Barranquilla puerto de oro Pars la ciudad luz Nueva York capital del mundo Del cielo Cali la sucursal.

Grupo Niche, from Cali Pachanguero (salsa)

(From Topics in Spanish lexical dialectology: la ciudad y los fueros by Andre Moskowitz in Proceedings of the 43rd Annual Conference of the American Translators Association, Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A., November 6-9, 2002. Scott Brennan, comp. American Translators Association, 2002. 353-399. The original publication from the Proceedings included illustrations of many of the items which, unfortunately, do not appear in this file.)

TOPICS IN SPANISH LEXICAL DIALECTOLOGY: LA CIUDAD Y LOS FUEROS

Andre Moskowitz

Keywords: Spanish, Regionalisms, Terminology, Dialectology, Lexicography, Sociolinguistics, City, Urban Life, Bureaucracy. Abstract: This paper presents information1 on the regional Spanish-language names2 of items relating to urban life, money, politics and bureaucracy.

INTRODUCTION

Sidewalks are generally called aceras in many Spanish-speaking countries, but are often called banquetas in Mexico and Guatemala, andenes in most of Colombia, and veredas in most of the rest of Spanish-speaking South America. This study seeks to determine, in each Spanishspeaking region, which terms are commonly used for sidewalks and other phenomena related to urban existence, money and government institutions that have different names in different regions of the Spanish-speaking world. The material in this article is catalogued under two general headings: La Ciudad (the city) and Los Fueros (laws, norms, jurisdictions, privileges, etc. but here loosely referring to money, politics, government). The title of each section is the items common equivalent in United States English, with the exception of sections B9, B10 and B11 which involve quasi-linguistic or extralinguistic topics.

A) La Ciudad: 1) sidewalk, 2) shantytown / squatters camp, 3) traffic circle / roundabout / rotary, 4) dump. B) Los Fueros: 1) postage stamp, 2) P.O. box, 3) pull / clout (influence), 4) (odd) job / work, 5) change A - money returned (in a transaction), 6) change B - loose change, 7) birth certificate, 8) drivers license, 9) department / province / state (names of first -order administrative divisions of countries), 10) national currencies, 11) voting in national elections: optional or mandatory? Each section is divided into four subsections: 1) 2) 3) 4) Summary Terms by Country Details Real Academia Regional Review

The following convention will be used throughout this paper: to indicate that a word is used in a particular sense, a synonym will be given surrounded by single quotation marks ( ). An example of this convention is, The use of contn in the sense of curb in Cuba was confirmed... 0.1 Summary

These subsections present a synopsis of the regional variation of each item and highlight the lexical landscapes salient points. Sometimes one or two terms loom large on the international horizon, that is, they are used in many more countries than any of the other terms. In these cases, the dominant terms are identified. 0.2 Terms by Country

These subsections consist of lexico-geographic tables in which the terms used in the Spanishspeaking regions of peninsular Spain and the nineteen Spanish-speaking countries of the Western Hemisphere are presented. Information was collected, by one or several of the following methods, from native speakers of Spanish of varying backgrounds and educational levels who have spent most of their lives in a single Spanish-speaking country: 1) through observation in the countries themselves; 2) by showing informants the item, or a picture of the item, or by giving them a description of the item (sometimes using pantomime) and asking them to give the term or phrase most commonly used in their region for it; and, 3) by asking informants who are highly proficient in United States English to give the equivalents of English-language terms that are used in their native regions.

In most cases, between ten and fifteen informants or respondents participated, but in some instances less than ten were queried. Following each Spanish-language term, a numerical proportion is given indicating the number of informants out of the total who used a particular term or gave it as their response to a question. Thus, in the first table, SIDEWALK,
GUATEMALA

banqueta (12/12), acera (5/12)

is to be interpreted as, Of the twelve Guatemalans who were observed referring to a sidewalk or were asked to give the term they used for this item, all twelve gave or used the term banqueta, and five of them also indicated the term acera. Here, as in many cases, some of the people interviewed indicated that more than one term was commonly used in their homeland and, therefore, the sum of the ratios is often more than one. In some cases, shibboleths, or distinguishing traits, are pinpointed. For example, if a Spanishspeaker uses the word timbre in the sense of postage stamp, then that person is in all likelihood Mexican, or is someone who, for whatever reason, has decided to adopt this aspect of Mexican usage. Often the shibboleth does not uniquely determine the persons place of origin but suggests a group of countries. For instance, if a Spanish speaker uses changa or changuita in the sense of odd job, then he or she probably learned Spanish in one of three countries: Paraguay, Uruguay or Argentina. In subsections B9.2, B10.2 and B11.2, data from respondents are not presented because administrative division names, national currencies and whether suffrage is compulsory or optional are questions of fact rather than of individual usage. About five people were queried from each country and printed and Internet sources were also consulted. 0.3 Details

In these subsections more detailed information is provided on usage in specific regions or among particular socioeconomic groups. 0.4 Real Academia Regional Review

These subsections present an evaluation of the Diccionario de la Lengua Espaola (the Dictionary of the Spanish Royal Academy), often referred to here as the Dictionary. Its coverage of the regional usages described in this article is evaluated using the following grading scale: A Corresponding definition, correct regions. This grade is given when the Dictionary defines the term as used in a particular section of this article and correctly indicates the countries and/or regions in which the term is used in this sense. Corresponding definition, incorrect regions. This grade is given when the Dictionary defines the term as used in the section and specifies a region or regions but does not specify them correctly. Its definition either fails to include regions in which the usage occurs or includes regions where the usage does not occur. However, the grade of B is raised to an A if the Dictionarys definition is appropriate, Amr. (Amrica, that is, 4

D F

Spanish-speaking Latin America) is specified in the definition, and the term is used in ten or more (over 50%) of the nineteen Spanish-speaking Latin American countries. Corresponding definition, no regions specified. This grade is given when the Dictionary defines the term as used in the section but does not specify any countries or regions in which the term is used in this sense. In essence, it fails to identify the usage as regional. However, the grade of C is raised to an A if the term is used in at least ten of the twenty Spanish-speaking countries (at least 50% of them). No corresponding definition. This grade is given when the Dictionary does not include in its definition of the term a sense that corresponds to the section. Term not in dictionary. This grade is given when the Dictionary does not list the term at all.

The purpose of this evaluation is to expose gaps and inconsistencies in specific definitions in the hope that they will be modified in future editions of the Dictionary so that they accurately describe usage in the Spanish-speaking world from an international perspective. At the very least, the issues raised should be investigated by the Dictionarys researchers. The same type of test could be applied to other monolingual Spanish-language dictionaries. All quoted definitions are from the 2001 edition of the Real Academia Dictionary. However, since the 2001 edition was released while this article was being written, the author thought it would be interesting to do a comparison between the content of the 1992 and the 2001 editions to see how much the definitions of the lexical items of this article have improved in terms of accurately describing regional senses and correctly identifying the regions where these terms are used in these senses. Of the 137 lexical items that were tested and graded using the grading scale described above, the degree of dialectal improvement between the 1992 and 2001 editions can be broken down into three categories: Category 1: Both the 1992 and the 2001 editions received an A. In other words, the 1992 edition already provided accurate dialectal information on the term and sense in question and thus there could be no improvement in this regard. This was the case in 22 lexical items tested, or 16%. Category 2: In comparison to the 1992 edition, the 2001 edition improved the regional accuracy of a lexical items definition by at least one letter grade (going from a grade of B to A, C to B, D to A, etc). This was the case in 28 lexical items tested or 20.5%. Category 3: In comparison to the 1992 edition, the 2001 edition did not improve regional accuracy and the grade remained the same (a grade of B remained a B, C remained a C, etc.). This was the case in 87 lexical items tested or 63.5%. If we eliminate the terms that fall under Category 1 and focus only on the 115 words in Categories 2 and 3 combined, whose definition in the 1992 edition did not provide accurate dialectal information, we see that in 24.5% of the lexical items tested the 2001 edition made an improvement in dialectological accuracy, but in 75.5% of the cases it did not. Although a dictionary is always a work in progress, the limited evidence from this study indicates that the Real Academia Dictionary falls well short of achieving dialectal accuracy. 5

* * *

There are several general questions the author would like to pose relating to americanismos and Spanish lexicography, and concerning the study of the lexicon within the field of Spanish dialectology and, indeed, within linguistics as a whole. The first question is why is there so much omitted information and misinformation regarding Latin American usage in the Real Academia Dictionary and, by extension, in almost all other monolingual Spanish-language dictionaries that have thus far been published (and which are largely based on the Real Academia Dictionary)? To what extent is it because the Real Academia is unaware of the situation on the ground in Latin America, and to what extent is it because it has knowledge of many aspects of Latin American usage but frowns upon them and does not wish to give them its seal of approval by describing them in its dictionary? Professor Manuel Alvar Ezquerra suggests that the primary reason for such inaccuracies is that the Real Academia has not received the desired cooperation from the corresponding academies of Latin America and the cooperation it has received has been inconsistent, that is, more from some corresponding academies but much less from others (Alvar Ezquerra 53). He also states that in general regionalisms have not been systematically studied and included in Spanish-language dictionaries: Por lo general, la inclusin de voces marcadas diatpicamente en los diccionarios no ha seguido un mtodo riguroso, sino que se ha debido a actitudes personales de los lexicgrafos, a sus conocimientos, a sus intuiciones y a las ayudas parciales prestadas por otros. (Alvar Ezquerra 54) This may be an accurate assessment, but it is hardly a valid excuse. Assuming the Real Academia simply lacks knowledge of Latin American usage and has made no deliberate attempt to withhold or suppress the information it has, then one must ask the following questions: To what extent has the Real Academia made diligent efforts to consult a variety of sources and track down all known leads to obtain the knowledge it lacks? To what extent has it limited its search for linguistic truth in Latin America to the same old tired sources, namely, the corresponding academies? It is only natural for birds of a feather to flock together: many cardiologists choose to discuss health issues primarily with other cardiologists, many patent attorneys prefer to talk about legal matters with other patent attorneys, and most members of the Real Academia Espaola would probably rather address language matters with other Real Academia members, preferably ones from Spain; if they must engage in dialogue about the Spanish language with non-Spaniards, then their interlocutors should at least be members of a corresponding academy, and not some crackpot out in left field who has no sense of linguistic taste or propriety. Yet lexicographers, if they are to paint an accurate picture of language usage as it relates to all walks of life, must go far beyond the confines of their immediate social and professional networks and converse with, and be willing to learn from, the broadest possible range of persons with the most diverse set of experiences. Even in the Internet age, there is no such thing as a successful armchair lexicographer. One can only imagine what the limitations on a dictionarys lexicography would 6

be if the majority of its editorial staff lived in the same city, belonged to the same social club, and had limited contact with outsiders. Any discussion of the virtues and vices of the Real Academia Dictionary must take into account the Academys objective in creating its dictionary. In the preamble of the 2001 edition, it states the following in this regard: ...se ha ms que duplicado el nmero de americanismos en artculos, acepciones y marcas, que en este momento superan las 28 000. Con ello nos situamos en el camino correcto para conseguir un diccionario verdaderamente panhispnico, reflejo no solo del espaol peninsular sino del de todo el mundo hispanohablante. (Real Academia Espaola, 2001, pg. X). Notwithstanding this claim, we must ask ourselves exactly what type of Spanish-language dictionary the institution seeks to publish. Here are three possibilities: Type 1: A pan-Hispanic dictionary that is as country-neutral as possible and includes, at a minimum, the commonly used and non-specialized regionalisms of all Spanish-speaking countries, particularly those that denote universal phenomena. Whenever feasible, the terminology used in its definitions and points of reference is common to the majority of Spanish speakers or Spanish-speaking countries (in most cases, these two give the same result). Type 2: A strictly Peninsular Spanish dictionary__written by Spaniards for Spaniards__that pays little attention to non-Peninsular varieties. Type 3: Something in between types one and two, namely, a dictionary that, though written from the Peninsular Spanish perspective, tries to describe as many non-Peninsular uses of the language as possible using Peninsular Spanish as the model and point of reference. This author believes that the Real Academia Dictionary is basically of type three, and some of the criticisms leveled against it in this article are admittedly critiques of the institution for not writing a dictionary of type one. Is such criticism unreasonable? If the Real Academia will not write a dictionary of type one, who will? The second issue the author would like to raise is why the study of the lexicon is afforded such a minor role within the field of Spanish dialectology? For example, two of the most important books on the subject, Manual de dialectologa hispnica / El espaol de Espaa, edited by Professor Manuel Alvar, which focuses on Peninsular Spanish varieties, and Professor John Lipskis El espaol de Amrica, which deals with Latin American Spanish, devote the vast majority of their pages to phonological, syntactic and morphological variation. Relatively little is said in these works about lexical differences, which are addressed sparingly. In Manual de dialectologa hispnica, Professor Manuel Alvar Ezquerra (one of the contributors) points out the shortcomings of many studies on Spanish lexical dialectology in the following comment: Es ya en nuestro siglo [el siglo veinte] cuando comienzan a proliferar los diccionarios de regionalismos como consecuencia del auge de la dialectologa y la preocupacin por la realidad inmediata, en especial el mundo rural en una 7

