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

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[Bajar para leer en español reseña sobre el uso del ChatGPT.] ---------------------------- Learning Spanish? See here some of the most common mistakes made by English speakers. Learning Portuguese? See here some of the most common mistakes made by English speakers. Você aprende espanhol? Veja aqui alguns dos erros mais frequentes cometidos por lusofalantes. ¿Aprendes portugués? Ve aquí  los errores más frecuentes cometidos por hispanohablantes. ---------------------------- I recently joined a webinar by participants of the Language Flagship Program, a US initiative sponsored by the National Security Education Program (NSEP) and implemented in partnership with my organization. It offers intensive language education in critical languages, including Portuguese and Chinese, with college programs and regional initiatives. Students engage in immersive study and cultural experiences to achieve professional proficiency, enhancing Americans' language skills and global competencies. The

[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

Hoy quiero rescatar de mis recuerdos de Facebook una conversación entre uno de mis contactos y yo cuando puse que la forma " veniste(s) " es tan o más común que la versión normativa " viniste ". Mi contacto comentaba bromeando que él usaba la más vistosa y fonéticamente jocosa palabra " vinites " - ok, no usó exactamente esas palabras, pero esa era la idea. Y claro, su comentario desencadenó mi respuesta sobre un proceso lingüístico llamado metátesis : Ese proceso es muy común en la evolución de los idiomas - evolución pasada y presente. Sucedió con " axe " (" aks ") y " ask " en inglés medio (" ax " todavía está vigente en el inglés vernáculo afroamericano - AVE ), sucedió con " peligro " y "periglo" (de Latín períc[u]lum > periclu > periclo > periglo) y con " palabra " y " parabla " (de Latín paráb[o]la > parabla) en la evolución del latín popular al español, suc

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

Hace menos de un mes descubrí a esta maravillosa artista del género musical sertanejo o caipira, algo más o menos equivalente en México a nuestro género ranchero. Lamentablemente, falleció en 2015, pero dejó un legado permanente dentro de la música y cultura brasileña. Inezita ya era empoderada antes de que se comenzara a usar ampliamente el término. Su primera lucha fue aprender a tocar la guitarra y hacerlo artísticamente, pues por ahí de los años 1940 y 50 s, era muy mal visto que una mujer se convirtiera en artista, además de que "las mujeres no tocan la guitarra" y por supuesto que sus parientes masculinos lo reprobaban totalmente. Fue cantante, presentadora, actriz, profesora, bibliotecaria, declarada doctora honoris causa en folclor brasileño, entre otros papeles que desarrolló. Tuvo un longevo programa de música en televisión que resaltaba lo más talentoso de la música y modo de vida caipira. Claro ejemplo de feminismo, interpretó esta maravillosa canción que causaba

Después de algo de tiempo vuelvo con el choro lingüístico del día de hoy (si los franceses son redundantes con su “ au-jour-d’hui ” por qué yo no he de decir “el día de hoy”?)  Una de mis palabras favoritas en español y portugués es “ tamaño ”/“tamanho” (o tamanha). En español existe solamente la palabra “tamaño” (en portugués tamanho), nunca “tamaña”, aunque bueno, debería especificar que así es en español estándar , whatever that is! En algunos poblados o ranchos en México, no obstante, sí existe la palabra “ tamaña ”, y se usa como un adjetivo. Ejemplo: Oye, tamaña casa/casota que tiene el presidente, ¿verdad? Quiere decir “¡qué casota!” Este uso rural tiene su origen en los elementos de la palabra “tamaño/tamaña” del latín “tan(tus) magnu(s) >tan(t)magnu>tamagno>tamaño. Si algo se puede describir como “magno” (grande), entonces también se puede describir como “magna” si se trata de un objeto femenino.  Es exactamente lo que hace el portugués actualmente, donde se pueden u