Venezuelan Spanish
This post will explain and give a short summary of how the Spanish language in Venezuela has been in contact with other languages, how it has changed and adopted neologisms and it will provide examples and analyse what is known as Venezuelan Spanish with new words and phrases due to the processes of immigration and globalisation that started during the conquest of the continent and then in the 20th century.
First of all, it is important to know the extent to which has Venezuela been in contact with other languages and with the rest of the world. Venezuela since the times of the conquest has been exposed and in contact with the global world, mainly with Spain, some European nations and then the United States of America. Everything started at the beginning and middle of the 20th century, when Venezuela was a prosperous country, with plenty of opportunities for foreigners and an economy based on oil production. Together with the United States of America, Brazil and Argentina, Venezuela seen as the new world and a land of opportunities.
The first wave of immigrants came during the beginning of the 20thcentury when the process of oil production started. Because Venezuela was a rural and agricultural country, it urgently needed technicians and experts in that particular field. As consequence, mainly Americans and Britons came with their oil companies and employees to develop the booming sector. It was in that particular moment that Venezuelan Spanish started to change and to adopt neologisms and phrases from foreign languages. The most common examples of North American and British origin and still used in everyday life today in Venezuela are:
- “chamo” this words is always used in informal situations and it comes from the English word “chum” which means friend, lad or partner.
- “franela” from the English word “flannel” which means shirt or t-shirt made of cotton or wool.
- “guachiman” is used to refer to security guards and it comes from the English “watchmen”.
- “Cachifa” is used to call the maids and it comes from the English word “k-chief” or “kitchen assistant”.
- “Macundales” is often used to refer to working tools. The origin comes from when the American employers told their employees to bring or used the tools from the brand “Mac & Dale”.
- “Pichón” often used with the phrase “echarle pichón” which means to work hard and dedication, it comes from the English phrase “push-on”.
- “guaya” from the word “wire”.
- “buseta” the common city buses from the word “bus”.
- “bluyín” from blue jeans.
- “sanduche” from sandwich.
- “beisból” and “jonrón” from “baseball” and “homerun”
- “güircho” from the English expression “wild child”.
The second significant wave of immigrants occurred during and after the Second World War. Thousands of immigrants came mainly from Spain, Portugal and Italy, all of them escaping from fascism, tyranny, political persecution, war and hunger.
Going back in time, the contribution from the Spaniards was mainly in terms of phonetic and phonology, especially from the Andalusians who were convicts under the service of the explorers during the first expeditions, and people from the Canary Islands who later went to populate the colonies. In a way, like in those Spanish regions Venezuelans tend to omit the /s/ and the /d/ for example: “adiós” would be pronounced as “adiój”, “cuñado” would be “cuñao”, “pescado” would be “pescao” and so forth. Another thing that was brought by the Spaniards is the “seseo” which means that the letters s, c and z are all pronounced as an s.
The Portuguese are the second foreign community in Venezuela and the Italians are the third. They both have left a mark in the Venezuelan Spanish too. The Portuguese contributions are “cachimbo” for a smoking pipe, “malandros” for crooks and “botiquín”, “empatar” and “íngrimo”. The Italians were also very important in the construction of the Venezuelan Spanish and their contributions are often present in everyday conversations in an informal context. For example, “chao” from the Italian ciao is always used to say goodbye. The expression “¡écola cuá!” which means “that’s right” comes from the Italian expression “¡eccoli qua!” and the phrase “piano piano” that means to do something little by little. Finally the food and drink vocabulary that comes from Italian includes “birra”, “mortadela”, “pasticho”.
In addition the Venezuelan Spanish has also been slightly influenced by the French language with three particular examples; “petipuás”from “petit pois” or green peas in English. Furthermore, in Venezuela foreigners are often called “musiús” coming from the French word “monsier” and finally the “papel tualé” coming from “papier toilette”.
In conclusion, this post has discussed and analysed how the Spanish language in Venezuela has changed due to the processes of globalization and immigration. It has adopted several neologisms mainly from English, Italian and other European languages. Creating what we know today as Venezuelan Spanish and it was possible due to the historical and economic context of that South American country in the 20th century.
Sources:
Acosta, M. (1993) ‘Historia de los portugueses en Venezuela’, Caracas, Centro Portugués.
Márquez, A. (1994). ‘Muestrario de Voces y Frases Expresivas del Habla Venezolana’, Caracas, UCV.
Tavares, R. (2006), ‘Contacto lingüístico entre el español y el portugués: caso de inmigrantes portugueses radicados en Venezuela’, Venezuela, UCAB.
Santander, A. (1978) ‘Los Italianos forjadores de la nacionalidad y del desarrollo económico en Venezuela’, Valencia, Editorial Vadell.
Troconis, E. (1986). ‘El proceso de inmigración en Venezuela’, Caracas, Biblioteca de la Academia Nacional.
Tejera, M. (2007). ‘La derivación mixta en el español de Venezuela’, Caracas, Fondo Editorial Humanidades.
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