical shifts as well. In Spanglish, speakers are allowed to switch back and forth without following rules.

However, a speaker is misguided to think that they can make up new words that sound kind of like another language in order to fit in with that other culture. " Mi housa es su housa" for example, is just silly (and possibly insulting).

Here are some other hybrid ways of speaking:

Taglish (Tagalog + English)

Franglais (French + English)

Hindinglish (Hindi + English)

Germanglish (German + English)

Is Code Switching the Same as Speaking a Pidgin Language?

Code switching and pidgin are not exactly the same. The difference is that code switching generally occurs when both speakers are fluent in both languages used in the conversation, while a pidgin language is a grammatically simplified way of talking that develops between two or more groups that don't share a language. Pidgin is more like a third dialect that evolves when speakers do not share a common language. Usually, in pidgin, a speaker draws from two or more languages but vocabulary and grammar are simplified and reduced.

How to Use Code Switching in the Classroom

Allow language-learners to code switch when they have difficulty continuing a conversation in the new language.

If a student pauses mid-sentence trying to remember a word, it will be helpful if the teacher allows her to substitute the word with one from her native language in order to continue. If rules strictly prohibit code switching, classroom rapport and learning will be thwarted.

If students find the need to resort to code switching, it's the teacher's job to use those events as opportunities for learning. Teach the vocabulary, offer synonyms, and model other things students might do to continue conversations without resorting to code switching.

Should a teacher explain instructions in both the native and the new language?

It's best to explain instructions in the language you're trying to teach, and to avoid repeating those instructions in the native language afterward. If students know that you will explain it in their native tongue later, they are less likely to listen to and learn the new language.

Is there any situation where code switching should be avoided in the classroom?

Try to avoid code switching in classrooms where students speak different native tongues. If all your students are native English speakers occasional code switching may be helpful, but if your classroom includes students from different linguistic backgrounds, it will confuse the class and prevent learning.

Suggestions for Teachers

The teacher can use code switching to help promote learning, especially while teaching new vocabulary. Here are some suggestions for teachers of intermediate level students learning English. These examples set the lesson in a classroom of native Turkish speakers, but you could do something like this in any classroom full of students who share any native tongue.
Activity #1:
The teacher shares a written dialogue which includes an English statement for which the students don't know the Turkish meaning.

Joselyn: Babs, Babs, Oh there you are!

Babs: Calm down. What's the rush?

Joselyn: (I've been bursting to tell you.)

Babs: Tell me what? It's obviously got you excited.

Jocelyn: Well, Heather just told me that Mandy has dumped Gordon and got a new boyfriend.

Babs: Oohh, fancy that. Who is he?

The teacher wants the students to learn the meaning of the new word " bursting." Have the class brainstorm to guess what it means in context (hopefully they'll come up with something like Sana söylemek için can atıyorum), then the teacher introduces the new word: To burst.
* Activity 2:
The teacher gives another dialogue to the students and wants them to guess the meaning of the words which are written in bold.

John: Would you like to go out to dinner or to a movie?

Karen: Either one, it's up to you.

John: What would you prefer?

Karen: I really don't care; I just want to get out of the house.

John: Well, then how about dinner and a movie?

Karen: That's a great idea!

Students try to guess the meaning of it's up to you from the context. And after finding the its meaning as ' sana bağlı' , they are asked to put those words in the dialogue and read it again.

Conclusion

Code switching is a phenomenon that is inevitable in bilingual communities. It occurs naturally in second- or foreign-language classrooms and it can be used beneficially in many classroom activities. Although it is sometimes seen as a sloppy or presumptive way to speak, it is natural and can be turned to a purposeful and useful activity in language classes.

References

Aranoff, M. and Rees - Miller, J. (2003). The Handbook Of Linguistics. Blackwell Publishers: Oxford

Crystal, D. (1987). The Cambridge Encyclopedia Of Language. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge

Romaine, S. (1992). Bilingualism. Blackwell Publishers: Cambridge

Saunders, G. (1988). Bilingual Children: From Birth To Teens. Multilingual Matters Ltd: Clevedon

Skiba, R. (1997). Code Switching As a Countenance of Language Interference. The Internet TESL Journal. Vol. III. No: 10.

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Code Switching: Definition, Types, and Examples

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Seçkin Esen is working as an English language teacher in Turkey. He obtained his Bachelor's degree in ELT from Hacettepe University in 2010. The ability to communicate our thoughts, emotions, and opinions to others is truly a remarkable skill. But not only does our language communicate who we are, but our use of language can influence our self-concept and identity.

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Biblioteca en línea de los sonidos fonéticos de español 

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Biblioteca en línea de los sonidos fonéticos de español 

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Este video muestra una persona que está usando una sección de la aplicación web "Sounds of Speech" que fue creado por la Universidad de Iowa. Esta aplicación web contiene bibliotecas animadas de los sonidos fonéticos de inglés, español y alemán. Como se ve en el vídeo, la versión española de esta aplicación contiene las categorías de modo, lugar, voz, vocales, semi-consonantes, semi vocales, y diptongos. Para cada consonante y vocal hay un diagrama animado de la anatomía facial y también una descripción detallada, un vídeo, y un audio de cómo producir el sonido en contexto.

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Fonética: LOS SONIDOS DEL ESPAÑOL - Parte 1

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La jerga de mensajes de texto en español se utiliza con frecuencia en las redes sociales. Este sitio web me pareció una buena guía para explicar el acortamiento de las palabras, las abreviaturas, la ortografía y el uso de números y símbolos en los textos escritos en español. Algunas de las abreviaturas más interesantes que leí fueron:
- kn = quien = who
- gnl = genial = great!
- kyat! = cállate = shut up! or be quiet!
- re100 = recién (recently)
- 100pre = siempre (always)

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hla amig@s

Can't understand what your Spanish friends are saying online?

Learning to read and write in Spanish isn't as easy as it used to be.

In this world of tweets and text messages, you'll need to learn Spanish text slang to follow what's going on.

Contents

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere.Click here to get a copy. (Download)

Common Spanish Text Slang

Here's a table of some of the most common Spanish text slang. If this looks a bit intimidating, don't worry: we'll go into the "rules" for writing text slang in Spanish later!

Why You Need to Learn Spanish Text Message Slang

It's not just to keep up with the cool kids.

There are several practical reasons learning Spanish text slang is useful for anyone.

Cutting down on characters will save you money on texts in the long run. Your friends will also be glad to no longer receive your four-message-long essays. If you've ever had several messages "beep" in quick succession on your phone, you know how annoying this can be.

You can simply say less in your messages, or you can use fewer characters to say the same thing. I think you'll agree that the second option is more appealing.

Even if don't regularly write text messages in Spanish, Spanish text slang is used across social media sites like Facebook and Instagram, as well as messaging services like WhatsApp. Using and understanding this slang will make you sound like an authentic member of the Spanish-speaking community.

Which you are, of course. Right?

Deciphering all those signs and symbols can be a fun way to use the Spanish you already know in a new way.

The Characteristics of Spanish Text Message Slang

Omitting letters

Like in English, omitting vowels is one of the easiest way to shrtn wrds. Genial becomes , for example.

Losing consonants works too. Ahora is often written as

But of course, it's not always just a simple case of getting rid of the vocales.

Switching letters

Another Spanish text slang characteristic is switching letters. For example, the letters and both change to , so quiero becomes , aquí becomes and quién becomes .

As you've seen, x is another letter that's used a lot in Spanish text slang. usually symbolizes , so por favor (please) becomes P orque and ¿ por qué? (because and why) become and respectively.

As por and para are similar (though sadly not exactly the same!), para becomes . Para qué? (another version of "why?" or "what for?") becomes

The third and final way you can use the x in Spanish slang is to replace . For example, mucho becomes and chau becomes .

Abbreviations

In English, we have FYI, LOL, ROFL and various other abbreviations. In Spanish, there are plenty of phrases that work in a similar way. Te quiero mucho becomes or for example.

A basic chat message might start like this:

In "normal Spanish," this means:

Have lots of in the middle while you chat about silly things and have fun. To "laugh" in Spanish, you can use , or .

An end to a chat might look something like this, assuming you guys like each other:

The "normal Spanish" translation for this one looks like:

You can also end a text with bst (which means besito or "little kiss" in English) and a scattering of emoticons won't hurt matters either.

It's important to note that some Spanish speakers, especially young people, may use the English phrases instead of the Spanish equivalent. For example, they might use LOL (laugh out loud) or OMG (oh my God) in their English forms, since most people already know what they mean in English.

Numbers Used in Spanish Text Slang

In English, we might end a text with "cul8r." We can also say something is gr8! The same concept of using letters for the way they sound applies to Spanish words.

For example, what do you think means? Salutwo? No, remember, that we're speaking Spanish here so 2 is pronounced dos. So salu2 means saludos!

There you go. You can now send greetings to people in your text messages.

Other phrases using numbers are:

You could end your text message with: Tqm xa 100pre. That would mean, te quiero mucho para siempre or "I love you forever." Or simply end with salu2, to play it a bit cooler.

Symbols Used in Spanish Text Slang

Symbols can also be used in fun ways to make phrases. If you want to say me da igual (I don't mind), for example, you could choose between MDI, me da = and . (Remember that = is pronounced igual in Spanish.)

The phrase más o menos is used a lot in Spanish to mean "so, so," "sort of" or "kind of." Mathematical symbols are used here ( más = plus, menos = minus) so the phrase becomes: " + 0 - " (Yes, you read that right.)

You might have also noticed that some Spanish speakers use the @ sign in words like amig@s or chic@s.

This isn't just to look cool, but rather it's a way of representing that the friends or people could be boys or girls, (where they'd usually be either amigos or amigas) and making Spanish more gender neutral. Got that, + o -?

You'll also notice that, to save space, the upside-down question and exclamation marks aren't used in Spanish text slang.

Practicing Spanish Slang in General

So there you have it! You should be able to impress your Spanish-speaking friends and bombard them with messages, hashtags and threads. And, of course, your text messages will be much shorter now.

Next on your list should be spoken slang. That's basically like audio text messages, right? Okay, maybe that's a stretch. But if you want to sound natural in Spanish, it's always a good idea to learn some common slang actually used by Spanish speakers.

One way to learn useful Spanish slang is on FluentU, where you can hear it used through Spanish videos like movie clips, music videos and vlogs.

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere.Click here to get a copy. (Download)

And One More Thing...

If you've made it this far that means you probably enjoy learning Spanish with engaging material and will then love FluentU.

Other sites use scripted content. FluentU uses a natural approach that helps you ease into the Spanish language and culture over time. You'll learn Spanish as it's actually spoken by real people.

FluentU has a wide variety of videos, as you can see here:

FluentU brings native videos within reach with interactive transcripts. You can tap on any word to look it up instantly. Every definition has examples that have been written to help you understand how the word is used. If you see an interesting word you don't know, you can add it to a vocab list.

Review a complete interactive transcript under the Dialogue tab, and find words and phrases listed under Vocab.

Learn all the vocabulary in any video with FluentU's robust learning engine. Swipe left or right to see more examples of the word you're on.

The best part is that FluentU keeps track of the vocabulary that you're learning, and gives you extra practice with difficult words. It'll even remind you when it's time to review what you've learned. Every learner has a truly personalized experience, even if they're learning with the same video.

Start using the FluentU website on your computer or tablet or, better yet, download the FluentU app from the iTunes or Google Play store. Click here to take advantage of our current sale! (Expires at the end of this month.)

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124 Spanish Text Slang Terms for Smooth Messaging (Plus Useful Tips) | FluentU Spanish Blog

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Spanish text slang has its own rules that are pretty similar to those of English. If you have a hard time deciphering those messages your Spanish-speaking friends send you or want to be able to communicate with them via social media, check out this post for a complete list of text slang in Spanish.

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Diferencias en el desarrollo del lenguaje de niños ciegos

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Diferencias en el desarrollo del lenguaje de niños ciegos

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Esta fuente explica que, con pocas excepciones, el desarrollo del lenguaje de niños ciegos no es considerablemente retrasado en comparación con niños que no tienen discapacidades visuales, pero simplemente es diferente. Este artículo describe que una manera en que los niños ciegos son diferentes es que utilizan un "estilo de Gestalt" de la adquisición del lenguaje. Un resultado de esta estrategia de aprendizaje es que los niños ciegos imitan y repiten palabras y expresiones que escuchan más a menudo que los niños que no tienen discapacidades visuales.

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Academia.edu is a platform for academics to share research papers.

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Este sitio web incluye un breve video que describe la definición de afasia, su causas posibles, síntomas posibles, y cómo se debe interactuar y ayudar a los que tienen afasia. También, este sitio web contiene descripciones de ocho variedades de afasia incluyendo la afasia de Wernicke y la afasia de Broca. Además, en este sitio web puedes encontrar un diagrama de árbol simplificado que describe los diferentes tipos de afasia en términos de fluidez, comprensión y repetición.

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Aphasia is an impairment of language, affecting the production or comprehension of speech and the ability to read or write. Aphasia is always due to injury to the brain-most commonly from a stroke, particularly in older individuals. But brain injuries resulting in aphasia may also arise from head trauma, from brain tumors, or from infections.

Aphasia can be so severe as to make communication with the patient almost impossible, or it can be very mild. It may affect mainly a single aspect of language use, such as the ability to retrieve the names of objects, or the ability to put words together into sentences, or the ability to read. More commonly, however, multiple aspects of communication are impaired, while some channels remain accessible for a limited exchange of information.

It is the job of the professional to determine the amount of function available in each of the channels for the comprehension of language, and to assess the possibility that treatment might enhance the use of the channels that are available.

Below you can find more information on the different types of aphasia such as Global, Broca's, Wernicke's, Primary Progressive, Anomic, and Mixed Non-fluent aphasia.

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Aphasia Definitions - National Aphasia Association

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Aphasia is an impairment of language, affecting the production or comprehension of speech and the ability to read or write. Aphasia is always due to injury to the brain-most commonly from a stroke, particularly in older individuals. But brain injuries resulting in aphasia may also arise from head trauma, from brain tumors, or from infections.

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Noam Chomsky y la adquisición del lenguaje

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Noam Chomsky y la adquisición del lenguaje

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Este breve video explica la perspectiva de Noam Chomsky sobre la adquisición del lenguaje. En contraste con los puntos de vista de Platón y John Locke, Chomsky argumentó que aunque los niños son capaces de formular oraciones complejas, los niños no reciben suficiente estímulo para navegar la gramática y aplicarlo. A Chomsky esto indicó que los seres humanos tienen un "dispositivo de la adquisición del lenguaje" (un "LAD"), una estructura en el cerebro que explique nuestra inclinación natural para entender la lengua hablada y la gramática usada en nuestra ambiente circundante.

