:Rioplatense Spanish

{{short description|Variety of Spanish spoken in Argentina and Uruguay}}

{{Redirect|Argentine Spanish|Argentine people of Spanish descent|Spanish Argentines}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}}

{{Infobox language

| name = Rioplatense Spanish

| altname = Argentine–Uruguayan Spanish

| nativename = Castellano rioplatense{{Cite web|title=Sudamérica prefiere el término «castellano» y Centroamérica el de «español»|date=6 August 2007 |url=https://www.fundeu.es/noticia/sudamerica-prefiere-el-termino-castellano-y-centroamerica-el-de-espanol-1047/|access-date=8 July 2023|language=es}}
(Castellano argentino-uruguayo)

| pronunciation = {{IPA|es|kasteˈʝano ri.oplaˈtense|}}

| states = Argentina, Uruguay

| ethnicity = Argentines
Uruguayans

| speakers =

| speakers2 =

| ref = {{Ethnologue21|spa|Spanish → Argentina & Uruguay}}

| script = Latin (Spanish alphabet)

| familycolor = Indo-European

| fam2 = Italic

| fam3 = Latino-Faliscan

| fam4 = Romance

| fam5 = Italo-Western

| fam6 = Western

| fam7 = Ibero-Romance

| fam8 = West Iberian

| fam9 = Castilian

| fam10 = Spanish

| ancestor = Proto-Indo-European

| ancestor2 = Proto-Italic

| ancestor3 = Old Latin

| ancestor4 = Vulgar Latin

| ancestor5 = Proto-Romance

| ancestor6 = Old Spanish

| ancestor7 = Early Modern Spanish

| nation = {{ARG}} (de facto)
{{URU}} (de facto)

| agency = Academia Argentina de Letras
Academia Nacional de Letras de Uruguay

| isoexception = dialect

| dialects = Outer Dialects:
Norteño (Northern)
Guaranítico (Northeastern)
Cuyano (Western)
Cordobés (Central)
Inner Dialects:
Litoraleño (Coastal)
Bonaerense (Eastern)
Patagónico (Southern)
Uruguayan

| iso1 = es

| iso2 = spa{{cite web|title=ISO 639-2 Language Code search|url=https://www.loc.gov/standards/iso639-2/php/langcodes-keyword.php?SearchTerm=spa&SearchType=iso_639_2&Submit=Go|website=Library of Congress|access-date=21 September 2017}}

| glotto = none

| ietf = es-AR
es-UY

| notice = IPA

| map = Español_rioplatense.png

| mapscale = 1

| mapcaption = Rioplatense Spanish-speaking regions, including Patagonian variants

}}

Rioplatense Spanish ({{IPAc-en|ˌ|r|iː|oʊ|p|l|ə|ˈ|t|ɛ|n|s|eɪ}} {{respell|REE|oh|plə|TEN|say}}, {{IPA|es|ri.oplaˈtense|lang}}), also known as Rioplatense Castilian,{{cite book |title=A Political History of Spanish: The Making of a Language |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2013 |isbn=9781107005730 |editor-last=Del Valle |editor-first=José |pages=212–228}} or River Plate Spanish,Saab, Andrés. (2009). "On verbal duplication in River Plate Spanish". Selected papers from Going Romance. Nice 2009. is a variety of SpanishOrlando Alba, Zonificación dialectal del español en América ("Classification of the Spanish Language within Dialectal Zones in America"), in: César Hernández Alonso (ed.), "Historia presente del español de América", Pabecal: Junta de Castilla y León, 1992.{{Cite web |url=http://publib.upol.cz/~obd/fulltext/Romanica-8/Romanica-8_05.pdf |title=Jiří Černý, "Algunas observaciones sobre el español hablado en América" ("Some Observations about the Spanish Spoken in America"). Acta Universitatis Palackianae Olomucencis, Facultas Philosophica Philologica 74, pp. 39–48, 2002. |access-date=29 January 2009 |archive-date=1 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140801051252/http://publib.upol.cz/~obd/fulltext/Romanica-8/Romanica-8_05.pdf |url-status=dead }}Alvar, Manuel, "Manual de dialectología hispánica. El español de América", ("Handbook of Hispanic Dialectology. Spanish Language in America."). Barcelona 1996. originating in and around the Río de la Plata Basin, and now spoken throughout most of Argentina and Uruguay.Resnick, Melvyn: Phonological Variants and Dialects Identification in Latin American Spanish. The Hague 1975. This dialect is widely recognized throughout the Hispanosphere due to its strong influence from Italian languages, a result of significant historical Italian immigration to the region.{{Cite journal |last=Meo Zilio |first=Giovanni |date=1963–64 |title=Genovesismos en el español rioplatense |journal=Nueva Revista de Filología Hispánica |volume=T. 17, No. 3/4 (1963/1964) |issue=3/4 |pages=245–263 |jstor=40297676}} As a consequence, it has incorporated numerous Italian loanwords—giving rise to the lunfardo argot—and is spoken with an intonation similar to that of the Neapolitan language from Southern Italy.{{Cite web |date=2007-07-21 |title=El lunfardo y su etimología |url=https://www.elpais.com.uy/tvshow/el-lunfardo-y-su-etimologia |access-date=2025-02-26 |website=EL PAIS |language=en}}

