by David Johnson

The most common Spanish dialect taught in the U.S. is standard Latin American. It is sometimes called "Highland" Spanish since it is generally spoken in the mountainous areas of Latin America.

While each country retains its own accents and has some unique vocabulary, residents of countries such as Mexico, Columbia, Peru, and Bolivia generally speak standard Latin American Spanish.

This accent is noted for its pronunciation of each letter and its strong "r" sounds.

This Spanish was spoken in Spain in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and was brought to the Americas by the early colonists.

Castilian

However, the Spanish of Madrid of northern Spain, called Castilian, developed characteristics that never reached the New World. These include the pronunciation of "ci" and "ce" as "th." In Madrid, "gracias" (thank you) becomes "gratheas" (as opposed to "gras-see-as" in Latin America.)

Another difference is the use of the word "vosotros" (you others) as the formal form of "you" in Spain. Latin Americans never use "vosotros," favoring "ustedes" instead.

Castilian sounds to Latin Americans much like British English sounds to U.S. residents.

“Trade Winds” Spanish

The third major type of Spanish is spoken in the Caribbean, coastal areas of Latin America, and in some cases in southern Spain. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the accent in Seville, Cádiz, and other cities in Andalusia, in Southern Spain, began to change. Speakers began to drop the final "s" on words.

The settlers and traders of southern Spain took this dialect with them to the Caribbean and other coastal areas. Today Caribbean or "Lowland" Spanish is characterized by its relative informality, its rapid pace, and the dropping of "s" sounds, allowing people to talk more quickly.

Italians Influence Argentina

A fourth type of Spanish has developed in and around Buenos Aires and in parts of Uruguay. It is characterized by some out-of-date grammar, and a vocabulary and pronunciation heavily influenced by Italians who settled the area in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Generally in the Spanish world "tú" is the singular way of saying "you." In Buenos Aires, however, "vos" is used instead. It is accompanied by a modified old Spanish verb form. It is as if part of the English-speaking world still used "thee" and "thou" in everyday speech.

In addition, the residents of this region have a tendency to "sing" their sentences like Italians and to pronounce certain words differently from other Spanish-speakers. For instance, they pronounce the "ll" as an English "j," while most other Spanish speakers pronounce "ll" as an English "y."

The Buenos Aires accent is instantly recognizable throughout the Spanish world. Gaucho poetry and twentieth-century Buenos Aires novelists have preserved this speech as a literary style.

The influence of Italian has even led to the development of a separate language, Lunfardo, which blends Spanish and Italian. Argentine intellectuals have produced Lunfardo dictionaries and books in an effort to keep the language alive.