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Este video explica la definición, orígenes, rasgos gramaticales, y la función de los lenguas pidgin. Además, este video informa a los espectadores que la región más influenciada por "pidginización" es el Caribe y que la mayoría de las lenguas pidgin provienen de cinco países que eran poderosas fuerzas imperiales: Inglaterra, España, Portugal, Francia y Holanda. Este video ofrece muchos ejemplos de lenguas pidgin y elabora en sus lenguas de origen, información gramatical/características únicas de cada lengua pidgin, y el estado de la lengua. Algunos de los ejemplos dados incluyen Papiamentu, Chinook Wawa, "Chino Pidgin Inglés", y Chabacano.

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Esta página web contiene dos tablas que muestran los cinco fonemas vocales y diecinueve fonemas consonantes de la lengua española. Para cada fonema y su respectiva letras (s) se proporcionan ejemplos de palabras que contienen el fonema. La página web también describe cómo se escriben "ll" y "y" con el fonema apropiado además de las diferencias entre las posiciones de/b/,/d/, y/g/.

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Spanish phonemes and phonemic transcription

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A phoneme is a unit of sound that distinguishes words. For example: /u/ and /e/ are phonemes because when you change /u/ in "tú" (you) for /e/ you have another word with a different meaning: "té" (tea). Phonological/phonemic descriptions will go between bars //.

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Investigación cuantitativa sobre diferencias dialectales en grafemas y fonemas

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Investigación cuantitativa sobre diferencias dialectales en grafemas y fonemas

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Este artículo científico discute una investigación sobre las diferencias entre los varios dialectos de español en cómo los grafemas y los fonemas son transcritas. Incluye resultados cuantitativos en siete regiones dialectales: México, el Caribe, Colombia, Perú, Chile, Argentina y España central. Este articulo trata de identificar sonidos que no aparecen en el dialecto castellano. Las tres diferencias principales detectadas por el análisis cuantitativo fueron la nasalización, el intercambio de las paradas sonoras, y el fricativo glotal sin voz.

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Este video proporciona una explicación de la diferencias entre "ɾ" y "r" en español. El vídeo da la definición de cada uno y explica las reglas generales de cuándo usar cada uno. También ofrece palabras para ayudar a practicar los dos sonidos, y describe cómo diferentes países hispanohablantes pronuncian "r". Al final del video, el narrador proporciona recursos adicionales, como otros videos y artículos, que tienen información sobre cómo practicar y mejorar la producción del "r".

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Spanish Phonetics 008:  Flapped and Trilled R

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Comparando el latín vulgar y las lenguas románicas

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Comparando el latín vulgar y las lenguas románicas

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Este sitio web discute muchas de las semejanzas y diferencias entre el latín vulgar y las lenguas romances. Algunos ejemplos de lenguas romances son el español, el portugués, el italiano y el francés. Este sitio web utiliza una combinación interesante de tablas y resúmenes en forma de párrafos para discutir temas como la pronunciación básica, vocales, diptongos, consonantes, palatalización, "lenition" de vocales, sílabas y acento de estrés. La parte de este artículo web que me pareció más interesante fue la sección sobre "lenition" de vocales porque la tabla incluida en esta sección compara cinco idiomas e identifica características lingüísticas que hemos discutido anteriormente en clase; por ejemplo, una voz fricativa.

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The Romance Languages: Pronunciation/Phonology of Vulgar Latin - online comparative grammar of Latin & the modern languages

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Grammar of the Romance Languages: Pronunciation/Phonology - comparative handbook of the modern Latinic languages

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Los prefijos y sufijos más comunes en español

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Los prefijos y sufijos más comunes en español

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Este sitio web es un gran recurso para revisar algunos de los prefijos y sufijos más comunes del español. Puesto que hay tantos prefijos y sufijos en español este sitio web sitio se centra en los más utilizados y habla del significado de cada prefijo o sufijo, su palabra de origen, un ejemplo del prefijo o sufijo en uso, y la traducción inglesa de esta palabra. Este sitio web discute las diferencias entre los sufijos flexivos y derivados, y da ejemplos en forma de sustantivos, adjetivos y conjugación verbal. Al final de esta página del sitio web hay una sección breve que contiene preguntas de práctica y respuestas que me pareció muy útil y divertido!

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Get our free email course, Shortcut to Conversational.

Have conversations faster, understand people when they speak fast, and other tested tips to learn faster.

Learning the most common Spanish Prefixes and Suffixes is a fantasic shortcut to unlocking hundreds of new Spanish words overnight.

Before we list these words out, it's important to understand a little more about Spanish prefixes and suffixes.
(we'll aim to avoid using as many complicated grammar terms as possible)
The first thing to know is that suffixes and prefixes belong to a group called affixes, and this group contains the smallest grammatical unit in a language - so small that they cannot be considered words since don't have any meaning by themselves, and only make sense when they are added before or at the end of a word to form a derivative.

In simple terms, prefixes and suffixes are used in conjunction with pre-existing words to either create new words, or else, change and adapt their meaning.

Since both English and Spanish share Latin roots, it's likely that you will instinctively already know many of the words we'll cover, due to their similarity.

Words like impatient (impaciente), illogical (ilógico) and irreplaceable (irremplazable) are just a couple of examples of this.

That's the boring theory lesson out of the way.

Now it's time to explore some lists of the most common prefixes and suffixes.

Spanish Prefixes

As the name indicates, pre fixes precede a base word, to which they can grant different meanings.

Spanish prefixes are not considered words, but "affixes" that have no meaning by themselves, and can only be used in conjugation with pre-existing nouns or verbs.

Below is a list of the most commonly used Spanish prefixes.
(scroll over the see the entire table)
Spanish Suffixes

Just like prefixes, Spanish suffixes are not words, since they cannot be used on their own. Instead, they must be added at the end of a base word, to which they grant different meanings.

In this case, a suffix does not change a word entirely, but adapts it to an alternative use.

Suffix Classes

As promised, we won't bore you with too much grammar lingo.

However, it's worth knowing that suffixes can be categorized into two groups.
1) Flexive suffixes
This group is more commonly used but tends to be overlooked, since they don't really create new words or alter the grammatical category the word is placed

A flexive suffix is what happens when we change the gender of a noun, and adjective or even the way verbs are conjugated in every tense. For example, when we decide to use blanco vs blanca depending on the gender of the adjective.

Let's have a look at the most common examples of this.
Nouns Adjectives Verb conjugation
The parts in bold can be considered flexives suffixes.
2) Derivative Suffixes
This group essentially refers to endings that are used to create a new word, derived from another existing one.

For example, the word nación (nation) is a base noun, but when we add the suffix -al, we get the adjective nacional (national) as a result. As you can see, the original word has been altered from its original meaning.

In the next part, we will outline the most commonly used derivative suffixes.
(scroll over the see the entire table)
As you can already see, the base word that a suffix modifies could be it a verb, noun or even another adjectives.

There are also some suffixes that grant more subtle changes to words, in most cases adapting them and making them nouns or adjectives.

Spanish Prefixes And Suffixes: Practice

Can you identify the prefixes and suffixes in these sentences?
(scroll down for an explanation on how a prefix/suffix altered the original base word)
1) Creo que es algo contraproducente.
(I think it is a bit counterproductive)
2) Es un proceso bastante antihigiénico.
(It is a very unsanitary process)
3) El festival se celebra bianualmente.

(The festival is celebrated bianually)

4) Viajar es sencillo cuando vives en una región fronteriza, como tú.

(Traveling is quite easy when you live on a frontier region like you)

5) Ve y dile al panadero que necesitamos tres docenas de su mejor pan.
(Go and tell the baker we need three dozens of his best bread)
6) Conozco a un autor que escribe novelas sobre escenarios post-apocalípticos.
(I know an author that writes novels about post-apocalyptic settings)
7) Necesitan fondos para financiar una expedición submarina.
(We need funding to finance a submarine expedition)
8) Necesitamos mejorar nuestra pronunciación en español.
(We need to improve our Spanish pronunciation)
9) Lamentablemente el país pasó por una época de hiperinflación.
(Regrettably, the country went through a period of hyperinflation)
10) La bebida tiene un sabor caribeño difícil de identificar, como una mezcla de frutas tropicales.
(The drink has this Caribbean flavor hard to pin down, like a mix of tropical fruits)
Answers

1) Contra producente. (the opposite of being productive)

2) Anti higiénico. (denies the original meaning of the word, ending up as "dirty" instead of "clean")

3) Bi anualmente. (something happens twice a year, instead of annually)

4) Fronter iza (changes the noun "frontera" to use it as an adjective, describing the region)

5) Panad ero. (Reorients the nouns "Pan" and its derivative "Panadería" as another noun, involving a person)

6) Post- apocalípticos. (changes the apocalyptic adjective into a scenario where this event is over)

7) Sub marina. (makes it so the exploration refers to that that is under the sea)

8) Pronuncia ción. (expresses the idea of the action of pronouncing, but as a noun derived from the same verb)

9) Hiper inflación. (heightens the meaning of the original word, inflation)

10) Carib eño. (This suffix simply indicates that something is relative or belongs to the base word, in this case, the Caribbean)

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Spanish Prefixes And Suffixes: Unlock Hundreds Of Spanish Words

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Have conversations faster, understand people when they speak fast, and other tested tips to learn faster. Learning the most common Spanish Prefixes and Suffixes is a fantasic shortcut to unlocking hundreds of new Spanish words overnight. Before we list these words out, it's important to understand a little more about Spanish prefixes and suffixes.

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Conjugaciones de los verbos más comunes en español

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Conjugaciones de los verbos más comunes en español

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Este vídeo muestra cómo conjugar 10 de los verbos que se utilizan habitualmente en español en tres diferentes tiempos verbales. Este vídeo afirma que estas palabras se encuentra en aproximadamente 90% de todos los frases en español. Cada uno de los verbos que se describe en este vídeo se conjuga en el presente, el futuro, y el pasado,   más específicamente en la forma del pretérito.

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Spanish Verb Conjugations - Irregular Verbs - 10 Most Common Spanish Verbs Conjugated!

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Este sitio web muestra 18 sufijos derivacionales para añadir al final de una palabra. Algunos ejemplos son "-ito/ita", "-illo/-illa", "-cico/-cica", "-uelo/-uela", "-ote/-ota", "-ucho/-ucha", etc. Con cada sufijo en este sitio hay una explicación de su significado, tiempos apropiados para usar el sufijo, reglas gramaticales asociadas con el sufijo, y a veces en cual país hispanohablante este sufijo es más utilizado.

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Did you know that there are over 200 suffixes in Spanish?
Yes, 200!

You do not need to learn them all at once, but you will definitely encounter most of them on your way to proficiency.

The use of suffixes is one of the most prolific ways to form new words, be it in English, Spanish or almost any other language in the world. It is by no means the only way to create new nouns, verbs, adjectives or adverbs, but I do think it is the easiest one to learn.

Because of time and space limitations, you will not find an exhaustive list of Spanish suffixes here. Instead, you will get the 18 most helpful, commonly-used ones, along with a brief explanation and lots of examples for each of them.

So let's not waste any more time. Let's get this lesson started. I hope you enjoy it!

Learn Spanish Suffixes with Authentic Videos

Before you dive into 18 of the 200 Spanish suffixes, check them out in action with FluentU!

FluentU takes real-world videos, like music videos, commercials, news and inspiring talks, and turns them into Spanish learning experiences.

Other sites use scripted content. FluentU uses a natural approach that helps you ease into the Spanish language and culture over time. You'll learn Spanish as it's actually spoken by real people.

FluentU has a wide variety of videos-topics like soccer, TV shows, business, movies and even magical realism, as you can see here:

FluentU brings native videos within reach with interactive transcripts. You can tap on any word to look it up instantly. Every definition has examples that have been written to help you understand how the word is used. If you see an interesting word you don't know, you can add it to a vocab list.

Review a complete interactive transcript under the Dialogue tab, and find words and phrases listed under Vocab.

Learn all the vocabulary in any video with FluentU's robust learning engine. Swipe left or right to see more examples of the word you're on.

The best part is that FluentU keeps track of the vocabulary that you're learning, and it recommends you examples and videos based on the words you've already learned. Every learner has a truly personalized experience, even if they're learning the same video.

Start using FluentU on the website with your computer or tablet or, better yet, download the FluentU app from the iTunes or Play Store for iOS and Android devices.

Basics down?

Vocab gathered?

Good! Let's learn some Spanish suffixes!

This suffix is probably the most commonly-used diminutive suffix in the Spanish language.

As you may know already, in Spanish we use diminutive suffixes in order to convey smallness or endearment. So, if you want to talk about a little puppy or small dog you would say perrito (from perro). If you want to express your love for your partner you can call them cariñito (from cariño,literally meaning "little love" or "little honey")-which does not mean you love them less!

Generally speaking, we can translate diminutive suffixes as "little" or "dear," and -ito is no exception.

Here you have some examples of -ito and -ita diminutives in sentences:

He comprado un arbolito para el jardín. - I have bought a little tree for the garden.

Mi hermanita está durmiendo. - My little/dear sister is sleeping.

Me gusta jugar a las cocinitas. - I like playing with toy kitchens.

El perrito quiere comer. - The little puppy/dog wants to eat.

As you can see, this is very easy to learn and use. There are, however, two important things you should know about adding this suffix to words:

a. If a word ends in an accented vowel, an unaccented -e, or in the consonants -n or -r, the prefix -ito/-ita changes into . Here you have some examples:

papá (dad) - papacito (although the form papaíto is the norm in Spain, and papito is common in South America).

b. If you have a word which has a masculine and a feminine form, the feminine diminutive is formed by changing the ending -o from the masculine diminutive to -a:

The suffix -illo is another diminutive suffix commonly used in Spain (less in South America), especially in the south and the center. The meaning and use of this suffix are exactly the same as those of -ito.

Have a look at the following examples:

Remember that the same ending rules apply here!

The diminutive suffix -cico is also a substitute for -ito, and it works exactly the same way. Here you have some examples:

This suffix is normally used in the east of Spain (except within Catalonia and the Valencian community) and in the Spanish-speaking Caribbean countries.

The suffix -u elo is also a diminutive suffix, but it is not a substitute for - ito.

In this case, we have a suffix that denotes a smaller size but adds a somewhat derogatory value to the word. In some instances, though, the suffix has lost its derogatory associations and the new word is now a normal, neutral word.

Even though the basic form is - uelo, it can take three other forms: -zuelo, -ezuelo and -ecezuelo (see the examples below).

Remember that most of the time this suffix has negative connotations and people tend to avoid it in their everyday conversations, so please try not to overuse it.

