LAS LENGUAS INGLESA Y ESPAÑOLA de Delfín Carbonell

Castile is a rough, dry and sweltering land in summer and freezing cold in winter, full of castles. Its language may be a reflection of the character of its dwellers, and yet  some of the sounds are mellow, soft and sweet. Like the /t/ and the /d/:  Place the tip of the tongue against the upper teeth, softly, so softly that the point of the tongue will almost touch the upper teeth, but not quite, when we speak words like "DEDO", "DADO", "TODO", "DATO". Often, the /d/ is so soft that it disappears: "HABLADO", "LIBERTAD"... Listen to native speakers, and then copy them.

  Nunca sabemos cuándo apareció, o nació, un idioma. Los idiomas van evolucionando, cambiando y metamorfoseándose desde el principio de la humanidad. Pero sí sabemos el nacimiento de uno, del indo-europeo. ¿Cómo es eso?  Sir William Jones (1746-1794), Juez británico en la India, y Gaston-Laurent Coeudeoux, SI, estudiaron el sánscrito, lengua muerta, y repararon en ciertas similitudes (¿?) con idiomas europeos, allá por 1783, más o menos. Sus comparaciones entre el sánscrito y los idiomas europeos, traídas por los pelos, dieron a pensar que había habido un idioma común, un tronco del cual provienen las lenguas europeas. Y así nació el "indoeuropeo", del cual poco se sabe, claro. Son conjeturas traídas por los pelos,  como ya he dicho. Por cierto que, al parecer, Sir William conocía 30 lenguas. No está mal para haber vivido sólo 47 años. Tiene una biografía muy interesante.  

  Let me tell you about "rhoticity" (once a pedant, always a pedant) and its meaning. It has to do with the pronunciation of the /r/, which, prior to the 19th century was pronounced by all speakers of English. After that, some started dropping the sound of the /r/, saying "harder" as "ha:da:" or something similar.  So a rhotic speaker will pronounce the /r/ whereas a non-rhotic speaker won´t. (Of course, I refer to the English /r/, not the Spanish trilled /r/.) In general US, Canada, Ireland, Scotland, are rhotic. England, Australia, New Zealand are non-rothic. (Notice I have remarked "in general.") If you listen hard, you will get a general idea as to where the speaker you are holding hands with hails from.  

  English has, probably, more sounds than any other language but, how many? And how many existing sounds in world languages doesn´t it  have? It does not posses, as far as I know, the Spanish /t/ sound of "tomate." Or the /d/ sound of "cuidado." It does not have the Castillian-Spanish /j/ of "jamón." This /j/ sound has many variations in Spanish, appearing as 4 or even 6 different sounds. The fricative /g/ of "gordo" is absent in English.  Simeon Potter says English has forty-four distinct sounds. The International Phonetic Alphabet lists fifty-two. And Bill Bryson, in his "Mother Tongue" says: "... if you listen carefully you will find there are many more than this."  In my "Phonética Inglesa" (Anaya/Oberón) I list 47, and some sounds escaped my notice. The problem is that every speaker makes her own sounds. 

  People love to correct others. There is always a chance that you will be corrected, in English or Spanish. In that case, keep mum; don't get into an argument. You will be wasting your time. Avoid a confrontation. An argument about language is a losing battle. I get corrected in English, Spanish, French... An orgy of corrections. But I like to see the happy faces of those who assume the role of my teachers. I read in their face: "I caught you. You said “apóstrofo” for “opóstrofe.” You think you are so smart." And that makes them happy. And it makes me happy too. If, on the other hand, you want to go through life making enemies, you have it easy: You tell your boss: "Look, Ambrosio, it's not “I speak very well English,” which shows that you know nothing about that language, but “I speak English very well.” One cannot bend syntax that way.” And your boss will hate you forever, especially if you correct him in front of other employees.

  V erbally I dwell in a two-story linguistic house. Let us say that on the ground floor I have placed my Spanish language where I keep the traditions, feelings, attitudes, fears, dislikes love and memorized poetry that I have been hoarding all my life. Upstairs, I have the English language and tradition, the history, literature, feelings and likes and dislikes, and also the poetry I have commited to memory, that this tongue has fostered during my life.   And I go up and down often, running away or hiding in either one of them. When I am crossed with Spaniards for whatever reason, I take refuge and solace upstairs, and vice versa, of course. I might even have a linguistic split personality, who knows. I even have a garret where I have stored linguistic odds and ends: French, Catalan, bits of German and Latin, a smattering of Portuguese. Sometimes I visit the attic and dust these languages and brush them up a bit and lament the lack of time to really bring them up to date. To o...

No asumas el papel de profesor con los demás. Si cuando hablas con alguien escuchas errores de bulto, malas pronunciaciones, sintaxis de risa ( I speak very well English )…no digas nada, ni te inmutes. Si quieren aprender, pues que estudien o que se busquen un profesor y le paguen. Aparte de que la experiencia me ha enseñado que a nadie le gusta que le corrijan. Todos están muy orgullosos de su inglés, lo hablan “perfectamente”, son casi bilingües, y no vas a socavar su amor propio sacándoles faltas. Y si lo haces tendrás una discusión de la cual no saldrás beneficiado nunca. También ganarás un enemigo. Sin embargo, sí que existe la posibilidad de que te corrijan a ti. En ese caso no digas esta boca es mía; no te enzarces en una discusión tampoco. Perderás el tiempo. Puedes eludir la confrontación diciendo: “¿Tú dices “eipol” por “apple”? Ah, pues está bien. Me gusta.” Y a lo tuyo.