I am sure you have all many times heard that common place that French is the loving tongue. Aparte from being really corny, that leaves you always with a question in your lips. OK, then, and was is Spanish supposed to be for, then? OK, German is said to be a language for orders and commands (someone said that it was a language just to speak to dogs and soldiers, and, if I´m not wrong, that one was a German) Italian, the language for the music. And Spanish? Yes, you are right: Spanish is the language of bizarros.Bergamasco, Finnish, Hungarian, Sardinian, Provenzal (north and south) Nepali, all those could have claimed to be the language of ther weirds as well, yes, but, let ´s state two things. First we are talking here about Major West languages (the ones of more demographical and cultural use) and second, beacause obviously our knowedges in the matters are limited and we cannot properly speak of all. And, let me say, if had to choose one of the minority ones, I would have chosen Sardinian, my beloved.
But let us not stop and let´s analize all the aspects involving bizarry.
1) The name of tha language. Spanish or Castillian? The same to me. But, that this language, which is one ot the most spoken in the world, may even doubt of its own name, it´s already a great sign for me. Is it a language or perchance a dialect? Nationla or regional? National or International?
Ah, those doubts, that craziness and lack of security in itself is definitely a major feature or bizarre ones. The bizarre knows he is so, but he never exactly knows what he is. He doesn´t suit previous charts or classifyings. He doesn´t know how to define himself, he is not even capable as a minority, not even as an exception. He is so weird he is unable to define, himself. Spanish, that beloved language of ours, is bizarre even in its name.
2) The Geography: ¿How come it ain´t gonna be weird an language that is spoken by people of the Spanish peninsula, the caribbean ones of the people at the very end of America´s wild and vaste contintent? Necessarily the language is going to change, reshape and tear itself in that squizofrenic identity of language that doesn´t know if it sounds sweety, sensual, like in the caribbean, calculating and european or hard and tough, like in the Spanish peninsula. An arab flavoured and mediterranean language? Or an atlantic and continental one. Ah, I see, the language confuses itself, it gets ashamed, and in the end he doesn´t know who he is. Like the bizarre.
3) Phonetics: those "R" sounds of Spanish. How could we survive without them?
And those Zed "Z","C" sounds? You couldn´t even properly pronounce half or spanish surnames without it, leave alone the last primer ministers (González, Aznar, Zapatero). And the word, bizarro, what a distinct and tasty sound it has when you hear it like that, in pure castillian "BI- ZA-RRRO" . No comparisons, it has nothing to do that rocky and sleazy sound with the word in English.
And the fact is even more weird beacause the Spanish, not even the Spaniards, can´t be able all of pronouncing it correctly. In some places they do, but in others they pronounce all those "Z" sound like "S". And (at least in Spain) in the next village, just 2 km away, the may pronounce all the "S" like "Z" (which it´s just as wrong and the other way wrong.
4) Written spelling:
though, to some extent, Spanish has a much more clear written spelling than English (you can almost write every word no matter if you haven´t heard it before or you don´t know what it means) it has some strange letters which are not pronounced like the "h" and a letter as strange as "ñ" which is a requirement even to write its proper name: Español, España.
5) Semantics: a wonderful blend of arab, latin and german elements, Spanish has a beautfiful blend or words, using sometimes indoeuropean and sometime semitic words (like hebrew and arab) maintaning even to some extent in many cases the original arab articles: alcazar, almohada, alicante, alcoba, azequia, aceite, etc. Even some of the most famous geopraphic spots in Spain have arab or roman origin (like "Gibraltar" which comes from arab Gibr-Al- Tarik, the mountain of Tarik, or Zaragoza, from the roman Caesar Augusta)
6) Grammar: sunjunctive. For English-speaking Spanish learners, one of the biggest nightmares learning the complications, magic and chaos of the verb changes in Spanish. Subjunctive, the changes in verb form due to psychological aspects, indefinitions, misteries, the unknown..which usually leads English to an area of darkness where they´ll never be sure. True, Portuguese and French share that strange world, but even after that, then Spanish comes into that uncomprehensible world of passive voice, impersonal structures, etc. A wonderful world in itself.
Have you arrived here? I am glad you take your time to read it and discover the tastes and suggestions of Spanish, if you are still seduced you may well start learning Spanish know. To be honest, it ain´t that difficult, but we had to justify our election and it fact it pays off: its easy, its beautiful and it´s quite worldwide spoken (just have a look at the visitors map of the Spanish section of the web. So we encourage you, learn it. It´s worth it (as it´s English, of course)
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