It is the most prominent dialect to employ voseo (the use of vos in place of the pronoun , along with special accompanying conjugations) in both speech and writing.{{Citation |last1=Spandau |first1=Gustavo Walter |title=Las fronteras del voseo en el Río de la Plata: vos tenés, tú tenés |trans-title=The boundaries of voseo in the Río de la Plata: vos tenés, tú tenés… |url=https://cvc.cervantes.es/ensenanza/biblioteca_ele/publicaciones_centros/PDF/saopaulo_2008/21_walter-caceres.pdf |place=São Paulo |publisher=Instituto Cervantes de São Paulo |last2=Cáceres Fernandez |first2=Jorge Adelqui}} Many features of Rioplatense Spanish are also shared with the varieties spoken in south and eastern Bolivia, as well as in Paraguay, particularly in regions bordering Argentina. It also strongly influences the fronteiriço, a pidgin spoken in Uruguay's border regions with Brazil, as a result of continuous interaction between the communities of both nations.{{Cite web |title=Hacia el portuñol "patrimonio inmaterial de la humanidad" {{!}} Comisión Coordinadora del Interior |url=https://www.cci.edu.uy/node/95 |access-date=2023-11-15 |website=www.cci.edu.uy}}

As Rioplatense is considered a dialect of Spanish and not a distinct language, there are no credible figures for a total number of speakers. The total population of these areas would amount to some 25–30 million, depending on the definition and expanse. {{Culture of Argentina}} {{Culture of Uruguay}}

Location

Rioplatense is the predominant Spanish variety spoken in both Argentina and Uruguay. In the former, it is primarily centered in major urban areas such as Buenos Aires, Rosario, Santa Fe, La Plata, Mar del Plata and Bahía Blanca—along with their surrounding suburbs and the regions connecting them, whereas in the latter, it is spoken nationwide, where it takes the form of Uruguayan Spanish.[https://www.cervantes.es/imagenes/file/biblioteca/situacion_espanol/uruguay_situacion_espanol.pdf Particularities of the Spanish language in Uruguay]

Beyond these core areas, Rioplatense Spanish extends to regions that, while not geographically adjacent, have been culturally influenced by these linguistic centers, including parts of Paraguay and the border regions of Brazil and Uruguay.{{Cite web |title=Las características del español del Cono Sur: Argentina, Chile, Paraguay y Uruguay {{!}} Voces {{!}} Unidad 8: Cono Sur {{!}} Acceso |url=https://acceso.ku.edu/unidad8/voces/caracteristicas.shtml |access-date=2025-02-26 |website=acceso.ku.edu}} It serves as the linguistic standard in audiovisual media across both Argentina and Uruguay.

History

The Spanish language was introduced to the region during the colonial era. The Río de la Plata Basin, which originally formed part of the Viceroyalty of Peru, was granted its own status as the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata in 1776. Following the independence of both nations in the first half of the 19th century, the language spoken in the area—criollo Spanish—was largely unaffected by external linguistic influences and varied primarily due to regionalisms.

