Canarian Spanish orCanary Island Spanish (Spanish terms in descending order of frequency:español de Canarias,español canario,habla canaria, ordialecto canario[3]) is a variant of standardSpanish spoken in theCanary Islands by theCanary Islanders.
Canarian Spanish heavily influenced the development of Caribbean Spanish and other Latin American Spanish vernaculars because Hispanic America was originally largely settled by colonists from the Canary Islands and Andalusia; those dialects, including thestandard language, were already quite close to Canarian and Andalusian speech. In the Caribbean, Canarian speech patterns were never regarded as either foreign or very different from the local accent.
The incorporation of the Canary Islands into theCrown of Castile began withHenry III (1402) and was completed under theCatholic Monarchs. The expeditions for their conquest started off mainly from ports ofAndalusia, which is why the Andalusians predominated in theCanaries. There was also an important colonising contingent fromPortugal in the earlyconquest of the Canaries, along with the Andalusians and the Castilians frommainland Spain. In earlier times, Portuguese settled alongside theSpanish in the north ofGran Canaria, but they were assimilated by the Spanish. The population that inhabited the islands before the conquest, theGuanches,[4] spoke a variety ofBerber (also called Amazigh) dialects. After the conquest, the indigenousGuanche language was rapidly and almost completely eradicated in the archipelago. Only some names of plants and animals, terms related tocattle ranching and numerous island placenames survive.[5]
Their geography made the Canary Islands receive much outside influence, with drastic cultural and linguistic changes. As a result of heavy Canarian emigration to the Caribbean, particularly during colonial times, Caribbean Spanish is strikingly similar to Canarian Spanish.
As with most other varieties of Spanish outsideMainland Spain, the preterite is generally used instead of the perfect:hoy visité a Juan ("today I visited John") forhoy he visitado a Juan ("today I have visited John").[6][7]
Like most other varieties of Spanish outside central and northern Spain,ustedes is used for all second-person plurals:ustedes están is used forvosotros estáis. Other usages include also the use of the third-person plural pronounssu andsus to refer the second-person instead ofvuestro andvuestros as in Latin American Spanish, and thus, the use of third-person plural verb conjugations. Example :¿Ustedes recuerdan dónde quedaba su casa? (Do you remember where your house was?) for Canarian Spanish while being¿Vosotros recordáis dónde quedaba vuestra casa? for Iberian Spanish.[8]
Speakers in the Canary Islands typically use third-personobject pronouns in the same way as speakers from Andalusia and the Americas; that is, withoutleísmo, using the older, case-determined system of reference.[8]
Diminutive forms are typically shorter than in Peninsular Spanish, though the peninsular forms are used as a result of influence from the mainland:bailito forbailecito 'little dance' andpueblito forpueblecito 'little town'.[9]
As with many other varieties of Spanish outside Mainland Spain,de ("of") is deleted in some expressions:casa Marta forcasa de Marta andgofio millo forgofio de millo.[citation needed]
Seseo, the lack of distinction between the pronunciation of the letters⟨s⟩ and⟨z⟩ or"soft"⟨c⟩, is the most distinctive non-mainland characteristic;caza ('hunt') is pronounced exactly likecasa ('house'), which occurs in some parts of Andalusia as well.[10] The feature is common to most parts of the Spanish-speaking world outside of the northern three quarters of Mainland Spain (Castile and the surrounding provinces have adopted the feature).[11]
/s/ is debuccalized to[h] at the end of syllables, as is common in Andalusia, Extremadura, Murcia, the Caribbean, and much of lowland Latin America. This results in a phonetic merger with/x/.[12][13] The frequency of s-aspiration has generally increased over the last few decades, as part of the formation of new regional norms.[14] Syllable-final [s] is always or mostly pronounced in formal speech, like TV broadcasts.