transformacin profunda, con todo lo que conlleva de cambio y prdida de vocabulario. Una buena parte de estos repertorios ha sido confeccionada por personas movidas por grandes sentimientos pero sin la formacin necesaria para percibir y describir lo especficamente regional, razn por la que los resultados, en ms de una ocasin, dejan mucho que desear y no merece la pena detenerse en ellos. (Alvar Ezquerra 53-54). Similarly, John Lipski explains the importance of having a broad, pan-Hispanic perspective when identifying and studying Spanish regionalisms (which he certainly has) and cites a few specific examples, but the focus of his book is primarily phonetics and phonology and secondarily morphosyntax; the lexical differences described in this book are limited to a handful of words that are typical of each Spanish-speaking country: Las palabras que se tiende a identificar como regionalismos (correcta o incorrectamente) suelen ser pintorescas, coloquiales o extrahispnicas. El descubrimiento de diferencias regionales entre palabras de origen hispnico evidente exige una perspectiva comparativa amplia. Por ejemplo, el hecho de que bellota pueda designar una pia (en algunas zonas de Centroamrica) en vez de al fruto de la encina, de que vestido se pueda aplicar al traje de un hombre en vez de (o adems de) a la ropa de mujer (por ejemplo en Colombia), o de que el fruto cubano conocido como mamey se llame zapote en Centroamrica, mientras que el zapote cubano es el nspero centroamericano, puede escapar a una investigacin que no sea exhaustiva. (Lipski 33). While both Alvar Ezquerra and Lipski point out the limitations of many Spanish lexical dialectology studies, very few Spanish dialectologists publish extensive research on the meaning of words. The reason for this is related to a much broader question: Why has the lexicon aroused so little interest among linguists in general when compared to phonology, morphology and syntax? Professor Reinhold Werner contends that modern linguistics suffers from lexical phobia because the major currents that dominated linguistics during the twentieth century excluded word meanings from the study of language (for example, generative grammar), or dealt with concepts that were not applicable in large-scale empirical studies (such as structural semantics). One reason most linguists avoid the lexicon is that it often appears to be chaotic. Although there are lexical structures, the inventories of words are open systems which cannot be reduced to a few common denominators the way phonology and verb tenses can. Nevertheless, Werner cites four areas of linguistics that do deal with the lexicon: word formation, phraseology, lexical semantics and lexicography but of these only one__lexicography__has specific vocabulary as its primary focus, as opposed to vocabulary in the abstract. Yet even within the field of lexicography, professional linguists generally deal with lexicographical theory or special areas of lexicography such as historical and etymological dictionaries and other types of dictionaries not intended for use by the general public but written for other linguists, whereas most general lexicography is done by employees of commercial publishing houses and language enthusiasts who do not usually have advanced training in linguistics. Part of the reason for this is that, within academia, the writing of dictionaries is not considered to be a scholarly activity because the product of the 8

research is not seen as having a scientific purpose. Another reason is that, in the world of academia, writing a twenty-page theoretical article looks a lot more impressive than writing a small dictionary, even though the latter is much more labor intensive. In general, it is only near the end of a university professors career that he or she can afford to devote time and energy to publishing material that does not lead to tenure, promotions, grants and fellowships. Finally, large-scale dictionaries necessarily involve teamwork over the course of several years and academics are loathe to commit to such projects. Many in academia are also highly individualistic and prefer to work alone. However, there is cause for optimism: one hopes that the emerging field of corpus linguistics will devote more attention to the lexicon and may remedy the problem to some extent. (Reinhold Werner, personal communication.)

LA CIUDAD

A1 A1.1

SIDEWALK Summary

Acera is the dominant term: it is the most commonly used word in everyday language in at least nine countries and in the remaining countries, where another term is more common, acera is still used as a high-register equivalent. Vereda is used in most of South America while Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic and Colombia have highly regional usages. A1.2 Terms by Country (at least 7 terms) acera (15/15). banqueta (18/20), acera (4/20), escarpa (1/20). banqueta (12/12), acera (5/12). acera (12/15), andn (12/15). acera (12/12). acera (15/15), andn (7/15). acera (15/15). acera (14/14). acera (15/15). acera (15/15), contn (7/15), calzada (5/15). acera (12/12). acera (15/15). andn (14/20), acera (9/20), sardinel (6/20). vereda (15/15), acera (6/15). vereda (15/15), acera (4/15). acera (12/15), vereda (10/15), calzada (2/15). vereda (13/13), acera (3/13), calzada (2/13). 9

SPAIN MEXICO GUATEMALA EL SALVADOR HONDURAS NICARAGUA COSTA RICA PANAMA CUBA DOMIN. REP. PUERTO RICO VENEZUELA COLOMBIA ECUADOR PERU BOLIVIA PARAGUAY

URUGUAY ARGENTINA CHILE

vereda (13/13), acera (4/13). vereda (15/15), acera (3/15). vereda (15/15), acera (2/15).

A1.3

Details

General: The Spanish-speaking world can be divided into two groups. In group A, which consists of Spain, Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama, the Hispanic Antilles, and Venezuela, acera is the primary term used and has a neutral value. In group B, which comprises Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, (parts of) Nicaragua and all of Hispanic South America except Venezuela, acera occupies the higher-register position and one or more regional terms (such as andn, banqueta or vereda) occupy a lower-register position. In group B, however, the degree of formality/informality and acceptance/stigmatization of the lowregister term may not be uniform. For example, in most of South America vereda is not considered low-class usage and acera is considered rather formal (perhaps even snooty); a possible exception is Bolivia, where vereda is somewhat frowned upon. In Mexico, banqueta seems to enjoy an even greater level of acceptance than vereda does in South America, and in most of Colombia (with the exception of the Atlantic Coast) andn is more or less standard everyday usage for the educated and uneducated alike. In El Salvador and Nicaragua, on the other hand, some associate andn with uneducated or rustic speech and prefer acera. In countries where there is diglossia with respect to this item (acera corresponding to the high-register word, and a regional term corresponding to the low-register word), more research needs to be conducted to determine Spanish speakers attitudes__positive, negative, or neutral__toward both the international acera and the diatopically marked terms. Mexico: The person who offered escarpa was from the Yucatn. Is escarpa commonly used there in this sense? Two others from the Yucatn said banqueta. Nicaragua: Andn seems to be used more in the countryside and less in the larger cities. If so, in what parts of the interior is andn used? What are the diastratic factors that govern the use of andn? Dominican Republic: Seven of the fifteen Dominicans queried indicated that contn means sidewalk, but many of the others stated that it refers to the curb or edge of the sidewalk. Does contn generally refer to the sidewalk, the curb, or both? Colombia: Andn is used in the interior of the country and also, it appears, in Buenaventura on the Pacific Coast. Sardinel is used in the Costa or Atlantic Coast region. However, there is evidence to suggest that sardinel is used more by older costeos and that younger costeos are turning increasingly toward andn and/or acera. Is sardinel losing ground in the Costa region? A1.4 Real Academia Regional Review

Acera (A1992 - A2001), andn (B1992 - B2001), banqueta (A1992 - A2001), calzada (D1992 D2001), contn (F1992 - D2001), sardinel (D1992 - D2001), vereda (A1992? - A2001?). Dictionary definitions: andn, 9. Col., Ecuad. y Guat. acera (|| de la calle); contn, Cuba. bordillo; sardinel, Col. y Per. Escaln que forma el borde exterior de la acera; vereda, 6. Am. Mer. [Amrica Meridional] Acera de una calle o plaza. 10

In the definition of andn, El Salvador and Nicaragua need to be added to the regional specifications, and neither Guatemala nor Ecuador should be included. The use of contn in the sense of curb in Cuba was confirmed in this study, but the Dictionary should indicate that this term is also used in the Dominican Republic in two different senses: curb and sidewalk (see section A1.3 above). The use of sardinel in the sense of curb in Peru was also confirmed in this study. However, its use in the sense of sidewalk in coastal Colombia needs to be added to the definition. A person reading the definition of vereda might easily conclude that this term is used in this sense throughout Spanish-speaking South America, yet there is no credible evidence that vereda is commonly used in the sense of sidewalk anywhere in Colombia or Venezuela. How should unabridged monolingual Spanish-language dictionaries define vereda? Should they be precise and list the seven South American countries where vereda is commonly used in this sense (Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina and Chile), should they begin their definition with Am. Mer. excepto Col. y Ven., or should they overgeneralize and indicate Am. Mer. as the Real Academia Dictionary has done in this case?

A2 A2.1

SHANTYTOWN / SQUATTERS CAMP Summary

Spain, Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, Peru, Uruguay, Argentina and Chile have highly regional usages that are used alongside non-regionally marked terms. A2.2
SPAIN MEXICO GUATEMALA EL SALVADOR HONDURAS NICARAGUA COSTA RICA PANAMA CUBA DOMIN. REP. PUERTO RICO VENEZUELA COLOMBIA ECUADOR PERU BOLIVIA PARAGUAY URUGUAY

Terms by Country (12 terms plus variants) no regional term (5/11), (barrio de) chabolas (4/11), gueto chabolista (2/11). (zona de or barrio de) paracaidista(s) (10/15), ciudad perdida or barrio perdido (6/15), invasin (2/15). no regional term (7/13), invasin (6/13). no regional term (8/12), (zona de) champas (2/12), champero (2/12). invasin (8/11), no regional term (3/11). no regional term (8/13), invasin (de paracaidistas) (5/13). tugurio (13/15), precario (8/15). (barrio de) casa(s) bruja(s) or barriada bruja (13/15), invasin (5/15). no regional term (6/11), llega y pon (3/11), tugurio (2/11). no regional term (6/11), barrancones (3/11), tugurio (2/11). no regional term (11/11). no regional term (13/13). tugurio (15/20), (barrio de) invasin (12/20). suburbio (10/15), invasin (9/15). pueblo joven (15/15), invasin (4/15). no regional term (8/10), villa (2/10). no regional term (5/11), chacarita (4/11), villa (miseria) (2/11). cantegril (11/12), villa (miseria) (2/12). 11

ARGENTINA CHILE

villa (miseria) (15/15), villa de emergencia or barrio de emergencia (3/15). (poblacin) (callampa) (15/15).

A2.3

Details

General: Non-regionally marked terms include arrabal, asentamiento, asentamiento ilegal, asentamiento irregular, barriada, barrio bajero, barrio bajo, barrio marginado, barrio marginal, cinturn de pobreza, zona marginal and zona negra. In the countries listed above with no regional term there does not appear to be a regionally marked term that is commonly used alongside the standard terms. It should be noted that the concept in question is a bit hazy, that is, it is sometimes hard to draw a fine line separating squatters camps, shantytowns, and lower-class neighborhoods as they often form a continuum with overlapping features rather than a set of discrete points. For example, many residents of tugurios, invasiones, and pueblos jvenes, etc., are not squatters, but pay rent to slum landlords whose precarious edifices, while not constructed with a building permit, are tolerated by the authorities with a wink and a nod and perhaps an occasional (or regularly scheduled) bribe. Spain: The phenomenon is referred to as chabolismo, and chabolista refers to the person who lives in a chabola and is also the adjectival form: e.g. familias chabolistas. Mexico: Paracaidistas are squatters, but the term has been extended to refer to the neighborhoods they live in. Other related names for the neighborhood are barrio de paracaidistas, barrio paracaidista, colonia de paracaidistas, colonia paracaidista, asentamiento de paracaidistas and zona de paracaidistas. Paracaidismo is the word used for the phenomenon (the equivalent of chabolismo in Spain). Guatemala, El Salvador & Honduras: Champas are shacks (casuchas). Nicaragua: Paracaidistas are squatters. Panama: A casa bruja is a shack, but the plural form is often used in a collective sense to refer to a shantytown. Cuba: Is llega y pon currently used in the sense of shantytown? Those who said it was were Cuban exiles living abroad, and some Cubans who currently live on the island indicated that this term is no longer used, but that the phenomenon itself does exist. A solar is a house that has been split into smaller units to house several families. Solares were created as temporary housing until the government could provide more decent housing that for the most part never materialized. Dominican Republic: Barrancones are shacks (casuchas). The plural form is also used in a collective sense to refer to a shantytown. Puerto Rico: The term casero can refer to what in United States English are called projects: low-income public-housing developments, generally located in slums, with a relatively high concentration of gangs and drug dealers. Venezuela: In Caracas these neighborhoods are referred to as ranchos or cerros as they are generally located in the hills surrounding the city; other related names are (zona de) ranchos and rancheras. When a Venezuelan says that Fulano vive en los ranchos or en los cerros he or she is referring to one of these neighborhoods. The hills surrounding Caracas where wealthier people live are called colinas, lomas or altos. Peru: Some Peruvians consider the term pueblo joven to be no longer politically correct (the correct term being asentamiento humano). Others, however, use different terms to refer 12

to different points along the continuum as follows: invasin (when people first start building cardboard and wooden shacks on a vacant lot), asentamiento humano (after the invasin when people build their shacks with slightly better material), and pueblo joven (when some of the houses are starting to be built with bricks or some other solid material and some services, such as water, electricity, etc., have been brought in to the neighborhood). More research needs to be done to determine what meanings and connotations Peruvians attach to these terms. Bolivia: The poorest neighborhoods of La Paz, located in the hills surrounding the city, are often referred to as laderas, and many are shantytowns. Paraguay: La Chacarita is the most infamous shantytown in Asuncin. Some Paraguayans also claim that chacarita or barrio chacarita are generic terms for shantytown. The terms villa miseria and villa also appear to be used due to Argentine influence (see Uruguay and Argentina below). Uruguay: Cantegril is sometimes shortened to cante in popular speech, especially among young people. The word cantegril ironically derives from the Cantegril Country Club, an exclusive resort in Punta del Este. Some Uruguayans indicated that villa miseria and villa are also used in Uruguay, but most stated that villa miseria is the Argentine term. The two claims, however, are not necessarily contradictory. Argentina: Villa de emergencia and barrio de emergencia are the politically correct equivalents of villa miseria. Using such euphemisms is perhaps analogous to saying inner city (as opposed to slum) in United States English. Both villa miseria and villa de emergencia often get reduced to just villa. A villero is a person who lives in one. A conventillo used to refer to a large house whose rooms were rented out to poor immigrant families, but the term now refers to any low-quality, low-budget, multi-family, inner-city rental building or boarding house. Chile: Shantytowns are called callampas, poblaciones or poblaciones callampas. However, the politically correct equivalents are asentamientos precarios or campamentos. A2.4 Real Academia Regional Review

Barrio de casas brujas (F1992 - F2001), barrio de chabolas (A1992 - A2001), barrio chabolista (A1992 - A2001), callampa (D1992 - D2001), cantegril (F1992 - F2001), ciudad perdida (F1992 - F2001), invasin (D1992 - D2001), llega y pon (F1992 - A2001), poblacin (D1992 - D2001), poblacin callampa (F1992 - F2001), precario (D1992 - D2001), pueblo joven (F1992 - F2001), tugurio (D1992 D2001), villa (D1992 - A2001), villa de emergencia (F1992 - F2001), villa miseria (F1992 - A2001), zona de paracaidistas and barrio de paracaidistas (F1992 - B2001). Dictionary definitions: callampa, 2. Chile y Ecuad. chabola (|| vivienda en zonas suburbanas); chabola, 2. Vivienda de escasas proporciones y pobre construccin, que suele edificarse en zonas suburbanas; chabolismo, Abundancia de chabolas en los suburbios, como sntoma de miseria social; paracaidista, 6. Nic. Persona que se afinca en un terreno ajeno; precario (as an adjective), 3. Der. Que se tiene sin ttulo, por tolerancia o por inadvertencia del dueo; precarista, adj. Der. Dicho de una persona: Que posee, retiene o disfruta en precario cosas ajenas. U.t.c.s.; tugurio, 2. Habitacin, vivienda o establecimiento pequeo y mezquino. In the definition of callampa, the regional specification Ecuad. needs to be eliminated. The terms chabola, chabolismo and chabolista should be defined with the regional specification Esp. (Spain) as there is no credible evidence that these terms are commonly used elsewhere. In 13

the definition of paracaidista, the designation Mx. needs to be added. In the definition of precario, an additional sense needs to be added along the lines of C. Rica. Barrio o sector donde predominan viviendas que son habitadas en precario. In the definition of tugurio, the additional sense of barrio o sector donde predominan estas viviendas needs to be added, perhaps with appropriate regional specifications.

