We had a bit of fun with the New York Times interactive website, How Y'all, Youse, and You Guys Talk. The survey questions were based on those in the Harvard Dialect Survey, a linguistics project begun in 2002 by Bert Vaux and Scott Golder. The data for the quiz and maps come from over 350,000 survey responses collected from August to October 2013 by Josh Katz, a graphics editor for the New York Times who developed this quiz. The colors on the large heat map correspond to the probability that a randomly selected person in that location would respond to a randomly selected survey question the same way that you did as you took the quiz. The three smaller maps show which answer most contributed to those cities being named the most (or least) similar to you.
While the quiz was in English and not Spanish (that would be great and I'll keep looking to see if someone has created one), it addresses observations we've made in class about different words Spanish speakers use to identify the same thing, based on their country of origin.
For example, in Spain, the word for car is coche; however, carro or automóvil is used in other countries. For these countries, coche is a carriage and in Mexico and Central America, it may refer to a pig. Public transportation is widely used throughout Latin America and the word for bus varies from country to country. Some examples include flota (Colombia), buseta (Colombia), colectivo (Bolivia), guagua (Puerto Rico and Cuba), and camión (Mexico). The latter is a truck in most Spanish-speaking countries.
While the quiz was in English and not Spanish (that would be great and I'll keep looking to see if someone has created one), it addresses observations we've made in class about different words Spanish speakers use to identify the same thing, based on their country of origin.
For example, in Spain, the word for car is coche; however, carro or automóvil is used in other countries. For these countries, coche is a carriage and in Mexico and Central America, it may refer to a pig. Public transportation is widely used throughout Latin America and the word for bus varies from country to country. Some examples include flota (Colombia), buseta (Colombia), colectivo (Bolivia), guagua (Puerto Rico and Cuba), and camión (Mexico). The latter is a truck in most Spanish-speaking countries.
Chayote (vegetable pear) It's not just transportation terms that vary from country to country. A lot of vocabulary does, especially in terms of foods. Chayote, or vegetable pear, is a fruit native to Mexico that has spread to many Spanish-speaking countries, Europe, and the United States. In Colombia, it is called cidra, however, in certain regions of the country, it is referred to as guatila or papa de los pobres. An orange is usually called a naranja in Spanish, but in Puerto Rico it is called a china, which is understood by many Spanish-speakers as a woman from China or china dinnerware. Remember that we have learned the word, sándwich to refer to a sandwich; it is a cognate and adopted from the English. But, in Spain, a sandwich is called a bocadillo and is made in a little different way, especially in terms of the kind of bread used (a baguette instead of thin-sliced white or wheat bread).
As we continue to acquire new vocabulary, take note of the variations that occur among Spanish-speakers. Maybe we'll discover enough words to create our own survey for Spanish!
As we continue to acquire new vocabulary, take note of the variations that occur among Spanish-speakers. Maybe we'll discover enough words to create our own survey for Spanish!
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