C2 · 50 words
Sociolinguistics in Spanish
Varieties, prestige, language contact and language policy — where society becomes visible in speech.
La alternancia de lenguas no es falta de dominio is a sentence from this list, and el dominio is where English needs four words. Here it is command: el dominio del idioma, how much of a language somebody has. It is also the field — el dominio de la física, a domain of enquiry — and the address a website sits at, which English calls a domain too. It is the estate or dominion held by somebody. And de dominio público is in the public domain, free of copyright. Command, domain, dominion, public domain: one Spanish noun, and behind all four the same picture of something held and ruled over.
The words
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Phrase (43)
la variedad lingüísticathe language variety, a way of speaking that is not a deviationPhraseC2
La variedad lingüística no es una desviación.A language variety is not a deviation.
la variable sociolingüísticathe variable whose realisations sort speakers by groupPhraseC2
La variable sociolingüística tiene dos o más realizaciones.A sociolinguistic variable has two or more realisations.
el dialecto geográficothe regional variety, which changes as the map changesPhraseC2
El dialecto geográfico cambia con el mapa.A regional variety changes as the map changes.
el estilo cuidadothe watched way of speaking, which comes out under observationPhraseC2
El estilo cuidado aparece cuando el hablante se sabe observado.The watched style appears when the speaker knows they are observed.
el continuo dialectalthe chain of varieties with no sharp break anywhere along itPhraseC2
El continuo dialectal no tiene fronteras nítidas.A dialect continuum has no sharp borders.
el atlas lingüísticothe atlas of those lines, gathered village by villagePhraseC2
El atlas lingüístico se levanta pueblo por pueblo.A language atlas is gathered village by village.
la lengua estándarthe standard variety, one variety among others but written downPhraseC2
La lengua estándar es una variedad más, codificada.The standard language is one variety more, codified.
la codificación de la normathe writing down of the norm in grammars and dictionariesPhraseC2
La codificación de la norma se recoge en gramáticas y diccionarios.Codification of the norm is set down in grammars and dictionaries.
el prestigio manifiestothe prestige people declare in publicPhraseC2
El prestigio manifiesto se declara en público.Overt prestige is declared in public.
el prestigio encubiertothe prestige people never declare and keep speaking anywayPhraseC2
El prestigio encubierto se ve en lo que se habla, no en lo que se dice.Covert prestige shows in what is spoken, not in what is said.
el estigma lingüísticothe stigma that falls on the speaker rather than on the formPhraseC2
El estigma lingüístico recae sobre el hablante, no sobre la forma.Linguistic stigma falls on the speaker, not on the form.
la inseguridad lingüísticathe speaker's doubt about their own speechPhraseC2
La inseguridad lingüística lleva a la hipercorrección.Linguistic insecurity leads to overcorrection.
la actitud lingüísticathe attitude to a variety, which has to be measured sidewaysPhraseC2
La actitud lingüística se mide sin preguntarla directamente.A language attitude is measured without asking about it directly.
la acomodación lingüísticathe moving of one's speech towards the person one is talking toPhraseC2
La acomodación lingüística acerca al interlocutor.Linguistic accommodation moves towards the other speaker.
la divergencia deliberadathe moving of it deliberately away, to mark the distancePhraseC2
La divergencia deliberada marca la distancia a propósito.Deliberate divergence marks the distance on purpose.
el cambio de códigothe switching of languages inside one sentence, by its own rulesPhraseC2
El cambio de código sigue reglas gramaticales propias.Code-switching follows grammatical rules of its own.
la alternancia de lenguasthe switching between languages from one turn to the nextPhraseC2
La alternancia de lenguas no es falta de dominio.Switching between languages is not a lack of command.
el bilingüismo socialthe bilingualism of a society, which is not that of a personPhraseC2
El bilingüismo social no equivale al individual.Societal bilingualism is not the same as the individual kind.
la lengua vehicularthe language used between people who share no otherPhraseC2
La lengua vehicular sirve entre quienes no comparten lengua.A vehicular language serves those who share no language.
la lengua minorizadathe language pushed out of one domain after anotherPhraseC2
La lengua minorizada pierde ámbitos antes que hablantes.A minoritised language loses domains before it loses speakers.
la sustitución lingüísticathe going over of a whole community to another languagePhraseC2
La sustitución lingüística tarda tres generaciones.Language shift takes three generations.
la transmisión intergeneracionalthe passing of a language from parents to childrenPhraseC2
La transmisión intergeneracional es el indicador decisivo.Transmission between generations is the decisive indicator.
la revitalización de una lenguathe bringing back of a language, which starts at homePhraseC2
La revitalización de una lengua empieza en casa.Reviving a language begins at home.
la planificación lingüísticathe planning of what is taught, and wherePhraseC2
La planificación lingüística decide qué se enseña y dónde.Language planning decides what is taught and where.
