Amazonic Spanish (''español amazónico''), also known as Charapa Spanish, Loreto-Ucayali Spanish or Jungle Spanish (''español de la selva''), is a variety of

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

spoken in the Amazon, especially in

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...

, parts of

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the ...

, Southern

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

and the Peruvian provinces of Loreto, San Martín and

Ucayali The Ucayali River ( es, Río Ucayali, ) is the main headstream of the Amazon River. It rises about north of Lake Titicaca, in the Arequipa region of Peru and becomes the Amazon at the confluence of the Marañón close to Nauta city. The city o ...

. Amazonic Spanish is also spoken in areas of Brazil adjoining Loreto and Ucayali and in the

Amazonas Department Amazonas () is a department of Southern Colombia in the south of the country. It is the largest department in area while also having the 3rd smallest population. Its capital is Leticia and its name comes from the Amazon River, which drains the ...

of Colombia.Spanish in Brazil, http://www.spanish-in-the-world.net/Spanish/brasil.php

Distinctive features

Morphosyntax

One of the distinguishing features of Amazonic Spanish is the method of constructing the possessive form: speakers say "de la ''X'' su ''Y''" (of the ''X'' its ''Y''), instead of standard Spanish "la ''Y'' de ''X''" (the ''Y'' of ''X''). Another distinctive grammatical feature is the use of possessive forms in place of certain genitive forms; compare standard Spanish "Le preguntó a la yaminahua ''delante de mí''" (He asked the Yaminahua woman ''in front of me'') with the Loreto-Ucayali "Le preguntó a la yaminahua ''en mi delante''" (He asked the Yaminahua woman ''in my front'').Marcone, J. (1997) ''La oralidad escrita'', Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru. p. 176 Available online in Spanish at https://books.google.com/books?id=GpKw3yC9mXcC&pg=PA176&lpg=PA176 Personal names are prefixed with a definite article (''el'' or ''la'', depending on the gender).

Phonology

and especially the sequence are frequently realized as (as in Juana ). Amazonic Spanish also incorporates words and expressions borrowed from local indigenous languages.

Status

Amazonic Spanish is classified as a separate language from standard Spanish by ''

Ethnologue ''Ethnologue: Languages of the World'' (stylized as ''Ethnoloɠue'') is an annual reference publication in print and online that provides statistics and other information on the living languages of the world. It is the world's most comprehensi ...

'', with its own

ISO 639-3 ISO 639-3:2007, ''Codes for the representation of names of languages – Part 3: Alpha-3 code for comprehensive coverage of languages'', is an international standard for language codes in the ISO 639 series. It defines three-letter codes for ...

code: spq.

References

External links

Spanish in Brazil
{{authority control Spanish dialects of South America Languages of Peru Spanish Brazilian Spanish Colombian Spanish Peruvian Upper Amazon History of Amazonia