A3

TRAFFIC CIRCLE / ROUNDABOUT / ROTARY

A3.1

Summary

Rotonda is the dominant term: it is the most commonly used term in about half of the Spanishspeaking countries and competes with another term in several more. Redondel is commonly used in about five countries and glorieta in three or four. Venezuela and Peru have unique usages that are not commonly found in any other countries. A3.2 Terms by Country (8 terms plus variants) glorieta (12/15), rotonda (12/15). glorieta (15/15), rotonda (6/15). redondel (7/11), rotonda (6/11). redondel (12/12). redondel (11/15), rotonda (5/15). rotonda (11/11). rotonda (15/15). rotonda (9/15), redondel (5/15), glorieta (3/15), romboy (1/15). rotonda (15/15). rotonda (15/15). redondel (8/15), does not exist (7/15). redoma (15/15). glorieta (14/20), rompoy or romboy (13/20). redondel (9/12), rotonda (3/12). valo (15/15). rotonda (7/15), crculo or anillo (4/15), does not exist (4/15). rotonda (12/12). rotonda (11/13), rompun/rond-point (3/13). rotonda (15/15). rotonda (13/13).

SPAIN MEXICO GUATEMALA EL SALVADOR HONDURAS NICARAGUA COSTA RICA PANAMA CUBA DOMIN. REP. PUERTO RICO VENEZUELA COLOMBIA ECUADOR PERU BOLIVIA PARAGUAY URUGUAY ARGENTINA CHILE

14

A3.3

Details

Spain: Some Spaniards indicated that a glorieta has a statue, fountain or other monument in the center whereas a rotonda does not. Is this the general understanding? Are the two terms regionally weighted within Spain, do they have closely related but distinct meanings, or are they just plain synonyms? Mexico: Is the term rotonda regionally marked within Mexico? Ecuador: Is redondel more common in the Sierra and rotonda more common in the Costa? There is some evidence that this is the case. However, traffic circles also seem to be less common in the Costa. Rond-point: the cases of Colombia & Uruguay: In Colombia the word deriving from the French rond-point is pronounced as if it were written rompoy(n) [rrom-POY(N)] or romboy [rrom-BOY], and is often spelled rompoy, rompoin, rompoyn, rompoind, romboy or other variations. In Uruguay, on the other hand, those who offered this term __a small minority__pronounced it as if it were written rompun, and were aware of its French origin. Which spelling(s) should be accepted and presented in Spanish-language dictionaries, the original French term, rond-point, or one or several of the Castilianized versions such as rompoy or rompun? What are the reasons for the two different evolutions in Colombia and Uruguay? Did Colombians initially see the term written in French and pronounce it as they saw it written and then subsequently forget about or discard the French spelling and write it as they pronounced it? Have some Uruguayans, on the other hand, just adopted the French term? Can the two different developments be explained by a greater familiarity and contact with French by Uruguayans or are there other reasons that account for the different paths taken? A3.4 Real Academia Regional Review

Anillo (D1992 - D2001), crculo (D1992 - D2001), glorieta (C1992 - C2001), valo (D1992 - D2001), redoma (D1992 - A2001), redondel (D1992 - D2001), rompoy (F1992 - F2001), ron(d)point (F1992 - F2001), rotonda (D1992 - D2001). Dictionary definitions: glorieta, 3. Plaza donde desembocan por lo comn varias calles o alamedas; rotonda, 3. Plaza circular. The definition of rotonda does not clearly describe the phenomenon. Since rotonda is the dominant term, it should be the lead term and given a full description, and all other terms should be cross-referenced to rotonda.

A4 A4.1

DUMP (city dump) Summary

Basurero is the dominant term: it is commonly used in this sense everywhere except possibly parts of the Southern Cone. In addition to basurero, most countries have a more regional term such as basural or botadero.

15

A4.2

Terms by Country (10 terms plus variants) vertedero (13/15), basurero (11/15), muladar (3/15). basurero (18/20), tiradero (5/20), relleno sanitario (3/20), botadero (2/20). basurero (12/15), botadero (4/15), crematorio (2/15), relleno sanitario (1/15), tiradero (1/15). basurero (13/13), botadero (7/13). basurero (12/13), crematorio (5/13). basurero (11/12), botadero (3/12). basurero (10/15), relleno sanitario (9/15), botadero (5/15), vertedero (3/15). vertedero (10/15), basurero (9/15), relleno sanitario (7/15), dmper (3/15). basurero (15/15), vertedero (6/15). basurero (15/15), vertedero (8/15), botadero (3/15), tiradero (3/15). vertedero (11/12), basurero (9/12). basurero (15/15), relleno sanitario (7/15). basurero (15/15), botadero (5/15), relleno sanitario (4/15). basurero (13/15), botadero (8/15). basural (9/15), basurero (8/15), relleno sanitario (7/15). basural (12/15), basurero (7/15), muladar (3/15), cenizal (2/15). basural (8/11), vertedero (7/11), basurero (5/11). basurero (8/13), basural (6/13), vertedero (1/13). basural (13/20), basurero (8/20), quema (8/20). basural (13/15), basurero (4/15), vertedero (3/15), botadero (2/15), relleno sanitario (2/15).

SPAIN MEXICO GUATEMALA EL SALVADOR HONDURAS NICARAGUA COSTA RICA PANAMA CUBA DOMIN. REP. PUERTO RICO VENEZUELA COLOMBIA ECUADOR PERU BOLIVIA PARAGUAY URUGUAY ARGENTINA CHILE

A4.3

Details

General: The qualifier municipal is sometimes added to basurero, vertedero, etc. to distinguish official dumps from illegal dumping grounds and from other meanings of the words (such as garbage can in the case of basurero). Relleno sanitario is a more official sounding word (equivalent to sanitary land fill) and it tends to refer to dumps designed with more modern technology. Muladar often refers to a dumpy place or pigsty. It should be noted that the terms city dump and town dump may become outdated in United States English as many of these sites have been relocated, technologically upgraded, and rebaptized as refuse and recycling centers. To the extent societies throughout the world become more environmentally conscious and the phenomenon itself becomes more environmentally sustainable, many of the above terms may be replaced by relleno sanitario and other newer and more technical terms. Guatemala & El Salvador: Botadero tends to refer to an unofficial dumping ground. Panama: Is the word dmper commonly used? If so, does it refer to a dump (as three respondents indicated) or perhaps to a dumpster (large trash receptacle)?

16

A4.4

Real Academia Regional Review

Basural (B1992 - B2001), basurero (A1992 - A2001), botadero (F1992 - B2001), cenizal (D1992 A2001), crematorio (D1992 - D2001), dmper (F1992 - F2001), muladar (C1992? - C2001?), quema (D1992 - D2001), relleno sanitario (F1992 - F2001), tiradero (D1992 - A2001?), vertedero (A1992? - A2001?). Dictionary definitions: basural, Am. basurero (|| sitio donde se echa la basura); basurero, Sitio en donde se arroja y amontona la basura; muladar, Lugar o sitio donde se echa el estircol o la basura de las casas; tiradero, 2. Mx. basurero (|| sitio donde se arroja la basura); vertedero, Lugar donde se vierten basuras o escombros. Given that basurero is the dominant term, its definition should have a full description and all other synonyms should be cross-referenced to this term and given the same definition__such as basurero (|| terreno en donde se echa la basura)__with appropriate regional labels. The regional specifications for basural need to be significantly narrowed to Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina and Chile, as Am. (Amrica) is a gross over-generalization. Is tiradero commonly used in this sense in countries other than Mexico? Is vertedero commonly used throughout the Spanish-speaking world as the Dictionarys definition implies?

B
B1 B1.1

LOS FUEROS
POSTAGE STAMP (3 terms plus variants) Summary

Estampilla is the dominant term: it is the most commonly used term in thirteen countries and competes with another term in three more. Sello is used in five countries, three of which are in the Hispanic Antilles, and Mexico has a unique usage that is not found in any other country. B1.2 Terms by Country sello (15/15). timbre (16/20), estampilla (9/20). sello (9/14), estampilla (5/14), estamp(it)a (4/14). estampilla (11/11). estampilla (12/12). estampilla (12/12). estampilla (15/15). estampilla (15/15). sello (14/14). sello (15/15). sello (12/12). estampilla (14/14). estampilla (15/15). estampilla (15/15). 17

SPAIN MEXICO GUATEMALA EL SALVADOR HONDURAS NICARAGUA COSTA RICA PANAMA CUBA DOMIN. REP. PUERTO RICO VENEZUELA COLOMBIA ECUADOR

PERU BOLIVIA PARAGUAY URUGUAY ARGENTINA CHILE

estampilla (15/15). estampilla (15/15). estampilla (11/11). sello (10/15), estampilla (8/15). estampilla (15/15). estampilla (15/15).

B1.3

Details

General: The qualifiers postal or de correo(s) are often added to the terms estampilla, sello and timbre if clarification is needed to distinguish them from rubber stamps, fiscal stamps and other types of stamps or seals. What can account for the regional distribution of estampilla, sello and timbre (with the meaning of postage stamp) in Spanish America? B1.4 Real Academia Regional Review

Estampilla (A1992? - A2001?), sello (C1992 - C2001), timbre (B1992 - B2001). Dictionary definitions: estampilla, 2. Am. Sello de correos o fiscal; sello, 2. sello postal; sello postal, m. El de papel que se adhiere a las cartas para franquearlas o certificarlas; timbre, 9. Am. Cen. y Mx. sello postal. The Dictionarys definition of estampilla is problematic insofar as most Spanish Americans, with the exception of people from Mexico, tend to distinguish between estampillas and/or sellos (postage stamps) vs. timbres (fiscal stamps). The definition of timbre is inaccurate in that timbre is not commonly used in the sense of postage stamp in Central America.

B2 B2.1

P.O. BOX (post office box) Summary

Apartado, the dominant term, is commonly used in twelve countries with the qualifiers postal or de correo(s) being added if clarification is necessary. Casilla (postal or de correo) is used in the seven Spanish-speaking countries south of Colombia. The U.S. English term P.O. Box is also used in several countries that have been heavily influenced by the United States. Colombia has a unique usage (albeit a variant of apartado postal) that is not used in any other country. B2.2 Terms by Country (3 terms plus variants) apartado (15/15). apartado (15/15). apartado (12/12). apartado (11/11). apartado (10/10). apartado (10/10). apartado (15/15), P.O. box (3/15). 18

SPAIN MEXICO GUATEMALA EL SALVADOR HONDURAS NICARAGUA COSTA RICA

PANAMA CUBA DOMIN. REP. PUERTO RICO VENEZUELA COLOMBIA ECUADOR PERU BOLIVIA PARAGUAY URUGUAY ARGENTINA CHILE

apartado (14/14), P.O. box (2/14). apartado (10/10). apartado (15/15). apartado (11/13), (P.O.) box (8/13). apartado (15/15), P.O. box (1/15). apartado areo (15/15). casilla (14/15), P.O box (5/15), apartado (2/15). casilla (12/15), apartado (9/15). casilla (15/15), apartado (6/15). casilla (11/11). casilla (14/15), apartado (3/15). casilla (14/15), apartado (4/15). casilla (15/15), apartado (2/15).

B2.3

Details

General: The qualifiers postal and de correo(s) are added to apartado and casilla if clarification is needed. In Spain, apartado de correos appears to be more common than apartado postal whereas in Spanish America the opposite seems to be the case. In countries where casilla is used, apartado is also used to some extent and is understood, but the reverse is not true: in apartado countries, casilla is not generally understood, much less used. Puerto Rico: People use both apartado and P.O. box, depending on linguistic attitudes and the situation. As one Puerto Rican put it, We have the U.S. postal system, so for expediency and accuracy we have to use their system. P.O. box is sometimes shortened to box in informal usage. Colombia: Apartado areo is often abbreviated A.A. B2.4 Real Academia Regional Review

Apartado (A1992 - A2001), casilla (D1992 - D2001), P.O. box (F1992 - F2001). Dictionary definitions: apartado, 5. apartado de correos; apartado de correos, m. Servicio de la oficina de correos por el que se alquila al usuario una caja o seccin con un nmero, en donde se deposita su correspondencia. || 2. Caja, seccin o departamento donde se guarda esta correspondencia. || 3. Nmero asignado a esa caja o seccin; apartado postal, El Salv. y Hond. apartado de correos; casilla postal, Am. apartado de correos. The definition of apartado postal is inaccurate in that its use is not limited to El Salvador and Honduras. In fact, in most of Spanish America apartado postal is used and appears to be more common than apartado de correo(s). The definition of casilla postal is inaccurate in that the term is not commonly used throughout Spanish America, but primarily in Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina and Chile. The term apartado areo is not defined in the Dictionary and needs to be added with the appropriate regional specification.

