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How + adjective/adverb in Spanish

  Tags: Syntax | Spanish
 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages Post Reply
10 messages over 2 pages: 1
Juаn
Senior Member
Colombia
Joined 5349 days ago

727 posts - 1830 votes 
Speaks: Spanish*

 
 Message 9 of 10
25 November 2011 at 3:07pm | IP Logged 
mrwarper, I don't have time right now to write a more thorough response, but let me just say that I find the everyday language (not vulgar language, mind you) to be quite forceful and convincing, and very apt for the expression of all kinds of ideas. You're correct in that formal Spanish is highly prescriptive though, and in this the contrast with English and its suppleness is stark.
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mrwarper
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Spain
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Speaks: Spanish*, EnglishC2
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 Message 10 of 10
25 November 2011 at 4:28pm | IP Logged 
@Juan,

Of course everyday language (and even vulgar language) is forceful, convincing, and apt for all kinds of expression, which is why we use it a lot for everything every day :) However, I think language learners should be careful about 'localisms' in their target language(s), and the more careful the more widely their TL is used, just like they want to be careful about vulgarisms.

Supranational languages are obviously an extreme case, so I always advocate sticking to standard usage, or learn equivalent versions of anything for what universal forms aren't available, like hood/bonnet, etc.

---
anamsc wrote:
Without getting into the prescriptivism / descriptivism debate (which I have a feeling you and I would be on different sides on!)

You're probably right; I'm against both sides :)

Quote:
Just because a form is dialectal, that does not necessarily mean that it is low-register.

I didn't say that. Dialectal forms are more frequent in the lower registers, that's all. But precisely because of that, the more dialectal a form is, the more it can (and often is) perceived as low-register. Probably something you want to avoid in general.

Quote:
A quick Google search will show [...] I don't think that is the case with most "local language butcherisms and malapropisms," and it certainly shows that this construction is common in usage outside this mysterious "village" that you refer to.

Just a way of speaking. I'm against ample usage of any kind of localisms because they play against you in general -- more often than not they'll get you blank faces if not eye rolling outside their zone. Now, if as I said before you're a true connoiseur and know what you can use for your own advantage (and how) in a strange land, hey, be my guest.

Quote:
And another thing -- there are way more Spanish speakers total in [...] I don't really see why the usage in Spain should dictate what is "correct" any more than the usage in these two countries, or why what "feels wrong" to a Spaniard should be any more wrong than what feels wrong to a Mexican or a Colombian.

Neither do I, which is why I recommend forms that are [as close as possible to] universal, and I warn about different uses in different countries when possible. I already hinted why "que tan" feels wrong to me (besides its local nature); it is not because I am a Spaniard.

Things like 'God kills a puppy' are just my personal jokingly way of speaking, intended to offend nobody but perhaps those the offense would never be directed at anyway, i.e. not Spanish speakers from any country :)

OTOH, numbers alone would denote that roaches and not humans are the superior life form, so I find that argument kind of feeble. There are far more Simpsons' Apu-like speakers of English than Americans or British and you wouldn't say that's the highest standard of English, would you? When I say that A is preferable to me over B, I value forms according to universality, adhesion to norms, internal consistency, logic, etc., just the way I prefer saying 'I couldn't care less' when many people mean the same by 'I could care less', which doesn't even make sense.

Quote:
(EDIT): I just wanted to add [...]
RAE wrote:
Era normal en el español medieval y clásico, y hoy pervive en amplias zonas de América

Interesting, I think I never found it in my classical/medieval readings (not a whole lot, but...), or I'd remember it. From the wording, it's being phased out everywhere, though.

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