Here you have some examples:

This suffix is very peculiar because it can act as both a diminutive and augmentative suffix. Besides, it can have positive and negative connotations, so you have to be quite the proficient speaker in order to handle it properly.

There are no rules as to when this suffix will be diminutive, augmentative, positive or negative. The best way to get acquainted with it is by learning a few examples by heart:

amigo (friend) - amigote (buddy, pal, mate; the Real Academia Española treats this word as despective)

The suffix -ucho is another derogatory suffix. However, it does not turn people, animals and things bigger or smaller. It just add a negative connotation to the word.

Since there is not a single English suffix that could be used for translating -ucho, the safest way to get along with it is by learning the new words as independent terms. Here you have a few of them:

The suffix -ón is an augmentative suffix, and it is commonly used to make a word bigger in size or intensity.

Simple as it is, there are, however, a couple of things you should take into account when using this suffix:

a. Feminine words that take the ending -ó n become the same object, just bigger and masculine!* Have a look:

*We also have the feminine alternatives for these feminine nouns (), although they are very seldom used.

Some linguists don't treat the ending -ón in these words as being an augmentative suffix, and they consider these words as new terms that denote something bigger. This should not make any difference to you when you are studying new vocabulary or practicing word formation, because both endings are exactly the same.

b. Adjectives can be made more intense by adding the suffix - ón, and they have a feminine counterpart ending in -o na:

c. You can add this suffix to the root of some Spanish infinitives in order to make a noun meaning a sharp, sudden or abrupt action related to the verb. Have a look:

d. The suffix -ón can add a derogatory value to a word. In these cases both masculine and feminine forms are normally accepted:

Although slightly less used, -azo is another example of a suffix that can be used for different purposes. Its main two functions at the end of a word are:

a. Creating an augmentative:

José ha comprado un cochazo.(José has bought a great/big/super/extraordinary car.)

¡Mi primo tiene unas orejazas enormes! (My cousin has super big ears! - As you can see, you can even add an adjective such as enorme, gigante or muy grande, in order to make the noun even bigger.)

b. Indicating a hit or blow with something.

In this case, you will have masculine nouns almost exclusively, so the common ending will just be -azo. In order to say in Spanish that you accidentally hit something or someone with some part of your body or with an object, use that part of your body or that object and add -azo to it. Watch out for those ending vowels dropping before adding the suffix!

The suffix -udo is one of those augmentative suffixes that Spanish people like to use just for fun. Its meaning is something along the lines of "having a lot of," and it is almost always used with parts of the body and physical qualities.

Although by definition it is a quite despective suffix, it is so broadly used that it is now up to every single person if they want to use a word, the same word, positively or negatively. The next examples simply offer the translation of the words. You have to decide if you want to use them as a possible insult or as an endearing term:

The suffix -ada is very useful in word formation because it can have many different meanings. Although some of these meanings are way outside the scope of this post, it is important that you learn the three most important ones:

a. Use -ada with the meaning "a violent action or a blow with":

b. With the meaning "big quantity of or full of." The English equivalent for this is the suffix "-ful":

c. Add the suffix to an infinitive to convey the meaning of "action or effect of carrying out the infinitive":

The suffix -d or (and its variations -or, -tor, -sor) is one of my favorite suffixes. As you will see below, it can be used for different purposes, but there is something all the words having the suffix -d or have in common: They are nouns or adjectives derived from a verb.

So, what do we use this suffix for? Have a look:

a. To create instruments and household appliances that make the action of the verb they are derived from:

b. To create names of places where you do the action of the infinitives they are derived from:

c. To create occupations and jobs (much like the English "-er" and "-or"):

d. To create adjectives and nouns having a specific quality related to the infinitive they are derived from:

encantar (to bewitch, to charm)

1. encantador / encantadora (charming)

2. encantador (charmer, as in snake charmer, which is encantador de serpientes)

hablar (to talk)

1. (talkative, adjective)

2. (chatterbox, noun)

This suffix is quite useful in Spanish. It may not be the most used of them all, but it is definitely necessary to create new, everyday words. It has two main uses:

a. Use it to form adjectives with the meaning "pertaining to, related to." Its English equivalent is also "-al," so this should be rather easy:

b. Use it to form nouns that indicate a place where the original noun can be found or the abundance of the noun in question:

The suffix -ante is one of those suffixes you should be on good terms with because it can be used with literally thousands of words. Almost every Spanish infinitive can be transformed into a noun and an adjective thanks to this suffix.

The same word will have two different meanings and two different functions. The noun will denote the person or thing carrying out the action of the verb. The adjective can be used to describe something or someone with the qualities inherent to the infinitive, or as a present participle. In this last case, the English equivalent will always be the ending "-ing":

The suffix -ario is another one of the "important, need-to-learn-this!" suffixes. It has four main uses, all of which are equally important. Have a look:

a. Use -ario to indicate profession:

empresario (entrepreneur)

becario (intern, apprentice)

bibliotecario (librarian)

b. Use it to indicate a place:

c. Use it with the meaning "a group of":

abecedario (alphabet, i.e. a group of letters)

recetario (cookbook, i.e. a group of recipes)

poemario (book of poems, i.e. a group of poems)

d. Finally, use -ario with the meaning "pertaining to, related to." In this case, it will very frequently be translated into English as "-ary":

incendiario (incendiary)

The suffix -ero is another example of a prolific suffix from which to create new words. Its four most important functions are:

a. Creating occupations from a noun:

b. Creating the names of some fruit trees from the name of the fruit:

c. Creating adjectives with the meaning "related to":

pescar (to fish for) - pesquero/a (fishing adj., related to fishing)

d. Creating nouns with the meaning of "place in which to keep" (frequently, but not exclusively, related to food):

The suffix -ía is a suffix that is normally added to the suffix -ero to form the double suffix -ería. It has two main uses:

a. It can be used in order to create the names of stores and shops in Spanish. Here you have some examples:

b. It can also be used with the meaning of "related or relating to":

The suffix -m ente is probably one of my students' favorites because it is so universal you can use it with almost any adjective. We use the suffix -mente to transform adjectives into adverbs.

In order to do this, just add the suffix to the feminine singular form of the adjective in question. Most of the times, you will be able to translate the suffix -m ente as the suffix " - ly"in English. Have a look at some examples:

This suffix is another example of an important suffix used every day, everywhere. Generally speaking, it can almost always be translated as "-ist" in English, so, once again, this should not give you a headache when studying.

Even though it has around six main uses, there are two of them that are, by far, the most common and most widely used. Have a look:

a. Use -ista to create names of occupations:

recepcionista (receptionist)

b. Use it to denote people who support or are associated with something (this will normally be a religion, a sports team, a philosophical current, etc.):

madridista (Real Madrid player or supporter)

As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, there are over 200 suffixes in the Spanish language. Some are used every day and are absolutely necessary if we want to speak normally, while others are rather rare and only used on very specific occasions.

In the paragraphs above, I have tried to show you how useful a suffix can be, and how from a single, common word, we can build many different terms that vary in meaning and can even change their class (noun, verb, adjective and so on). But above all, I have tried to show you what a great tool suffixes can be for your learning, especially if you are studying new vocabulary.

I hope this post has helped you understand how Spanish word formation works, and how much meaning two or three letters can carry within them.

Now choose one of our other Spanish vocabulary posts here at FluentU, pick up some words at random and try to create a new word by using one or more of the suffixes included in this post. And remember: When in doubt, you can always use a dictionary.

Enjoy your learning!

If you liked this post, something tells me that you'll love FluentU, the best way to learn Spanish with real-world videos.
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Latch On: 18 Spanish Suffixes You'll Never Want to Let Go Of

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Did you know that there are over 200 suffixes in Spanish?Yes, 200!You do not need to learn them all at once, but you will definitely encounter most of them on your way to proficiency.The use of suffixes is one of the most prolific ways to form new words, be it in English, Spanish or almo

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Este sitio web sirve como una guía detallada sobre cómo dibujar un árbol de sintaxis.
Los tres etapas principales enumerados en este  artículo son: 1. Etiquete las partes gramaticales
2. Etiquetar los componentes principales
3. Dibujar el árbol
Esta guía utiliza preguntas para enseñar al lector cómo determinar y distinguir las diferentes categorías gramaticales; por ejemplo, enseña al lector cómo determinar si una frase es una frase de sustantivo (SP), una frase verbal (VP) o una frase de complemento (CP). Esta guía también incluye consejos sobre cómo evitar errores básicos y específicos.

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I've talked previously about all the different possibilities for what constitutes a syntax tree, but not about how you get from "here's how you're supposed to represent things" to actually drawing a tree yourself. And that's a pity, because I've actually got a really nice series of steps that I've developed from teaching, TAing, and tutoring.

Here are the steps in a nutshell: I'm going to go through them one at a time.
1. Label parts of speech
2. Label main constituents Step 1: Label parts of speech
3. Draw tree
Note: I recommend doing all of these steps by hand if at all possible. You'll see from the photos and gifs below that it was easier for me to break out the paper and markers than to try to represent this electronically. If you want to type up your tree later, here are some tools for doing so, but it'll be much easier to type up from an existing handwritten draft rather than try to do the thinking and the typesetting as part of the same step. Pencil or even a chalkboard/whiteboard is often a good idea for tree-drafting, and you'll get better at figuring out spacing as you practice more.

So what do these steps look like in practice? Note that rather like learning to ride a bicycle, the extended description looks long and complicated, but with practice many of the steps become automatic with time.

You're going to start with your sentence just written out normally - feel free to use the version that you get printed on your test or assignment, or write it out for yourself on scrap paper. If you're writing it out yourself, it's a good idea to leave extra space between the words, for the sake of the next step.

Now label each word with its part of speech (also called lexical or grammatical category). Start with the easy, obvious ones: label the nouns as N, label the verbs as V, label the adjectives (A or Adj), prepositions (P), and adverbs (Adv). Now move on to the less obvious ones, determiners (D or Det), auxiliaries (Aux), degree words (Deg), and complementizers (C ). (I've also seen degree words referred to as Mod for modifier, although I find this confusing because entire phrases can also be used to modify things.)

Possible tricky bits in this step: Some words can belong to multiple categories! For example, play can be a noun (going to a play), a verb (play tennis), or even an adjective (a play banana, as opposed to a real one). Fortunately, while play in isolation is ambiguous, it should be clear from context what category it belongs to in a particular sentence. Your course materials should include some tests for part of speech, or you can refer to these notes, these lists (but note that there are adverbs that don't end in -ly, such as often), or this set of examples.

One easy way to keep track of parts of speech is to learn a keyword or two that unambiguously belongs in each category, and then when you're trying to figure out whether another word belongs to that category, you can say "could I replace it with this other word that I know the lexical category of?" Here's a sample list:

Noun - cat, happiness
Verb - see, laugh
Adjective - blue, happy
Adverb - quickly
Preposition - in
Determiner - the
Complementizer - if, whether
Auxiliary - could
Degree word - very, nearly

Step 2: Label main constituents
(Note: do not use "that" as a keyword, because it can be a determiner, as in "that cat", or a complementizer, as in "I saw that the cat was purring". Compare what happens when you substitute them: "the cat" but not "*if cat", "*whether cat", and "I saw whether the cat was purring" but not "*I saw the the cat was purring". "Be" and "have" are sometimes verbs as in "I am/have a cat", sometimes auxiliaries, as in "I was laughing/have laughed" and your course may have particular conventions distinguishing them from modal auxiliaries like can, could, may, might, shall, should, will, would.)

In general, this step is going to end up with essentially the same results regardless of what theory your course is using. Apart from the auxiliaries and degree words/modifiers things, the only other part where I'd expect variation is depending on how your course treats pronouns and maybe proper names, so just check whether you're using NP, N, D, etc for them.

Why are we doing this step? Rather than rushing into drawing a tree right away, this step will make sure you get all the labels for each node correct and don't forget anything. Move on to step 2 once all words are labelled.

Here's a image of step 1: I labeled the words starting with the more obvious content words and then adding in the less obvious function words, but you can do it in any order that makes sense.

Once you've gotten everything labelled, you want to figure out the constituents and the main relationships between various parts of the sentence. Your goal for this step is to get every head inside its own phrase: for every N, you need to figure out what its NP is, for every V, you figure out its VP, etc. If you're doing bar levels, you might label a couple of those at this step if you've got ambiguity or a whole lot of stuff inside a particular phrase, but for the routine bar levels you can just put them in at the next step.

There are two main ways to tackle this problem, bottom-up and top-down. They're not mutually exclusive though: just alternate between them, doing whichever is easiest until you've got all your heads inside their respective phrases.

BOTTOM-UP: Start by identifying the easy phrases that only have a word or two in them: AdjPs, AdvPs, and NPs are often fairly small. Then move on to slightly larger constituents, including PPs and more elaborate NPs (and DPs if you're using them), then VPs and finally IPs and CPs, if necessary.

TOP-DOWN: Start by identifying the verb(s): if you're drawing a sentence, there should be at least one of them.

Now, every verb has a subject, and they often have an object as well, maybe even two. You can identify these by asking questions about the sentence: the answer to "who is verbing?" is the subject, and the answer to "who is being verbed?" is the object. (The answer to "who is the object being verbed to?" is the indirect object.) And there might be other stuff that relates to the verb as well, such as an adverb or prepositional phrase.

So your subject, including associated words like determiners, adjectives, PPs, etc, needs to form an NP (or maybe a CP or DP) all by itself, while your object, also including associated words, is an NP, CP, or DP that's inside the VP. Also inside the VP (but not inside the object) might be some extra stuff, adverbs and PPs. You can indicate this with brackets around the VP, or another thing you might want to do for maximum clarity is underline the subject and object, and use arrows to point them to their verbs.

What did YouTube do? [show that the cat played the piano] - VP

What did YouTube show? [that the cat played the piano] - CP

What did the cat do? [play the piano] - VP

What did YouTube show the cat played? [the piano] - NP

What was played? [the piano] - NP

Where did the cat play the piano? [YouTube] - NP

Where did the cat play the piano? *[YouTube showed] -not a constituent

Who played the piano? [the cat] - NP

This is also the point where, if there's any movement that's going on, you'll want to "restore" the affected word(s) back to their original position(s). You may be able to do this with the same questions that you used to figure out subject and object, or if you're dealing with a question, try answering it ("What did the cat play?" → "The cat (did) play the piano", so your restored sentence is "The cat did play what?").

