“Fuck charmingly”
The Andalusian vernaculars
Many times, I have heard about the Andalusian dialect and one might think that it is at the same level as languages like Catalan, Basque and Galician. Just as often, I have heard about the 1001 lacks which the dialect is said to have, compared to the so-called Spanish norm language. I invite the reader to listen carefully, if he has the possibility to listen to speakers of this “allegedly barbaric” Andalusian region. This region is said to distort the language of our fatherland. You do not need to have trained ears to hear the huge repertoire of language variations which characterizes the language of this region. Some people say “sesear” and others “cecear”. Several people use “vosotros” and others in the same situation “ustedes”, but without using the whole polite form. Equally very widespread are terms like “killos”, “pisha”, “poya” and “zagales”. But why do you say “Andalusian vernaculars” and not just “Andalusian”? The reason is that you cannot call these language variations one language. But I do not want to talk too long about this topic, because there are people who have specialized and who subsist on this subject. What I find more interesting is what not-Andalusian people think to understand, when Andalusian people talk. To be brief: When an Andalusian is talking, one might think that he is joking and can never be serious. The reasons are simple lexical and phonetical details which distinguish the traditional Spanish language from the Andalusian vernaculars.
Once, I was on an advanced training for Spanish teachers whose topic was the teaching of not-native speakers and the learning of the correct handling with swearwords. Theoretically, there were only experts of the Spanish language. But one woman said that it depends on which type of Spanish you speak. She said: “If an Andalusian says ‘fuck’, then he does it with such a charm which is characteristic of the Andalusians.” She continued that therefore, it is all right. But “if you say it in Catalan, it’s wrong”. It is not my job to estimate her amount of professionalism or the quality of her way of teaching. But I do not want to imagine, what she tells to her pupils during class, if she dares to announce such an impudence – and that’s what it is – among teachers.
This experience is only to exemplify that from what I have written above: from (the loss of) the value and the prestige which are accompanied by the different variants of the Spanish. The Andalusian is no clown or something like that. He only shows the Spanish language with all of its characteristic traits, like it is spoken in his region. As a Spaniard, Andalusian, Malagueño, Rondeño, Spanish teacher and speaker of the vernacular which is spoken in Ronda (Málaga), I can reassure all the people. I have never had a communication problem. Both pupils and native speakers have always understood me very well. For this reason, I say that everyone who doesn’t appreciate the wealth of languages of the Spanish, can fuck oneself (“charmingly”).
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Your article peefrctly shows what I needed to know, thanks!
We could’ve done with that iingsht early on.
The folks up north were much more friendly than the ones she’s met in Sevilla. Then again, Sevilla =/= all of Andaluceda. I think the ppeloe are a bit more abierto in the pueblos than they are in the city.I think it’s hard to make a general list of myths about Spain as a nation but perhaps it’s easier to do so for each region. I only truly know the south, which is vastly different from Castilla y Leon, which is vastly different from Cataluna. And even though I might not conform to some American myths (I liked Liz’s examples of guns and hot dogs), I definitely do conform to others. I.e., I support gun control, but I’d eat a Chicago-style dog every day of my life if it wouldn’t kill me.