/x/ (spelled as⟨j⟩ or, before⟨e⟩ or⟨i⟩, as⟨g⟩) is usually aspirated (pronounced[h]), as is common in Andalusia (especially in its west) as well as the Caribbean and some other parts of Latin America.[13]
The same[h] sound is used in colloquial speech for the soundhistorically derived from Latinf-. It is also preserved among rural speakers in many peripheral areas of Peninsular Spain and throughout Latin America, where it is occasionally found in lower-class urban speech as well.[15]
Yeísmo has become almost universal throughout the archipelago. Currently thepalatal lateral approximant/ʎ/ formerly represented by⟨ll⟩ has been relegated to the speech of the most elderly, generally with low education and living in rural zones.[17]
The stops/p,t,tʃ,k/ can all becomevoiced when between vowels, whether between words as inla pata[laˈbata] or within a word as indeporte[deˈboɾte]. This does not cause a merger with Spanish's voiced stops, since those are pronounced asapproximants when between vowels. In addition, a weakened final-/s/ can block this voicing, leading to alternations likela pata[laˈbata] andlas patas[laˈpata].[8][18]
/tʃ/, the phoneme represented by⟨ch⟩, is traditionally pronounced asvoiceless palatal plosive rather than an affricate. The plosive pronunciation is still widespread.[18]
Canarian vocabulary has its own regionalisms different from standard Castilian Spanish vocabulary. For example,guagua ("bus") differs from standard Spanishautobús. The wordguagua is anonomatopoeia stemming from the sound of aKlaxon horn ("wawa"). An example of Canarian usage for a Spanish word is the verbfajarse ("to fight").[19] In standard Castilian Spanish, the verb would bepelearse, whilefajar exists as a non-reflexive verb related to the hemming of askirt. The term of endearmentsocio is a very popular Canarian term.
The Canarian vocabulary has a notable influence from theGuanche language, especially in thetoponymy. In addition, many Canarian personal names come from the Guanche language, such asGara, Acerina, Aydan, Beneharo, Jonay, Tanausú, Chaxiraxi, Ayoze, Yaiza andZebenzuí.
As Canarian Spanish was influenced by Andalusian Spanish, a few words ofAndalusi Arabic origin are found, and there are some doublets of Arabic-Latinate synonyms with theArabic form being more common in Canarian, such ascuarto oralcoba for standardhabitación ordormitorio ("bedroom"),alhaja for standardjoya ("jewel"), oralacrán for standardescorpión ("scorpion"); Arabic influence in Canarian Spanish was also brought by returning Canarian settlers and their children fromSpanish Sahara after its independence. Other examples includeguayete ("child") orjaique ("poorly made and loosely fitting dress"). There are also numerous words of Arabic origin to designate different plants (aciba, ahulaga, albohol, alcatripa, algafita, algahuero, almácigo, alpispillo, almulei, bahaza, orijama, tarahal, aliacán...). These words may have come directly from North Africa, favored by the presence of many common plants, or they may have naturalized first in the peninsula and then come to the Canary Islands (this seems to be the case of the words ahulaga and tarahal), so they are also rooted in peninsular Castilian Spanish.
These, due to their origin and nature, can be classified into three large groups, depending on whether they come from current Spanish and its dialects, from old Castilian or if, finally, they come from languages other than Spanish. Thus, the words "formed" in the Canary Islands from other words of the Spanish language, the close influence of Portuguese, or the many terms that came to the Canary Islands from dialectal variants such as Latin American Spanish, the result of the historical links between both shores of the Atlantic. Thus, the Canarian lexicon is the reflection of centuries of island history, cultural miscegenation and adaptation of the language to the unique conditions that existed on the islands.
