Canarian Spanish, or Canary Island Spanish, is the variety of Spanish spoken by the Canary Islanders, a dialect of Peninsular Spanish within the Castilian tradition. It is marked by seseo, so that caza and casa sound alike, and by aspiration of syllable-final s to an h sound, a feature it shares with Andalusian and Caribbean Spanish, as well as by distinctive vocabulary such as guagua for bus in place of standard autobus, and by use of ustedes for all second-person plural forms rather than the Iberian vosotros. Because Hispanic America was largely settled by colonists from the Canary Islands and Andalusia, Canarian Spanish had a substantial influence on the later development of Caribbean Spanish.
Facts
RegionSpoken in the Canary Islands, Spain, by the Canary Islanders. 1 Speaker CommunityThe variety of the Canary Islanders; heavy Canarian emigration to the Caribbean, particularly during colonial times, made Canarian speech patterns influential on Caribbean Spanish, which is strikingly similar to it. 1 Distinguishing FeaturesSeseo, the lack of distinction between the letters s and z or soft c, is its most distinctive non-mainland characteristic, so that caza ('hunt') is pronounced exactly like casa ('house'). 1 Classification
Variety Kind Sources
1. Wikipedia: Canarian Spanish
Wikimedia FoundationLead section
As a result of heavy Canarian emigration to the Caribbean, particularly during colonial times, Caribbean Spanish is strikingly similar to Canarian Spanish.
Pronunciation section
Seseo, the lack of distinction between the pronunciation of the letters ⟨s⟩ and ⟨z⟩ or "soft" ⟨c⟩, is the most distinctive non-mainland characteristic; caza ('hunt') is pronounced exactly like casa ('house'), which occurs in some parts of Andalusia as well.
Variety kind, Canarian Spanish entity page
Canarian Spanish, or Canary Island Spanish, is the variety of Spanish spoken by the Canary Islanders, a dialect of Peninsular Spanish within the Castilian tradition.
View the Source Reader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.