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B3 B3.1

PULL / CLOUT (slang terms for influence) Summary

Palanca is the dominant slang term: it is commonly used in the sense of influence in at least a dozen countries and appears to be used to some extent in all Spanish-speaking countries with the possible exception of Spain. However, most countries have other regional terms. B3.2 Terms by country (over 15 terms) enchufe (15/15). palanca (16/20), vara alta (7/20), conecte(s) (5/20), conectas (2/20). cuello (10/12), conecte (8/12), palanca (4/12). cuello (11/13), palanca (6/13), conecte (5/13). cuello (13/14), palanca (10/14), conecte (9/14), pul (6/14). pata (12/15), palanca (10/15), conecte (6/15), entronque (6/15). pata (12/15), palanca (5/15), pul (2/15). palanca (14/14), pul (8/14). palanca (14/15), vara alta (3/15), conecte (2/15), conecto (2/15). cua (14/15), enllave (13/15), palanca (6/15), enllavadura (4/15), pegue (3/15). pala (12/12), palanca (5/12). palanca (13/13). palanca (15/15). palanca (12/15), entronque (6/15). vara (13/15), palanca (7/15). mueca (15/15), palanca (3/15), cua (1/15). palanca (9/11), cua (3/11). cua (9/13), mueca (9/13), palanca (7/13), banca (5/13). palanca (14/15), cua (8/15), banca (2/15). cua (12/15), pituto (9/15), palanca (3/15), enchufe (2/15).

SPAIN MEXICO GUATEMALA EL SALVADOR HONDURAS NICARAGUA COSTA RICA PANAMA CUBA DOMIN. REP. PUERTO RICO VENEZUELA COLOMBIA ECUADOR PERU BOLIVIA PARAGUAY URUGUAY ARGENTINA CHILE

B3.3

Details

General: The term padrino seems to be widely used in the sense of influence. Is this usage universal? Is the phrase l que tiene padrino se bautiza also universal? Nicaragua & Costa Rica: Pata is often used in the plural: tiene muchas patas. Dominican Republic: Is enllave masculine or feminine (el enllave or la enllave)? Several Dominicans indicated that it is masculine. The adjective pega(d)o is frequently used in the sense of well-connected: Ese tipo t pegao. Where else is pegado used this way? Colombia: The term rosca refers to a clique and is used in phrases such as est en la rosca, pertenece a la rosca, meaning the person is well-connected, is an insider, etc. Ecuador: The adjectival form entroncado is used frequently: un tipo bien entroncado (bien relacionado). Chile: Some Chileans claim there is a difference between cua (pull/clout) and pituto (inside information/sources or the influential person who provides the cua), but most indicated 20

that the two terms can be used interchangeably. Some also stated that cua is the more traditional term, and that pituto is used more by younger Chileans. Argolla: An argolla is a clique in Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Peru (that is, un crculo cerrado, like a rosca in Colombia). In these countries, the following expression regarding argollas is sometimes heard: Lo malo de las argollas es no estar en ellas. Pul or pull?: How should the word deriving from English pull be spelled? See Honduras, Costa Rica and Panama in section B3.2 above. B3.4 Real Academia Regional Review

Banca (B1992 - A2001?), conecta (F1992 - F2001), conecte (F1992 - F2001), conecto (F1992 F2001), cuello (D1992 - D2001), cua (C1992 - C2001), enchufe (C1992 - C2001), enchufle (F1992 - F2001), enllave (F1992 - F2001), entronque (D1992 - B2001), mueca (B1992? - B2001?), pala (D1992 - D2001), palanca (A1992 - A2001), pata(s) (D1992 - D2001), pituto (F1992 - D2001), pul(l) (F1992 - F2001), vara (D1992 - A2001), vara alta (C1992 - C2001). Dictionary definitions: argolla, 7. C. Rica, Ecuad., Hond. y Per. camarilla; camarilla Conjunto de personas que influyen subrepticiamente en los asuntos de Estado o en las decisiones de alguna autoridad superior; banca, (in the phrase tener alguien banca) fr. coloq. Arg., Par. y Ur. Tener influencia o poder; cua, palanca (|| valimiento, influencia); enchufe, 4. despect. coloq. Cargo o destino que se obtiene sin mritos, por amistad o por influencia poltica and in the phrase tener enchufe fr. coloq. Tener influencia ante una autoridad para conseguir de ella algn favor. U. a veces en sent. despect.; entronque, 3. Nic. Relacin de influencia que una persona tiene con una autoridad; mueca, . R. Plata, Bol. y Per. Habilidad o influencia para obtener algo. Tener mueca; palanca, 4. Valimiento, intercesin poderosa o influencia que se emplea para lograr algn fin; vara alta, Autoridad, influencia, ascendiente; vara, 15. Per. vara alta. In the definition of entronque, Ecuador needs to be added to the regional specifications. Are the following terms used in the senses specified in the following regions as the above definitions indicate? Argolla in Ecuador? Banca in Paraguay? Cua and enchufe throughout the Spanish-speaking world? Mueca in Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina? Should the word enchufle (a popular variant of enchufe) also be defined in the Dictionary?

B4 B4.1

(ODD) JOB / WORK (informal usage) Summary

With the exception of chamba, most of the regional terms are used in only one or two countries. B4.2 Terms by country (over 25 terms) no regional term (6/10), chapuza (4/10), chap(s) (1/10). chamb(it)a (15/15), hueso (3/15), jale (3/15), movida (2/15). chance (9/12), chamb(it)a (5/12), chaps (5/12), jale (2/12). 21

SPAIN MEXICO GUATEMALA

EL SALVADOR HONDURAS NICARAGUA COSTA RICA PANAMA CUBA DOMIN. REP. PUERTO RICO VENEZUELA COLOMBIA ECUADOR PERU BOLIVIA PARAGUAY URUGUAY ARGENTINA CHILE

chance (9/11), voladito (7/11), chamb(it)a (5/11), hueso (4/11), iguana (4/11). chamb(it)a (10/11), movimiento (3/11), movida (2/11), iguana (1/11). rumb(it)o (8/10), pegue (7/10), chamba (4/10). camarn (13/15), brete (8/15), chamb(ill)a (3/15). camarn (14/14), chamb(it)a (3/14). pinch(it)a (5/5). chiripa (12/14), picoteo/picad(it)a (7/14). chiv(it)o (12/15), chiripa (10/15), resuelve (5/15), chambita (2/15). tigre/tigrito (9/15), rebusque (6/15), resuelve (5/15), chamb(it)a (4/15), chance (3/15), quite (2/15). camell(it)o (8/14), chamb(it)a (4/14), chanfaina (4/14), vueltecita or vueltica (4/14), chanfa (2/14), peg(uit)a (2/14), rebusque (2/14). chaucha (7/10), chamb(it)a (5/10), man (3/10). cachuelo (11/11), chamb(it)a (5/11). peg(uit)a (10/12), chamb(it)a (2/12), changa (1/12). chang(uit)a (7/9), rebusque (2/9). chang(uit)a (10/10), rebusque (5/10), laburito (4/10). chang(uit)a (12/13), laburito (5/13), curro (4/14), rebusque (4/13). polol(it)o (10/12), peg(uit)a (8/12), pituto (3/12).

B4.3

Details

General: Here we are mixing apples and oranges to some extent. The terms brete, camello, chamba, laburo, pega and pegue refer to work or job in their respective countries. However, when a diminutive suffix is added (e.g. chamba chambita, pega peguita), the term can refer to a temporary job or odd job. The other terms in section B4.2 above refer to an odd job. Of course, for many in the Spanish-speaking world, employment is usually temporary and precarious in nature and so the distinction between job and odd job is sometimes blurred. Spain: The person who said chaps was an odd job came from Andaluca. Nicaragua: Pegue refers to work in general. A rumbito is an odd job. Costa Rica: Brete is used primarily in informal language in the sense of work in general or the workplace: tengo un problema en el brete, me voy al brete, dnde queda tu brete? Camarn is an odd job. Venezuela: Tigre or tigrito is generally used in the sense of odd job with the verb matar: Voy a matar un tigre, estamos matando unos tigritos. Quite is usually used when someone is substituting or filling in for someone else: hazme el quite este lunes. Colombia: Camello is work in general. A vuelta can be an errand (una diligencia), but in the diminutive form, una vueltecita or una vueltica, it tends to refer to a job, often an illegal or disreputable one. Some say chanfaina is a cushy, government job; others say it is an odd job. Ecuador: Chaucha is an odd job in Quito and areas of the Sierra (highlands). Man is used in this sense in Guayaquil. Argentina: The term curro refers more often to a scam or swindle but several Argentines claim that it can also refer to a job, especially one that is dishonorable, illegal or low22

level (the word has a negative connotation); it generally implies some type of dishonest scheme. Chile: Pega is work in general; pololito and pitutito are odd jobs. B4.4 Real Academia Regional Review

Brete (D1992 - B2001), cachuelo (D1992 - A2001), camarn (D1992 - B2001?), camello (D1992 A2001), curro (C1992 - C2001), chamba (B1992 - B2001), chance (F1992 - D2001), chanfaina (A1992 A2001), changa (B1992 - B2001), chapuz (C1992 - C2001), chapuza (C1992 - C2001), chaucha (D1992 D2001), chiripa (D1992 - D2001), jale (F1992 - D2001), labur(it)o (F1992 - A2001), man (D1992 - D2001), movida (D1992 - D2001), movimiento (D1992 - D2001), pega (B1992 - B2001), pegue (F1992 - B2001), picoteo (D1992 - D2001), pinch(it)a (D1992 - D2001), pituto (F1992 - A2001), pololo (D1992 - D2001), rebusque (D1992 - D2001), resuelve (F1992 - B2001), rumbo (D1992 - D2001), tigre (D1992 - D2001), tigrito (F1992 - D2001), volad(it)o (D1992 - D2001), vueltecita (F1992 - F2001). Dictionary definitions: brete, 3. C. Rica, Nic. y Ven. trabajo (|| ocupacin retribuida); cachuelo, 2. Per. Trabajo eventual de poca remuneracin; camarn, 2. C. Rica, Nic. y Pan. Trabajo eventual de poca remuneracin; camello, 5. Col. trabajo (|| ocupacin retribuida); curro3, m. coloq. trabajo (|| accin y efecto de trabajar); chamba 2. coloq. Am. Cen, Ecuad. y Mx. Empleo, trabajo; chanfaina, coloq. Col. enchufe, (|| cargo o destino que se obtiene sin mritos); changa, Arg. y Ur. Ocupacin transitoria, por lo comn en tareas menores; chapuz2, m. chapuza; chapuza, Obra o labor de poca importancia; laburo, m. coloq. Arg. y Ur. trabajo (|| ocupacin retribuida); pega, 10. Bol., Col., Cuba, Ecuad. y Per. trabajo (|| ocupacin retribuida); pegue, El Salv. y Nic. trabajo (|| ocupacin retribuida); pituto, 2. coloq. Chile. Trabajo ocasional, econmicamente conveniente, que se simultanea con uno estable y que carece de contrato oficial; rebusque, 2. Arg., Col., Nic., y Ur. Solucin ocasional e ingeniosa con que se resuelve una dificultad; resuelve, Ven. Trabajo espordico. Lexicalized diminutives (diminutives that can have a specific meaning that is distinct from a smaller or more endearing version of the root term), such as rumbito and voladito, raise an interesting lexicographical issue: Where should these terms be listed in dictionaries? Should they be defined in the entry for the root term (under rumbo and volar), or as separate entries? Since the terms cachuelo, camarn, changa and pituto are all regional synonyms, their definitions should be made uniform (trabajo eventual u ocasional), and the phrase de poca remuneracin should be eliminated from the definitions of cachuelo and camarn since there are some that are indeed lucrative. Terms such as brete, camello, pega, etc. do not only refer to ocupacin retribuida, as the Dictionary indicates, but also to other senses of the word trabajo such as lugar donde se trabaja.

B5 B5.1

CHANGE A - MONEY RETURNED (in a transaction) Summary

Cambio and vuelto are the dominant terms. Cambio is universal. Vuelto is used in almost all of Spanish America with the exception of the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. Spain, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Colombia have more regional usages. 23

B5.2

Terms by country (at least 5 terms) cambio (15/15), vuelta (10/15). cambio (14/15), feria (8/15), vuelto (7/15). vuelto (9/11), cambio (4/11). vuelto (10/11), cambio (3/11). vuelto (12/12), cambio (3/12). vuelto (10/10), cambio (4/10). vuelto (14/15), cambio (10/15). vuelto (11/13), cambio (9/13). vuelto (10/12), cambio (7/12). devuelta (14/15), cambio (11/15). cambio (10/11), vuelta (7/11). vuelto (14/15), cambio (8/15). vuelta(s) (8/17), vuelto(s) (8/17), cambio (3/17), devuelta (3/17), regreso (1/17). vuelto (9/10), cambio (5/10). vuelto (15/15), cambio (4/15). cambio (11/15), vuelto (6/15). vuelto (10/10), cambio (3/10). vuelto (12/12), cambio (8/12). vuelto (14/15), cambio (8/15). vuelto (12/13), cambio (3/13).

SPAIN MEXICO GUATEMALA EL SALVADOR HONDURAS NICARAGUA COSTA RICA PANAMA CUBA DOMIN. REP. PUERTO RICO VENEZUELA COLOMBIA ECUADOR PERU BOLIVIA PARAGUAY URUGUAY ARGENTINA CHILE

B5.3

Details

Dominican Republic: To what extent is the use of devuelta in this sense stigmatized? The vast majority of those queried offered the term, but several criticized its use. To what extent is devuelta the low-prestige term and cambio the high-prestige term? Colombia: The terms vuelta and vuelto often appear in the plural form (las vueltas, los vueltos). The distribution within Colombia of vuelta(s) and vuelto(s) is unclear although both terms appear to be used in parts of the interior. Vuelta(s) seems to be favored in the departments of Cundinamarca and Boyac; vuelto(s) perhaps in the Santanderes. Devuelta is used in Antioquia (and other parts of western Colombia?), and regreso was given by one respondent from Pasto (department of Nario). B5.4 Real Academia Regional Review

Cambio (D1992 - A2001), devuelta (D1992 - D2001), feria (D1992 - D2001), vuelta (C1992 - C2001), vuelto (A1992 - A2001). Dictionary definitions: cambio, 3. vuelta (|| dinero); vuelta, 20. Dinero que, al cobrar, y para ajustar una cuenta, se reintegra a quien hace un pago con moneda, billete de banco, o efecto bancario cuyo valor excede del importe debido; vuelto, Am. Vuelta, del dinero entregado de sobra al hacer un pago. 24

Which term should be given a full description to which all other synonyms would be cross-referenced? An argument can perhaps be made for cambio as it is the only term that is not regionally marked; if so, the cross-reference for the remaining terms could be cambio (|| dinero devuelto) or cambio (|| dinero que se devuelve). However, a case can also be made for choosing vuelto as the base term, which though not quite universal, is much less restricted than vuelta. It is also a less ambiguous term than cambio which has two meanings that relate to money. If vuelto is selected as the base term, the cross-reference for the other terms could read vuelto (|| dinero) (see definition for cambio in preceding paragraph).