From the 1870s until the mid-1960s, large waves of European immigrants, primarily from Italy and Spain, began to arrive in Uruguay and Argentina.{{Cite web |title=Inmigrantes {{!}} 1811-2011 |url=http://www.1811-2011.edu.uy/B1/content/inmigrantes?page=show |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20240718144550/http://www.1811-2011.edu.uy/B1/content/inmigrantes?page=show |archive-date=2024-07-18 |access-date=2025-01-15 |website=www.1811-2011.edu.uy |language=es}} As a result, the ethnic and cultural composition of both countries, which were in the process of consolidating as nation-states, was profoundly influenced by the cultures of the new arrivals. The language adopted various features from the native languages of these immigrants, such as Neapolitan and Sicilian, which played a significant role in shaping Rioplatense.{{Citation |title=Italianismos en el español rioplatense |work=Thesaurus |volume=XX |year=1965 |trans-title=Italianisms in Rioplatense Spanish |url=https://cvc.cervantes.es/lengua/thesaurus/pdf/20/TH_20_001_072_0.pdf |place=Bogotá |publisher=Caro and Cuervo Institute}}

= European immigration =

Several languages, especially Italian, influenced the historical criollo Spanish of the region because of the diversity of the settlers and immigrants to Argentina and Uruguay:

= Influence of indigenous populations =

Due to the disappearance of the indigenous population in Uruguay during the early years of the country as an independent state and the absence of a lasting cultural legacy from these peoples, there was no significant influence of native languages on Uruguayan Spanish.{{Cite web |date=2007-04-12 |title="Traición, masacre, dispersión y olvido" |url=https://www.elpais.com.uy/informacion/traicion-masacre-dispersion-y-olvido |access-date=2025-02-27 |website=EL PAIS |language=en}} In contrast, in Argentina, there was a strong interaction with the languages of the indigenous peoples of the northern regions.{{Citation |last=Giménez Folqués |first=David |title=Influencia quechua en el español andino en Cuentos y leyendas populares de la Argentina |volume=13 |year=2017 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/322598885 |place=São Paulo}} Therefore, words from Guarani, Quechua, and other indigenous languages were incorporated into the local form of Spanish, and then spread.

Some words of Amerindian origin commonly used in Rioplatense Spanish are:

  • From Quechua:
  • guacho or guacha (orig. wakcha "poor person, vagabond, orphan"); the term for the native cowboys of the Pampas, gaucho, may be related.
  • choclo/pochoclo (pop + choclo, from choqllo, corn) – "popcorn" in Argentina
  • From Guaraní: pororó – "popcorn" in Uruguay, Paraguay and some Argentine provinces.

:See Influences on the Spanish language for a more comprehensive review of borrowings into all dialects of Spanish.

Linguistic features

= Phonology =

Rioplatense Spanish distinguishes itself from other dialects of Spanish by the pronunciation of certain consonants.

class="wikitable" style="margin: 1em auto; text-align: center;"

|+ Consonant phonemes

!

