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From: deb5@midway.uchicago.edu (Daniel von Brighoff)
Subject: Re: Spanish pronunciation tips wanted
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Date: Thu, 6 Jun 1996 23:39:22 GMT
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In article <4ogbl1$j2v@crcnis3.unl.edu>,
david shobe <dshobe@unlinfo.unl.edu> wrote:
>Since some of the pronunciations I asked about are dialect-dependent
>I suppose I should ask:
>Which dialect should I try to imitate?
>
>There seem to be five major dialects of Spanish (most of this info 
>comes from my Univ. of Chicago English-Spanish dictionary):
>1)  Castillian
>2)  Andaluzian/Caribbean
>3)  Mexican
>4)  Andean
>5)  Rio-la-Platan
[snip]
>Or perhaps I should give each of the five dialects a vote on how to
>pronounce "z", how to pronounce "ll", etc.  It is likely that the 
>result of such "democracy" will not be any of the five dialects,
>but a Spanish that avoids regionalisms should be understood in all
>regions, ?verdad?

Or an unholy amalgam that sounds foreign everywhere.  Imagine what
your English would sound like if you "took a poll" of vowel pronun-
ciations among British, North American, South African, and 
Antipodean speakers.  Sure, you'd be understood, but you might also
be laughed at.

If you want to imitate your Argentine teacher, go ahead.  Even though
porte~no is relatively divergent, a lot films are dubbed into it, so
most hispanohablantes will understand it.  I wouldn't worry about pro-
nunciation too much anyway.  It's most important to develop your 
competence, especially in in the lexion; you can always change your 
accent later if you want to.


-- 
	 Daniel "Da" von Brighoff    /\          Dilettanten
	(deb5@midway.uchicago.edu)  /__\         erhebt Euch
				   /____\      gegen die Kunst!