YouTube showed that the cat played the piano, and Vimeo did __ too. ( __ = show that the cat played the piano - VP)

YouTube showed it (it=that the cat played the piano - CP)

The cat played the piano, and the dog did __ too. ( __ = play the piano - VP)

YouTube showed that the cat played it. (it = the piano - NP)

It showed that the cat played the piano. (it = YouTube - NP)

YouTube showed that s/he played the piano (s/he = the cat - NP)

How do we know what's inside each of our phrases, besides the head? There are certain non-head words that typically go with certain types of heads: degree words with adjectives, prepositions, or adverbs, determiners with nouns (it's a bit more complicated if you're using DPs), auxiliaries with verbs (unless your course is putting them at I). But for phrases within other phrases, you'll have to figure it out, and that's the tricky bit.

Fortunately, there are a series of questions you can ask in order to figure out which phrases contain other phrases, and they're known as constituency tests. Your course may give you a list of constituency tests - if not, here are two not-very-overlapping lists. Two very common types are questions and substitution. I'll demonstrate them both below for various constituents in the sentence "YouTube showed that the cat played the piano."

Questions:

Substitution:

When you figure out that some string of words is a constituent, put square brackets around it and label what kind of constituent it is (NP, PP, VP, etc). I like to do this by hand because I can make the square brackets of different sizes or colours to keep track of them all. If you find it helpful, you can also use underlining, highlighting, or circles to group other elements. (Here's an example of particularly enthusiastic colour usage.)

If we have an extra modifier of some sort, we can use the same tests to figure out what it modifies. For example, we can add several different prepositional phrases beginning with "in" to the sentence above:

YouTube showed that the cat played the piano in a blue shirt.
YouTube showed that the cat played the piano in high definition.
YouTube showed that the cat played the piano in the living room.

But [in something] doesn't necessarily modify the same thing each time, so we need to ask questions about it:

What was in a blue shirt? The cat (playing), not YouTube or the piano.
What was in high definition? YouTube's showing, not the cat or the piano.
What was in the living room? The piano (or maybe the cat playing) but not YouTube.

And based on the answers to these questions, we can mark up the sentence as follows:

YouTube showed that the cat [ played the piano in a blue shirt ]VP
YouTube [ showed [ that the cat played the piano ]CP in high definition ]VP
YouTube showed that the cat played [ the piano in the living room ]NP

Why are we doing this step? This step is where most of the thinking happens: the goal is to know exactly what you're putting in your tree before any of the tree-drawing actually happens. Otherwise it's tempting to just draw a general shape that looks kind of like the trees you've seen before without fully examining what each part is contributing, which will end up as a mess. No really. It will.

Proceed onto the next step when: all heads (N, V, P, Adj, Adv, C, and, if you're using it, D) are inside their respective phrases (NP, VP, PP, AdjP, AdvP, CP and maybe DP). Make sure you know what the subject(s) and object(s) is/are. Also make sure that for any AdjP, AdvP, or PP that you know what it modifies and how to indicate this in the structure.

As you get more practised at drawing trees, this step will take less time and you can skip over the easy parts if you want. For example, if parts of speech are 100% intuitive to you, you may be able to go right to labeling the constituents. Or you may not need to draw brackets around all the AdjPs and NPs, you can just figure out the subject and object and any ambiguities. But even once you're fairly good at tree-drawing, if you're ever faced with an unexpectedly daunting sentence to draw, you can always fall back on step 1: label the words and step 2: label the constituents. Or, if you're drawing a really high-stakes tree, for a test or an assignment, you may still want to proceed as methodically as possible to reduce your chances of making a silly mistake.

Note that I have not gotten into sentence-level projections (i.e. S or IP or TP, whichever you're using). There's a reason for that: first of all, that's where there's the most variance between course conventions. Secondly, this is the type of projection that may not have an obvious head (unless you have an Aux and your course is treating Aux as an I head). And thirdly, you automatically need an S/IP/TP to contain your entire sentence, so it's not a particularly informative constituent to add since it will literally just contain the whole sentence. BUT, and this is important, you also need another S/IP/TP for every additional verb that you have in your sentence, because any verb and associated words (subject, object, etc) could also be a sentence by itself.

For example:

YouTube showed that the cat played the piano.

Contains two verbs, "showed" and "played" and thus two clauses, each of which could be a sentence with minor modifications:

The main (or matrix) clause: "YouTube showed..."

The subordinate (or embedded) clause: "That the cat played the piano"

So we also need to split these up. We know that "that" is a complementizer ©, so it creates a CP (or S' if you're using it), but inside the CP is an S/IP/TP (directly inside every CP, in the position of sister to the C, is an S/IP/TP).

Step 3: Draw tree

[S/IP/TP YouTube showed [CP that [S/IP/TP the cat played the piano ] ] ]

However, if you only have one verb in your sentence, then you also only have one clause, the main clause, so you can skip this part.

Here's a gif of step 1+2: I start by labelling the words as in step 1, and then add labels for various constituents (here I am using a strict X-bar theory with IPs). I worked bottom-up from smaller to bigger groups, but you could also do a top-down approach, whatever works for you. Notice the brackets getting bigger and bigger, which is an advantage of handwriting. Leaving lots of space around the words will help fit in all the brackets, but you definitely don't need to be as pretty as I'm being here.

And here's a static image of the final result (note that I've labelled both sides of the brackets for extra clarity, but you don't have to):

Now, finally, we get to draw the tree!

A lot of people think that this is the step that you start at, but unless you're dealing with a really, really easy sentence and you already have practice drawing trees, jumping right into drawing a tree will just leave you confused and not sure what to put where. It's a lot better to be confused at the previous step, where you can pause and try a couple things and figure it out, rather than at this step, where you'll be tempted to just draw something that looks basically like a tree and think "eh, good enough". Trust me, despite the fact that the rules may look confusing and arbitrary to you when you're starting out, they make good sense to your prof or TA, and it will be very obvious to them if you do that.

I'm going to point out at this stage that syntax trees are not something you can bs. However, this is in fact a great and wonderful thing, because it means that you can, with enough effort, check your own work and prove that your tree is correct (or fix it if it's not), and you are not at the mercy of dubious judgement calls and whether or not the prof likes you. A correct syntax tree is correct, a wrong (portion of a) syntax tree is wrong, and although there are a few fudgey bits in the realm of "how much do we care that this thing is wrong?", it is entirely possible to get a score of 100% in a syntax course or unit.

Syntax (and in fact linguistics in general, actually) is not one of those subjects where the prof artificially caps the maximum score at 80 or 85: if you draw a completely correct tree, or in general demonstrate a very thorough understanding of the topic, you will get full marks, and for every mark you lose, there is something very specific that you should have done differently, and most profs and TAs will tell you exactly what answer they were looking for. It's very satisfying. (I mean, until you get to high-level courses where you realize that what a syntax tree should even look like is still a matter of theoretical debate, but in an intro course there is definitely still a right answer.)

But enough with the pep talk: how do you take your now-thoroughly-marked-up sentence and make it into a tree?

You're going to start at the top. As tempting as it may be to draw your sentence along the bottom of the page and draw up from there, this is not how syntax trees are conventionally drawn. Why? Well, starting from the top gives you more symmetrically-sized branches rather than long branches on one side and cramped, tiny, hard-to-read ones on the other, as well as more space for movement arrows. It's also how the vast majority of syntax trees are drawn, and it's easier for everyone to interpret each other's trees if we follow a few basic formatting conventions.

If you're worried about spacing, note that English trees will branch more on the right than on the left, so starting your S/IP/TP about a third of the way over on the left side of the page at the very top is generally better than starting it in the middle. Or just find an empty classroom and practise on a large whiteboard/chalkboard where you don't need to worry about wasting paper. Thanks to the miracles of modern technology, you can even take a photo of your whiteboard tree when you're finished, which was definitely not a thing when I was an undergraduate.

(Related: do not, for the love of Chomsky, draw your syntax trees upside-down. That is, do not write the sentence along the top of the page and draw branches down from it. I've gotten one or two of these in every stack of syntax assignments I've marked, and while I do always try to mark it as much as possible, it takes me about three times as long to figure out what's going on and hence makes me grumpy. And you don't want a grumpy person marking your assignment. If you want to instead make your marker especially happy, I have gotten some delightfully entertaining drawings from students on tests and assignments over the years, so you know, feel free.)

So you're going to start at the top of the page with your maximal sentence projection, S or IP or TP (that's S' or CP if you've got a question), and proceed down from there.

What's in your subject? Put it all under that subject position.

Make sure to include bar levels if your course is using them.

Do you have anything modifying your verb? Put it under the VP (V' if you're using them).

What's in your object? Put it all directly sister to your V.

Include bar levels again if relevant.

Do you have any embedded clauses? You've figured out what they're embedded under in the previous step, now put them there. Be sure to include a CP (S') and S/IP/TP before going into the subject, verb, etc of the embedded clause.

Is anything ambiguous? If you figured out an ambiguity in the previous step, there are a couple ways to proceed. If your course or assignment has mentioned ambiguity as an option, you should probably draw both trees and indicate which meaning each one corresponds to. If there's a technical ambiguity but one interpretation is way more plausible than the other, and you haven't been told to find ambiguities, you may be able to get away with just drawing the most plausible interpretation (although in that case, feel free to include a note to the marker). Draw ambiguities on separate trees though, not the same one.

If you need to draw movement, make sure you represent the original position and the moved position using whatever conventions your course is using (arrows, traces, etc).

If you're using S, S will branch into an NP (subject) and a VP (containing V, the object NP, and maybe more) plus maybe other things.

If you're using IP or TP, IP or TP will branch into NP (subject) and I' or T', which will branch into I or T and VP (containing V, the object NP, and maybe other things). (Or these NPs might all be DPs, if you're using the DP hypothesis. If you've never seen a DP, just ignore everything I'm saying about them.)

1. Did you include all the words from the target sentence in your tree?

2. Does the tree, left to right, read in the same order as your target sentence? (After any movement has happened.) If this is not the case, you need to fix something.

3. Do all the words have their part of speech labels that you established at the beginning? (Double-check the tests you used at the labelling step if you want to be really careful.)

4. Is each head inside its corresponding maximal projection? (N inside NP, V inside VP, etc.)

5. If you're doing strict X' theory, do you have at least one bar level between each head and its maximal projection? (N' between N and NP, V' between V and VP, etc.)

6. Do you have any triangles? (Your instructor may use triangles. This is why you should not.)

Anyway, this first part is pretty much always the same for any sentence, which is why we didn't really bother map out this top projection in the previous step.

1. If you have more than one verb, is each verb inside its own VP which is inside its own S/IP/TP? Is each non-matrix verb's S/IP/TP inside its own S'/CP?

2. Is there any movement? If it's a question, what would the statement version sound like? If there are multiple verbs, what would each mini clause sound like separately? If there is passive, what would the active version sound like?

3. What complements do you have, if any? Especially complements of PPs (generally NPs/DPs), or NPs and AdjPs (often PPs beginning with "of"). Are they in the right positions? (In X' theory, a complement is sister to the head, so complement of a noun → sister to N, complement of an adjective → sister to Adj, etc. In a theory without bar levels, a complement is simply inside the phrasal level, so complement of a noun → inside its NP, complement of a verb → inside its VP, etc.)

4. What modifiers do you have, if any? AdjPs, AdvPs, PPs...what does each modifier modify? Is it in the right position to do so? (In X' theory, a modifier is sister to the bar level of the modified element, so modifying a noun → sister to its N', modifying a verb → sister to its V', etc. In a theory without bar levels, a modifier is simply inside the phrasal level of the modified element, so modifying a noun → inside its NP, modifying a verb → inside its VP, etc. Note that if you don't have bar levels, there is no difference between a complement and a modifier.)

5. If you're in X' theory, another way of phrasing the previous two questions is: for every PP, is it a complement or a modifier? Is it in the appropriate position for which one it is? (AdjPs are almost always modifiers, unless they're after a verb: "the blue shirt" = modifier; "the shirt is blue" = complement. I can't think of any examples where an AdvP would be a complement and not a modifier, but you may want to double check just in case. And an AdvP might modify several different things, so especially check that part.)

6. What's the subject (including modifiers & complements) of each verb? Is it in the appropriate subject position that your course is using? (Under S or sister to I' are the most likely.)

7. What's the object (including modifiers & complements) of each verb? Is it sister to the verb?

8. Do you have any ambiguity? If so, have you represented it clearly?

Now you're going to take the constituents that you figured out in the previous step and get them into the tree:

When you think you've finished your tree, here are a few common errors that you can check:

Basic errors:

More specific errors:
This is part 8 of a series on how to draw syntax trees. If you're confused about why I keep referring to different course conventions rather than giving a specific answer, check out the remainder of the series below.
Here's a gif of drawing the tree, again assuming you're using a strict X-bar theory with IPs (note that the colours correspond to the colours of the brackets I used at the previous step - this is for your ease in following, it's not a thing you need to do in drawing your own trees, as switching ink colours this often will probably make it harder).

And here's the final tree as a still image:

Lastly, here are the brackets and the tree side-by-side, just for fun.

Notice that subjects are in spec, IP (sister to I') of their respective IPs, and objects are in complement position of their respective verbs (sister to V). These trees assume you're doing a strict X' theory structure: if you're using TPs or DPs, feel free to substitute them instead, and if you're doing basic phrase structure rules, substitute S for IP and delete all the bar levels (just move everything up to attach directly to the phrase).

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How to Draw a Syntax Tree, Part 8: A step-by-step tree-drawing guide, with gifs

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I've talked previously about all the different possibilities for what constitutes a syntax tree, but not about how you get from "here's how you're supposed to represent things" to actually drawing a tree yourself. And that's a pity, because I've actually got a really nice series of steps that I've developed from teaching, TAing, and tutoring.

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Verbos como "gustar" / "Backwards Verbs"

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Verbos como "gustar" / "Backwards Verbs"

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En este video una profesora de español explica la definición de un "backwards verb" y cómo lo funciona. Ella utiliza ejemplos en inglés y los traduce a equivalentes españoles para ayudar a explicar a los estudiantes la estructura de una oración que contiene un verbo como gustar. A lo largo del video la profesora se enfoca en cuatro  de muchos verbos potenciales: interesar, aburrir, gustar, y encantar. (1:41-2:33)

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Este sitio web define una variedad de formas de adjetivo dependientes de su colocación en la estructura de la oración. Dos de las formas principales descritas son adjetivos atributivos y predicativos. En este artículo se explica que un adjetivo funciona como un modificador atributivo en una oración y que se puede distinguir como restrictivo o no restrictivo y/o interactivo o no interactivo. También explica que la colocación "postnominal" de un adjetivo permite la aplicación de estrés contrastivo. Además, esta fuente incluye una lista corta pero interesante de colocaciones fijas que contienen emparejamientos de un adjetivo con un sustantivo.