Canarismos from Spanish and its dialectsThe Canarian voices that come from the Hispanic language itself or from its dialects are framed here. In this group, it would be necessary to distinguish between canarisms originating from some dialect of Spanish and those that derive from a pan- Hispanic voice, but which in the Canary Islands have undergone some linguistic process (derivation, simplification, formal change, metonymic displacement, etc.), giving rise to a new or modified voice. Thus, the word «allege» means in Castilian to adduce merits to substantiate some request, while in the Canary Islands it is used as a synonym for conversing . There are also canarisms formed by derivation of words from general Spanish, such as "bizcochón" (cylindrical cake made from eggs, flour and sugar), or "fragilón" (stupid, presumptuous, vain), which come from the Pan-Hispanic terms "biscuit" and "fragile", respectively, to which they have been added in the Canary Islands the suffix "-on".
On the other hand, among the canarismos coming from dialectal forms of Castilian, the following stand out:
Terms of Latin American origin: They come mainly from the Caribbean area (Cuba, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic) and were introduced in the Canary Islands as a result of the emigration link that for centuries united the islands with America. They are terms linked to any area of traditional island culture and are more deeply rooted in the western islands than in the eastern ones, due to their more continuous link with the New World. Examples of this are the words:
guagua (bus)
fotingo (jalopy/dilapidated car)
In other words, its origin is indeterminate, possibly engineered on the spot. For example, pollaboba, is a special case, because it went from being an insult (with a pejorative meaning similar to impotent or celibate ) to even being used in common speech, sometimes losing the initial meaning.
Terms of Andalusian origin: It is a group of voices introduced by the Andalusians from the beginning of the repopulation of the archipelago. Examples of Andalusianisms in Canarian speech are:
"embelesar" ( to fall asleep )
"bocinegro" ( kind of pagel )
"chocho" ( Lupinus albus )
Terms of Portuguese origin: Portuguese is the foreign language that has given the most voices to the Spanish spoken in the Canary Islands, due to the huge mass of Portuguese who settled on the islands during the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries. It is a large number of words from all grammatical categories and linked to most spheres of life,
Linked to agriculture ("millo", corn; "batata", sweet potato; "apañar batatas", from the Portugueseapanhar, pick potatoes) and livestock (terms such as "bosta", cattle excrement ).
To the sea and fishing : as «cambullón», buying, selling and exchanging on board ships, from cambulhão, 'set of things, string'; "margullar" swim underwater or “burgao” small sea snail, “engodar” attract fish by baiting them, “cardume” small school of fish, “pardela" shearwater/sea bird, "liña" string used for fishing and the ichthyonyms "caboso", "bicuda" and "quelme". Also "furnia" from the Portuguese furna, sea cave.
In the home environment, words like «gaveta», sliding furniture drawer; "fechar", to close in Portuguese; "fechillo", latch; "fechadura", lock, "fonil" (funnel), funil in Portuguese; "traza" (moth), traça in Portuguese; “trancar”, lock in the peninsular Spanish.
In the personal sphere, words such as “petudo”, from the Portuguese peitudo (big-chested), but which in the Canary Islands takes the meaning of hunchback; "jeito", movement, skill; "long", meaning wide or loose; "cañoto", from the Portuguese canhoto, left-handed.
Numerous trees and plants in the laurel forest have obvious Portuguese roots in their names:viñátigo, acebiño, faya, sanguino, follodo, aderno, coderno, malfurada, gibalbera, til ortilo, norza, pampillo, sao ... This is due to that the laurel forest of the Canary Islands and that of Madeira, they share many species, and many others have great similarities. Sometimes we can find that a word that in Portuguese describes a plant in the Canary Islands describes another similar or from the same family. A particular case is that of the word parrot, which is used in the Canary Islands to designate the laurel ( Laurus azorica ) but which in Portuguese refers to Prunus lusitanica, which also exists in the Canary Islands and is known as daughter.
Also taken from the Portuguese are the suffix-ero in the name of the plants, instead of the Castilian -o (naranjero instead ofnaranjo [orange tree],almendrero instead ofalmendro [almond tree],castañero instead ofcastaño [chestnut tree],manzanero instead ofmanzano [apple tree]) and the suffix-ento, which gives the meaning of "in abundance" (for example, "aguachento" is used to say that a fruit has lost its flavor due to having an excess of water, or that a stew has a consistency that is too soupy).