! colspan="2" | Labial

! colspan="2" | Dento-alveolar

! colspan="2" | Palatal

! colspan="2" | Velar

Nasal

| colspan="2" style="border-right: 0; width: 25px;" |{{IPAlink|m}}

| colspan="2" | {{IPAlink|n}}

| colspan="2" style="border-right: 0; width: 25px;" |{{IPAlink|ɲ}}

| colspan="2" |

Stop

| {{IPAlink|p}}

| rowspan="2" | {{IPAlink|b}}

| style="width: 25px;" |{{IPAlink|t̪|t}}

| rowspan="2" style="width: 25px;" |{{IPAlink|d̪|d}}

| style="width: 25px;" |{{IPAlink|tʃ}}

| style="border-left: 0; width: 25px;" |

| style="width: 25px;" |{{IPAlink|k}}

| rowspan="2" style="width: 25px;" |{{IPAlink|ɡ}}

Continuant

| {{IPAlink|f}}

| {{IPAlink|s}}

| colspan="2" | {{IPA link|ʃ}} ~ {{IPA link|ʒ}}

| {{IPAlink|x}}

Lateral

| colspan="2" |

| colspan="2" | {{IPAlink|l}}

| style="border-right: 0;" |

| style="border-left: 0;" |

| colspan="2" |

Flap

| colspan="2" |

| colspan="2" | {{IPAlink|ɾ}}

| colspan="2" |

| colspan="2" |

Trill

| colspan="2" |

| colspan="2" | {{IPAlink|r}}

| colspan="2" |

| colspan="2" |

  • Like many other dialects, Rioplatense features {{lang|es|yeísmo}}: the sounds represented by {{lang|es|ll}} (historically the palatal lateral {{IPA|/ʎ/}}) and {{lang|es|y}} (historically the palatal approximant {{IPA|/ʝ/}}) have fused into one. Thus, in Rioplatense, {{lang|es|se cayó}} "he fell down" is homophonous with {{lang|es|se calló}} "he became silent". This merged phoneme is generally pronounced as a postalveolar fricative, either voiced {{IPA|[ʒ]}} (as in English measure or the French {{lang|fr|j}}) in the central and western parts of the dialect region (this phenomenon is called {{lang|es|zheísmo}}) or voiceless {{IPA|[ʃ]}} (as in English shine or the French {{lang|fr|ch}}), a phenomenon called {{lang|es|sheísmo}} that originated in and around Buenos AiresCharles B. Chang, [http://www.lingref.com/cpp/wss/4/paper1755.pdf "Variation in palatal production in Buenos Aires Spanish"]. Selected Proceedings of the 4th Workshop on Spanish Sociolinguistics, ed. Maurice Westmoreland and Juan Antonio Thomas, 54–63. Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project, 2008. but has expanded to the rest of Argentina and Uruguay.{{cite journal|url=https://scholarworks.boisestate.edu/mcnair_journal/vol14/iss1/11/|title=A Perception Study of Rioplatense Spanish|first=Cecelia|last=Staggs|journal= McNair Scholars Research Journal|publisher=Boise State University|year=2019|volume=14|issue=1|quote=Many studies have shown that within the last 70 to 80 years, there has been a strong transition towards the voiceless [ʃ] in both Argentina and Uruguay, with Argentina having completed the change by 2004 and Uruguay following only recently [...]}}{{Cite book|title=Introducción a la sociolinguistica hispana|last=Díaz-Campos|first=Manuel|publisher=John Wiley & Sons, Inc.|year=2014}} Both {{lang|es|Porteños}} (those from Buenos Aires) and Montevideans perceive those speaking with {{lang|es|sheísmo}} as originating from their own country and those speaking with {{lang|es|zheísmo}} originating from the opposite country, despite the fact that {{lang|es|sheísmo}} is common in both.{{Cite journal |title=A Perception Study of Rioplatense Spanish |journal=McNair Scholars Research Journal |last=Staggs |first=Cecilia |url=https://scholarworks.boisestate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1212&context=mcnair_journal |volume=14 |issue=1 |year=2019 |editor-last=Martinez |editor-first=Michal Temkin |department=English, Linguistics Emphasis and Spanish |publisher=Boise State University}}
  • As in most American dialects, also, Rioplatense Spanish has seseo ({{IPA|/θ/}} and {{IPA|/s/}} are not distinguished, both being pronounced as {{IPA|/s/}}). Thus, {{lang|es|casa}} ("house") is homophonous with {{lang|es|caza}} ("hunt"). {{lang|es|Seseo}} is common to other dialects of Spanish in the Americas, Canarian Spanish and Andalusian Spanish.
  • In popular speech, the fricative {{IPA|/s/}} has a very strong tendency to become "aspirated" before another consonant or a pause. (The resulting sound depends on what the following consonant is, although describing it as a voiceless glottal fricative, {{IPA|[h]}}, would give a clear idea of the mechanism.{{sfnp|Coloma|2018|p=244}}) {{IPA|/s/}} may also be aspirated at the end of a word preceding another word that begins in a vowel, though this is less common.{{cite journal |last1=Lipski |first1=John M. |title=La discontinuidad fonética como criterio dialectológico |journal=Thesaurus |date=1988 |volume=XLIII |issue=2 & 3 |pages=310–326 |url=https://cvc.cervantes.es/lengua/thesaurus/pdf/43/TH_43_023_082_0.pdf |access-date=17 January 2022 |issn=0040-604 X |publisher=Instituto Caro y Cuervo |location=Bogotá |language=es}} Such word-final intervocalic {{IPA|/s/}}-aspiration is most frequent in northern Argentina.{{sfnp|Coloma|2018|p=246}} For example, {{lang|es|esto es lo mismo}} "this is the same" is commonly pronounced something like {{IPA|[ˈehto ˈeh lo ˈmihmo]}}, but in {{lang|es|las águilas azules}} "the blue eagles", the final {{IPA|/s/}} in {{lang|es|las}} and {{lang|es|águilas}} might stay {{IPA|[s]}}, as no consonant follows ({{IPA|[las ˈaɣilas aˈsuleh]}}), though it might still be aspirated as well ({{IPA|[lah ˈaɣilah aˈsuleh]}}).
  • The phoneme {{IPA|/x/}} (written as {{angle bracket|g}} before {{angle bracket|e}} or {{angle bracket|i}}, and as {{angle bracket|j}} elsewhere) is never glottalized to {{IPA|[h]}} in the Atlantic coast.{{sfnp|Coloma|2018|p=244}} That phenomenon is common to other coastal dialects in Hispanic American Spanish, but not the Rioplatense dialect. Rioplatense speakers always realize it as {{IPA|[x]}}.
  • Weakening the final {{IPA|/s/}} before consonants through aspiration is the norm. However, this elision may be seen as a feature of uneducated speakers. In some contexts—when singing, for example—the level of aspiration may vary.{{Cite book |last1=Coloma |first1=G. |url=http://www.memoria.fahce.unlp.edu.ar/trab_eventos/ev.3757/ev.3757.pdf |title=La aspiración de /s/ en el español rioplatense: Tango vs. rock |last2=Colantoni |first2=L. |year=2012 |language=es |trans-title=/s/ aspiration in Rioplatense Spanish: Tango vs. rock |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170911225008/http://www.memoria.fahce.unlp.edu.ar/trab_eventos/ev.3757/ev.3757.pdf |archive-date=11 September 2017}} Some speakers may also drop the final {{IPA|/ɾ/}} sound in verb infinitives.{{Cite book |last=Baistrocchi |first=Flavio |url=https://institutohispanobrasileiro.com.br/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Variedades-Diat%C3%B3picas-Fl%C3%A1vio-Baistrocchi.pdf |title=Variedades diatópicas del español – Variedad Rioplatense |publisher=Instituto Hispano Brasileiro |year=2020 |pages=4 |language=es}}
  • Many Argentinians merge {{IPA|/ɲ/}} into {{IPA|/nj/}}, meaning that {{lang|es|huraño}} "unsociable" and {{lang|es|uranio}} "uranium" are pronounced the same.{{sfnp|Coloma|2018|p=245}}
  • {{IPAblink|v}} is a relatively common allophone of {{IPA|/b/}}. Some speakers employ it in emphatic pronunciation, especially when pronouncing words spelled with {{angbr|v}}.{{sfnp|Coloma|2018|p=245}}