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Los dos tipos de subjuntivo imperfecto en español

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Los dos tipos de subjuntivo imperfecto en español

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Este artículo es un gran recurso de información para el aprendizaje del subjuntivo imperfecto. El artículo incluye una fórmula de la tercera persona plural forma preterita menos el -ron final. Esta fuente contiene ejemplos de raíces subjuntivos imperfectos de algunos verbos comunes. Como se menciona en el libro, este sitio muestra las dos formas de conjugación paralelas del subjuntivo imperfecto: -ra y-se. Este sitio también enumera algunas de las razones más comunes para utilizar el subjuntivo: ocurrencias pasadas, opiniones actuales de acontecimientos pasados, dudas y deseos, "si" cláusulas, y sugerencias y peticiones corteses.

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The imperfect subjunctive () follows many of the same rules as the present subjunctive. Introduced with a preterite, imperfect, conditional, or past perfect WEIRDO verb in the independent clause, the imperfect subjunctive often refers to a previous experience, but can also refer to unlikely events or possibilities.

Check out these examples of the imperfect subjunctive.

Imperfect Subjunctive Forms

Finding the Imperfect Subjunctive Stem

To conjugate a verb in the imperfect subjunctive, you'll need to know the third person plural () preterite form of the verb you're using. Why? Instead of using the infinitive for a stem, the imperfect subjunctive uses the third person plural of the preterite (minus the -ron). Whatever the third person preterite from of a verb is, whether regular or irregular, becomes the base for the imperfect subjunctive stem.

Imperfect Subjunctive Stem Formula

imperfect subjunctive stem = third person plural preterite form minus ending

Imperfect Subjunctive Stem Examples

Here are the imperfect subjunctive stems of some common Spanish verbs.

Imperfect Subjunctive Endings

When conjugating the imperfect subjunctive, you can choose from two different sets of endings. Both are correct, though use of the first set, whose yo ending is , is more widespread.

Watch out for the accents

Nosotros imperfect subjunctive conjugations have a tilde on the vowel that comes immediately before the subjunctive ending. For example:

Here are three common verbs conjugated in the imperfect subjunctive with each set of endings.

Subjunctive 1

Subjunctive 2

Imperfect Subjunctive Uses

The imperfect subject can be used to talk about past occurrences, current opinions of past events, doubts and wishes, as well as in if clauses and polite requests.

1. Past Occurrences

If the WEIRDO verb in the independent clause is in the preterite or the imperfect, then the subjunctive verb that follows will be imperfect.

2. Current Opinions of Past Events

The imperfect subjunctive can also be used to express current emotions, doubts, etc. about something that happened in the past.

3. Doubts and Wishes

It's common to see or used with the imperfect subjunctive to express the idea of hoping for something that is unlikely to happen or is impossible.

4. If Clauses

When preceded by ( if), the imperfect subjunctive is often used to talk about hypotheticals. Note that the other verb in these constructions is in the conditional.

5. Polite Suggestions and Requests

The imperfect subjunctive can be used to make very polite suggestions or formal requests.

Take a practice quiz!

Practice what you know with our quiz tool.

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The Imperfect Subjunctive in Spanish | SpanishDict

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The imperfect subjunctive () follows many of the same rules as the present subjunctive. Introduced with a preterite, imperfect, conditional, or past perfect WEIRDO verb in the independent clause, the imperfect subjunctive often refers to a previous experience, but can also refer to unlikely events or possibilities.

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¿Cuál es el orden de palabras más común en las oraciones en español?
a. SOV
b. OVS
c. VSO
d. SVO

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Este sitio web contiene información que complementa la información dada en la Pregunta 26 de nuestro libro de texto.

Se discute un breve resumen de la historia de la influencia árabe en el idioma español, específicamente en términos de geografía. También enumera y describe muchos ejemplos de palabras españolas con origen árabe, por ejemplo "albahaca" en español vino de "habaqah" en árabe. Me interesó cuando descubrí que otras palabras comunes en español como el algodón, el azúcar, el café y la naranja, así como las palabras relacionadas con el mundo académico (álgebra, algoritmo tarea, por ejemplo) provenían de palabras árabes.

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The main origin of the Romance languages was Latin. Spanish, which is one of the Romance languages, is different from the others. It has a wider lexicon that is made richer by the linguistic elements from the Arabic languages. The Spanish language is one of the most in demand languages for translation services.

The first group of Arabs that crossed the Strait of Gibraltar arrived in 711 and set foot on the Iberian Peninsula. The Moors ruled between their first incursion into the region and 1492. It started with the establishment of the Emirate of Córdoba and ended with the Emirate of Granada.

Overview

The Arab influence is more evident in the southern part of the peninsula. Catalan also has some words that were of Arabic origin, but the Spanish language has more. About 4,000 words of Arabic origin or influenced by Arabic are found in the regional varieties of Spanish, which can be heard if you are to travel around the southern part of the Iberian Peninsula.

Arabic influence in the region did not end with language. In fact, the culture of the Spain was also influenced, as the Moors introduced several cultural innovations like the philosophy of Aristotle, zero (the number), Arabic numbers, chess, algebra and alchemy.

The Muslim presence in the locality also influenced Spanish music, from the musical instruments to melodies. These were later replaced by the guitar and flamenco music. Flamenco has plenty of structural elements that are similar to northern Africa's traditional music. The Arabic influence extended to Spanish cuisine, evident in their use of spices and herbs that originally came from Africa's northern region. The garbanzo bean that is not normally present in European cuisine is featured regularly in many Spanish dishes.

Linguistically, the influence of Arabic in the Spanish language shows up more in the names of places and some names and surnames, as well as in most nouns, but rarely in verbs and adjectives.

Something interesting about the Spanish language is the existence of word pairs, originating from Latin and Arabic. The words may be different but they mean the same thing, For example, migraine is migraña and jaqueca; óleo and aceite for oil, escorpión and alacrán for scorpion and for olive - olive and aceituna.

Guadalajara, La Mancha, Guadalquivir River and Algeciras are just some of the names of places with Arabic origin.

Brief history
Andalusia or Andalucía in Spanish, which is located in southern Spain, figured prominently when the Muslim Moors invaded the Iberian Peninsula in the 8th century. It includes the provinces of Seville, which is also its capital, Málaga, Jaén, Huelva, Granada, Córdoba and Almería.

The name of the autonomous community came from Al-Andalus, an Arabic word. It was given that name when the Muslim government was established in the Iberian peninsula in

716, as shown in the inscriptions from the coins (dinars) produced during that time. The coins have Arabic and Latin inscriptions. The former region covers almost the entire Iberian Peninsula during the time of the Moors.

While the Muslim Moors were economic invaders and collected taxes, they also enriched the culture of the region, keeping trade routes open. They brought and introduced many things to Spain. Several Moorish-inspired buildings remain in Andalusia.

The Christian religion was already practiced in the peninsula when the Muslim Moors invaded the region. While they tolerated Christianity, they also wanted to promote their own religion. They imposed the rental of half of the Cathedral of San Vicente in the 750s and created a mosque. The mosque they created was similar to the Abbasid and Umayyad mosques found in Iraq and Syria.

But the interior of the mosque's prayer hall in Andalusia was very novel. The series of columns supported double arcades of arches and piers with alternating white and red wedge-shaped building blocks that made the hall look higher and visually appealing. Today, the Great Mosque of Córdoba is a tourist attraction.

Influence in the language

Before the Moors or the hispanomusulmanes came, the people living in the Iberian Peninsula were speaking Iberian or Peninsular Spanish, commonly called as Castilian. It developed from the Latin language that was spoken by the Romans, which is the reason why it was called a Romance language (not a language of romance, but rather as the language spoken by Romans).

When the Moors, which established the highly powerful Emirate of Córdoba, was able to conquer the region, they introduced their language, Arabic, together with their art and architecture. Speakers of Arabic dominated the area from the Pyrenees to Gibraltar until the 13th century.

Arabic mixed with old Spanish lexicon over time, which evolved into the form of Spanish language that is spoken by the majority of Spanish-speaking countries around the world - Castilian Spanish or Castellano. Even after the Catholic kings were able to expel the Moors from Spain late in the 15th century, Castilian Spanish retained the Arabic loanwords, which are still used today.

The popular Spanish expressions like ''ojalá'' and ''¡Ole!'' are from the Arabic expressions insh'allah and wa'llah, respectively.

The Spanish suffix ''-i'' is used to indicate belonging or relationship. It came for the Arabic masculine adjective marker, meaning that someone is from somewhere. For example, a Zaragocí is from Zaragoza while a Marbellí is from Marbella. An Andalusí means the person is from Andalucía.

A number of Spanish words begin with either an ''a'' or ''al'' as the letter ''L'' becomes silent when followed by another consonant in Arabic. In the languages of the Moors, ''al'' is equivalent to the English article ''the'' and placed at the beginning of each definite noun.

Spanish words with Arabic origin

Most of the Spanish words that originated from Classical Arabic are nouns. These are names of items related to the kitchen and food, animals, nature, hobbies and science. About 4,000 Spanish words were influenced by Classical Arabic language.

Abalorio - cheap jewelry bead (al-baluri)

Acebibe - raisin (azebib)

Aceite - oil (azzayt)

Aceituna - olive (zaytünah)

Adobe - adobe (at-tub)

Ajedrez - chess (šiṭranǧ)

Albahaca - basil (habaqah)

Alcalde - mayor (qāḍī)

Alcoba - alcove (al-quba)

Alcohol - alcohol (kuḥl)

Aldea - small village (ḍay'ah)

Alfil - bishop [in chess] (fīl)

Alfombra - rug or carpet (ḥanbal)

Álgebra - algebra (alǧabru)

Algodón - cotton (qutn)

Algoritmo - algorithm (ḥisābu lḡubār)

Almohada - pillow (miẖaddah)

Alquiler - rent (kirā'

Arrecife - reef (raṣīf)

Asesino - murderer (ḥaššāšīn)

Azafrán - saffron (za'farān)

Azar - chance or luck (az-zahr)

Azúcar - sugar (sukkar)

Barrio - neighborhood (barrī)

Berenjena - aubergine or eggplant (bāḏinǧānah)

Café - coffee (qahwah)

Dado - dice (a'dād)

Fideo - noodles (fidáwš)

Guitarra - guitar (qīṯārah)

Hasta - until (ḥattá)

Hazaña - feat (ḥasanah)

Jabali - wild boar (ǧabalī)

Jarabe - syrup used for medication (šarāb)

Jarra - mug or jar (ǧarrah)

Jirafa - giraffe (zarāfah or zurāfah)

Lima - lime (līmah)

Limón - lemon (laymün)

Marfil - ivory ('aẓm alfíl)

Máscara - mask (masẖarah)

Mazmorra - dungeon (maṭmūrah)

Momia - mummy (mūmiyā)

Naranja - orange (nāranǧ)

Noria - Ferris wheel or waterwheel (nā'ūrah)

Sandia - watermelon (sindiyyah)

Tabaco - tobacco (ṭub[b]āq)

Tarea - task ({ṭrḥ})

Taza - cup or mug (ṭast)

Zanahoria - carrot (safunnárya)

Zoco - Azogue market (souk)

Zumo - fruit juice (zum)

Arabic sounding words

There are a few words in Spanish that are coincidentally similar to Arabic but are of different origin. One is ''el'' that is part of the articles that include la, las, lo and los. They came from the demonstratives of the Latin language such as illa, illud and ille. It is similar to the Arabic ''al'' but not related.

Another one is the Spanish pronoun ''usted,'' which is a shortened version of ''Vuestra merced'' that was used as an old form of address. There were other forms used before such as Voaced, Vuesasted, Su Merced, Vusted, Vuesarced, Vuesa Merced, Uced and Usté that belonged to Renaissance Spanish. But usted did not come from the Arabic term, ''ustādh'' that translates to doctor, professor or mister.

The famous and popular Spanish food ''paella'' did not originate from ''baqiya,'' the Arabic term that means leftovers. The Spanish pronunciation of the dish is similar but it actually is a Catalan term that originated from Latin. Paella is the term used to describe the pan where the dish is cooked. Cognates include Pôele, Padella and Padilla from French, Italian and Spanish languages.

Places in Spain with Arabic names

It would be difficult to avoid places in Spain with names that came from Arabic, since the conquerors ruled the region from the 8th to the 13th centuries. Here are some of them:

Guadalquivir River or the great river came from wadi a1-kabir

Mulhacén, which is the highest mountain in the Iberian Peninsula is named after Ali Muley Hacén Abu al-Hasan, the Sultan of Granada in the 15th century

Pico Almanzor is a mountain in Central Spain that got its name from ''Almanzor'' Al-Mansur Ibn Abi Aamir, the 10th century ruler of Al-Andalus

Cape Trafalgar - Taraf-al-ghar

Albufera - from al-buhayrah, meaning small sea or lagoon

Gibraltar - from Jabal Tariq, an Arabic name meaning mountain of Tariq. The Rock of Gibraltar was named after the first Moor general to land in Iberia, Tariq ibn-Ziyad.

Albacete came from al-basit or the plain while Axarquía, which is located in Málaga came from Ash-sharquía, meaning oriental or eastern region

La Mancha came from the Arabic term for ''no water'' or la'a Ma-anxa

Arabic is one of oldest languages in the world. While the Arabs were ruling Spain, specifically the Iberian Peninsula from the 8th to the 12th centuries, the language was the world's scientific language and those who wanted to advance in their scientific careers had to study Arabic. Literature in Arabic also flourished. In the libraries in Córdoba, about 600,000 handwritten volumes of manuscripts are stored. Thanks to their influence, Spanish has become a very rich language with 437 million first language speakers in 31 countries.

Image Copyright: farbregas / 123RF Stock Photo

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Discovering the Arabic Influence in Spanish Language and Culture

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The main origin of the Romance languages was Latin. Spanish, which is one of the Romance languages, is different from the others. It has a wider lexicon that is made richer by the linguistic elements from the Arabic languages. The Spanish language is one of the most in demand languages for translation services.

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Este sitio web explica los orígenes de la ñ en español. Explica cómo el ñ ha desarrollado a partir de la "NN" que a menudo se encuentra en las palabras latinas como se describió en las Pregunta 46 de nuestro libro de texto. El sitio web también discute los usos modernos de ñ en comparación con su uso en el pasado. Después de esta página web fue publicado inicialmente un profesor de la Universidad de Oregón proporcionó cierta información nueva e interesante que contribuyó al desarrollo de ñ, así como sus usos modernos en los Estados Unidos y su papel moderno como un marcador de identidad hispana.

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The Spanish letter ñ is original with Spanish and has become one of its most distinctive written features.

As you could probably guess, the ñ came originally from the letter n. The ñ did not exist in the Latin alphabet and was the result of innovations about nine centuries ago.

