Understanding Language Variations: Dialects, Jargon, and Slang
Understanding Language Variations
Generational Language Differences
Can three generational languages be found? Main features of each language:
- Youth: Young people are often more receptive to recent creations, Anglicisms, and lexicon from older generations’ languages.
- Marginal: More conservative, using words or phrases unknown to other age groups.
- Child Language: Features related to the speaker still being immersed in the language learning process.
Jargon Explained
What is jargon? Jargons are linguistic varieties characteristic of different professional groups, such as the speech of lawyers or politicians.
Slang Defined
What do we mean by slang? Slang develops when marginal social groups create their own language to avoid being understood by people outside the group.
Language Registers
What is a Register?
A register is the set of linguistic particularities that a speaker chooses to adapt to a situation.
Factors Determining Register Choice
The choice of a register depends on various factors, including the relationship between partners, the purpose being sought, the context in which communication occurs, the means employed, the subject, and even the gender of the text.
Colloquial vs. Vernacular Registers
The colloquial register is the use of informal language in a communicative situation. The vernacular register involves ignorance of the rules, owned by people who do not know them, so make mistakes.
Language, Dialect, and Speech
Definitions
Language: A system used by a community as a communication vehicle in a given territory.
Dialect: Geographical varieties of a language.
Speech: Dialects are not uniform, and within the same territory, variations can affect very restricted areas, such as a region.
Dialect Variations
- Northern Varieties: Found in the historical region of Old Castile and areas where Asturian-Leonese and Aragonese-Catalan, Galician are preserved.
- Southern Varieties: Andalusian, Manchego, and overseas arrangements: Spanish Canary Islands and America.
Features of the Northern Range
- The distinction of the sounds ‘s’ and ‘z’.
- Unaspirated pronunciation of the syllable-final ‘s’.
Main Features of the Southern Variety
- Sounds neutralize ‘s’ and ‘z’, phenomena known as sibilance and lisp.
- Relaxation of the final syllable ‘s’, which takes different pronunciation forms of aspiration of the consonant, consonant aspiration of the following, or loss of the consonant.
Andalusian Speech
The most characteristic features of Andalusian are lisp, and a higher loss in other areas of the intervocalic ‘d’. In the western part, aspiration occurs in the initial ‘h’ in words that have an ‘f-‘ in Latin. In the eastern part, opening stand that experienced by some members.
Southern Varieties: Extremadura and Murcia
Characterized by the ablate of Spanish in America.
- In the lexicon, words are used throughout Spanish America.
- At the sound level, due to the spreading of the brain, Spanish American has a system that has a smaller system than proper Castilian.
Spanish Language and Linguistic Diversity
Article 3
Castilian Spanish is the official state language. All Spaniards have the duty to know it and the right to use it. Other Spanish languages are also official in the autonomous communities in accordance with their statutes. The richness of different linguistic modalities of Spain is a cultural heritage that will be object of special respect and protection.
Castilian’s Linguistic Family
Castilian is Romanesque, coming from Latin (French, Catalan, and Galician).
Language Contact Results
Sabir languages were born to solve communication needs, and Creole languages emerge as new generations learn the Sabir language as their mother tongue, which is in general use in all communicative situations.
Official Languages Spoken in Spain
- Castilian: Spoken in Spain and 19 countries in Latin America.
- Galego: Galicia and some western areas of León and Zamora.
- Catalan: Catalonia, Valencia, and the Balearic Islands.
- Basque: Basque Country and northern Navarre.
- Asturian: Asturias.