Linguistic Features of Rioplatense (River Plate) Spanish

Posted On February 22, 2011By TranspanishIn Did you know?, Spanish Language, Tips for Translators, Translation Buyers/ 1 2 Comments

The dialect of Spanish spoken in and around Buenos Aires, Argentina is known as Rioplatense or River Plate Spanish. The dialect’s sphere of influence extends to other major cities within the River Plate region including La Plata, Santa Fe, Rosario, Paraná and Mar del Plata in Argentina, and Montevideo in Uruguay. While significant dialectical differences exist between the Spanish spoken in the various regions of Argentina, most foreigners equate “Argentine Spanish” with the Rioplatense version.

The following linguistic features set Rioplatense Spanish apart from other dialects spoken in Latin America and Spain.

Voseo. In Rioplatense Spanish, the second person singular pronoun tú is completely replaced by vos, a linguistic phenomenon known as voseo. The conjugation of the second person form in the present indicative tense and the imperative mood also changes [Example: tú hablas (you speak) becomes vos hablás, dime tu nombre (tell me your name) becomes decime tu nombre]. Click here for more information on voseo.

Rehilamiento or sheísmo. The linguistic feature known as rehilamiento or sheísmo refers to a characteristic of Rioplatense Spanish in which the sounds “ll” and “y” are pronounced as [ʃ] or [ʒ] (like the sounds in the English words mission and measure). As a result, the word pollo (chicken) is pronounced “po-sho” or “po-zho” while playa (beach) sounds like “plah-sha” or “pla-zha.”

Appearance of numerous European loanwords. The great wave of European immigration to Argentina at the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century led to the incorporation of a number of loanwords from Italian, French, German and English. Traces of Italian are particularly noticeable in everyday words, e.g. morfi (food).

Unique intonation influenced by Italian. Italian also left its mark on the Rioplatense dialect in terms of speakers’ unique intonation. Many people describe the sound of Rioplatense Spanish as Spanish spoken with an Italian accent.

Aspiration of the letter “s” at the end of a syllable. The letter “s” often seems to disappear in Rioplatense Spanish [Example: the word “fresco” is pronounced “freh-ko”]. Some linguists feel that this feature of the dialect is attributable to the influence of Italian as well.

Use of Lunfardo. Rioplatense Spanish is peppered with numerous words and phrases from the colorful slang known as Lunfardo. One of the features of Lunfardo is the use of vesre, a form of wordplay that reverses the order of syllables in a word [Example: café → feca (coffee)].

Influence of indigenous languages such as Araucano, Quechua and Guaraní. The languages of the various indigenous peoples of Argentina have shaped the Spanish language in this country. Examples of indigenous words that have entered into Rioplatense Spanish are the word tambo meaning dairy farm, which comes from Quechua, and the Araucano word laucha meaning mouse.

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Prescription Medication Labels and Translation: Meeting the Needs of Non-English Speakers

Posted On February 16, 2011By TranspanishIn English Language, Spanish Language, Spanish Translation, Tips for Translators, Translation Buyers/  1 Comment

A bill is currently being deliberated in the California State Senate that would require pharmacies to take “the needs of patients with limited English proficiency” into consideration when labeling prescription medications. Medication errors, a leading cause of medical accidents, may be reduced when patients have improved understanding of how to take prescription drugs.

With approximately 18% of the U.S. population over the age of five speaking a language other than English (according to 2000 U.S. census figures), professional translators have a duty to aid health care providers to ensure accurate and useful translations of not only prescription drug labels, but instructional and educational materials as well.

Five main issues continually plague the accuracy of health care translations and jeopardize the health care provider’s ability to communicate effectively with the patient.

(1) Literacy and educational levels: Health care texts presented for translation are often written in a sophisticated manner that can be easily misunderstood by the target audience.

(2) Imprecise writing: Typographical errors, incorrect punctuation and/or poor word choice in the source document may lead to unintentional changes to the meaning of the original text.

(3) Inappropriate use of color: Various cultural groups assign different meanings to the same color. For example, while red signals danger to many English speakers, other cultural groups such as the Chinese view red as a symbol of luck or happiness.

(4) Representation of numbers and dates: The formatting of dates, weights and other numerical information may lead to confusion, as different language groups write this information in different ways.

(5) Cultural and religious sensitivities: The use of certain anatomical terms may be considered offensive to some cultural groups.

In order to combat these problems, it is important for translators to develop systems including style guides or glossaries, built in collaboration with various clients. In addition to factoring in style decisions, translators should also consider the level of education of the target audience, the location of the target population, formal or informal tone, idiosyncratic titles, capitalization, and translation for the web. Glossaries should be thought of as living documents that grow and change over time. They ensure the consistent use of terminology from document to document while accounting for client preferences.

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