In Rioplatense Spanish, syllable-final {{IPA|/s/}} is almost invariably aspirated to {{IPA|[h]}} before a following consonant.{{cite journal |last=Núñez-Méndez |first=Eva |year=2022 |title=Variation in Spanish /s/: Overview and New Perspectives |journal=Languages |volume=7 |issue=2 |page=77 |doi=10.3390/languages7020077|doi-access=free }}

Among speakers from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, this aspiration—often culminating in deletion—extends to all coda environments, including before vowels and at utterance-final pause.{{cite book |last=Fontanella de Weinberg |first=María Beatriz |year=1974 |title=Análisis sociolingüístico de un aspecto del español bonaerense: la –s en Bahía Blanca |publisher=Universidad Nacional del Sur |location=Bahía Blanca |pages=71–74}}

Frequent deletion of word-final {{IPA|/ɾ/}} in the same speech style further simplifies codas and favours a consonant–vowel (CV) rhythmic pattern in rapid informal speech.{{cite conference |last1=Gilbert |first1=Madeline |last2=Rohena-Madrazo |first2=Marcos |title=Sociolinguistic stratification of coda /ɾ/ in Buenos Aires Spanish: Hyperarticulation and deletion |conference=8th Workshop on Spanish Sociolinguistics |location=San Juan, Puerto Rico |date=15 April 2021}}

:{{lang|es|Si querés irte, andate. Yo no te voy a parar.}}

:"If you want to go, then go. I'm not going to stop you."

:{{IPA|es|si keˈɾe ˈite aˈdate {{!}} ˈʃo no te ˈβoj a paˈɾa|label=IPA|audio=siqueresirte_v1.ogg}}

= Intonation =

Rioplatense Spanish, especially the speech of all of Uruguay and the Buenos Aires area in Argentina, has intonation patterns that resemble those of Italian dialects. This correlates well with immigration patterns, since both Argentina and Uruguay have received large numbers of Italian settlers since the 19th century.[https://www.cervantes.es/imagenes/file/biblioteca/situacion_espanol/uruguay_situacion_espanol.pdf Particularities of the Spanish language in Uruguay]

