| LANGUAGE Spanish (Castellano or Castillian) is spoken by approximately 275 million people in 19 countries and it is the official language in Argentina, but Argentinian Spanish have some differences from the Spanish spoken in Spain and other areas. |
In the areas around the Rio de la Plata, including Buenos Aires, is spoken the Rioplatense Spanish dialect, that is Castellano language with influences of French/Italian/English and pronounced with a slight Italian Accent, it is one of the things that differentiate the city of Buenos Aires from the rest of the Spanish-speaking world; to the north out of Buenos Aires, the type of accent is most related with Latin American style Spanish.
Other languages spoken in Argentina are: Italian, German, English, and French. Indigenous communities have retained their original languages, like Tehuelche, Guarani, Quechua and Aymara. Also, exists immigrants communities whom speak their native languages until today
PRONUNCIATION
The accent of the Porteños, as the inhabitants of the Argentine city of Buenos Aires are called, has similarities with the Neapolitan dialect of Italia. This match with immigration patterns. Argentina, and specially Buenos Aires, accepted an ample number of immigrants from Italia in the beginning of the 20th century. The Italian immigration had a profound influence on Lunfardo. Before that, the Argentine accent was similar to that Andalucia, Spain.
You could try to learn about Argentine pronunciation, watching Argentine films, like "El Hijo de la Novia", "Nueve Reinas", "Valentin" and listening to Argentine radio stations in Internet.
Some features in the Argentine Pronunciation are:
- In Buenos Aires, "ll" = "y", and it is uttered with a sound between "sh" (shop) and "s" (pleasure). Effect known as "yeísmo", nowadays, "yeismo" is becoming "zeismo", with the increasingly use of the "zh" instead "sh", almost an English 'j'.
- The "v" = "b" = In some Spanish-speaking countries the "v" is like the English sound (as in "very"). In Argentina, this rule is not full-filed, with one exception: when someone is spelling a word they may pronounce it as in "very" for clarification.
- The "j" and "g" (before an "e" or "i") can also be pronounced like a German "ch" in "ich".
- There is no "th" sound (as in "thick") in Argentinian Spanish.
- "s", in the end of a word, before a consonant, is uttered with a sound like the "h" in Hardware, except at the end of a word before a pause or a vowel.
- "cua" is pronounced as in "quantum".
- "qu" is uttered like the "c" in cat;
- "z" sounds like "s".
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