You may hear all the time, "el espa=F1ol se pronuncia como se escribe,"
and vice versa. There is some truth to this statement, as you probably
understand what people mean when they say it; nonetheless, there are
many things that people say in our sites that would never be
acceptable in a term paper at the Universidad de Costa Rica. For those
of you who sometimes wonder whether you are hearing standard Spanish
in your sites, here is an unordered list of ten examples of common non-
standard language in Costa Rica .
Strong vowel, 'e', changing to a weak vowel, 'i'. This phenomenon is
easiest to spot in verbs that, in the infinitive form, end in '-ear'.
The verb 'chinear', for example, is most often heard as [chiniar].
This weakening of the 'e' to an 'i' changes the number of syllables in
the word from three to two , making the difference quite noticeable.
(That is, if you are aware that both forms exist)
M=E1s + superlative. The use of 'm=E1s' with a superlative is something
that, just like most other things, when heard often enough, begins to
sound normal. "Se puso m=E1s peor todav=EDa," someone might say to you. In
this case, the 'm=E1s' makes the sentence redundant, being the rough
equivalent of saying in English, "it became even more worse." This can
be said more better.
M=E1s + bueno or m=E1s + malo. Most of you probably know that the
superlatives for 'good' and 'bad' in Spanish are single words, 'mejor'
and 'peor' respectively, but after a while 'm=E1s bueno' or 'm=E1s malo'
just might sound normal.
Irregular preterit forms in second and third person plurals. I am
referring to the verbs ending in '-jeron', such as dijeron,
tradujeron, condujeron, etc. These irregular forms, in spoken language
(at least in my site), often revert back to the regular verb ending
'(j)-ieron'. Use these verbs as you wish in your site, but keep in
mind that 'they said' or 'you all said' is written 'dijeron' in
Spanish.
Venir v. ir. The difference between 'venir' and 'ir' can sometimes be
confusing, and Costa Ricans don't seem to help matters by their
overuse of the former at the expense of the latter . One time after an
English class my host mother said to me "se le vino un alumno". I was
a bit confused, because I didn't remember seeing anybody new in class.
Then she reminded me that my host brother left class early because he
was feeling ill. We then had a friendly discussion about the wording
of her initial statement. "Se me fue un alumno," I insisted. I still
do insist.
'Traer' in the preterit form. In the third person forms of the
preterit, instead of using the standard 'trajo' for the singular and
'trajeron' for the plural, some people use the forms 'tray=F3' and
'trayeron' respectively. This might come from a natural association
with the verb 'caer', due to the same '-aer' ending. The third person
preterit forms of 'caer' are indeed 'cay=F3' and 'cayeron', but 'traer'
is different. I don't know why, but it is.
The verb 'copiar'. While Costa Ricans often pronounce an 'i' when the
written form is an 'e' paired with another strong vowel, I have
encountered an example that is, in a certain sense, the opposite. In
the first person present indicative form of the verb 'copiar', I have
heard many people say [copeo] instead of [copio]. By changing the 'i'
to an 'e', you end up adding a third syllable to a word that has only
two syllables in its standard form. This non-standard form also moves
the tonic syllable away from the verb stem . This does not make the
ribosomes happy. (For those who are at least slightly sane, this last
comment is a Billy Madison reference)
Gender confusion. It happens to the best of us, especially on Calle 15
and Avenida Central toward the end of a long night of partying in San
Jos=E9. Words that are feminine are often mistaken for masculine words,
and vice versa. This is sometimes so common that a non-standard form
becomes, to a certain extent, standardized. Take, for instance, the
word 'costumbre'. This word is feminine and it requires a feminine
article in its standard form. In my site, however, I have heard 'el
costumbre' many times, never recalling a time hearing 'la costumbre'.
Also, 'la calor', which is a non-standard form of 'el calor', is very
common, especially in rural areas. These gender changes occur so often
in certain areas that they become the accepted local standard. Only
time will tell whether these changes will catch on in other parts of
the Spanish-speaking world.
The subjunctive of 'haber'. This is one of my favorite verbs, which I
often say is synonymous with 'un oso'. Get it? A bear? I'm a big
idiot. Anyway, in rural Costa Rica (as well as in other countries),
the subjunctive form of the verb 'haber', 'haya', is pronounced
[haiga]. Although I have resisted acquiring this non-standard form, I
must admit that not only is it easier for me to slip in that in 'g'
sound when using the subjunctive form, but also that the non-standard
form 'haiga' is easier to understand in certain situations.
For example, in the sentence 'No creo que haya az=FAcar en el caf=E9' the
form 'haya', having preceded an [a] sound, tends to create one
syllable for the two 'a' vowels, hardly distingui****ng itself
phonetically from the indicative form 'hay' in the sentence "Creo que
hay az=FAcar en el caf=E9".
On the other hand, if we use the non-standard form 'haiga' in the
sentence we get an unmistakable subjunctive form : "Espero que haiga
az=FAcar en el caf=E9". You still might not be impressed with this word,
'haiga'. Oh well-it's your loss.
Adverbs as adjectives and adjectives as adverbs. An adverb like 'bien'
is often used as an adjective in place of 'muy'. This should come as
no surprise to you, as people probably use it all of the time, but it
is good to know that this is not formal written Spanish. I, myself,
say 'bien bueno', but my Mexican cousin, who is an incurable
grammarian, always tells me that I sound uneducated. I simply tell her
that it's because I'm from Wisconsin.
In your sites, as well as all over the Spanish-speaking world, you
will also find people using adjectives as adverbs. For instance, '=E9l
corre lento' is the most common way to say 'he runs slowly'. However,
to be grammatically-sound in written Spanish, you would need to write
'=E9l corre lentamente', 'lentamente' being the proper adverb. It might
not be easy to go against the grain, to always say adverbs where
adverbs are formally prescribed, but when you are writing you should
always use your "mente".
http://www.ruralcostarica.com/not-the-kings-spanish-2.asp
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