According to a study conducted by National Scientific and Technical Research Council of Argentina{{cite journal |title=Convergence and intonation: historical evidence from Buenos Aires Spanish |author1=Colantoni, Laura |author2=Gurlekian, Jorge |journal=Bilingualism: Language and Cognition |issn=1366-7289 |volume=7 |issue=2 |date=August 2004 |pages=107–119 |publisher=Cambridge University press |doi=10.1017/S1366728904001488|hdl=11336/118441 |s2cid=56111230 |hdl-access=free }} Buenos Aires and Rosario residents speak with an intonation most closely resembling Neapolitan. The researchers note this as a relatively recent phenomenon, starting in the beginning of the 20th century with the main wave of Southern Italian immigration. Before that, the porteño accent was more like that of Spain, especially Andalusia,{{cite web|url=http://www.lanacion.com.ar/762441 |title=Napolitanos y porteños, unidos por el acento - 06.12.2005 - lanacion.com |publisher=Lanacion.com.ar |date=6 December 2005 |access-date=11 August 2015}} and in case of Uruguay, the accent was more like Canarian dialect.

= Pronouns and verb conjugation =

File:Voseo-extension-real1.png}} countries – Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Eastern Bolivia (Media Luna) – are represented by dark blue. Argentina is the largest country that uses the {{lang|es|voseo}}.]]

One of the features of the Argentine and Uruguayan speaking style is the {{lang|es|voseo}}: the usage of the pronoun {{lang|es|vos}} for the second person singular, instead of {{lang|es|tú}}. In other Spanish-speaking regions where {{lang|es|voseo}} is used, such as in Chile and Colombia, the use of voseo has at times been considered a nonstandard lower speaking style, whereas in Argentina and Uruguay it is standard.

The second person plural pronoun, which is {{lang|es|vosotros}} in Spain, is replaced with {{lang|es|ustedes}} in Rioplatense, as in most other Hispanic American dialects. While {{lang|es|usted}} is the formal second person singular pronoun, its plural {{lang|es|ustedes}} has a neutral connotation and can be used to address friends and acquaintances as well as in more formal occasions (see T–V distinction). {{lang|es|Ustedes}} takes a grammatically third- person plural verb.

As an example, see the conjugation table for the verb {{lang|es|amar}} (to love) in the present tense, indicative mode:

class="wikitable"

|+ Inflection of {{lang|es|amar}}

Person/Number || Peninsular || Rioplatense
1st sing.{{lang|es|yo amo}}{{lang|es|yo amo}}
2nd sing.{{lang|es|tú amas}}{{lang|es|vos amás}}
3rd sing.{{lang|es|él ama}}{{lang|es|él ama}}
1st plural{{lang|es|nosotros amamos}}{{lang|es|nosotros amamos}}
2nd plural{{lang|es|vosotros amáis}}{{lang|es|ustedes aman}}{{lang|es|Ustedes}} is used throughout most of Hispanic America for both the familiar and formal. In Spain, outside of Canary Islands and Andalusia, it is used only in formal speech for the second person plural.
3rd plural{{lang|es|ellos aman}}{{lang|es|ellos aman}}

Although apparently there is just a stress shift (from {{lang|es|amas}} to {{lang|es|amás}}), the origin of such a stress is the loss of the diphthong of the classical {{lang|es|vos}} inflection from {{lang|es|vos amáis}} to {{lang|es|vos amás}}. This can be better seen with the verb "to be": from {{lang|es|vos sois}} to {{lang|es|vos sos}}. In vowel-alternating verbs like {{lang|es|perder}} and {{lang|es|morir}}, the stress shift also triggers a change of the vowel in the root:

class="wikitable"

|+ Inflection of {{lang|es|perder}}

Peninsular || Rioplatense
{{lang|es|yo pierdo}}{{lang|es|yo pierdo}}
{{lang|es|tú pierdes}}{{lang|es|vos perdés}}
{{lang|es|él pierde}}{{lang|es|él pierde}}
{{lang|es|nosotros perdemos}}{{lang|es|nosotros perdemos}}
{{lang|es|vosotros perdéis}}{{lang|es|ustedes pierden}}
{{lang|es|ellos pierden}}{{lang|es|ellos pierden}}

For the {{lang|es|-ir}} verbs, the Peninsular {{lang|es|vosotros}} forms end in {{lang|es|-ís}}, so there is no diphthong to simplify, and Rioplatense {{lang|es|vos}} employs the same form: instead of {{lang|es|tú vives}}, {{lang|es|vos vivís}}; instead of {{lang|es|tú vienes}}, {{lang|es|vos venís}} (note the alternation).