Beginning in about the 12th century, Spanish scribes (whose job it was to copy documents by hand) used the tilde placed over letters to indicate that a letter was doubled (so that, for example, nn became ñ and aa became ã).

The popularity of the tilde for other letters eventually waned, and by the 14th century, the ñ was the only place it was used. Its origins can be seen in a word such as (which means "year"), as it comes from the Latin word annus with a double n. As the phonetic nature of Spanish became solidified, the ñ came to be used for its sound, not just for words with an nn. A number of Spanish words, such as señal and campaña, that are English cognates use the ñ where English uses "gn," such as in "signal" and "campaign," respectively.

The Spanish ñ has been copied by two other languages that are spoken by minorities in Spain. It is used in Euskara, the Basque language that is unrelated to Spanish, to represent approximately the same sound as it has in Spanish. It is also used in Galician, a language similar to Portuguese. (Portuguese uses nh to represent the same sound.)

Additionally, three centuries of Spanish colonial rule in the Philippines led to the adoption of many Spanish words in the national language, Tagalog (also known as Pilipino or Filipino). The ñ is among the letters that have been added to the traditional 20 letters of the language.

And while the ñ isn't part of the English alphabet, it frequently is used by careful writers when using adopted words such as jalapeño, piña colada, or piñata and in the spelling of personal and place names.

In Portuguese, the tilde is placed over vowels to indicate that the sound is nasalized. That use of the tilde has no apparent direct connection with the use of the tilde in Spanish.

After this article was published, this site received additional information from Robert L. Davis, associate professor of Spanish from the University of Oregon:

"Thanks for including the interesting page on the history of the ñ. In a few places you express uncertainty about some of the details of this history; below I offer the information you need to complete the story.

"The reason the "tilde" appears over an N (as in Latin ANNU > Sp. año) and Portuguese vowels (Latin MANU > Po. mão) is that scribes wrote a small letter N over the preceding letter in both cases, to save space in manuscripts (parchment was expensive). As the two languages developed phonetically away from Latin, the double N sound of Latin morphed into the current palatal nasal sound of the Ñ, and Portuguese N between vowels got deleted, leaving its nasal quality on the vowel. So readers and writers began to use the old spelling trick to indicate the new sounds that did not exist in Latin. (It's really nice the way you framed the Ñ as the only Spanish letter of Spanish origin!)

"Also of potential interest to your readers:

"The word "tilde" actually refers to both the squiggle over the Ñ as well as the accent mark used to mark phonetic stress (e.g., café). There is even the verb "tildarse", which means, "to be written with an accent mark, to stress", as in "La palabra 'café' se tilda en la e".

"The unique character of the letter Ñ has led to its becoming a marker of Hispanic identity in recent years. There is now a "generación Ñ", the children of Spanish-speaking parents in the U.S. (parallel to Generation X, etc.), a stylized Ñ is the logo of the Cervantes Institute (http://www.cervantes.es), and so forth.

"The squiggle under the ç in Portuguese and French has a similar origin as the ñ. It is called a "cedille", meaning "little Z." It comes from the diminutive of the Old Spanish name for the letter Z, ceda. It was used to represent the "ts" sound in Old Spanish, which no longer exists in the language. E.g., O.Sp. caça (katsa) = Mod. Sp. caza (casa or catha).

"Restaurants in the U.S. now offer dishes made with a very spicy pepper, the habanero, which is frequently mispronounced and misspelled as habañero. Since the name comes from La Habana, the capital of Cuba, this pepper should not have Ñ. I think the name has been contaminated by jalapeño, which of course is simply a pepper from Jalapa, Mexico."

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Why That Squiggly Mark Over the Spanish Ñ?

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The Spanish letter ñ is original with Spanish and has become one of its most distinctive written features. As you could probably guess, the ñ came originally from the letter n. The ñ did not exist in the Latin alphabet and was the result of innovations about nine centuries ago.

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Aunque este video puede ser de larga en duración, contiene algunas muy buenas instrucciones sobre la negación y cómo se construyen los negativos dobles en la estructura de la oración española. Las mujere. que enseña en el video proporcionan algunos ejemplos muy simples que explican el concepto bien como, "no sé nada", "no me gusta nada", y "no vi a nadie". Más tarde en el video utiliza ejemplos cada vez más complejos para enseñar a los espectadores y desafiarlos con nuevos ejemplos reforzando los mismos conceptos. Esta fuente se relaciona con la Pregunta 101 en nuestro libro de texto.

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Learn Spanish Grammar: Double Negatives in Spanish – No, Nada, Niguno, Ninguna, Nadie & more

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La Pregunta 78 en nuestro libro de texto es una pregunta que a menudo me he preguntado sobre "“How can su mean ‘his,’ ‘her,’ ‘their,’ and ‘your’?” Aunque este sitio web no explica detalladamente cómo se desarrolló el español para usar "su" en estos cuatro maneras, proporciona algunos ejemplos útiles que ayudan a explicar cómo usar "su" apropiadamente en una frase y para qué palabras se puede utilizar como reemplazo. El autor del sitio web ofrece buenos consejos sobre cómo evitar confusiones con "su" y explica más sobre otros adjetivos posesivos es español.

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An anarchist communist friend in Spain tells me that someday we'll all live together joyously without any concept of private ownership.

What's mine will be hers, and yours, and theirs, and ours.

So, I asked, does that mean I can send a bunch of squatters to stay in her fabulous beachside apartment?

Nor, apparently, can I borrow her rooftop tomato plants:

So, at least until the revolution brings fierce egalitarianism to Spain, it seems that Spanish possessive adjectives will continue to be useful here. If you want to speak excellent Spanish -and keep capitalist pigs like me from stealing your tomatoes-you're going to want to study these a bit.

Spanish has a few more forms of possessive adjectives than English does, so be alert. That said, this is a topic that Spanish learners usually master without too much difficulty, though there are a few common mistakes to be aware of that are pointed out later in this post.

This is easy to approach for beginners, but be aware that you'll be better off if you already know your Spanish pronouns (yo, tú, nosotros, etc.), genders and a bit about the present tense before you start.

We'll discuss long-form Spanish possessive adjectives later in the post, but for beginners, just learning the short forms is quite enough for most purposes.

Singular Spanish Possessive Adjectives (Short Form)

The short-form singular Spanish possessive adjectives are as follows:
Genders:
Nuestro is used when talking about a masculine object that we own:

If the thing we own is considered feminine, we change the "o" at the end to an "a":

It's important to note that this has nothing to do with our genders, that is, the gender identities of the people who are owning something.

The same change happens with vuestro:

Mi, tu and su do not change for gender. So yes, as we've seen above, "his," "her," "their," formal "your" and "its" are all the same word in Spanish: .

As with vosotros ( the plural informal you), vuestro/ vuestra is not used in Latin America; su is used instead.

Plural Spanish Possessive Adjectives (Short Form)

Congratulations on owning more than one thing! To indicate as much, just add an "s" to the end of your possessive adjectives:

Remember, this added "s" is because there's more than one thing being owned, and has nothing to do with the person or people owning them. For example:

Usage of Short-form Spanish Possessive Adjectives

The words we learned above are adjectives (describing words) that always go before the noun they're modifying. Let's take a look at these adjectives for describing ownership in action.

Examples with short-form Spanish possessive adjectives

Me gusta tu camisa.
(I like your shirt.) - Speaking to someone informally.

There are a lot of possible ways to interpret that last sentence, aren't there? Usually, the meaning is apparent from the context, but if not, there are of course ways to provide more clarity.

Possible confusion with su and how to avoid it

Since su can mean so many things, we'll sometimes want to avoid that word to make it clear who's doing the owning. We can do this by using the preposition , which means "of," but can be placed after a noun to express ownership.

We can also use subject pronouns instead of "Roberta." So instead of saying something totally correct but a bit vague, like:

We can be more precise, if needed:

And so on, with other subject pronouns: de ellos, de usted. This construction also provides more emphasis than just saying "Es su artículo."

When to avoid Spanish possessive adjectives

The most common mistakes made by English speakers with Spanish possessive adjectives actually involve using them too much!

When you have a reflexive verb, that means that the action in question is already "going back" onto the subject, so you don't need (and shouldn't use) a possessive adjective. If I want to inform people that I'm washing my hands, I would not use a possessive adjective as we do in English:

Rather, I should say:

Also remember that the words you've just learned are adjectives, meaning they must be followed by a noun. So, if you're a hypocritical Spanish fierce egalitarian, you can't say:
¡Todo lo que ves aquí es mí!
In this case, you should rather use your Spanish possessive pronouns (which are, incidentally, identical to the long-form Spanish possessive adjectives discussed in the last section of this article):

Repeating Spanish possessive adjectives

Unlike in English, in Spanish you generally repeat the possessive adjectives when talking about more than one object that's owned.

The exception to this when you're using two nouns to describe the same actual thing.

Es mi amante y mejor amigo.
(He is my lover and best friend.) - Talking about a single amazing person who fulfills these two functions.

For Occasional Use: Long-form Spanish Possessive Adjectives

There are also long-form Spanish adjectives. They're used after nouns and can sometimes sound a bit more literary, but do get used in standard speech, often for emphasis. They modify according to the gender and number of the thing being possessed, as follows:

Here's how they look in context:

I'm guessing you feel possessive over a few things in your life as well; now you should have the vocabulary to say so!

Whether you're teasing the communist anarchists in your life, or just making it clear who has what, I wish you the best with discussing all of this in Spanish.

Mose Hayward writes travel advice-including why those huge backpacker bags are terrible for visiting Europe and South America.

If you liked this post, something tells me that you'll love FluentU, the best way to learn Spanish with real-world videos.
Experience Spanish immersion online!

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You Say "Tomatoes," I Say "They're My Tomatoes!": The Beginner's Guide to Spanish Possessive Adjectives

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An anarchist communist friend in Spain tells me that someday we'll all live together joyously without any concept of private ownership.What's mine will be hers, and yours, and theirs, and ours.So, I asked, does that mean I can send a bunch of squatters to stay in her fabulous beachside apart

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Este sitio web es único porque contiene información sobre los temas de las preguntas 67, 68 y 69 en nuestro libro de texto. El artículo discute brevemente la construcción de los apellidos españoles. Aunque no da información sobre el origen de los apodos tradicionales españoles, este artículo contiene una tabla que muestra algunos de los apodos masculinos y femeninos comunes, así como el nombre original del que se derivó. También, este sitio web discute cómo los apellidos que terminan con-es/-ez indican el significado de 'hijo de'.

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Following an ancient tradition, when a child is born, he/she receives the first surname from the father and the second surname is the first surname of the mother. In Portuguese speaking countries also use two family names, but for them the mother's surname comes first.

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Este video contiene información muy interesante y útil sobre la relación entre los sustantivos de género en latín y las lenguas romances. Discute los géneros masculino, femenino y neutro en latín vulgar, así como los finales masculinos y femeninos modernos utilizados en una variedad de lenguas romances. Algunos de estas lenguas incluyen Español, Portugués, Italiano, Sardo, catalán, francés y rumano. La información en este video se relaciona directamente con la pregunta 71 en nuestro libro de texto.

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Este video contiene información sobre apodos españoles. Proporciona cuatro maneras diferentes de cómo se forman los apodos españoles: por profesión, apariencia física, acortamiento y diminutivos. Las dos últimas maneras fueron discutidas en la pregunta 69 de nuestro libro de texto. La sección del video que discute nombres cortos incluye algunos apodos comunes, por ejemplo: Diego --> Yago, Guillermo --> Memo, Ignacio --> Nacho, Jesús --> Chai, y como nuestro libro de texto menciona José --> Pepe.

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Spanish Nicknames, Nombre Cortos and Apodos

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Información sobre género en la lengua español

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Información sobre género en la lengua español

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Me gusta este artículo porque contiene información que discute la importancia y relevancia de tener sustantivos masculinos y femeninos en español. Muchos sitios web sólo dicen que español tiene estos formas pero no explican por qué. Los diez hechos incluidos en este artículo proporcionan una buena variedad de información sobre el tema. Algunos ejemplos incluyen cómo se utiliza el género para clasificar los sustantivos en categorías, reglas gramaticales generales, excepciones a estas reglas y diferencias entre diferentes culturas y épocas.

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Here are 10 facts about Spanish gender that will be useful as you learn Spanish.

1. Gender is a way of classifying nouns into two categories. All Spanish nouns are either masculine or feminine, although there are a few that are ambiguous, meaning that Spanish speakers are inconsistent in which gender is applied to them. Also, some nouns, particularly those that refer to people, can be masculine or feminine depending on whether they refer to a male or female, respectively. The grammatical significance of gender is that adjectives and articles referring to nouns must be of the same gender as the nouns they refer to.

2. Spanish also has a neuter gender that applies to some definite articles and pronouns. By using the definite article , it is possible to make an adjective function as if it were a neuter noun. The neuter pronouns generally are used to refer to ideas or concepts rather than to things or people.

3. Except when referring to people and some animals, the gender of a noun is arbitrary. Thus, things associated with females can be masculine (for example, un vestido, a dress). And things associated with males (for example, virilidad, masculinity) can be feminine. Although word endings are often associated with gender, there is no way to predict a noun's gender from its meaning. For example, silla and mesa (chair and table, respectively) are feminine, but taburete and sofá (stool and couch) are masculine. Even synonyms can be of different genders: Two of the words for eyeglasses, gafas and anteojos, are feminine and masculine, respectively.

4. Although feminine words as a general rule are used to refer to females, and masculine words to females, it is also possible to do the opposite. The words for man and woman, hombre and mujer, respectively, are the gender you'd expect, as are words for girl and boy, chica and chico. But it is important to remember that the gender of a noun attaches to the word itself rather than to what it refers. So persona, the word for person, is feminine regardless of who it refers to, and the word for baby, bebé, is always masculine. And if you're talking about the love of your life, el amor de tu vida, the word for love ( amor) is masculine regardless of whether that special someone is a he or she.

5. Spanish grammar has a preference for the masculine gender. The masculine might be considered the "default" gender. Where masculine and feminine forms of a word exist, it is the masculine that is listed in dictionaries. Also, new words that enter the language are typically masculine unless there's a reason to treat the word otherwise. For example, the imported English words marketing, suéter (sweater) and sándwich are all masculine. Web, referring to a computer network, is feminine, probably because it as a shortened form of página web (web page), and página is feminine.