B6 B6.1

CHANGE B - LOOSE CHANGE (coins and/or lower-denomination bills) Summary

Cambio is universal. Sencillo is commonly used in at least ten countries, suelto in seven or eight, and menudo in five (all in the Caribbean basin). For some Spanish speakers cambio can refer to coins or lower-denomination bills whereas another term, such as sencillo, suelto and/or menudo, refers only to coins; others claim that cambio and the other term or terms are used interchangeably. Spain and Mexico have highly regional usages. B6.2 Terms by country (about 10 terms plus variants) cambio (10/14), calderilla (9/14), suelto (9/14). cambio (14/15), feria (7/15), suelto (6/15). sencillo (10/10), cambio (5/10). sencillo (10/12), suelto (8/12), cambio (7/12). suelto (12/15), cambio (7/15), sencillo (3/15). sencillo (10/11), cambio (5/11). menudo (15/15), cambio (7/15). sencillo (14/15), cambio (9/15). cambio (10/13), menudo (8/13), suelto (3/13). menudo (15/15), cambio (10/15). menudo (9/11), cambio (8/11). sencillo (15/15), cambio (5/15). sencillo (10/18), suelto (8/18), cambio (6/18), menudo (4/18), menuda (3/18). suelto(s) (9/11), cambio (3/11), grillos (2/11). sencillo (15/15), cambio (5/15), ripio (3/15). cambio (9/13), suelto (9/13), cambiado (4/13), sencillo (2/13). sencillo (10/11), cambio (4/11). cambio (13/13), suelto (2/13), sencillo (1/13). cambio (14/15), sencillo (6/15). sencillo (13/14), cambio (3/14).

SPAIN MEXICO GUATEMALA EL SALVADOR HONDURAS NICARAGUA COSTA RICA PANAMA CUBA DOMIN. REP. PUERTO RICO VENEZUELA COLOMBIA ECUADOR PERU BOLIVIA PARAGUAY URUGUAY ARGENTINA CHILE

25

B6.3

Details

Colombia: All three Colombians who gave menuda were antioqueos (from the department of Antioquia). Peru: Two of the three who gave ripio indicated that this term is used in this sense in slang and uneducated speech. B6.4 Real Academia Regional Review

Calderilla (C1992 - C2001), cambiado (F1992 - F2001), cambio (A1992 - A2001), feria (A1992 B2001?), grillo (D1992 - D2001), menuda (D1992 - D2001), menudo (D1992 - D2001), ripio (D1992 - D2001), sencillo (A1992 - A2001), suelto (A1992 - A2001). Dictionary definitions: calderilla, Conjunto de monedas de escaso valor; cambio, Dinero fraccionario de billetes o monedas de mayor valor; feria, Mx. y Nic. Dinero menudo, cambio; menudo (defined as an adjective, not as a noun), 7. Se deca del dinero, y en especial de la plata, en monedas pequeas, como las pesetas u otras menores; sencillo, 11. Am. Calderilla, dinero suelto; suelto, 8. Se dice del conjunto de monedas fraccionarias, y de cada pieza de esta clase. Dinero suelto. Una peseta suelta. U.t.c.s.m. [Usado tambin como sustantivo masculino]. No tengo suelto. The regional specification Esp. (Spain) needs to be added to the definition of calderilla. The definition of cambio should read Dinero fraccionario de billetes o monedas and should not be restricted to coins or bills de mayor valor. All other regional synonyms should be defined as cambio, dinero suelto or cambio (|| dinero suelto). Which form is preferable? Is feria used in this sense in Nicaragua as the Dictionary claims?

B7 B7.1

BIRTH CERTIFICATE Summary

Acta de nacimiento, certificado de nacimiento and partida de nacimiento are the three dominant terms: one or several of these three are used in all twenty Spanish-speaking countries. Mexico, El Salvador, Venezuela, Peru, Argentina and Chile appear to show a preference for a particular term while the remaining countries seem to use two or more terms interchangeably. B7.2 Terms by country (6 terms) partida de nac. (10/11), certificado de nac. (5/11). acta de nac. (15/15). certificado de nac. (9/11), partida de nac. (9/11), acta de nac. (4/11), constancia de nac. (2/11). partida de nac. (11/11). partida de nac. (10/12), acta de nac. (6/12), certificado de nac. (4/12). partida de nac. (10/10), certificado de nac. (6/10), acta de nac. (3/10). 26

SPAIN MEXICO GUATEMALA EL SALVADOR HONDURAS NICARAGUA

COSTA RICA PANAMA CUBA DOMIN. REP. PUERTO RICO VENEZUELA COLOMBIA ECUADOR PERU BOLIVIA PARAGUAY URUGUAY ARGENTINA CHILE

acta de nac. (10/15), certificado de nac. (9/15), partida de nac. (7/15), constancia de nac. (6/15). partida de nac. (11/15), certificado de nac. (9/15), acta de nac. (7/15). partida de nac. (5/8), certificado de nac. (4/8), inscripcin de nac. (4/8), certificacin de nac. (3/8). acta de nac. (15/15), certificado de nac. (3/15), partida de nac. (3/15). certificado de nac. (10/12), acta de nac. (7/12). partida de nac. (13/13). partida de nac. (7/10), certificado de nac. (5/10), acta de nac. (3/10), registro de nac. (2/10). certificado de nac. (7/11), partida de nac. (7/11), acta de nac. (2/11). partida de nac. (11/11). certificado de nac. (10/11), partida de nac. (4/11). partida de nac. (8/11), certificado de nac. (7/11). partida de nac. (9/12), certificado de nac. (8/12), acta de nac. (3/12). partida de nac. (10/10). certificado de nac. (10/10).

B7.3

Details

General: The terms presented above are what speakers used in spoken language and do not necessarily correspond to the term that appears on the birth certificates that are issued in each country. Certificacin de nacimiento is used on the document itself more than in spoken language. For the sake of brevity, the word nacimiento is abbreviated nac. in section B7.2 above. B7.4 Real Academia Regional Review

Acta de nacimiento (A1992 - A2001), certificacin de nacimiento (C1992? - C2001?), certificado de nacimiento (A1992 - A2001), constancia de nacimiento (F1992 - F2001), inscripcin de nacimiento (F/D1992 - F/D2001?), partida de nacimiento (A1992 - A2001), registro de nacimiento (F/D1992 - F/D2001?). Should the Real Academia (and other monolingual Spanish-language dictionaries) define specific types of actas, certificados and partidas, etc. such as actas de nacimiento, actas de matrimonio, and actas de defuncin, or should they only define the base term? If they choose not to define acta de nacimiento and partida de nacimiento, etc., then how can they indicate regional preferences? If they do define acta de nacimiento, etc., where should they list it, under acta, or as a separate entry under acta de nacimiento?

27

B8 B8.1

DRIVERS LICENSE Summary

Licencia, with a qualifier such as de conducir, de manejar, de manejo or de conduccin, is the dominant term: it is the most commonly used base term in over half of the countries. Spain, Cuba, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina and Chile have more regional terms. B8.2 Terms by country (9 terms plus variants) carn (de conducir) (10/10), permiso (de conducir) (6/10). licencia (de conducir/manejar) (15/15). licencia (de conducir/manejar) (10/10). licencia (de conducir/manejar) (12/12). licencia (de conducir/manejar) (10/10). licencia (de conducir/manejar) (10/10). licencia (de conducir/manejar) (11/11). licencia (de conducir/manejar) (13/13). cartera (dactilar) (8/11), licencia (de conducir/manejar) (5/11). licencia (de conducir/manejar/guiar) (12/12). licencia (de conducir/manejar/guiar) (12/12). licencia (de conducir/manejar) (10/10). pase (10/12), licencia (de conducir/manejar) (6/12), patente (2/12). licencia (de conducir/manejar) (10/10). brevete (12/12), licencia (de conducir/manejar) (3/12). brevet(e) (8/10), licencia (de conducir/manejar) (5/10). registro (10/10), licencia de conducir (2/10). libreta (14/15), licencia (de conducir/manejar) (6/15). registro (9/15), carnet (7/15), licencia (de conducir/manejar) (7/15). carnet (9/11), licencia (de conducir/manejar) (5/11).

SPAIN MEXICO GUATEMALA EL SALVADOR HONDURAS NICARAGUA COSTA RICA PANAMA CUBA DOMIN. REP. PUERTO RICO VENEZUELA COLOMBIA ECUADOR PERU BOLIVIA PARAGUAY URUGUAY ARGENTINA CHILE

B8.3

Details

General: For the sake of brevity, the term licencia is presented in section B8.2 above with only a few modifiers, generally de conducir and/or de manejar, but in reality many other qualifiers are used including de manejo, de conduccin, de conductor, para conducir and para manejar, etc. Such qualifiers are added whenever specification is needed. Spain: Permiso de conduccin is the term that appears on the card, but people generally say carn de conducir, which, given sufficient context, is often reduced to el carn. Cuba: Licencia de conduccin is what appears on the card, but cartera dactilar (often reduced to just cartera) is what people generally say: Traes la cartera? Dominican Republic & Puerto Rico: Licencia de guiar is used in addition to licencia de conducir and licencia de manejar (since guiar, in addition to the other two verbs, is used in the sense of to drive). However, licencia de conducir is the official and formal term. Some 28

claim that on the formality-informality axis, conducir pertains to a more formal register than manejar which, in turn, is more formal than guiar. Peru: Brevete is generally pronounced with three syllables, unlike in Bolivia (see below). Brevete de conductor is what used to appear on the document, whereas the new ones now say licencia de conductor. However, most people still call them brevetes. Bolivia: Licencia de conducir is what appears on the card. Many people, however, say brevet or brev with two syllables (unlike in Peru). There is evidence to suggest that the use of brevet may be dying out and that younger people are increasingly using licencia. Why is brevet(e) pronounced with two syllables in Bolivia but with three in Peru? Uruguay: Licencia nacional de conductor is what appears on the license itself. Argentina: There is some evidence to suggest that registro (de conductor) is more common in Buenos Aires, and carnet (de conductor) may be more common in some of the provinces. Is this the case? Licencia de conductor is what appears on the license itself. Carn vs. carnet: In Spain the Castilianized spelling, carn, has been officially accepted and even preferred by many since at least the 1960s or 1970s, whereas Latin Americans continue to cling to the original French spelling, carnet. See section B8.4 below. B8.4 Real Academia Regional Review

Brevet (F1992 - F2001), brevete (B1992 - A2001), carn de conducir (F/C1992 - F/C2001), carnet de conducir (F1992 - F2001), cartera dactilar (F1992 - F2001), libreta (D1992 - A2001), licencia de conducir (F/A1992 - F/A2001), pase (D1992 - D2001), patente (D1992 - D2001), permiso de conducir (F/A1992 - F/A2001), registro (D1992 - D2001). Dictionary definitions: brevete, 2. Bol. y Per. Permiso de conducir; libreta, Ur. Licencia para conducir un vehculo motorizado. Should monolingual Spanish-language dictionaries define specific types of carns, carteras, libretas, licencias and permisos such as the ones meaning drivers license, or should only the base terms be defined? If they do define specific types of carns, etc., how do they decide which ones to define, all possible carns, or just the most common ones? If the compound terms carn de conducir, licencia de conducir, etc., are defined, under what entry should they be listed? Under carn, licencia, etc. or as separate entries? Carnet is not listed in either the 2001 or the 1992 editions of the Real Academia Dictionary, but both spellings, carn and carnet, should be listed since both are used by educated Spanish speakers.

B9

DEPARTMENT / PROVINCE / STATE (names of first-order administrative divisions of countries) Summary

B9.1

Nine countries are divided into departamentos, six into provincias and two into estados. Spain, Puerto Rico and Chile have unique first-order administrative division names that are not used in any other country. In section B9.2 below, the number of these first-order administrative divisions that each country has is given in parentheses. 29

B9.2

Division name by country comunidades autnomas (17) estados (31) departamentos (22) departamentos (14) departamentos (18) departamentos (15) provincias (7) provincias (9) provincias (14) provincias (29) municipios (78) estados (23) departamentos (32) provincias (22) departamentos (24) departamentos (9) departamentos (17) departamentos (19) provincias (23) regiones (13)

SPAIN MEXICO GUATEMALA EL SALVADOR HONDURAS NICARAGUA COSTA RICA PANAMA CUBA DOMIN. REP. PUERTO RICO VENEZUELA COLOMBIA ECUADOR PERU BOLIVIA PARAGUAY URUGUAY ARGENTINA CHILE

B9.3

Details

General: Much of the information presented in this section can be found in The CIA World Factbook, http://www.cia.gov-/cia/pub-lications/factbook. Mexico: There are 31 estados and el distrito federal. Nicaragua: There are fifteen departamentos and two regiones autonomistas (Atlntico Norte and Atlntico Sur). Panama: There are nine provincias and two comarcas (San Blas and Ngobe-Bugle). Cuba: There are fourteen provincias and one municipio especial (la Isla de la Juventud). Dominican Republic: There are 29 provincias and el distrito nacional. Puerto Rico: If you consider Puerto Rico to be separate from the United States of America, municipios are its first-order administrative divisions. Otherwise, all of Puerto Rico is a first-order administrative division of the United States, and municipios are second-order administrative divisions. Venezuela: There are 23 estados, el distrito federal and one dependencia federal which consists of eleven federally controlled island groups. Colombia: There are 32 departamentos and el distrito capital. Peru: There are 24 departamentos and one provincia constitucional (el Callao). The 1979 constitution mandated the creation of regiones (by combining departamentos) but the regiones have yet to be put into effect as autonomous administrative entities. Argentina: There are 23 provincias and la capital federal. Chile: Before the 1973 military coup, Chile was divided into 25 provincias. During the Pinochet dictatorship (1973-1990), the provincial division of the country was discarded by 30

combining between two and seven provincias to form each regin. (Claudia Heiss, Patricio Navia, Institutional Design and Decentralization: The Case of Chile http://home-pages-.nyu-.edu-/~pdn200/pa-pers/Heiss-&Navia2002.pdf.) Creating new first-order administrative divisions: The verbs provincializar, departamentalizar and the nouns provincializacin, departamentalizacin are used in this sense in the respective regions. Are there corresponding forms for comunidad autnoma, estado or regin? B9.4 Real Academia Regional Review

Comunidad autnoma (A1992 - A2001), departamento (A1992 - A2001), estado (D1992 - D2001), provincia (C1992 - C2001), regin (D/C1992 - D/C2001). Dictionary definitions: comunidad autnoma, Entidad territorial que dentro del ordenamiento constitucional del Estado espaol, est dotada de autonoma legislativa y competencias ejecutivas, as como de la facultad de administrarse mediante sus propios representantes; provincia, Cada una de las grandes divisiones de un territorio o Estado, sujeta por lo comn a una autoridad administrativa. || 2. Cada una de las demarcaciones administrativas del territorio espaol, fijadas en 1833; departamento, 6. En algunos pases de Amrica, provincia (|| divisin de un territorio sujeta a una autoridad administrativa); regin, Cada una de las grandes divisiones territoriales de una nacin, definida por caractersticas geogrficas e histrico-sociales, y que puede dividirse a su vez en provincias, departamentos, etc. Should the Dictionary specify in its definitions of the above terms, which words represent first-order administrative divisions in which countries? If so, all four definitions will need to include regional specifications such as the following: departamento, Bol., Col., El Salv., Guat., Hond., Nic., Par., Per y Ur. Cada una de las grandes divisiones de un pas, sujeta a una autoridad administrativa; provincia, Arg., C. Rica, Cuba, Ecuad., Pan. y R. Dom. departamento (|| grande divisin administrativa de un pas); estado, Mx. y Ven. departamento (|| grande divisin administrativa de un pas), etc.

