User talk:Sj/D

Spanish: Regularly different

Just a friendly comment about spanish (local) pronounciation: unlike the pronounciation differences between US and British english on a word-by-word basis, spanish is a very regular language when it comes to pronounciation, albeit it has regional differences. Some sounds have been systematically replaced. The ones that come to mind are {b ,v} {c, s, z} {ll, y} and {r, rr}. In some places they are thoroughly differentiated, others pronounce them the same, others have replaced it with other sounds, and so on.

The spanish spoken in the Rio de La Plata region (usually referred to as 'porteño', and in some cases as 'argentinean' as a broad generalization) is characterized for the strong and identical sound of {ll, y} (close resemblance to the 'j' sound in french 'je suis argentin' - who are amongst the few to get 'porteño' right if it wasn't for their r's ;)

Anyway, the point I'm trying to make is that care should be taken as to which particular sounds are used because the results can be quite catastrophic (I remember watching a long time ago a version of Star Wars translated in Spain and it was unbereable - but funny).

Fortunately, there is something referred to as neutral spanish (actually, 'castellano neutro') that is used for documentaries and other translations that seems to get the job done without sounding too alien to the locals (or maybe we've just gotten used to it).--Xavi 08:47, 3 December 2006 (EST)