6. Many words have separate masculine and feminine forms. Most if not all of these are used for referring to people or animals. In most cases for singular nouns and adjectives, the feminine form is made by adding an a to the masculine form or changing an ending e or o to a. A few examples:

amigo (male friend), amiga (female friend)

profesor (male teacher), profesora (female teacher)

sirviente (male servant), sirvienta (female servant)

A few words have irregular differences:

7. There are a few exceptions to the rule that words ending in o are masculine and many exceptions to the rule that words ending in a are feminine. Among the feminine o words are mano (hand), foto (photo) and disco (disco). Among the masculine a words are numerous words of Greek origin such as dilema (dilemma), drama, tema (subject) and holograma (hologram). Also, many a words that refer to occupations or types of people - among them atleta (athlete), hipócrita (hypocrite) and dentista (dentist) - can be either masculine or feminine.

8. As the culture in which Spanish is spoken changes, so is the way the language treats gender as it applies to people. For example, at one time la doctora almost always referred to a doctor's wife, and la jueza referred to the wife of the judge. But these days, those same terms usually mean a female doctor and judge, respectively. Also, it is becoming more common to use terms such as la doctor (rather than la doctora) and la juez (rather than la jueza) when referring to female professionals, and in some areas these forms come across as more respectful. These changes parallel the growing use in English of "actor" rather than "actress" when referring to female thespians; nowadays in Spanish, la actor is sometimes replacing la actriz for female actors.

9. The masculine form is used to refer to mixed groups of males and females. Thus, depending on the context, los muchachos can mean either the children or the boys. Las muchachas can refer only to the girls. Even padres ( padre is the word for father) can refer to parents, not just fathers. However, the use of both masculine and feminine forms - such as muchachos y muchachas for "boys and girls" rather than just muchachos - is growing more common.

10. In colloquial written Spanish, it is becoming more common to use "@" as a way of indicating that a word can refer to either males of females. In traditional Spanish, if you were writing a letter to a group of friends, you might open with the masculine form, " Queridos amigos," for "Dear friends" even if your friends are of both sexes. Some writers these days would use " Querid@s amig@s" instead. Note that the at symbol, known as the arroba in Spanish, looks something like a combination of an a and an o.

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10 Facts You Need To Know About Spanish Gender

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Here are 10 facts about Spanish gender that will be useful as you learn Spanish. 1. Gender is a way of classifying nouns into two categories. All Spanish nouns are either masculine or feminine, although there are a few that are ambiguous, meaning that Spanish speakers are inconsistent in which gender is applied to them.

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Este artículo describe los principios básicos del idioma Ladino como su definición, idiomas de origen, contexto histórico, contexto cultural e impacto social. Dos partes interesantes de este artículo discuten la literatura y cómo el idioma "Ladino" fue nombrado. Encontré la sección que discute cómo se nombra el idioma y los diversos nombres utilizados para describir este idioma -por ejemplo Spanyol, Judezmo, y judió/Jidió- muy interesante. También me pareció interesante encontrar que Ladino es un idioma que se centra principalmente en la tradición oral. Reconocí la categoría de literatura las "kharjas, que estudiamos en el SPN 328C que representa una intersección cultural entre español y árabe.

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Judeo-Spanish -- also known as Ladino -- mixes 16th-century Spanish, Hebrew, Turkish and other languages.

Judeo-Spanish (JS) is a language of Hispanic stock spoken and written by Jews of Spanish origin. Its phonology, morphology, and lexicon derive, for the most part, from pre-16th-century Spanish, and, as with other Jewish languages, the influence of Hebrew is felt, particularly in lexical areas associated with religious observance and practice, and, more restrictedly, in affective and taboo uses of Hebrew words and concepts.

Through contact with the languages of those Mediterranean countries in which the Jews settled after their expulsion from Spain in 1492, a number of lexical items, as well as a smaller number of morphological and syntactical elements, have entered the language from Turkish, Arabic, French, and, to a lesser extent, Italian.

The Expulsion From Spain

Upon leaving Spain whole communities of Jews headed east through Italy to the lands of the Ottoman Empire at the invitation of Sultan Bayazid, and important centers, which survived until the Second World War, grew in present-day Turkey, Greece, Israel, and Egypt, with smaller ones in Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Romania, and the island of Rhodes. Their speech is described by linguists as eastern JS.

For a century or so prior to the Expulsion, persecuted Spanish Jews also found shelter in North Africa, and speech communities grew along the northern coast of Morocco. The speech of this region, which bears a marked resemblance to its eastern counterpart both phonetically and in the retention of Old Spanish lexemes, is denominated western.

The 20th-century witnessed the annihilation of many of the eastern Mediterranean communities as a result of Nazi persecution, and in the late 1950s the fear of persecution also threatened many of the Moroccan communities. And so, with the displacement and dispersal of the old JS-speaking communities from their traditional centers, largely towards Israel but also to Europe, North and South America, speakers came into contact with, and eventually adopted, the language of their new surroundings.

Naming Ladino

A current debate on JS nomenclature raises some interesting points about linguistic evolution and linguistic consciousness. In the eastern Mediterranean the language is referred to by a variety of names. In general, two persons who speak the same language do not feel the need to identify to one another the language they are speaking; however, the need for identification does arise when they come into contact with non-native speakers. This could well explain why, following the break-up of traditional communities in the eastern Mediterranean in the early 19th century, the language is confusingly referred to by a variety of names.

Spanyol is perhaps the most commonly used among speakers of the language, with its unmistakable reference to their linguistic and cultural origins. Its widespread use is confirmed by the Modern Hebrew coinage Spanyolit (Spanyol + Heb. suffix for forming language names), the name by which the language was referred to until quite recently in Israel. Ladino, probably the earliest attested name, has the widest currency today, and certainly so in Israel where the largest speech-communities in the modern world are to be found. The term has another application which is discussed below.

The names Judezmo and Judió/Jidió, which are registered in some 19th- and early 20th-century communal publications, clearly have the function of underlining a Jewish identification among speakers. Judezmo is the Spanish word for "Judaism", and, for this reason, is used by certain scholars today who wish, on ideological grounds, to draw a semantic equation between Judezmo and Yiddish; however, it seems rather late in the day to rename the language. Faced by this terminological plurality, scholarship has generally opted for the more descriptive and neutral "Judeo-Spanish."

In the western Mediterranean, the language is frequently referred to as hakitia (formed on Moroccan Arabic haka "to converse" + diminutive suffix), although it is interesting to note that with the renewed impact of Modern Spanish in this area in the 19th century, the term is reserved by speakers to describe an artificial language of humor which abounds in archaic forms of Spanish and Hispanicized Arabisms, or else to the language as spoken in some distant past. However, though it is more similar to Modern Spanish than its eastern counterpart, the language continues to preserve many characteristic features.

Up to the beginning of the 20th century the language was almost always written in Hebrew characters using the standard Hebrew alphabet with some modifications, mostly in the form of diacritical marks, to accommodate Hispanic phonemes. The earliest texts appeared in "square" characters either with or without vowels, but the bulk of printed material is in a cursive (rabbinic) script. Some early manuscripts preserve a cursive script known as solitreo, which is still in use among native speakers in personal correspondence, for example.

Origins of Ladino

Two views about the origins of JS prevail. One holds that Jews in medieval Spain spoke the same language as their non-Jewish contemporaries, while drawing on Hebrew terms to express religio-cultural concepts not current in Spanish (for example, Shabbat), and preserving, at the same time, a number of archaisms. The language thus acquires a separate linguistic identity only after 1492.

The second view, which is gaining greater currency, maintains that JS, while being essentially a form of spoken medieval Spanish, had linguistic features of its own long before 1492, owing not merely to the presence of Hebrew words, but also to the peculiar sociolinguistic conditions which affected Jewish communities during their long history in the Iberian Peninsula, and to the greater linguistic receptivity by Jews to the waning Arabic culture. Thus the Arabic borrowing ahad ("the first [day]") is retained for "Sunday" in preference to the Spanish domingo (from Latin dies Dominicus "the Lord's day"), with its Christian connotation; ahad appears in medieval texts and continues to be in use in both eastern and western JS.

Ladino Literature

The first editions of the JS Bible translations appeared in the 16th century, although these are believed to reflect an earlier tradition elaborated by the Spanish Jews long before their expulsion. The language of these texts is usually referred to in scholarship as Ladino: it is characterized by an artificiality which permeates, especially, the lexicon and syntax, and which is the result of a method of translation where the strictest adherence to the Hebrew original is the rule. It is generally accepted that these texts do not reflect the spoken language, although clearly they share common features with it.

Two centuries later, the first complete Ladino translation of the Old Testament in Hebrew characters (1739-45) was edited in Constantinople by Abraham Assa, and editions of it continued to be produced throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. This highly literal method of translation was so widely accepted that it was even adopted by Christian missionaries in 1873 in their JS Bible translation.

The same method is also reflected by translations of liturgical works which first appeared in the sixteenth century and have continued to do so up to the present. Among them are the Ladino translations of the daily and festival prayerbooks, manuscript fragments of which date from before the Expulsion, the Haggadah, and the Pirkei Avot [Ethics of the Patriarchs, a talmudic book]. Halachic [Jewish legal] literature dating from the 16th century also displays this translation language and incorporates much Hebrew phraseology; however, the language does not show the same degree of rigid adherence to Hebrew as that found in the Ladino Bible and liturgical translations. Among these is a selection from Yosef Caro's Shulhan Arukh [a major code of Jewish law] entitled Shulhan Hapan im (Salonica, 1568).

The reader of JS, as opposed to Ladino, literature may be struck by the fact that the language he is reading reflects a spoken rather than a literary variety. The sensation is of a strong tradition of oral literature, which is eventually committed to paper. A notable case is that of the traditional ballads known as romances, which comprise many medieval Spanish examples of the genre, as well as more recent ones based on the traditional model. But JS texts in Hebrew characters also number among the earliest witnesses of Spanish literary activity. The kharjas incorporated into the poetry of such major figures of the Golden Age of Hebrew verse in Spain as Yehudah Halevi in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, are an example of this as is a fifteenth-century fragment of an early JS poem on the biblical story of Joseph, Coplas de Yocef.

The best-known and most widely translated JS work of the post exilic period is the Me'am Lo'ez (1730), which was begun by Yaacov Khuli and continued over a long period, in series form, by a number of different authors writing under the same title. A midrashic work, the Me'am Lo'ez is structured mainly on the Pentateuch and spans the sources of Jewish thought. The beginning of the 19th century saw the growth of a secular literature, which was popular, for the most part, and included a sizable corpus of original compositions such as novels, short stories, plays, and popular histories as well as adaptations of major European novels of the period, where the impact of French on JS is significantly felt. This is also observed in the JS press which began to flourish in the eastern Mediterranean at the same time; only a small number of newspapers continue to appear today.

There can be no doubt, therefore, as to the slow disappearance of JS as a spoken language. Traditional linguistic registers are gradually being overtaken by those of the co-territorial languages, and the language is no longer transmitted to succeeding generations in the normal manner.

Today, only small clusters of native speakers, usually of an advanced age, are to be found scattered around the globe. However, although the spoken language may have been the principal vehicle for the transmission of JS culture up to now, as the language "dies," more and more people seem to be taking to the pen in order to write in and about it.

At first sight this may appear paradoxical. However, a spoken language looks partly to the written word for conservation, and this becomes, in turn, a different vehicle for the transmission of a culture and guards against its annihilation.

Reprinted with permission from The Blackwell Companion to Jewish Culture:From the Eighteenth Century to the Present, Edited by Glenda Ambranson (Blackwell Publishers).

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Judeo-Spanish -- also known as Ladino -- mixes 16th-century Spanish, Hebrew, Turkish and other languages. Judeo-Spanish (JS) is a language of Hispanic stock spoken and written by Jews of Spanish origin.

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Este sitio web incluye información detallada sobre las características y rasgos de la familia lingüística indoeuropea. El artículo comienza enumerando los países en los que los ciudadanos hablan lenguas indoeuropeas hoy en día. El artículo describe entonces las divisiones en esta familia de idiomas, así como las diez ramas diferentes dentro de esta familia. La parte más interesante del artículo es la sección que discute las similitudes entre varios idiomas en esta familia. Proporciona dos tablas muy organizadas que contienen palabras de origen similares de lenguas indoeuropeas que abarcan desde sánscrito a latín a albanés.

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The Indo European language family is widely used in many parts of Europe, the Americas, and in Southern and Western Asia. It comprises 446 living languages, representing 6.2% of all languages in the world. Some three billion or 46.32% speak the languages belong to the Indo European language family. It is believed that they came from the Proto-Indo European language, a hypothetical language that is already extinct.

Historians posit that the earliest speakers of the Proto-Indo European language inhabited places in Ukraine and parts of Southern Russia and the Caucasus, then moved on to other parts of Europe as well as India. Linguistic experts think that it was around 3400 BCE when the unity of the Proto-Indo-European language occurred.

Today's native distribution of Indo European language family encompasses 64 countries. The language family has several branches and sub-branches. The most widely spoken are English, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, French, German, Hindustani, Punjabi, Bengali and Persian.

Divisions that occurred

Through the course of time, the language family grew because similar dialects spoken in different countries that may be mutually comprehensible were declared different from one another. Norwegian, for example is related to Danish and Bulgarian is related to Macedonian. The same happened to Czech and Slovak as well as Serbian and Croatian. Afrikaans is a variant of Dutch. In Belgium, instead of using Walloon and Flemish, French and Dutch were declared the official languages.

In some countries, an official language could be of external origin while the local dialects are declared as variations. Switzerland's official language is German while the more widely used German spoken dialects were groups into what's called Schwytzertütsch.

Branches of the Indo European language family

There are 10 main branches of the Indo European language family, including Anatolian, Albanian, Armenian, Balto-Slavic, Celtic, Greek, Germanic, Indo-Iranian, Italic and Tocharian. Each one covers different areas in the world. However, some of these branches are already extinct. Today, the largest among the Indo European language family branch is Indo-Iranian. Some of the language branches are also composed of a few sub-branches, which are detailed below.

The Anatolian branch was dominant in Turkey's Asian portion. It was also dominant is some parts of northern Syria. Among the languages belonging to this branch, the most famous was Hittite. At the Hattusas site, which was the capital of the Hittite Kingdom, several Hittite finds were discovered in 1906 CE. In the remains of a royal archive, various fragments and 10,000 cuneiform tablets from mid to late second millennium BCE were found. Examples of the language families that were found were Lydian, Lycian, Palaic and Luvian. These are the oldest surviving examples of the Indo European language from 1800 BCE. However, all the languages of the Anatolian branch are already extinct.

There are two sub-branches of the Indo-Iranian branch - Iranian and Indic. The languages belonging to this branch are commonly used in Iran, Pakistan and India, and areas close to these countries. Some of the languages have traveled to some parts along the Black Sea up to Western China.

