Re: Question about Spanish

Peter T. Daniels wrote:
phoglund@xxxxxx wrote:

foggytown wrote:

Peter T. Daniels wrote:

foggytown wrote:

Dear Group,

I am doing some research for a short story and perhaps I can find some
assistance in here. Question: are there countries once colonized by
Spain where the daily spoken language is now a form of Spanish which
has so degraded that it would not be understood by Spaniards or other
(former) colonies?

Please don't say "degraded." It suggests that the language is somehow
inferior or inadequate. Whatever the social circumstances of its
speakers, the language is fully as expressive as that spoken by any
Castilian.
--

I wonder if you were a Castillian you would feel the same?


Well, the fact is that even in Spain, Latin American authors such as
Gabriel García Márquez from Colombia and Jorge Luis Borges from
Argentina are held in high esteem. Spanish is not exactly my specialty,
it is just a nice language with an interesting literature I wanted to
read in the original language, but as far as I know, Argentine Spanish
is one of the most divergent - by your token, "degraded" - varieties of
the New World, but it sure does not make Borges indigestible for
Peninsular lovers of good literature.


How "degraged" is Chilean in comparison, which has given us Neruda and
Isobel Allende? (Who now seems to write in English rather than Spanish,
at least sometimes.)

What do you mean with "Chilean"? Informal verbal communication or formal written communication? Or both? Or anyone?

It is one of the less divergent dialects of Spanish, although lately it's being influenced by Argentinian.

Neruda wrote and IsAbel Allende writes standard peninsular Spanish, with some words for lexical items that have no name in Spain.

--
Javi
.

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