The substitution of the preposition towards by para: (Voy para allá (I'm going there))
The substitution of prepositional phrases by adverbs of place ("arriba" instead of "encima" (above), "atrás" instead ofdetrás (behind)).
Pronunciation of the wordspadre (father) andmadre (mother) closer to the Portuguesepai andmãe respectively.
Other words and expressions: “rente” (flush), “de cangallas” (legs up), “escarrancharse” (spreading your legs excessively), atillo (string), “pegar a” (start to), “en peso” (in its entirety or together), “magua” (longing), "amularse" (get angry), “jeitoso” (skillful), “agonia” (nausea), “arrullar” (rock), “fañoso” (that speaks with nasal resonance due to some transient respiratory disease), "picar el ojo" (winking).
Terms of English origin: These are surely the most recently incorporated voices from other languages into Canarian speech, the result of commercial links with England and the establishment of British merchants on the islands, especially in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. And one of the most discussed about its origin.
Terms such as "queque" ( sweet made in the oven based on eggs, sugar, raisins and other ingredients, from English cake ), "quinegua" ( type of potato, from English King Edward ) or "naife" ( name of the typicalCanarian knife used in banana cultivation, comes from the English word knife ), "pulover" ( jersey, comes from pull over ), "suéter" (comes from sweater).
Brand terms such as "flis" (from the trademark Flit, to refer to an aerosol or spray), "flash" ( pole wrapped in plastic, comes from flash which was its trademark ).
Terms like “chercha/e” ( messy, dirty place, pigsty ). Its origin is located in the English word "church" and in reference to the cemetery where non-Catholics were buried.
And others not only typical in the Canary Islands such as "tenis" (from the English "tennis shoes" for sports shoes, any kind of shoes), “ticket” or “parking” (words added before general Spanish).
Terms of French origin: Of the French spoken by the first Norman conquerors, a small number of words have been preserved, with a rather testimonial value. Examples of this are the terms:
"malpaís" ( unproductive land, in the Canary Islands used to designate lava fields, seems to come from the Old French male pays )
"cardón" ( type of autochthonous plant, which could come from the French chardon, plant with thorns )
"wadding" ( cotton sheet, comes from ouate )
"creyón" ( colored pencil, comes from crayon ).
Although currently in disuse, on the island of El Hierro it is customary to say "o" ( où, in French) for "dónde está", "¿o las llaves?" instead of "¿dónde están las llaves?" (Where are the keys?)
Terms of Catalan origin:
«alfábega» (it is an Arabism that is only preserved in Catalonia and the Canary Islands, where the Castilian basil is also used, which is also of Arab origin)
"seba" (in Catalan it means onion, but in the Canary Islands it is used to designate the marine plant whose leaves are reminiscent of these)
"lletera" (derived from the Catalan llet which means milk, and is used to name some species of the genus Euphorbia . This voice is also found in Valencian speech )
"tonina" (Tuna Thunnus thynnus is named like this and sometimes also to dolphins, it has given rise to the expression "Being fat like a tonina")
"bufo" (fart, in Catalan it is used in feminine) .
The wordcaldera/caldero means "cooking pot" in Spanish (compare "cauldron").In the Canary Islands, it was also applied to several volcanic places.The termcaldera was introduced into the geological vocabulary by the German geologistLeopold von Buch when he published his memoirs of his 1815 visit to theCanary Islands,[note 1] where he first saw theLas Cañadas caldera onTenerife, with MountTeide dominating the landscape, and then theCaldera de Taburiente onLa Palma.[20][21]
^Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin; Bank, Sebastian, eds. (2022)."Castilic".Glottolog 4.6. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
^The termsisleño anddialecto isleño are also used, but they can be ambiguous, as they are applied to other island dialects as well.
^The termguanche originally referred to the aborigines of Tenerife, but nowadays it is used commonly to refer also to the aborigines of the rest of the islands.
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