la política lingüísticathe policy behind that planning, which is never only linguisticPhraseC2
La política lingüística nunca es solo lingüística.Language policy is never only linguistic.
la oficialidad de una lenguathe official status that binds the administrationPhraseC2
La oficialidad de una lengua obliga a la administración.Official status obliges the administration.
el contacto de lenguasthe meeting of two languages, which marks bothPhraseC2
El contacto de lenguas deja huella en las dos.Language contact leaves its mark on both.
la adaptación del extranjerismothe taking in of a foreign word, respelt and restressedPhraseC2
La adaptación del extranjerismo cambia la grafía y el acento.Adapting a foreign word changes its spelling and its stress.
el calco estructuralthe borrowing of a structure rather than of a wordPhraseC2
El calco estructural copia la forma, no la palabra.A structural calque copies the shape, not the word.
la interferencia lingüísticathe leaking of one language into another, first at the prepositionPhraseC2
La interferencia lingüística se nota primero en la preposición.Linguistic interference shows first in the preposition.
la lengua pidginthe contact language with no native speakersPhraseC2
La lengua pidgin no tiene hablantes nativos.A pidgin has no native speakers.
la lengua criollathe contact language that has them, and is a full languagePhraseC2
La lengua criolla sí los tiene y es una lengua plena.A creole does have them and is a full language.
la comunidad de hablathe community that shares not a variety but norms for using onePhraseC2
La comunidad de habla comparte normas de uso.A speech community shares norms of use.
la red social densathe tight network of ties, which keeps the local features alivePhraseC2
La red social densa conserva los rasgos locales.A dense social network keeps the local features.
el contacto ocasional entre gruposthe loose tie across groups, which is what carries the new formPhraseC2
El contacto ocasional entre grupos es el que propaga la innovación.Occasional contact between groups is what spreads the innovation.
la difusión del cambiothe spread of a change, town by town rather than field by fieldPhraseC2
La difusión del cambio va de ciudad en ciudad.The spread of a change goes from town to town.
el cambio desde abajothe change that happens below notice, from the speakers upPhraseC2
El cambio desde abajo ocurre sin que nadie lo note.Change from below happens without anyone noticing.
el cambio desde arribathe change that arrives through school and broadcasting, from abovePhraseC2
El cambio desde arriba entra por la escuela y los medios.Change from above comes in through school and the media.
la nivelación dialectalthe wearing away of the features that stood out mostPhraseC2
La nivelación dialectal borra los rasgos más marcados.Dialect levelling wipes out the most marked features.
el estudio de tiempo aparentethe study that reads age groups as though they were decadesPhraseC2
El estudio de tiempo aparente compara generaciones en un mismo momento.An apparent-time study compares generations at one moment.
la entrevista sociolingüísticathe interview that tries to get at unguarded speechPhraseC2
La entrevista sociolingüística busca el habla espontánea.The sociolinguistic interview looks for spontaneous speech.
la paradoja del observadorthe paradox that observing the speech alters the speechPhraseC2
La paradoja del observador altera lo que quiere medir.The observer's paradox alters what it means to measure.
el corpus oralthe body of recorded talk, transcribed with its pauses markedPhraseC2
El corpus oral se transcribe con marcas de pausa.A spoken corpus is transcribed with pauses marked.
Noun (f) (5)
la sociolingüísticathe study of language as a thing a society doesNoun (f)C2
La sociolingüística estudia la lengua en su comunidad.Sociolinguistics studies language in its community.
la isoglosathe line on the map that shows how far one feature reachesNoun (f)C2
La isoglosa marca hasta dónde llega un rasgo.An isogloss marks how far a feature reaches.
la estandarizaciónthe making of that standard, which chooses between existing formsNoun (f)C2
La estandarización elige entre formas que ya existían.Standardisation chooses between forms that already existed.
la hipercorrecciónthe over-correcting that doubt produces, making forms nobody usedNoun (f)C2
La hipercorrección produce formas que nadie usaba.Overcorrection produces forms nobody used.
la diglosiathe splitting of two varieties between high and low usesNoun (f)C2
La diglosia reparte dos variedades por ámbito de uso.Diglossia shares out two varieties by domain of use.
Noun (m) (2)
el sociolectothe class variety, which changes with standing rather than placeNoun (m)C2
El sociolecto cambia con la clase, no con el lugar.A class variety changes with standing, not with place.
el idiolectothe variety of a single person, nobody else's exactlyNoun (m)C2
El idiolecto es la manera de hablar de una sola persona.An idiolect is the way one single person speaks.
This list belongs to Language and expression — 22 lists and 1102 words that can also be practised as a whole.
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From these 50 words, as many per round as you like — up to all of them: first what is due today, then new ones. First you choose, then you fill the gap, then you write it yourself. Mistakes come back again shortly.