class="wikitable"

|+ Selected conjugation differences in present indicative

Verb || Standard Spanish || Castilian in plural || Rioplatense || Chilean || Maracaibo Voseo || English (US/UK)
Cantartú cantasvosotros cantáisvos cantástú cantáivos cantáisyou sing
Corrertú corresvosotros corréisvos corréstú corrívos corréisyou run
Partirtú partesvosotros partísvos partístú partívos partísyou leave
Decirtú dicesvosotros decísvos decístú decívos decísyou say

The imperative forms for {{lang|es|vos}} is formed by dropping the final -r from the infinitive and stressing the last syllable. Thus the form is identical to stressing the last syllable of all regular imperative forms in Peninsular:

  • Hablá más fuerte, por favor. "Speak louder, please" (habla in Peninsular)
  • Comé un poco de torta. "Eat some cake" (come in Peninsular)

However, irregular verbs in Peninsular are not identical except for stress:

  • Vení para acá. "Come over here" (ven in Peninsular)
  • Hacé lo que te dije. "Do what I told you" (haz in Peninsular)

The verb ir (to go) is not used in this form except for the Argentine province of Tucumán, where it's conjugated ite. The corresponding form of the verb andar (to walk, to go) substitutes for it.

  • Andá para allá. "Go there" (ve in Peninsular)

The plural imperative uses the {{lang|es|ustedes}} form (i. e. the third person plural subjunctive, as corresponding to ellos).

As for the subjunctive forms of {{lang|es|vos}} verbs, while they tend to take the {{lang|es|tú}} conjugation, some speakers do use the classical {{lang|es|vos}} conjugation, employing the {{lang|es|vosotros}} form minus the i in the final diphthong. Many consider only the {{lang|es|tú}} subjunctive forms to be correct.

  • Espero que veas or Espero que veás "I hope that you see..." (Peninsular veáis)
  • Lo que quieras or (less used) Lo que quierás/querás "Whatever you want" (Peninsular queráis)

In the preterite, an s is sometimes added, for instance (vos) perdistes. This corresponds to the classical {{lang|es|vos}} conjugation found in literature. Compare Iberian Spanish form vosotros perdisteis.

Other verb forms coincide with {{lang|es|tú}} after the i is omitted (the {{lang|es|vos}} forms are the same as {{lang|es|tú}}).

  • Si salieras "If you went out" (Peninsular salierais)

class="wikitable"

|+ Other Conjugation Differences

Standard Spanish || Rioplatense / other Argentine||Chilean || Maracaibo Voseo || Castilian in plural || English (US/UK)
lo que quieraslo que quieras/queráslo que queráicolspan=2 style="text-align: center;" | lo que queráiswhatever you want
espero que veasespero que veas/veásespero que veáicolspan=2 style="text-align: center;" | espero que veáisI hope you can see
no lo toquesno lo toquésno lo toquíscolspan=2 style="text-align: center;" | no lo toquéisdon't touch it
colspan=2 style="text-align: center;" | si salierassi salieraicolspan=2 style="text-align: center;" | si salieraisif you went out
colspan=2 style="text-align: center;" | si amarassi amaraicolspan=2 style="text-align: center;" | si amaraisif you loved
colspan=2 style="text-align: center;" | vivíasvivíaicolspan=2 style="text-align: center;" | vivíaisyou lived
colspan=2 style="text-align: center;" | cantabascantabaicolspan=2 style="text-align: center;" | cantabaisyou sang
colspan=2 style="text-align: center;" | diríasdiríaicolspan=2 style="text-align: center;" | diríaisyou'd say
colspan=2 style="text-align: center;" | haríasharíaicolspan=2 style="text-align: center;" | haríaisyou'd do

== Usage ==

In the old times, {{lang|es|vos}} was used as a respectful term. In Rioplatense, as in most other dialects which employ {{lang|es|voseo}}, this pronoun has become informal, supplanting the use of {{lang|es|tú}} (compare you in English, which used to be formal singular but has supplanted the former informal singular pronoun thou). It is used especially for addressing friends and family members (regardless of age), but may also include most acquaintances, such as co-workers, friends of one's friends, etc.

= Usage of tenses =

Although literary works use the full spectrum of verb inflections, in Rioplatense (as well as many other Spanish dialects), the future tense tends to use a verbal phrase (periphrasis) in the informal language.