B10

NATIONAL CURRENCIES

B10.1 Summary The peso is the national currency of seven countries. Four countries (counting Puerto Rico) currently use the U.S. dollar as an official currency. The remaining names are official currencies in only one or two countries and include three explorer/conquistador/discoverers, a Native American chief, a liberator, a bird and a people/language. B10.2 Terms by country (11 terms)
SPAIN MEXICO GUATEMALA EL SALVADOR

euro peso quetzal coln and dlar (estadounidense) 31

HONDURAS NICARAGUA COSTA RICA PANAMA CUBA DOMIN. REP. PUERTO RICO VENEZUELA COLOMBIA ECUADOR PERU BOLIVIA PARAGUAY URUGUAY ARGENTINA CHILE

lempira crdoba coln balboa and dlar (estadounidense) peso peso dlar (estadounidense) bolvar peso dlar (estadounidense) sol boliviano guaran peso peso peso

B10.3 Details General: The etymologies provided below are from the currency names as defined in the Real Academia Dictionary. Spain: The peso was replaced by the peseta in 1868 which, in turn, was replaced by the euro on February 28, 2002. For several months after that date people were still able to exchange pesetas for euros at any bank. Currently, pesetas can only be exchanged at the Banco de Espaa. (Spains seafaring currency http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/en-glish/world/europe/news-id_1702000/1702058.stm; Euro changeover complete http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/-busi-ness/news-id_1845000/1845045.stm.) Guatemala: Quetzal, the currency, comes from the tropical bird of the same name, which is a national symbol of Guatemala and represents freedom and wealth in Mayan culture. (The Quetzal http://www-.travel-log.com/guate-mala/quetzal.html.) The quetzal replaced the peso in 1925. (Guerra Borges, 431-32.) El Salvador: Since January 1, 2001 the U.S. dollar has been accepted as dual currency alongside the coln and both currencies can be used to purchase goods and services. However, the coln is in the process of disappearing. When colones are deposited into banks, they are removed from circulation. The word comes from Coln, Cristoforo Colombos Spanish surname. Honduras: The term lempira is masculine (el lempira) and comes from Lempira, the famous Lenca chief who fought valiantly against the Spanish conquistadors Francisco de Montejo and Alonso de Cceres in 1537. (Lempira http://www.sdnhon.org.hn/miembros/cultura/bi-nah/blem-pira.htm.) Nicaragua: The crdoba is masculine (el crdoba) and comes from the Spanish conquistador Francisco Fernndez de Crdoba who founded the first permanent Spanish settlements in Granada and Len in 1524. Shortly thereafter, Crdoba was executed by a more powerful rival, Pedro Arias de vila (also known as Pedrarias Dvila). (Francisco Fernndez de Crdoba: Explorer http://www.enchanted-learning.com/ex-plorers/page/c/cordoba. shtml.) 32

Panama: Although the balboa, which is masculine (el balboa), is technically the national currency, it is largely symbolic; United States dollars are what circulate. The balboa exists in the form of coins but not bills. The word comes from Vasco Nez de Balboa, the Spanish explorer and conquistador, who was the first European to see (and stand in the waters of) the eastern shore of the Pacific Ocean on September 13, 1513. Balboa, along with several of his lieutenants and friends, was beheaded in 1517 by Pedro Arias de vila, who was jealous of Balboas popularity. (Vasco Nez de Balboa http://coloquio.com/famosos/bal-boa.html; Pedro Arias de vila http://www.bruce-.ruiz.net/ Panama-History/pedrarias.htm.) Venezuela: The bolvar is named for Simn Bolvar, who in 1810 began the armed struggle in Spanish America for independence from Spain. After many ups and downs in the war, his armies scored decisive victories against the royalist forces in the battles of Boyac (1819) and Carabobo (1821). (Simn Bolvar El Libertador http://www.estado-var-gas.com/Simon-.html.) Ecuador: The conversion from sucres to United States dollars began in February of 2000 and was completed in September of 2000 in a process called dolarizacin. (e.g. Ecuador dolariz su economa.) (Ecuador Officially Converts to U.S. Dollar http://www.lynknight.com/ar-ticles/article2157.chtml.) The former currency of Ecuador comes from Antonio Jos de Sucre, chief lieutenant of Simn Bolvar, who defeated the Spanish in the battles of Pichincha (1822), Junn and Ayacucho (1824). He was ambushed and killed in 1830, according to some, under orders from Colombian General Jos Mara Obando. (Sucre, Antonio Jos de http://-www.bar-tleby.com/65/su-/Suc-re-An.html; Ecuador in the Gran Colombia http://www-.fuerzas-armadas-ecuador.-org/en-glish/historia/ecuador-gran-co-lom-bia.htm; Jos Mara Obando del Campo http://-www.memo.com.co/scripts/fenonino-/aprenda/dic-cionarios-/biog-result-.php-3?bio=407.) Peru: The sol or nuevo sol replaced the inti on July 1, 1991. The inti, which means sol (sun) in Quechua, had replaced a previous sol on February 1, 1985. (Lawrence H. Officer, Information on exchange rates of the Americas http://www.eh.net/hmit/ex -changerates-/info-americas.htm.) Bolivia: The boliviano was replaced by the peso on January 1, 1963 which, in turn, was replaced by (a new) boliviano on January 1, 1987. (International Economics http://intl.econ.cuhk.-edu.-hk/ex-change_rate_re-gime/index.php?cid=14.) Argentina: The austral replaced the peso on June 14, 1985, and (a new) peso replaced the austral on January 1, 1992. (Information on exchange rates of the Americas http://www.eh.net/hmit/ex-change-rates/infoamericas.htm.) Chile: The escudo replaced the (old) peso on January 1, 1960 and the (new) peso replaced the escudo on September 29, 1975. (Information on exchange rates of the Americas http://www-.eh.net/hmit/ex-changerates/infoamericas.htm.) B10.4 Real Academia Regional Review Only two grades are given in this section, O (out-of-date) and U (up-to-date), and only the 2001 edition of the Real Academia Dictionary is reviewed. Austral (O2001), balboa (U2001), bolvar (U2001), boliviano (U2001), coln (U2001), crdoba (U2001), dlar (U2001?), euro (U2001), guaran (U2001), lempira (U2001), peseta (U2001), peso (U2001?), quetzal (U2001), sol (O2001), sucre (O2001). 33

Dictionary definitions: austral, 2. m. Unidad monetaria de la Argentina desde 1985; dlar, Unidad monetaria de los Estados Unidos de Amrica, Canad, Australia, Liberia, Nueva Zelanda y otros pases del mundo; peso, 14. Unidad monetaria de diversos pases americanos; sol, 5. Antigua unidad monetaria del Per; sucre, Unidad monetaria de Ecuador. The definition of sol should read Unidad monetaria del Per perhaps with the phrase llmase tambin nuevo sol added for clarification. The definition of sucre should probably be changed to Antigua unidad monetaria del Ecuador, that is, unless one argues that dictionaries should wait a decade or more to see whether Ecuadors ex periment with U.S. dollars will prove to be a passing fancy or a long-term arrangement. The definition of dlar lists several Englishspeaking countries that have a dollar as their national currency but fails to list any of the Spanish-speaking countries (Ecuador, El Salvador, Panama, Puerto Rico?) in which the U.S. dollar is an official currency: this needs to be rectified. Should the definition of peso be changed to, Unidad monetaria de Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Mxico, Repblica Dominicana y Uruguay? Why is the phrase del Per used in the definition of sol but de Ecuador in the definition of sucre (emphasis added)? Do not both countries take the article (el Ecuador, el Per)?

B11

VOTING IN NATIONAL ELECTIONS: OPTIONAL OR MANDATORY?

B11.1 Summary Within the Spanish-speaking world, voting in national elections is generally optional except in most of South America, where it is mandatory. B11.2 Status by country
SPAIN MEXICO GUATEMALA EL SALVADOR HONDURAS NICARAGUA COSTA RICA PANAMA CUBA DOMIN. REP. PUERTO RICO VENEZUELA COLOMBIA ECUADOR PERU BOLIVIA PARAGUAY

optional optional optional optional optional optional optional optional mandatory? optional optional optional optional mandatory mandatory mandatory mandatory 34

URUGUAY ARGENTINA CHILE

mandatory mandatory mandatory?

B11.3 Details General: In countries where voting is mandatory it becomes a requirement for citizens when they reach the age of majority, generally eighteen, and usually becomes optional once they reach between age 65 and 75. The coercive measures that are typically used by the government to enforce this requirement include the assessment of fines, and not permitting a person to make bank transactions, or obtain a passport or other legal documents. However, Spanish-speaking countries where voting is compulsory generally offer loopholes that allow non-voters to avoid punishment or receive a mere slap on the wrist. The constitution of many of the countries listed above as optional defines voting as a deber cvico, but the government has not set up any enforcement mechanisms to ensure compliance. Why is it that voting is mandatory in most of South America and optional almost everywhere else? What historical factors account for this? How should we define mandatory and optional? Cuba: By regulation, voting is optional. However, citizens are under considerable social pressure to vote once they reach sixteen years of age. Beginning early in the morning on election days children knock on peoples doors to remind them of the importance of voting. Those who do not vote must also answer to a Comit de Defensa de la Revolucin (CDR), which can be an unpleasant experience. People who do not vote are also ineligible for certain state-controlled benefits such as obtaining a telephone. Puerto Rico: Legal residents of Puerto Rico can vote in Puerto Rican elections but not in United States presidential elections. (Welcome to Puerto Rico http://welcome.topuertorico.org/govern-ment-.shtml.) For information on challenges to this regulation, see Gregorio Igarta de la Rosa, et al. v. United States of America http://www.-ca1.uscourts.gov-/pdf.-opinions-/00-20-83-01A.pdf. Venezuela: Voting was technically mandatory until 1999 when a new constitution was signed making it optional. (http://www.gobierno-enlinea.ve/gobierno/portal. Compare Artculo 63 of the 1999 Constitution to Artculo 110 of the 1961 Constitution.) However, prior to 1999 the voting requirement had not been enforced. Peru: Compliance with the voting requirement is controlled through a card called the libreta electoral which is being phased out; the new card is the DNI or Documento Nacional de Identificacin. Uruguay: The credencial cvica is the card by means of which compliance with the voting requirement is controlled. Argentina: The IDs that used to control voting were the libreta cvica (LC), issued to women, and the libreta de enrolamiento (LE), issued to men (which also controlled compliance with the military-service requirement). Both documents began to be phased out in the early 1970s by the documento nacional de identidad or DNI. The older documents, however, continue to be used by some older Argentines who have not yet gone in to the Registro Nacional de las Personas to be issued a DNI. (Ley N 17.671 - Registro Nacional de las Personas http://www.registro-civil.gov.ar/ley17671.htm.) 35

Chile: Voting is mandatory once a citizen is registered to vote. Registration is done once and remains in effect for life. However, current laws do not require Chileans to register to vote. Electoral records that existed prior to 1973 were destroyed by the military during the dictatorship. In 1988 people registered voluntarily to vote in the plebiscite which, a year later, led to the first presidential and parliamentary elections in seventeen years. Because there was so much at stake (the continuation of the dictatorship or the beginning of the transition to democracy), over 90% of those eligible to vote in the plebiscite did so. By 1997, however, both the number of persons registered to vote who did not vote and the number of those who turned eighteen and did not register had increased considerably. For this reason there are government advertising campaigns to induce young people to register to vote. The campaigns, however, have been largely unsuccessful. The government has been considering the possibility of changing the election laws to make voter registration automatic when the citizen turns eighteen. (Patricio Navia, A Shrinking Electorate in Post Pinochet Chile http://home-pages.nyu.edu/~pdn200/scholar-ly.html.) Military service: mandatory or optional?: Another interesting subject of investigation would be to determine where military service (for men) is officially mandatory and where it is strictly optional. However, in all Spanish-speaking countries where it is compulsory, the loopholes that enable those with power, money and influence to avoid this requirement are so many as to virtually render military service a poor mans burden.

