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No Mexicans have their own Spanish. Mexican Spanish. It tends to be more slang that Castlian but in general, it is just a seperate dialect. Here is a little story, I went to Madrid right, and I was speaking with a couple of people, they asked me where I was from because they couldn't fiure out my accent. When I told them I was from Mexico, they kindly explained to me that the form of Spanish used in Mexico is considered old in Spain. They told me what Modern Mexican-Spanish is, is the form of Spanish used in spain in the late 40s early 50s.
Also, Mexican Spanish has no lisp on the C's and Z's whereas Castilian Spanish does.
In Mexico, C's and Z's are pronounced as S's.
Example:
In Mexico, Andalucia would be pronounced as (Andalusia)
In Spain, Andalucia would be pronounced as (Andaluthia)
When I speak Spanish, I use castellano and español interchangeably when referring to the language. Although I'm aware that many people make a distinction.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jrla21
No Mexicans have their own Spanish. Mexican Spanish. It tends to be more slang that Castlian but in general, it is just a seperate dialect. Here is a little story, I went to Madrid right, and I was speaking with a couple of people, they asked me where I was from because they couldn't fiure out my accent. When I told them I was from Mexico, they kindly explained to me that the form of Spanish used in Mexico is considered old in Spain. They told me what Modern Mexican-Spanish is, is the form of Spanish used in spain in the late 40s early 50s.
Also, Mexican Spanish has no lisp on the C's and Z's whereas Castilian Spanish does.
In Mexico, C's and Z's are pronounced as S's.
Example:
In Mexico, Andalucia would be pronounced as (Andalusia)
In Spain, Andalucia would be pronounced as (Andaluthia)
There are many differences between both versions of spanish, for example we don't use vosotros like spaniards do, although everybody who's been through elementary school in mexico learns that form when we study spanish grammar, but nobody uses it and it's considered awkward.
some examples.
You will be the lucky ones
Castillian spanish
Vosotros sereis los afortunados
Mexican spanish
Ustedes seran los afortunados
leave what you are doing and come with me
Castillian spanish
dejad lo que estais haciendo y venid conmigo
Mexican spanish
deja lo que estas haciendo y ven conmigo
however I would disagree with the view that the spanish it's used in Mexico is like the spanish they used in spain in the 50's 40's, it is something different, very mexican with a lot of influences from the languages spoken here. For example there are words like esquincle which means child in mexican spanish that comes from the nahuatl world xoloscuintl, or boxito which is something like dude, and is popular expression in southeastern mexico which has it's origin in the mayan language.
"leave what you are doing and come with me" (addressing one person)
Spain and Mexico:
"deja lo que estás haciendo y ven conmigo"
--------------------------------------------
"leave what you (guys) are doing and come with me" (addressing more than one person)
Spain:
"dejad lo que estáis haciendo y venid conmigo"
Mexico:
"dejen lo que están haciendo y vengan conmigo"
Both Spain and Mexico use tú to adress one person (in Chiapas some people still use vos, but that's another story). To address more than one person (you guys, y'all, youse, etc.) they use vosotros in Spain and ustedes in Mexico, each with a different set of conjugation.
Spanish, just like English, has many regional variations. All the formal, educated varieties of Spanish, regardless of regional variation, are pretty much the same. There are no spelling differences unlike in English. Just like in English, these regional variations include differences in pronunciation, accent and choice of words. Two educated speakers of Spanish using a formal register will not have problems understanding each other regardless of where they are from.
Castillian, or European Spanish, is obviously the origin of all other Spanish regional variations. I disagree however, with the common held belief that there is a great divide between European Spanish and Latin American Spanish.
Once you deviate from the formal register and get into the colloquial, you will find as many differences between the Spanish spoken by a Spaniard and an Argentinian, for example, as the Spanish spoken by a Chilean and a Cuban, or a Colombian and a Mexican. Slang is definitely different from country to country but this is something that also varies according to social class, age and region within a country.
It is true that there are a couple of particular features that seem to be unique to standard European Spanish. These are the use of vosotros (the plural informal you), which has been dropped elsewhere, and the differenciation in pronunciation of the letters C/Z versus S, which again does not occur elsewhere.
However, many people do not realize that there are regions in Spain (parts of Andalucia and the Canary Islands) where the vosotros form is not used either (and the formal plural of you, ustedes, is used instead) and where the letters C/Z are also pronounced as an S. So you can definitely find a true Spaniard using the form ustedes to address their peers and also pronouncing "caza" and "casa" the same.
By the way, I have a pet peeve with the use of the term lisp to indicate the differenciation of the sound 'th' for 'c/z' versus 's' for 's'. Do English speaking Americans have a lisp too? They also have the sound 'c/z' in some words with the spelling 'th'! Would you say English speaking Americans have a lisp too when they pronounce words such as 'thigh', 'thing' etc? I wouldn't think so, right? 'I am thinking' and 'I am sinking' are not pronounced the same (and they do not mean the same). It is the same in Spanish. If standard European Spanish pronounciation had a lisp, we would not have the sound 's', which we do!
Castilian is the dialect of Spanish that is sp[oken over most of Spain. However, Catalan is spoken around Barcelona, and Asturian and Galician near the Portuguese border. Almost all words are spelled the same in Mexico and Castilian Spain, and the verbs are declined in the same way, so written Mexican corresponds very closely with Castilian Spanish. There are significant differences in the spelling of Catalan, Asturian and Galician. The latter two use many common vocabulary words that correspond closely to Portuguese, such as falar (hablar).
So, Mexican Spanish is, in writing, indistinguishable from Castilian, except for localized Mexican preferences for the names of some objects, or different shades of meaning for other words. A Mexican trying to read a newspaper from the northeast or the northwest of Spain would have to do a lot of guesswork to understand it, but a Madrid paper would look as familiar to them as the Times of London would look to an American.
In Spain, apart from Castilian (or Spanish), you can find other languages: Catalan, Galician, Basque. These are not dialects but languages on their own right and they are considered official languages together with Spanish in those particular regions. Catalan and Galician, like Castilian are Latin or Romance languages. A Spanish speaker might be able to understand them somewhat, just like they might be able to understand Italian or French. Basque is not a Romance language. Its origin is unclear and it was already spoken in Spain before the Roman conquest.
Mexicans have their own version of Spanish that often times breaks the official rules of the language. With that said, it irks me when people say Mexicans speak poor or improper language. Language is something that evolves over time due to movement across contients and proximity to other nations. Saying one form is superior to the other is elitist.
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