Linguistic Evolution and Characteristics of Spanish in America

The Spanish Language in America: Historical Context

The introduction of Spanish in America was a slow process spanning centuries, reaching its maximum extent in the eighteenth century as the language of government, culture, and the Church. The geographical varieties adopted by Spanish in America depend on the social, cultural, ethnic, and substrate factors of each region where Spanish arrived. Specifically, some of the factors that contributed to the emergence of these varieties were:

Factors Contributing to American Spanish Varieties

The Origins of the Settlements

The Castilian language that reached American soil in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries still lacked a fixed linguistic system. In this sense, the different regional origins of the settlers played an important role in the emergence of geographical varieties of Spanish in America. For example, the adoption of seseo in America is often attributed to the influence of Andalusia, as many settlers who traveled to American lands originated there. Furthermore, those who came from other Spanish regions often had to wait a long time in Seville before embarking, thus becoming accustomed to the Andalusian dialect.

The Influence of the Native Substrate

The first settlements encountered over a hundred families of indigenous languages (some of which still survive today: Maya, Nahuatl, Quechua, Guaraní, etc.) associated with very advanced and entrenched cultures such as the Maya, the Aztec, the Inca, the Araucanian, and the Guaraní. This represented a decisive factor in shaping American Spanish. For example, the native substrate influence is clear in intonation and vocabulary.

Post-Independence Language Models

Different language models were adopted by American countries once they achieved independence in the nineteenth century.

Main Linguistic Features of American Spanish

Phonetic Characteristics

Many phonetic features match those of Hispanic southern dialects, especially those found in Andalusia:

• Seseo: The Spanish in America generally has one less phoneme, as the sounds represented by c (before e or i) and z are pronounced as s. Examples: rasón ('reason'), cenisa ('ash').
• Yeísmo: The pronunciation of y and ll as a single sound (e.g., caballo).
• Aspiration or Loss of Syllable/Word-Final /s/: (e.g., mojca for mosca 'fly').
• Confusion of /r/ and /l/ (Rhotacism or Lambdacism): e.g., arma for alma ('soul'); pielna for pierna ('leg').

Morphosyntactic Phenomena

The general phenomena include:

• Voseo: The main feature is the use of vos as the second person singular pronoun instead of tú. Vos verb forms differ depending on the region (e.g., vos cantás or vos cantáis 'you sing').
• Ustedes instead of Vosotros: The use of ustedes instead of vosotros for the second person plural (e.g., ustedes cantan 'you all sing').
• Use of the Simple Past (Preterite) instead of the Compound Perfect (Present Perfect): (e.g., salí 'I went out' instead of he salido 'I have gone out').
• Frequent Use of Diminutives: (e.g., ahorita 'right now', adiosito 'goodbye').
• Adverbialization of Adjectives: Using adjectives as adverbs (e.g., ella canta hermoso 'she sings beautifully', vestidos bonitos 'beautiful dresses').