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Richard Jernigan -> RE: eso es and other yells (Sep. 20 2011 20:42:17)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Ricardo
Then why doen't it sound as "artha"?[;)]
althapua, vs arsapua.
Read spanish comments on youtube and see how the spelling of words is evolving....
When I first visited Spain in the 1960s, the "theta", the lisped "s" of castillian, seemed far less common in Andalucia than on recent visits to Granada, Ronda, Jerez and Cadiz.
In those earlier days the "theta" seemed almost an affectation in Andalucia. In the 1960-70s in Ronda, most houses in la Ciudad still had coats of arms above the doors. Though the accent you heard was distinctive, it contained no "thetas".
One sound still resonates in memory from the early 1970s. Decked out in tweed jacket and tie, as was the custom in those days, I worked my way up a steep, narrow cobbled street in la Ciudad de Ronda. A well dressed fair skinned boy of eight or nine was kicking a ball in the street. He was accompanied, and guarded by a large, alert and aggressive Boxer. The dog made it clear that I was to approach no closer to the boy than about 20 feet. The street was only about 10 feet wide.
I paused, the boy paused, the dog stood bristling and growling. Eventually the impasse was resolved by a commanding female voice from above, issuing from a latticed window.
"¡Hasdrubal! ¡Que dejas pasar el caballero!"
The dog was named after the brother of the famous Carthaginian general, Hannibal. It was definitely a sibilant "s" in the dog's name, not a "theta". The "L" at the end was fully present, not elided as in Andaluz. The endings of "dejas" and "pasar" were fully and crisply formed as well.
Instantly recognizing the voice of command, the dog stopped growling and stood to one side, pretending to ignore me as I passed.
Forty and fifty years later the "theta" seemed much more prevalent in Andalucia. I learned Spanish in Mexico and among educated Mexican Americans in South Texas, where 90% of people speak Spanish at home, so the "theta", being foreign to me, is particularly noticeable.
On our 2007 visit we stayed at the Carmen de la Alcubilla del Caracol, a small hotel just under the walls of the Alhambra. The spacious balcony looked out over the city, and there was a nice view of the Sierra Nevada. The husband of the owner served us breakfast. He spoke with the standard Castillian allotment of "thetas". He told us he was from Valencia, and had married the heiress to many generations of ownership of the Carmen.
When his wife appeared and joined us for coffee, she spoke without "thetas".
During our 2007 trip we encountered "thetas" just about everywhere we went in Andalucia, interacting with hotel desk staff, headwaiters, car rental agents and the like. We did live a little better than I did in my poverty stricken youth, so we were breakfasting in hotel dining rooms and conversing with prosperous Spaniards, instead of having a coffee, some bolillos and a shot of brandy with the bricklayers and carpenters on their way to work.
RNJ
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