Panamanian Spanish

Panamanian Spanish is the Spanish (Castilian) language as spoken in the country of Panama. It is closely related to other varieties of Caribbean Spanish.

The variations among different speaker groups of the same language can be lexical (vocabulary), phonological (pronunciation), morphological (word forms), or in the use of syntax (grammar).

Historically, Panama and Colombia were part of the same political entity. Colombia, governed from the Real Audiencia of Panama during the 16th century, then part of Castilla de Oro, with its capital in Panama, during the 17th century, and after independence from Spain, Panama voluntarily became part of the Republic of Gran Colombia along with Venezuela and Ecuador, with its capital in Bogota. From the colonial times and periods and also during most of the 19th century and until 1903, and even though there are still lexical similarities shared by the two countries (e.g., ''pelao'' in both Colombia and Panama means "kid" or "child"), phonetically, Panamanian Spanish is very similar with the Spanish as spoken in the coastal areas around the Caribbean, specifically Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and the Caribbean coasts of Colombia and Venezuela.

Phonology

A notable characteristic of Panamanian Spanish, and other varieties of Caribbean Spanish, is the debuccalization of the sound at the end of a syllable or word, such as in the word es, cascada, lit=waterfall, label=none, pronounced (like "h" in the English word "he") instead of . The aspiration is also observed in the coastal regions of Peru and Ecuador; in Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay; and in Andalusia and the Canary Islands of Spain. This can also be pronounced as a voiceless velar fricative when before or .

As in many other varieties, word-final is often velarized in Panamanian Spanish. Word-final is more often elided on the Costa Arriba of Colón Province, east of the city of Colón, than in Panama City.

Another change observed in Panamanian Spanish is the deaffrication of (as "ch" in the English word "chips") to (as "sh" in the English word "she"), so is pronounced , rather than . It is found primarily among less-educated speakers, but it can sometimes be observed among better-educated speakers, as in Andalusian Spanish.

As in most of the Spanish-speaking world, word-final is typically deleted in informal Panamanian Spanish.

The trilled R is often pronounced with a preceding sound.

Throughout rural Panama, as in much of the rest of the Spanish-speaking world, is usually pronounced as a voiceless bilabial fricative, that is, with both of the lips rather than with the bottom lip and the upper teeth.

In much of rural Panama, but not in the Costa Arriba of Colón Province east of Colón, word-initial ''h'' is actually pronounced in several words such as 'deep' or 'fed up'. This is related to the historical aspiration and eventual loss of Latin ''f'' in Spanish. In a few areas, this kept being pronounced in some words.

In at least the Costa Arriba, is quite strong, often being pronounced as an affricate, and almost never being elided.

Syllable-final are often elided. Syllable-final is often converted to a simple aspirate , while may be backed to a velar fricative . The same happens to , although it's more common for to become , and the most common option is for to simply be deleted.

The is realized as glottal , as in Caribbean and other American Spanish dialects, Canarian, and Andalusian Spanish dialects.

Grammar

Rural Panamanian Spanish has a few grammatical forms which are often considered to be archaisms. These were once more common, but have fallen into disuse in 'standard' Spanish. In the Costa Arriba of Colón Province, some verbs are found with prothetic vowels and prefixes: for 'remember', for , for 'look for'. Also, 'any' can be used as an adjective, as in 'anyone', and the term 'some other' is still used. Rural western Panama has more forms considered archaic.

Vocabulary

Lexically, Panamanian Spanish presents a variety of new terms introduced and being incorporated into the daily language all the time. The following quotation shows some common Panamanian expressions:

"Vecina, yo no soy ''vidajena'', y no me gusta esa ''vaina'' ... pero te voy a contar un ''bochinche''...

pero si me das de comer un poco de ''chicheme'', ''concolón'', ''carimañola'', sancocho y mondongo....

Ese ''man'' flacuchento y ''ñato'' vestido de ''guayabera'' azul y ''sombrero montuno'' que viene allí ... Su ''motete'' ya no tiene ñame, guineo ni ''guandú''. Lo que tiene es un ''pocotón'' de ''chécheres''. Según la comadre ''fula'' ''radiobemba'', el cambio en ese ''laopé'' no se debe a una ''macuá'' ..."

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Panamanians sometimes use loanwords from English language, English, partly due to the prolonged existence of the Panama Canal Zone. Examples are ''breaker'' (from circuit breaker) instead of the Spanish ''interruptor'', ''switch'' (from light switch) instead of the Spanish ''interruptor'', ''fren'' (from friend) instead of Spanish ''amigo'' or ''amiga'' (this term is used in a unisex way), ''ok'' (from okay) instead of the Spanish ''vale'', and so on. Many of these quotes and phrases are based in the Macaronic language presented in Panamanian slang.

References

Bibliography

Further reading

*Alba, Orlando (1992): "El español del Caribe: unidad frente a diversidad dialectal" Revista de Filología Espaňola,72, 525–540.
* Alvarado de Ricord, Elsie: El español de Panamá; estudio fonético y fonológico. Panama, 1971.
* Banse, Timoteo, Panamanian Spanish Slang: Words and Phrases .
* Giralt Latorre, Javier (1991): "Algunos préstamos en el español de Panamá". Estudios de Lingüística de la Universidad de Alicante, 7, 137–158.
* Broce, Marlene y Torres Cacoullos, Rena (2002): "'Dialectología urbana' rural: la estratificación social de (r) y (l) en Coclé, Panamá". Hispania, 85/2, 342–354.
* Quilis, Antonio y Graell Stanziola, M. (1992): "La lengua española en Panamá". Revista de Filología Española, 72/3–4, 583–638.
* Cedergren, Henrietta J. (1978): "En torno a la variación de la /S/ final de sílaba en Panamá: análisis cuantitativo", en López Morales, Humberto (ed.), Corrientes actuales en la dialectología del Caribe hispánico, Río Piedras, Universidad de Puerto Rico, 80–103.
* Cedergren, Henrietta J.; Rousseau, Pascale y Sankoff, David (1986): "La variabilidad de /r/ implosiva en el español de Panamá y los modelos de ordenación de reglas", en Núñez Cedeño, R., I. Páez Urdaneta y L. Guitart (eds.), Estudios sobre la fonología del español del Caribe, Caracas, Ediciones La Casa de Bello, 13–20.
* Graell Stanziola, M. y Quilis, Antonio (1991): "Datos sobre la lengua española en Panamá", en Hernández Alonso, C. y otros (eds.), Actas del III Congreso Internacional de 'El Español de América', 2, Valladolid, Junta de Castilla y León, 997–1005.
*
* Malmberg, B. 1965. Estructura silábica del español. Estudios de Fonética Hispánica, Madrid: C.S.I.C.
* Quesada Pacheco, Miguel A. 1996. El español de América Central. En Manual de dialectología hispánica. El español de América, ed. Manuel Alvar. 101–115. Barcelona: Ariel.

External links

Jerga Panameña
en Wikcionario

{{Languages of Panama

Central American Spanish
Languages of Panama
Panama–Spain relations