The Language Chronicles: El Choro Lingüístico 💬

[Bajar para español.] Did you know that the Dalmatian language breathed its last in 1898 with the passing of its final speaker? Situated along the coast of Croatia in Dalmatia , this minority Romance language, a sister to Spanish, French, Portuguese, and Italian, found itself linguistically nestled between Romanian and Italian. Let's delve into the world of Romance languages , exploring their diversity and the fascinating tales of languages that are endangered or have faded away. The Extinct Whispers of Dalmatian Dalmatian, once spoken in the picturesque landscapes of Dalmatia, resonates as a testament to the expansive family of Romance languages. With its roots entwined with both Romanian and Italian , Dalmatian holds a unique place in its language family. The last echoes of Dalmatian can be heard in the Lord's Prayer: " Tuota nuester, che te sante intel čil, sait santificuot el naum to. Vigna to raigno. Sait fuot la voluntuot toa, coisa in čil, coisa in tiara. Duote cost

[Para español, ver abajo.] In Old Spanish , indirect object pronoun "le" (to him, her, you plural), when put together with direct object pronouns lo(s)/la(s) in the combination lelo/lela , evolved phonetically and naturally, first to diphthong lie(lo) > lle(lo)> gelo (g was pronounced like French j or s in measure), and finally to present day se lo or -selo . Note that this se only looks like reflexive se as in Mi mejor amigo se levanta a las 5 de la mañana , but its function is completely different. That's why, nowadays, we say se lo doy (I give it to him, her, you singular, you plural or them) or dáselo (give it to him, her, you, you all, them). Old Spanish: gelo do (se lo doy). If the context is not sufficient, people specify by adding on: descríbeselo a él, a ella, a ustedes, a ellas, a mi amigo, al profesor, etc. If you speak Italian, you'll notice a similar evolution happened to arrive at " glielo do " (se lo doy). -----------------------

[Défiler vers le bas pour la version en français] In Latin, a "feather" was known by two names: penna and pluma .  Spanish quickly decided to stick with pluma , the meaning of which was extended to include the concept of a writing utensil, and practically discarded penna . This is still the case in several Spanish-speaking countries, especially Mexico and Central America - but it's not the only word used for pen . Old French used penne and plume as synonyms, later broadening the meaning to the writing instrument. Although "penne" died off in French, it had already passed the word "pen" down to English. Although "plume" is no longer used for pen in modern French (today it's un stylo), it is still fossilized in some expressions like nom de plume (pen name), prendre la plume (to begin writing), avoir une belle plume (to have great writing style or nice handwriting), among others. As many of you know, "pluma" for pen may not

[This article has clickable sound files in blue.] Historically in Spanish, there is a difference between the sound for "y" as opposed to "ll" , which still exists in several pockets in the Andes highlands (most of Peru and Bolivia, parts of Ecuador, Colombia, Chile, Argentina) ,  Guaraní speaking areas like Paraguay , some parts of  northern and rural Spain , and the Philippines , usually among older Spanish speakers . In these places, "ll" is realized as /ʎ/ - calle, llamarse, valle . This is the minority sound in Spanish that is still current in standard Catalan (filla) , Portuguese (filha) , and Italian (figlia) . The consonant "y" in Spanish is pronounced in a variety of ways, with [ʝ̞] , which is similar to English [y] , being the most widespread sound outside the Southern Cone . For [ʝ̞] , the tip of the tongue doesn't rest almost relaxed behind the bottom teeth like in English  [y] . Instead, when the back of the tongue gets close

[Bajar para español] To pave the way for a comparison between the shared simple past tense of “ir” and “ser”, let’s begin with the complex history of “ser”. Its origins combine Proto-Indo-European *h₁ésti (to be) and *bʰuH- (to become or to grow) via Latin “esse.” Its simple past forms, “fui, fuiste, fue,” link to the *bʰuH- root, which also appears in English "be" and German "bist." Other forms like “es,” “eres”, and “soy” via archaic Latin esum from esse link to *h₁ésti. This phenomenon of filling in gaps in verb conjugations or alternating roots, is called suppletion. Another instance occurred with the Latin verb sedere (to sit) > se(d)ere > Old Spanish seer> “ser” replacing the Latin infinitive “esse”. Examining "ir," the Spanish verb "to go," reveals another case of suppletion. The Latin verb “ire” complemented its conjugations in early Romance or Old Spanish and Galician-Portuguese with other verb forms. In the present tense, speak

why are there stem-changing verbs in Spanish? Short answer : Because of the distinction that was already lost in Vulgar Latin between long and short vowels in the evolution from Latin to modern Spanish.  Long answer : In Latin, long vowels were additionally naturally tense , while short vowels were additionally more relaxed . This makes sense, since to say a loooooong vowel, the muscles of the mouth have to be more tense than when you say a short vowel. When vowels were reduced from 10 in Latin to 5 in Modern Spanish , "things happened";  and among these, there was a phase where there came to be two vowels that had a closed or open quality ... "o" and "e" like in Portuguese.  Coincidence? I think not. Other Romance languages like Galician , Catalan , Italian , and French , in fact, stopped at this stage of evolution during the Vulgar Latin stage, with respect to "o" and "e" and remain today with at least 7 oral vowels , where the