Is European Spanish the same as Latin American Spanish?

by Target Language Translation Services

- December 06 2021

While there are distinctions between the varieties of Spanish, the first thing to make clear is that Spanish speakers can all understand each other, whether in Cadiz or Cusco, Salamanca or Santo Domingo. It’s like an American speaking English with a Brit and an Australian. Spanish speakers may utilize different vocabulary, have different accents or expressions, but they would ultimately understand each other perfectly. However, the differences are important to understand, especially within the translation industry where it’s critical for accurate localization to reflect the target region.

About Spanish

In Latin American countries, people call the Spanish language español (Spanish) as that is from where the language was brought. In European, especially Spain, however, the Spanish language is called castellano (Castilian), which refers the Castile province in central Spain where the language is said to have originated. Spaniards do not call the language español because there are other languages like Catalan (or Valencian), Galician and Basque which are spoken in Spain that would also be considered Spanish languages (lenguas españolas).

The Evolution of Spanish

The idea of “continental lag” was first coined by the linguist Albert Marckwardt to describe that the language which is brought to a new place changes less than the language from where it originated. This could explain why the words and phrases people utilize in Latin America are different – the language didn’t have time to “catch up” to its mother country (Spain). The impact of the people or countries around those speaking the language affects the vocabulary and the way of speaking as well. There are, for instance, words borrowed from English because of a country’s proximity to the United States or the UK. Words like bistec, champú, cóctel are words that are commonly utilized in both Spain and Latin America. Before the Spanish arrived in South America, there were hundreds of different native languages it’s possible that many of these words were incorporated to the Spanish language of each particular country.

Differences between Spanish in Spain and Latin America

Let’s take a look at how European, specifically Spain, known as Castilian Spanish is different from Latin American Spanish.

Vocabulary

While there are vocabulary variances across Spanish speaking countries around the globe, there are distinct differences between the vocabulary of Latin America and Spain.

Here are some examples:

a swimming pool alberca, wheras everyone else calls it piscina

a computer is called ordenador in Spain and computadora in Latin America.

a pen is called bolígrafo or boli in Spain and a pluma or lapicera in Latin America

a peach is melocotón in Spain and durazno in Latin America

a car is coche in Spain and carro or auto in Latin America

a cell phone in Spain is móvil and celular in Latin America

the verb to drive is conducir in Spain and manejar in Latin America

Tú/Usted/Vos

The forms of addressing a person vary between regions. In Spain, to address one person as you, the Spaniard would use tú for informal use or usted for formal situations. This rule is shared throughout most of Latin America. However, where it differs is in Argentina and Uruguay where vos is used for informal situations. This illustrates that variants exist across Latin America itself and that there is not necessarily a standardized Latin American Spanish.

The pronoun tú and vos could be used interchangeably, but there are other changes associated with this as well such as verb conjugations.

For instance:

You must study.

Vos tenés que estudiar.

Tú tienes que estudiar.

Vosotros vs. Ustedes

The use of the third person plural pronoun is another difference between European Spanish and Latin American Spanish. In Spain the word commonly used is vosotros and in Latin America you will often hear ustedes. Vosotros is never used in Latin America. Spaniards recognize ustedes but it’s considered extremely formal.

The differences are illustrated not only in the personal pronoun but also in the possessive pronoun.

For example:

You know how important it is to study another language.

Vosotros sabéis lo importante que es estudiar otro idioma.

Ustedes saben lo importante que es estudiar otro idioma.

How many of your friends study another language?

¿Cuántos de vuestros amigos estudian otro idioma?

¿Cuántos de sus amigos estudian otro idioma?

Leísmo

Throughout Spain, an acceptable practice known as leísmo is recognized. This refers to the use of the indirect object pronoun le instead of the correct direct object pronoun lo or la. This is only grammatically recognized when referring to male persons. Leísmo is not applied when referring to a female or using plural forms.

For instance:

I did not see Santiago yesterday.

A Santiago no le vi ayer. Here leísmo is used as the indirect object pronoun.

A Santiago no lo vi ayer. Here standard Spanish is applied and the direct object pronoun is used.

Past Tense

The way that Spaniards and Latin Americans talk about the past includes differences as well. In Spain, it is common to talk about a completed action using the present perfect tense: Hoy he ido al trabajo (I have gone to work today). In Latin America, it is more common to use the simple past: Hoy fui al trabajo (I went to work today).

Pronunciation

The greatest difference one might hear between the Spanish spoken in Spain and the Spanish in Latin America is the pronunciation of the Z and C (before I or E). In Latin America, these two letters are pronounced as S, while in Spain you would hear a TH sound. For this reason, someone from Barcelona would pronounce the name of their hometown as Barthelona.

Here’s an example: la taza es azul

In Spain, it would sound like: la ta[th]a es a[th]ul

In Latin America, you would hear: la ta[s]a es a[s]ul

In some parts of Argentina and Uruguay, the double LL and Y sounds are pronounced like an English SH, while other Spanish speakers would pronounce it as a Y sound.

Example: está lloviendo en la playa

In Argentina, you would hear: está [sh]oviendo en la pla[sh]a

Everywhere else: está [y]oviendo en la pla[y]a

Besides the differences in specific letter sounds, there are also differences in the general way people speak. Some say that Argentinians have a “sing-song” accent, Colombian Spanish is the most neutral sounding, or that some countries drop an S at the end or in the middle of words.

Conclusion

For the translation and localization industry, it’s highly essential to be aware of these key differences. By understanding and properly addressing the language nuances of the target market, the translations will be more impactful and better resonate with audiences. Failure to properly localize to the appropriate Spanish region will result in a disconnect and even cause an unnecessary distraction away from the translated content.

This article is reprinted from Speakeasy, TERRA TRANSLATIONS and ESL Stories.

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