Argentina is a multinational state with a mixture of cultures and languages. A significant part of the country's population uses Spanish in spoken and written speech, or rather, its local version. According to its characteristics, it differs significantly from the Castilian dialect, recognized as the standard of the Spanish language.
Prerequisites for the development of the national language of Argentina
The Argentinean version of the Spanish language began to take shape during the time of the settlement of South America by Europeans. These beautiful and fertile lands for the inhabitants of Europe were discovered by Spanish travelers. The first Spanish settlement was founded on the coast of the continent in the 30s of the 16th century. A large-scale cultural expansion began, affecting the life of the indigenous peoples of South America.
At the beginning of the 19th century, Argentina acquired the status of a sovereign state, as a result of which its position in the international arena was greatly strengthened. The country has become one of the world's largest agricultural producers. This facilitated an influx of migrants, most of whom came from Europe. Argentina is home to many native speakers of Italian, French and English. There were also Slavs among the settlers, but their languages hardly influenced the local speech.
Features of Argentine Spanish
The national Spanish language used in Argentina differs in many respects from the original Spanish language. The life of the peoples of South America, which took place in completely different natural, economic and cultural conditions, left an imprint on speech, filling the language with new phrases, words and semantic constructions.
People from different European countries have also contributed to the formation of the Spanish language in Argentina. Multiple borrowings appeared in it, coming from French, Italian and Portuguese. The language of the inhabitants of this South American country also included names and semantic formations from the culture of local Indians and gaucho cowboys, who made up the majority of the population of the Pampas.
Having received many borrowings, the Argentinean variant of the Spanish language, together with the Uruguayan and Paraguayan dialects, became part of a special dialectical group. The basis for such a union was the widespread entry into Spanish speech of words, phrases and expressions that came from the language of the Quechua Indians, who have long inhabited the territories of Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay.
In Argentina itself, linguists distinguish between two relatively independent dialects of Spanish. They are characterized by certain phonetic differences. Some words are pronounced and written in the American way, while others have completely changed their meanings. And yet a native speaker of Classical Spanish is quite capable of understanding Argentinean speech, although some of the local words and their pronunciation may amuse a native of Spain.