This verb phrase is formed by the verb ir ("to go") followed by the preposition a ("to") and the main verb in the infinitive. This resembles the English phrase to be going to + infinitive verb. For example:

  • Creo que descansaré un pocoCreo que voy a descansar un poco (I think I will rest a little → I think I am going to rest a little)
  • Mañana me visitará mi madreMañana me va a visitar mi madre (Tomorrow my mother will visit me → Tomorrow my mother is going to visit me)
  • La visitaré mañanaLa voy a visitar mañana (I will visit her tomorrow → I am going to visit her tomorrow)

The present perfect (Spanish: Pretérito perfecto compuesto), just like pretérito anterior, is rarely used: the simple past replaces it. However, the Present Perfect is still used in Northwestern Argentina, particularly in the province of Tucumán.

  • Juan no ha llegado todavíaJuan no llegó todavía (Juan has not arrived yet → Juan did not arrive yet)
  • El torneo ha comenzadoEl torneo empezó (The tournament has begun → The tournament began)
  • Ellas no han votadoEllas no votaron (They have not voted → They did not vote)

But, in the subjunctive mood, the present perfect is still widely used:

  • No creo que lo hayan visto ya (I don't believe they have already seen him)
  • Espero que lo hayas hecho ayer (I hope you did it yesterday)

In Buenos Aires a reflexive form of verbs is often used – "se viene" instead of "viene'', etc.

Influence beyond Argentina

In Chilean Spanish there is plenty of lexical influence from the Argentine dialects suggesting a possible "masked prestige" otherwise not expressed, since the image of Argentine things is usually negative. Influences run across the different social strata of Chile. Argentine tourism in Chile during summer and Chilean tourism in Argentina would influence the speech of the upper class. The middle classes would have Argentine influences by watching football on cable television and by watching Argentine programs in the broadcast television. La Cuarta, a "popular" tabloid, regularly employs lunfardo words and expressions. Usually Chileans do not recognize the Argentine borrowings as such, claiming they are Chilean terms and expressions. The relation between Argentine dialects and Chilean Spanish is one of "asymmetric permeability", with Chilean Spanish adopting sayings of the Argentine variants but usually not the other way around.{{cite journal |last1=Salamanca |first1=Gastón |last2=Ramírez |first2=Ariella |date=2014 |title=Argentinismos en el léxico del español de Chile: Nuevas evidencias |url=http://www.scielo.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0718-04622014000100006 |journal=Atenea |volume=509 |pages=97–121 |access-date=16 January 2016}} Despite this, people in Santiago, Chile, value Argentine Spanish poorly in terms of "correctness", far behind Peruvian Spanish, which is considered the most correct form.{{Cite book|title=Actitudes lingüísticas de los hispanohablantes hacia el idioma español y sus variantes|last=Rojas|first=Darío|year=2014|editor-last=En Chiquito|editor-first=Ana Beatriz|editor-last2=Quezada Pacheco|editor-first2=Miguel Ángel|language=es|chapter=Actitudes lingüísticas en Santiago de Chile|doi=10.15845/bells.v5i0.679|series=Bergen Language and Linguistic Studies|volume=5|issue=5}}

Some Argentine words have been adopted in Iberian Spanish such as pibe, piba{{cite book |title=pibe, piba {{!}} Diccionario de la lengua española |date=2019 |publisher=Real Academia Española – ASALE |edition=23.3 electronic |url=https://dle.rae.es/pibe |access-date=2 March 2020 |language=es}} "boy, girl", taken into Spanish slang where it produced pibón,{{cite book |title=Diccionario de la lengua española {{!}} Edición del Tricentenario |date=2019 |publisher=Real Academia Española – ASALE |edition=23.3 electronic |url=https://dle.rae.es/pib%C3%B3n?m=form |access-date=2 March 2020 |language=es}} "very attractive person".

See also

{{Portal|Argentina|Uruguay|Languages}}

References

{{Reflist}}

Further reading

{{Refbegin}}

  • {{citation

| last=Bongiovanni

| first=Silvina

| year=2019

| title=An acoustical analysis of the merger of {{IPA|/ɲ/}} and {{IPA|/nj/}} in Buenos Aires Spanish

| journal=Journal of the International Phonetic Association

| doi=10.1017/S0025100318000440

| s2cid=151047029

}}

  • {{citation

| last=Coloma

| first=Germán

| year=2018

| title=Argentine Spanish

| journal=Journal of the International Phonetic Association

| volume=48

| issue=2

| pages=243–250

| doi=10.1017/S0025100317000275

| s2cid=232345835

| url=https://www.ucema.edu.ar/u/gcoloma/ArgentineSpanish.pdf

}}

{{Refend}}