NOTES 1. The author would like to thank Dasha Hlavenka for kindly providing the illustration for Figure A3, the Traffic Circle, and Lucrecia Hug and Sharlee Merner Bradley for editing earlier drafts and making a number of valuable suggestions. In addition, he would like to express his appreciation to Bradley Shaw of Kansas State University for going out of his way to put him in contact with many informants/respondents for this study. Last but not least, he would like to thank all of the native speakers of Spanish who generously gave of their time to answer questions on usage. 2. For information on items in other semantic fields whose names in Spanish vary by region, see the following works by Andre Moskowitz: Topics in Spanish lexical dialectology: folks. Proceedings of the 42nd Annual Conference of the American Translators Association, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A., October 31November 3, 2001. Ed. Thomas L. West III. American Translators Association, 2001. 268-301. Topics in Spanish lexical dialectology: kids stuff. Proceedings of the 41st Annual Conference of the American Translators Association, Orlando, Florida, U.S.A., September 20-23, 2000. Ed. Thomas L. West III. American Translators Association, 2000. 328-366. Topics in Spanish lexical dialectology: food and drink. Proceedings of the 40th Annual Conference of the American Translators Association, St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.A., November 3-6, 1999. Ed. Ann G. Macfarlane. American Translators Association, 1999. 275-308. 36

Topics in Spanish lexical dialectology: the home. Proceedings of the 39th Annual Conference of the American Translators Association, Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, U.S.A., November 4-8, 1998. Ed. Ann G. Macfarlane. American Translators Association, 1998. 221-253. Fruit and vegetable terminology in the Spanish-speaking world: regional variation. Proceedings of the 38th Annual Conference of the American Translators Association, San Francisco, California, U.S.A., November 5-9, 1997. Ed. Muriel M. Jrme-OKeeffe. American Translators Association, 1997. 233-261. Clothing terminology in the Spanish-speaking world: regional variation. Proceedings of the 37th Annual Conference of the American Translators Association, Colorado Springs, Colorado, U.S.A., October 30-November 3, 1996. Ed. Muriel M. Jrme-OKeeffe. American Translators Association, 1996. 287-308. Car terminology in the Spanish-speaking world. Proceedings of the 36th Annual Conference of the American Translators Association, Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.A., November 8-12, 1995. Ed. Peter W. Krawutschke. American Translators Association, 1995. 331-340. Contribucin al estudio del espaol ecuatoriano. Unpublished M.A. thesis. Department of Romance Languages and Literatures, University of Florida. Gainesville, Florida. 1995. A box of office supplies: dialectological fun The Georgetown Journal of Languages & Linguistics. Vol 1.3. Ed. Richard J. OBrien, S.J. 1990. 315-344.

REFERENCES Alvar Ezquerra, Manuel. 1996. Dialectologa y lexicografa in Manual de dialectologa hispnica / El espaol de Espaa. Manuel Alvar, ed. Barcelona, Spain: Editorial Ariel, S.A. pg. 49-54. Guerra Borges, Alfredo. 1996. El Sistema Bancario in Historia General de Guatemala. Asociacin de Amigos del Pas, Fundacin para la Cultura y Desarrollo. Vol. V. pg. 42939. Lipski, John M. 1996. El espaol de Amrica. Madrid, Spain: Ediciones Ctedra, S.A. Real Academia Espaola. 1992. Diccionario de la Lengua Espaola. 21st Edition. Madrid, Spain: Editorial Espasa-Calpe, S.A. Real Academia Espaola. 2001. Diccionario de la Lengua Espaola. 22nd Edition. Madrid, Spain: Editorial Espasa-Calpe, S.A. Vargas Llosa, Mario. 1962. La ciudad y los perros. Barcelona, Spain: Editorial Seix Barral S.A.

37

APPENDIX 1: ADDITIONAL TOPICS The following is a small selection of additional topics in the field of Spanish lexical dialectology that relate, in some instances only tangentially, to urban life, money, politics and/or government. For the most part, only a few informants from each specified country or region have been observed or questioned concerning these issues, and the findings are therefore tentative. No doubt most of the usages presented occur in more regions than those listed; the information provided is based on the data the author was able to collect. Although some information is provided on how the terminology varies by region, the topics are primarily presented to call attention to their existence as possible dialectological issues and to encourage others to research them further. In each entry the referent or a set of referents is indicated, but the connotations associated with them are generally not specified, or are specified only minimally. In order for the terms to be defined in dictionaries their speech registers, connotations and, in some cases, the exact referents themselves will have to be fully investigated. Spelling (and thus etymological) issues such as b vs. v and y vs. ll are also raised. attorneys office / law firm. While the generic oficina de abogados, despacho de abogados or firma de abogados are used, the term bufete, sometimes written and pronounced buf, is also used in many countries. Is bufete universal? The term estudio jurdico or estudio de abogados (often shortened to estudio) is used in Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia?, Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina and Chile__essentially everywhere in South America south of Colombia. bill / invoice. Cuenta (used more for goods or merchandise) and factura (used more for professional services) are universal, but there are other terms for bill/invoice that appear to be more regional and, in many cases, more commonly used than either cuenta or factura. They include the following: bill or bil (Puerto Rico, pronounced [bil]; if admitted, how should this term be spelled?); boleta (Uruguay, Argentina?); planilla (Ecuador); recibo (Spain, Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia?, Paraguay?, Uruguay; is this usage universal?). Quite a few Spanish speakers indicated that they use a different base term depending on the type of bill (water, electricity, telephone, etc.) they are discussing. For example, one Bolivian said that he uses la factura del agua but la cuenta de la luz. More research will have to be done, however, to determine which of these preferences correspond to regional linguistic tendencies and which merely represent idiosyncracies. bribe. Soborno is the universal, standard term, but the following regional equivalents are often used in place of soborno, especially by less educated speakers and by speakers of all educational levels in less formal situations: borona (Dominican Republic; the term also means any type of tip or remuneration, money that is given in exchange for some service or favor.); cazo (Pas Vasco, Spain?); coima (Panama?, Colombia?, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina, Chile); coimisin (Uruguay; this term is a portmanteau or cross between coima and comisin); cometa (Paraguay?, Uruguay); comisin (Dominican Republic?, Venezuela); chantaje (Spain, Nicaragua?, Costa Rica, Panama, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador); chorizo (Costa Rica); macuteo (Dominican Republic); matraca (Venezuela); mochada (Northern Mexico; some from this region say mochada means bribe while others say a 38

mochada is each persons share or cut of a bribe when it is shared by several officials); mojada (Dominican Republic?); mordida (Mexico, Hispanic Central America); movida (Honduras); peaje (Venezuela); untada (Spain, Colombia); unte (Spain); vacuna (Colombia); vaina (Venezuela?); vitico (Venezuela?). Although, strictly speaking, chantaje means blackmail, is its use in the sense of bribe universal in popular speech? The Dominican term macuteo, which is derived from the verb macutear, is often used in the sense of demanding a bribe, (by police officers or other officials), in addition to meaning paying a bribe, (what individuals pay to an official). Although mordida in this sense is used with the highest frequency in Mexico and Central America, it is also heard in many other Spanish-speaking countries perhaps as a result of the influence of Mexican telenovelas. In addition, the following verbs and idiomatic expressions were offered in the sense of to pay a bribe: bajarle un billete (Peru); bajarse de la mula (Venezuela); choricear (Costa Rica); darle para las colas (Ecuador; cola means soda/soft drink); dar una vaina (Venezuela); mojarle la mano (Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Chile?); pasarle la mano (Colombia); romperle la mano (Guatemala); tocar (Cuba); untarle la mano (Guatemala, Colombia, Uruguay). coste vs. costo. For cost, is it coste in Spain and costo in Spanish America, or is the situation more complicated? Is the choice here only a question of regional preference or are different terms used depending on the type of cost being referred to? corrupt, illegal deal. The term negociado is defined as 3. Am. Mer. Negocio ilcito que toma carcter pblico and refers to deals involving misuse of public funds, fraud, bribery, embezzlement, nepotism, cronyism (particularly in connection with a lack of open and competitive bidding on public works projects), fraudulent assessments and/or overbilling. Where (in South America and possibly elsewhere) is negociado used in this sense and, given that this phenomenon is common almost everywhere in the Spanish-speaking world, are there other regional terms for it? lite vs. elite. In which countries is lite__pronounced [E-li-te], with the stress on the first syllable__preferred, and in which countries is elite__pronounced [e-LI-te] or [eLIT]__preferred? Does the pronunciation (and spelling) of this word vary by region? The Real Academia accepts both spellings, but lite is the first one listed and is, presumably, preferred by that institution. Do most educated Spaniards prefer lite to elite? What about educated persons from the other nineteen Spanish-speaking countries? Of those Spanish speakers who prefer the spelling without an accent mark, elite, which ones prefer the pronunciation with three syllables, [e-LI-te], and which prefer the pronunciation with two syllables, [e-LIT]? If a substantial number of these prefer the pronunciation with two syllables, can an argument be made to Castilianize the spelling and list elit as an alternate spelling in dictionaries, or does the word have such an elitist origin that the French spelling must be retained? (Why should carnet get converted to carn, but not lite to elite to elit?) extra salary / Christmas bonus. What are all the regional names for Christmas bonuses and other extra salaries (paga de Navidad, paga extraordinaria) that employees receive? For example, in Mexico, Honduras, Costa Rica, Bolivia, Paraguay, Argentina and Chile, the thirteenth monthly salary (received at the end of the year) is called an aguinaldo or aguinaldo de navidad. Some Spaniards also indicated that aguinaldo is used in this sense in Spain whereas others said it is not. Is it? Some Chileans also receive an aguinaldo de 39

fiestas patrias in September for Independence Day. In Colombia the thirteenth salary received at the end of the year is referred to as a prima de navidad or a prima de fin de ao. Other names offered were: el doble sueldo and la regala pascual, often just called la regala (Dominican Republic, end of the year salary), quincena (Bolivia, an extra half salary received in July). In Venezuela, the Christmas bonus used to be called an aguinaldo (often pronounced aguinardo by the lower classes) but with the new labor law it is now called utilidades. gang. A street gang is called a mara in El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala, in addition to the standard pandilla. The Dictionary indicates that mara is also used in Mexico, but this usage does not appear to be common according to the dozen or so Mexicans that were questioned regarding this. However, one Mexican indicated that Central American pandillas that cross the Chiapas-Guatemala border are known as maras and that the ones from El Salvador are called maras salvatruchas; a Guatemalan said that mara salvatrucha refers to a particular Salvadoran gang that originated in Los Angeles. Are there other regional terms for pandilla/banda? jail (slang terms). The following are slang terms for la crcel whose rough equivalents in United States English are the can, the slammer or the pokey: bote (Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica); botelln (Mexico); cana (Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Uruguay, Argentina); capacha (Ecuador?, Chile); cuadrada (Santa Cruz, Bolivia?); chira (Peru?); chirola (Ecuador?); chirona (Spain, El Salvador, Cuba?); chironga (El Salvador?); cholpa (Costa Rica, Nicaragua); chorpa (Costa Rica); guandoca (Colombia); hoyo (El Salvador); jaula (Cuba?); loma (Cuba?); mamo (Honduras); mazmorra (Spain?); sombra (Spain, Colombia, Ecuador); tabo (Costa Rica); tajo (Costa Rica?); talego (Spain); tambo (Mexico, El Salvador); tanque (Mexico, Cuba); trena (Spain); trullo (Spain). Note that some of these terms are often used in expressions without the definite article: lo metieron en cana, est en chirona. In addition, the term la peni (short for penitenciara) has been recorded in a number of countries. Is this usage universal or regionally marked? The following verbs meaning to throw in the slammer, and the corresponding adjectival forms, have also been recorded: embotar (Mexico?, Honduras?); embotellar (Mexico); encanar (Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Argentina); enguandocar (Colombia); entambar (Mexico). No doubt many of these verbs are common in more countries than those listed, and more of the nouns listed in the preceding paragraph have corresponding verb forms. lazy government bureaucrats (slang terms). What are all the regional slang terms for lazy government employees, people who meet one or both of the following conditions? a) They are on the government payroll but work little or not at all. b) They were given their government positions due to nepotism, political connections or some other type of favoritism. For example, in Ecuador these are sometimes referred to as los pipones (e.g. los pipones del municipio); pipn alludes to the fact that such individuals are thought of as having large bellies. median. There are a number of regional names for the often elevated central divide that some avenues and boulevards have which include: arriate (Guatemala?, El Salvador); camelln (Mexico); cantero (central) (Uruguay; they usually have grass and flowers planted in them); mediana (Spain); parter or parterre (Ecuador). Some Ecuadorans pronounce the word with two syllables, [par-TER], and others pronounce it with three syllables, [par40

TE-rre]; both written forms, parter and parterre, have also been seen, although the latter seems more common. What are the characteristics__age, socioeconomic class, region, etc.__of Ecuadorans who pronounce and write the word one way vs. the other? ministry (of foreign affairs) / department (of state). Which federal governments are divided into secretaras (Mexico, Dominican Republic), and which are divided into ministerios (everywhere else?)? Specifically, what are all the different Spanish-language equivalents of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, such as Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores, Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores, Secretara de Estado, Secretara de Estado de Relaciones Exteriores, Secretara de Relaciones Exteriores, Departamento de Relaciones Exteriores, and where is each term used? Do all countries also use Cancillera as a synonym of Ministry of Foreign Affaires, or just some countries? money (slang terms). Regional equivalents of U.S. English dough or moola(h) include the following terms: astilla (Cuba); baro or varo (Cuba); bille (Panama, Peru, Chile); billulla or biyuya (Uruguay); billullo or biyuyo (Mexico, Honduras, Venezuela, Chile); billullu or biyuyu (Honduras); biruta (Alicante, Spain?); bolas (Honduras); bollos (Nicaragua); caleta (Chile?); cuarto (Dominican Republic); cuscusa (Colombia?); chambulines (Nicaragua); chavos (Puerto Rico; from ochavo, moneda espaola con peso de un octavo de onza y valor de dos maraveds; see Dictionarys definition of chavo); chen-chen (Panama); chibilines or chivilines (Peru); churupos (Venezuela); duartes (Dominican Republic?); feria (Mexico); fichas (Guatemala?); fulas (Cuba; the term refers to U.S. dollars, perhaps because they are lighter in color than Cuban bills.); grana (Uruguay?, Bolivia?; from Brazilian Portuguese); guita (Spain, Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina, Chile); harina (Costa Rica); lana (Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama?, Venezuela?, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru?, Chile?); mango (Panama?, Argentina); marmaja (Mexico, Colombia?); mojoso (Dominican Republic?); moni (Costa Rica, especially adolescents? From English money.); morlacos (Bolivia, Chile?); mosca (Costa Rica, Colombia, Paraguay, Uruguay?, Argentina?); mula (El Salvador?); muna (Venezuela); pachocha (Mexico); palo (Panama); papeleta (Dominican Republic?); parn (Gypsy slang in Spain?); pasta (Spain); pelas (Spain); pepas (Ecuador?); perras (Spain); pir pir (Paraguay, Guaran term); pisto (Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras); quibo (Bolivia?); reales (Nicaragua, Venezuela; often pronounced as if written riales); tela (Spain, El Salvador?); vento (Argentina, Uruguay; a Lunfardo term). The terms bille, biyuya, biyuyo and biyuyu probably come from billete but the spellings used include practically all possible combinations of b or v and ll or y. The term cuarto (Dominican Republic) is pronounced cualto or cuaito in popular speech, that is, almost always; the latter pronunciation is especially common in the el Cibao region. Some Costa Ricans indicated that mosca refers to stolen money and that the verb mosquear to steal is also used. In addition, the expression tiene todo el huevo/gevo is used in Costa Rica to refer to someone who has a lot of money. What are all the different slang terms for bills of specific denominations? For example, a luca means a thousand-peso note in Chile. national ID card. Most Spanish-speaking countries have a national identification card whose names are as follows: carn (de identidad) or carnet (de identidad) (Spain, Cuba, Bolivia, Chile; see sections B8.3 and B8.4 regarding the issue of carn vs. carnet); cdula (de ciudadana) (Colombia); cdula (de identidad) or cdula de identidad personal (El 41

Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina); cdula (de identificacin personal) (Dominican Republic); cdula (de vecindad) (Guatemala); DUI or documento nico de identidad (El Salvador; this is the new ID that is replacing the cdula); DNI or documento nacional de identidad (Spain, Peru, Argentina). In Spain, carn de identidad is the common name and DNI or documento nacional de identidad is the official name. In Bolivia, cdula (de identidad) is the official name that is printed on the card but people often call it the carnet. In addition to the primary national ID cards, there are various other national ID cards that are used for specific purposes. For example, there are cards that show a person has voted (see section B11), and ones that indicate a person has complied with his military-service obligation such as cartilla (Mexico), libreta militar (Colombia, Peru), libreta de servicio militar (Bolivia), libreta de enrolamiento (Venezuela?, Argentina?). neighborhood / sector of a city. Many countries have regional words for urban or suburban neighborhoods or districts of a city. Their meaning and connotation vary, and more research needs to be done to determine the socioeconomic class that is associated with the neighborhoods that the following words refer to: ciudadela (Costa Rica, Ecuador); colonia (parts of Spain?, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica); comuna (Paraguay?, Chile); ensanche (Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico); fraccionamiento (Mexico, Uruguay); reparto (El Salvador, Nicaragua, Panama, Cuba, Dominican Republic?); residencial (Guatemala, Costa Rica, Panama, Dominican Republic, Bolivia; the gender of this noun seems to vary: un residencial vs. una residencial); urba (Costa Rica, short for urbanizacin). In Chile, a comuna is a district within a city which functions as an independent city, that is, each comuna has its own alcalde or mayor. In Peru and Argentina un barrio pituco refers to a posh or ritzy neighborhood. (Where else is this term used in this sense? The Dictionary defines pituco as presumptuous for most of Spanish-speaking South America.) parking ticket / traffic ticket. Although multa (with a qualifier) can be used as a General Spanish equivalent of parking ticket or traffic ticket (issued for a moving violation), the following are more regional equivalents: boleta (Panama, Venezuela, Uruguay, Argentina?); contravencin (Dominican Republic); esquela (El Salvador); parte (Colombia, Chile); remisin (Guatemala); tique(t) (Puerto Rico). perodo vs. periodo. In which countries is perodo (pronounced with four syllables) preferred, in which countries is periodo (pronounced with three syllables) preferred, and in which countries are both pronunciations and spellings equally common and accepted? For example, in Colombia periodo (three syllables) is much more common than perodo (four syllables), whereas in Ecuador the opposite is the case. The Spanish Real Academia Dictionary lists both spellings but perodo is listed first, which means that in the eyes of the Real Academia the four-syllable version is preferable. Do most educated Spaniards agree that perodo is preferable to periodo? What are the preferences in the other Spanish-speaking countries? police station. The following terms have been offered in the sense of some type of police station: comandancia (Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama?, Dominican Republic, Paraguay); comando de polica (Colombia?, Bolivia?); comisara (Spain, Costa Rica, Venezuela, Peru, Bolivia?, Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina, Chile); cuartel de polica (Spain, Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Panama, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, 42

Ecuador?); delegacin (Mexico, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic?); estacin de polica (Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, Paraguay, Argentina?; is this usage universal?); intendencia (Colombia?, Ecuador?, Bolivia?, Paraguay?); jefatura de polica (Spain, Mexico, Guatemala?, El Salvador, Costa Rica?, Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Colombia?, Ecuador, Bolivia, Paraguay?, Uruguay, Argentina; refers to police headquarters); posta (Honduras; smaller moveable police station); prefectura (Venezuela, Chile?); PTJ (Panama, Venezuela, Bolivia). The PTJ (the Polica Tcnica Judicial) refers to a particular branch of the police force but also to one of this branchs police stations. What are the technical differences between the above terms in the different countries? For example, some Mexicans indicated that delegacin, estacin de polica and jefatura de polica are equivalent terms; others stated that estacin de polica is used more in northern Mexico. One Costa Rican indicated that a comandancia is a large police station located in a provincial capital whereas a comisara is a large police station located in San Jos, and a delegacin is a small police station located in towns and smaller cities; in rural areas these are called delegaciones de la guardia rural. One Cuban indicated that comisara used to be used prior to 1959 in pre-revolutionary times, but that now estacin de polica is used, which, ironically, parallels U.S. English police station. In Venezuela, the prefectura is apparently the police station for a type of police force that is in charge of minor crimes, as opposed to the PTJ, which is in charge of more serious crimes. Which of the above terms refer to military command posts rather than police stations? Or is the difference between the two often hazy given that the functions of the army, national guard and police are sometimes blurred in some Spanish-speaking countries (especially during times of national emergency)? post office. In Panama these are often called estafetas postales. Are there any other countries in which a term other than the universal el correo or la oficina de correos is used? riot (or other chaotic situation involving large numbers of people). What are all the regional terms that refer to this type of event? Examples include molote (Dominican Republic), revol (Puerto Rico), rebul (Ecuador), zaperoco (Venezuela). In highland Ecuador the word bullas (in the plural form) is often used in this sense: hay bullas en el centro. rubber stamp. Sello is the standard term, but there are also more regional terms that compete (in some areas quite successfully) with sello: cuo (Alicante and Valencia, Spain; Cuba); matasello (Dominican Republic); estampa (Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico); timbre (Chile). In all of the countries that use a regional term, such as cuo, estampa, matasello(s) and timbre, there are some who prefer sello and look down on those who use the regionally marked term. What are the linguistic attitudes in these regions toward sello and the regionally marked terms? See section B1, postage stamp. When qualifiers are added to sello to specify the meaning of rubber stamp, they also seem to exhibit regional variation: de caucho (parts of South America?), de hule (Mexico and Central America), de jebe (Peru, Bolivia?), and de goma (everywhere else?). status. Are there regional preferences among the terms estatus, estato and estado when used in specific collocations? (For example, marital status is always estado civil, but what about immigration status?)

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steamroller. Is it apisonadora in Spain and aplanadora in Spanish America, or is the situation more complicated than that? What are all the terms used in this sense and where are they used? street kid. What are all the regional names for homeless children? In Colombia these are called gamines. ticket A - for buses, trains, airplanes and other forms of transportation . Pasaje is universal, but billete and boleto are in general more commonly used in Spain and Spanish America, respectively. Other terms include tique(t) (Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia?, Paraguay?), and tiquete (Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia). In Costa Rica, pase is used in the sense of bus fare. Some Spanish Americans distinguish between pasaje (plane ticket) and boleto (bus ticket). One Colombian said she distinguished between pasaje (bus ticket) and tiquete (plane ticket) and one Venezuelan said she distinguished between pasaje (plane ticket) and tiquet (train ticket). What are all the distinctions made? To what extent do they represent regional tendencies and to what extent are they idiosyncratic? ticket B - for movies, theaters, shows and other spectacles. Entrada is universal, but boleto is more common in much of Spanish America. More regional terms include the following: boleta (Dominican Republic?, Colombia); taquilla (Honduras, Panama?, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Bolivia?); tique(t) (Spain?, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama?, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Ecuador?, Peru?, Bolivia?, Paraguay?; is this usage universal?); tiquete (Costa Rica, Panama, Cuba?, Colombia?). ticket C - lottery ticket. Billete (de lotera) and nmero de lotera appear to be universal, but the following other terms were also offered: boleto (de lotera) (Spain?, Mexico, Guatemala?, Puerto Rico?, Venezuela, Bolivia, Argentina, Chile; is this usage universal?); cachito (Mexico, Guatemala; single ticket from a sheet of lottery tickets); cantito (Puerto Rico; single ticket from a sheet); caraquita (Dominican Republic); chance (Panama; a ticket with only two numbers that is less expensive than the billete that has four numbers); dcimo (Spain; single ticket from a sheet of ten, especially for El Gordo de Navidad); entero (Honduras, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Uruguay; the whole sheet consists of between ten and forty lottery tickets, depending on the country); guach(it)o or huach(it)o (Ecuador, Peru; a single ticket from a sheet called an entero); participacin (Uruguay; one twentieth of an entero); pedazo/pedacito de lotera (Honduras?, Costa Rica, Colombia?); plego de lotera (Honduras?; sheet of the legal lottery); quiniela (Dominican Republic, Paraguay?; the term is sometimes pronounced as if it were written quinela); quint(ic)o (Venezuela?, Colombia?); tiquet (Cuba?); tira (Dominican Republic; group of five tickets); vigsimo (El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Chile; single ticket from a sheet of twenty). Another question is what are the different names for all of the illegal numbers games? tramitador or gestor. What are all the regional names for the people who, for a fee, obtain for their clients certificates, permits and other legal documents at the Registro Civil or at other government offices? In Guatemala, the term gizache is used in this sense.

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APPENDIX 2: FAMOUS FAVELAS The following is a tentative list of the most notorious shantytowns in many of the major metropolitan areas of the Spanish-speaking world. The list, however, is based only on what persons from the cities in question told the author in the year 2002. The author has not visited any of these neighborhoods. Since shantytowns are occasionally bulldozed over or otherwise cleared and upgraded, this list is not overly reliable, but it is a starting point. Some of the neighborhoods mentioned are not exclusively shantytowns but contain some houses that qualify as shanties. Madrid: El Pozo del Huevo, Caada Real and Barranquillas in Villa de Vallecas; El Salobral in Villaverde; Pitis in Fuencarral-El Pardo; Carabanchel, El Pozo del To Raimundo?, Palomeras?, Meseta de Orcasitas? Barcelona: Raval, Mina, Can Tunis. Ciudad de Mexico: Chimalhuacn, Bordo de Xochiaca, Tultitln, Tultepec, Naucalpn, Ecatepec, Barrio de la Merced?, La Soledad?, Tepito, Santa Julia?, Netzahualcoyotl?, Pedregal de San Francisco?, El Molinito?, Colonia Tolteca?, la Candelaria de los Patos?, Santa Fe?, El Molinito?, Tacuba?, Santa Cruz Meyehualco?, Colonia Buenos Aires?, Bondojito?, Unidad Habitacional Vicente Guerrero. Ciudad de Guatemala: La Limonada, Roosevelt?, Guajitos? San Salvador: Barrio de las orillas del ro Asalguate, Barrio Tutunichapa, La Fortaleza, El Cafetaln (in Santa Tecla). Tegucigalpa: Cerro Birichichi, Barrio Beln, Los Pinos?, Villanueva?, Villavieja?, Flor del Campo? Managua: Vietnam, Tierra Prometida, Miraflores, Miralagos?, Acahualinca? San Jos: Los Guidos (in Desamparados), La Leon 13, Los Cuadros (in Ipis de Guadalupe), 15 de Septiembre. Ciudad de Panam: San Joaqun, Veranillo?, Samaria?, Brooklincito, Rincn Bellaco, Curund, Cabo Verde, Viejo Veranillo, Hollywood (in La Locera), Barrasa (in Chorrillo), San Sebastin (in Paitilla), San Bernardino (in Arraijn), El Chorrillito (in Arraijn). Caracas: La Charneca, El Pedregal, Los Erasos, La Dolorita, El Guarataro, Petare?, Catia?, San Martn?, Caricuao? Bogot: Los Laches, San Carlos, Las Lomas. Quito: Lucha de los Pobres?, Comit del Pueblo? Guayaquil: El Guasmo?, Bastin Popular, Pancho Jcome?, El Fortn? Lima: Micaela Bastidas; in the District of Chorrillos - Buenos Aires de Villa, San Genaro, Armatambo Morro Solar, Los Cedros de Villa Pantanal; in the District of Villa El Salvador - Oasis, Las Brisas, El Cerro, Pachacmac, Nueva Esperanza, La Chanchera; in the District of Ventanilla - Pachactec; in the District of Villa Mara del Triunfo - Virgen de Lourdes, Santa Mara; in the District of San Juan de Miraflores - Pamplona Alta, Pamplona Baja; in the District of El Agustino - Cerro San Cosme; in the District of San Juan de Lurigancho - Canto Grande; in the District of Ate-Vitarte - Huaycn. La Paz: Ciudad el Alto?, El rea de la Buenos Aires? Asuncin: La Chacarita, Cateura, Mundo Aparte?, Villa Hule, Pelopincho, Mita , Aa Reta , Tablada Nueva, Villa Marquetaria San Lorenzo, Villa Miguelito. 45

Montevideo: Aires Puros?, Nueva Esperanza?, Villa Garca?, Sub Esperanza?, Artigas?, Las Acacias?, Barrio Borro, Cuarenta Semanas, Cerro Norte, Tres Ombes?, Aparicio Saravia, Casavalle, La Teja, Pando, Barrio Casab, Barrio 19 de Abril? Buenos Aires: Ciudad Oculta, Fuerte Apache, Villa La Cava (near San Isidro), Nmero 31 or Villa 31 (in Retiro), Villa Fiorito. Rosario: Villa Banana, Villa la Lata, Villa el Churrasco, Villa las Flores, el Barrio Toba (Los Tobas are an indigenous tribe from the province of El Chaco), Villa Fanta?, Villa Manuelita?, Villa Tupac Amaru?, Villa la Cermica?, Villa la Tablada? Santiago de Chile: Lo Hermida?, La Victoria?, Pudahuel, Zanjn de la Aguada.

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