Andalusian Spanish

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The Andalusian dialect (also called andaluz) of European Spanish is spoken in Andalusia (including Gibraltar). There are several phonetic differences from Castilian Spanish, some of which are reflected in Andalusian-influenced Latin American Spanish. There are many regional differences within the dialect, but all varieties share certain features. Within one province, there may also be large differences in speech between rural and urban areas.

[edit] Features

In Andalusian we find a series of features such as:

Seseo (pronunciation of 'c' (before e and i) and 'z' as a 's', or more formally: the phonemes /s/ and /θ/ of standard have mixed into a single phoneme articulated [s]), although ceceo (pronunciation of 's' as 'th', or more formally: the phonemes /s/ and /θ/ of standard have mixed into a single phoneme articulated [θ]) still exists in some parts of Andalusia, mainly in Cadiz, Malaga, Huelva, Granada and some rural areas.
Intervocalic 'd' is elided in certain suffixes, especially past participles.
Final 'consonants' are usually aspirated (articulated [h]) or just omitted. In the last case, the vowel 'opens'. In Andalusian Spanish, one distinguishes la casa ([la'kasa], the house) and las casas ([lah'kasah], the houses) by a final [h], where Castilian would have [s]. There is absolutely no difference, however, between cortad (plural imperative, "cut!") and cortar (infinitive, "to cut"). In fact Andalusian has developed a new vowel system with 10 vowels: 5 short vowels (the same as in Spanish) and 5 long or open vowels (in spite of final consonants such as "s"). For example: El niño (the boy). Los niños (the boys) in Andalusian is "Lò niñò", a long vowel instead of a plural "s". Some speakers may substitute [ɑ], [ɛ], [ɪ] in for standard [as], [es], [is], respectively, in final positions.
'ch' is usually pronounced as the English phoneme 'sh' in some areas, including big cities like Seville, as in 'ècusha' instead 'escucha'.
'l' may be pronounced 'r' if it comes after the vowel inside the syllable, as in 'arma' instead of 'alma', or 'er coshe' instead of 'el coche'.
'j' is usually pronounced as the English phoneme 'h', becoming "soft", as opposed to the "hard" Castilian [x].
Words of Latin origin starting with 'h' in writing (that is, that have kept the etymological 'H' in writing) are pronounced with an initial 'j' [h] sound. However, this characteristic is limited to rural areas and the flamenco culture.
Many words of Andalusi Arabic origin that have become archaisms or unknown in general Spanish, together with multitude of sayings: eg. 'Haciendo morisquetas' (from the word 'morisco', meaning pulling faces and gesticulating, historically associated with Muslim prayers).

Andalusia is the most populated region of Spain, and there are other regions which have very similar dialects to the Andalusian such as Extremadura, Murcia, Castilla-La Mancha, or Canary Islands.

[edit] Social status

Andalusian is the language of Flamenco music. While its use is generalized across the classes of the Andalusian society, in the rest of Spain it lacks the prestige of the Castilian variant. An Andalusian accent is often the mark of the comic characters. Often, Andalusians who want to succeed in Spanish media learn to speak in the Castilian variant. An example is Malagan actor Antonio Banderas who keeps his accent in interviews and everyday life but switches to Castilian (considered the unmarked pronunciation) when playing roles not specifically Andalusian or when dubbing his Hollywood performances.

[edit] Influence

Some words pronounced in the Andalusian way have entered general Spanish with a specific name. Examples are juerga, "debauchery", that is the Andalusian pronunciation of huelga (originally "leisure", now "strike"). The Flamenco lexicon incorporates many Andalusisms: cantaor, tocaor, bailaor ("Flamenco singer, player, dancer", respectively) where the non-Flamenco generic terms are cantante, músico, bailarín. The seguidilla Flamenco genre is similarly dissimilated from the siguiriya.