Sanskrit, which is still used today as a ceremonial language, belongs to the Indic sub-branch. Its meaning is ''refined'' or ''perfected.'' The oldest variety of these languages is called Vedic Sanskrit, which was used in the Vedas. These are Ancient India's collection of religious texts and hymns. The speakers of Indic came from Central Asia in 1500 BCE and entered the Indian subcontinent. A record of the language migration is found in hymn 1.131 of the Rig-Veda.

One language that is part of the Iranian sub-branch is Avestan. The oldest preserved language of this sub-branch is Old Avestan, also called Gathic Avestan, which is considered as Sanskrit's sister. Old Avestan was used in the religious texts of early Zoroastrian. Old Persian is another part of the Iranian sub-branch. From the late 6 th century BCE, it was the language used in the Achaemenid dynasty's royal inscriptions.

Today, many of the languages in the Indic sub-branch are spoken in Pakistan and India, like Bengali, Punjabi and Hindi-Urdu. In Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Iran and Iraq, Kurdish, Pashto and Farsi or modern Persian are commonly spoken.

Greek is a collection of different dialects. It has over 3,000 years of written history. It is dominant in the Aegean Sea and surrounding areas, the Peloponnese peninsula and the Balkans' southern end.

One of the earliest evidence was Mycenaean, which was used by the Mycenaean civilization and was inscribed on ceramic vessels and clay tablets found in Crete. The language used syllabic script due to the absence of an alphabetic written system.

The very first alphabetic inscription of the Greek language appeared around the early part of the 8 th century BCE, which was around the time the Odyssey and the Iliad, written by Homer, were produced in the present from. Greek was composed of several dialects but Athens was culturally supreme at that time. Thus, Attic, which was a dialect of Athens, became the standard during 480-323 BCE. The Attic dialect was used by several authors including Plato, Euripides, Aristotle and Aristophanes.

Dominant in the Italian peninsula was Italic, although the Italic people were not from Italy. They initially came from another location and crossed the Alps to enter Italy. Latin, which is a part of this branch of Indo European language family, used to be spoken by pastoral tribes that inhabited the middle of the Italian peninsula.

Rome boosted the growth of Latin. Several Roman authors such as Marcus Aurelius, Pliny, Seneca, Cicero and Ovid used Classical Latin in their works. Former languages belonging to this branch, which are all extinct, are Oscan, South Picene, Umbrian, Sabellic and Faliscan. The surviving languages belonging to this branch are the Romance languages: Italian, French, Portuguese, Catalan, Romanian and Spanish.

The Celtic branch has Insular Celtic and Continental Celtic as sub-branches. Several Celtic-speaking tribes spread across areas that comprise what we know today as Western Czech Republic, Austria and Southern Germany in 600 BCE. They also traveled to other places such as the British Isles, Spain, Belgium and France before proceeding to the Balkans, Northern Italy and further. By the early part of the 1st century BCE they were dominating a large part of Europe. Julius Caesar conquered Ancient France (Gaul) in 50 BCE followed by the conquest of Britain by Emperor Claudius. Continental Celtic eventually died, leaving Insular Celtic to dominate. Gaulish was a main language of Continental Celtic.

The British Isles became a development ground for Insular Celtic, which flourished in Ireland, as the country was geographically isolated. The remaining Celtic languages still in use today that came from Insular Celtic are Breton, Welsh, Scottish Gaelic and Irish Gaelic.

The Germanic branch of the Indo European language family has three sub-branches - West Germanic (Old High German, Old Saxon and Old English) and North Germanic (Old Norse, the grandfather of all the modern Scandinavian language). The third one is East Germanic, which is now extinct.

The Germanic-speaking people inhabited the areas along Southern Scandinavia up to the North Baltic Sea coast. They came into with the Balto-Slavic tribes living in the east and the Finnic speakers residing in the north. The interaction increased the Germanic language lexicon, as it borrowed from the two other tribes.

Most Vikings spoke several variants of Old Norse and various Nordic pre-Christian Germanic folklore and mythology were written in an Old Norse dialect called Old Icelandic.

The modern survivors from the West Germanic sub-branch are Yiddish, Frisian, Dutch and English. On the North Germanic sub-branch, the modern languages include Swedish, Norwegian, Icelandic, Faroese and Danish.

Where the Armenian-speaking people originated has not been established yet. Many linguistic historians think that they, together with the Phrygians came from the Balkans and entered Anatolia around the latter part of the 2nd millennium BCE. The Armenian settled near Lake Van (present day Turkey) that was part of Urartu.

It was invaded by the Assyrians in the 8 th century BCE, and the Armenians had control of the area before the coming of the Medes. During the reign of the Achaemenid Empire, the area became the governing region of Persia. The Persian language in turn has a very strong impact on the Armenian language, which caused many scholars to think that Armenian was part of the Iranian group.

The Tocharian-speaking people resided in Western China's Taklamakan Desert but their history is unknown. Popular Buddhist works that were translations of Tocharian texts were the only evidence of their existence. The translated works were from the 6th to 8th centuries CE although none of them described the Tocharians. Two different languages, called Tocharian A and Tocharian B were discovered. Remnants of Tocharian A were found in places where evidence of Tocharian B texts were also found, suggesting that Tocharian A became extinct and only kept alive for poetic or religious purposes while Tocharian B was still used as an administrative language.

The weaving patterns and style of the clothes of well-preserved mummies found in the Taklamakan Desert were similar to the cloths woven by Central Europe's Hallstatt culture. Genetic and physical analyses showed resemblances of the mummies with people living in Western Eurasia.

This branch of Indo European language family no longer exists.

The Balto-Slavic branch has Baltic and Slavic for its sub-branches. In the late Bronze Age, the Balts occupied areas surrounding Western Poland up to the Ural Mountains and later had settlements in some areas near the Baltic Sea. The Balts located in the northern part of their territory had contact with the Finnic tribes. The language of the Finnic tribes was not included in the Indo European language family but they borrowed a number of words from the Baltic language. However, the Balts' territory was considerably reduced by the migrations of Slavic and Gothic tribes.

On the other hand, the Slavs were residing close to the Western Polish borders to the Dnieper River leading to Belarus. They increased their territory in the 6th century CE through the Balkans and Greece. Some of them moved further east close to the Iranian territory resulting in the Slavs borrowing many words into their own lexicon. When they went westward and encountered the Germanic tribes, they again borrowed heavily from them.

But today, only Lithuanian and Latvian survived among the Baltic languages. Russian, Slovak, Serbian, Polish, Croatian, Czech and Bulgarian are the modern survivors of the Slavic languages.

Among the branches of the Indo European language family that has a written form is Albanian. The exact origin is still subject to speculation. One group thinks that Albanian came from Illyrian but since information about it is scare, things cannot be confirmed or denied. Another group believes Albanian is from Thracian, which is already extinct.

Modern Albanian is the official language in Albania and in other parts of the former Yugoslavia and in small parts of the Republic of Morocco, Greece and Southern Italy.

Features of Indo European language family

Many scholars and linguistic experts have done various studies about the relationships of languages within the same family since the early part of the 12th century. For example, because the Romance Languages - French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Romanian and Catalan all descended from Latin, many words are similar. Slavic and German languages may not look related but there are several discoveries that show their relationship. Later, scholars noticed several cognates that indicate the relationship between Romance and Germanic languages. One of the most common examples is the English word ''mother,'' which is ''madre'' in Spanish and Italian, ''mère'' in French, ''mãe'' in Portuguese, ''mare'' in Catalan and ''mutter'' in German.

In 1785 William Jones, a judge who turned into a linguistic scholar, discovered that he could guess the meanings of some words in Sanskrit because he already knew Greek and Latin. The strongest relationship between cognates is in the numbers, as follows:

Courtesy of http://www.applet-magic.com/indoeuropean.htm

Sanskrit, according to William Jones, is fascinating. One other thing he discovered early was that the Sanskrit term ''mater,'' translates to ''mother'' in English. "Padre" in Spanish, is ''pitar'' in Sanskrit and ''father'' in English. ''Duhitar'' is daughter and ''sunu'' is son.

Below are words that have common origin from this language family:

The Indo European language family is the largest among the language families existing today. It includes some of the most important languages in the world, such as the Romance languages, as well as English, German, Russian and several languages spoken in India and surrounding areas. Their development is fascinating and their relationships become apparent upon closer inspection.

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Language Focus: A Closer Look at the Indo European Language Family

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The Indo European language family is widely used in many parts of Europe, the Americas, and in Southern and Western Asia. It comprises 446 living languages, representing 6.2% of all languages in the world. Some three billion or 46.32% speak the languages belong to the Indo European language family.

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ASL vs. SSL (Lenguaje de señas español vs. Lenguaje de señas americano)

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ASL vs. SSL (Lenguaje de señas español vs. Lenguaje de señas americano)

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Aunque no pude encontrar un video que compare las diferencias en el lenguaje de señas utilizado en los diferentes países hispanohablantes, como se discutió en el libro de texto, pude encontrar este video que compara directamente el lenguaje de señas español y americano. Me parece interesante que algunas expresiones simples como "Hola" y "Buenos días" son muy similares entre los dos; sin embargo, otras expresiones igualmente simples como "¿Cómo estás?" y "malo" difieren significativamente entre sí. Lo que me interesa más es que las señales de "soy sordo" son exactamente el mismo!

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American vs Spanish Sign Language: Beginners Vocab

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En comparación con otros artículos, este artículo describe los conceptos de leísmo, loísmo, y laísmo simplemente sin embargo, con precisión. Como grupo estos tres conceptos se describen como "variaciones de Español estándar que implican los pronombres de objeto de tercera persona." Disfruté la tabla utilizada en el artículo que incluía información y ejemplos sobre número y género, objetos directos y objetos indirectos en términos de su aplicación a estos conceptos. El artículo discute sus usos en contexto social y cultural y proporciona ejemplos de oraciones y problemas de práctica que los lectores pueden usar.

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When you are learning a language, you have to deal with correct grammar and vocabulary, but you also have to bear in mind its common usage. One main problem not only for Spanish learners but also for native speakers is the linguistic phenomenon known as " leísmo", closely related to " loísmo, and laísmo ": they are variations from standard Spanish involving the third person object pronouns.

In order to avoid them, we have to bear in mind the form and function of these pronouns in Spanish; take a look at this chart:
Leísmo
" Le" and " les" function both as masculine and feminine indirect object in a sentence. In " di un regalo." (I gave her a present.), the pronoun can refer either to a man or a woman in Spanish and it is grammatically correct.

But in some cases you can find sentences such as:

- Vi a Juan. Le vi. (I saw Juan. I saw him)

- A esa chica no le he visto nunca. (I have never seen this girl before.)

This is what we call "": when we use " le/les" as a direct object. Although it is grammatically incorrect in all cases, the RAE accepts " le " as direct object if the pronoun is referred only to a male person, but never to female or things. This variation is much extended in the north and the centre of Spain, but not in Latin America.

The courtesy "" is also accepted by the RAE: it is the same exchange between object pronouns, in this case associated to the courtesy second person pronoun " usted/ustedes",especially when speaking to the person le refers to. We will find it both in singular and plural when addressing with respect either male or female: "No había reconocido." (I hadn't recognised you).
Laísmo
" La" and " Las" are the feminine direct object pronouns: " Quiero a María. La quiero." (I love Maria. I love her.) But in some areas they are uses as indirect object pronouns (yes, exactly the opposite linguistic phenomenon of ""). So you can hear a Spanish native speaker saying " dije unas palabras " (I told them some words), which sounds terrible! It is used regionally in the centre of Spain and some parts of Central America.
Loísmo
" Lo/ los" are the masculine direct object pronouns, which can also be found being incorrectly used instead of " le/les". A sentence such as " Lo di una bofetada" (I gave him a slap) is a good example of it. Both laísmo and loísmo are considered as vulgarisms.

Don´t worry if you have problems deciding which pronoun to use, because this is a hard task even for native speakers. There are some problematic verbs you´ll have to ckeck to avoid these linguistic deviations: avisar, ayudar, curar, disparar, escribir, llamar, molestar, obedecer, pegar, saludar... and some more..

How about doing some practice now? Here you have some sentences to fill in with le, les, lo, los, la, las:

____sugirieron algunos cambios a sus jefas.

A Laura __he visto muy contenta.

No __diremos nada a tus compañeras.

A mi hermana no __gusta que _____trates así.

Compró el libro y _____ leyó en solo dos días.

No ____ han hecho ningún regalo.

A mis amigas ____ he dejado en la esquina.

A él no _____ han aceptado en la academia.

El examen _____ entregué enseguida.

A Javier _____ regalé un disco.

Preferí no contar____ toda la verdad.

____ presté un lápiz y no me ____ ha devuelto.

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Problems using la, le, lo (laísmo, leísmo, loísmo)

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When you are learning a language, you have to deal with correct grammar and vocabulary, but you also have to bear in mind its common usage. One main problem not only for Spanish learners but also for native speakers is the linguistic phenomenon known as " leísmo", closely related to " loísmo, and laísmo ": they are variations from standard Spanish involving the third person object pronouns.

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Estadísticas de los idiomas utilizados en Internet

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Estadísticas de los idiomas utilizados en Internet

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Esta tabla da información básica sobre los diez idiomas utilizado mas frecuentemente en el Internet. Lo que me gusta sobre esta fuente es que da una variedad de estadísticas. Por ejemplo, la columna que muestra la tasa de crecimiento en los diez idiomas principales en Internet me interesaba porque me sorprendió que el árabe mostró el mayor crecimiento durante este tiempo. Otra cosa que me interesaba es que el 76,3% de los usuarios de Internet en el mundo utilizan uno de estos diez idiomas.

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Top Ten Internet Languages in The World - Internet Statistics

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The top ten language groups of Internet users are currently English, Chinese Mandarin, Spanish, Arabic, Portuguese, Japanese, Russian, German, French, and Malay.

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Como mencioné anteriormente hay una combinación de Hindi e inglés relacionado con la alternancia de código y se llama Hindinglish. Hindlinglish es utilizado con frecuencia por los inmigrantes de la India, así como la nueva generación de niños en la India que tienen más tienen la oportunidad de aprender inglés en la escuela o que aprenden debido a la exposición al inglés en Internet de fuentes como YouTube, Facebook Etc. La alternancia de código en Hindinglish se puede observar en canciones de Bollywood. Debido a la creciente globalización de Internet y la difusión del inglés, las palabras en inglés se utilizan a menudo en partes de canciones de Bollywood. Las películas de Bollywood son populares en la India y en todo el mundo. Este vídeo es un ejemplo de una canción que contiene la forma "intra" de alternancia de código.

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'Gallan Goodiyaan' Full VIDEO Song | Dil Dhadakne Do | T-Series

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¿Cuál es la abreviatura apropiada para el texto de la palabra "Cállate!"?
a. qn
b. kyat!
c. callte!