08-15-2017, 08:12 PM
There is an excellent historical example which illustrates how attempts to standardize a language even when firmly in place for centuries meet with mixed success.
The Real Academia Española (Royal Spanish Academy) was founded in 1713 with the goal of standardizing the Castilian language. As far as spelling is concerned the Academia has been successful up to a point. For example, in many Hispanic countries there is no difference between the pronunciation of the B and the V, as well as the C, S and Z. Casar and cazar are pronounced the same, but clearly are spelled differently.
However, when it comes to standardizing the vocabulary it has been a failure. For example, a simple word like bean is frijol in Mexico, habichuela in Puerto Rico, poroto in Uruguay and judio in Spain.
If you take modern words into consideration the situation is no different. In Spain a computer is ordenador while in Latin America it is either computador or computadora.
The pronunciation of Spanish is also highly variable. Within Spain itself there are several regional differences (for example, seseo, ceseo and distinción), and in Latin America there are a multitude of different accents and Spanish dialects. There is no consistency and this is in spite of the existence of the Real Academia Española for the past three centuries.
The Real Academia Española (Royal Spanish Academy) was founded in 1713 with the goal of standardizing the Castilian language. As far as spelling is concerned the Academia has been successful up to a point. For example, in many Hispanic countries there is no difference between the pronunciation of the B and the V, as well as the C, S and Z. Casar and cazar are pronounced the same, but clearly are spelled differently.
However, when it comes to standardizing the vocabulary it has been a failure. For example, a simple word like bean is frijol in Mexico, habichuela in Puerto Rico, poroto in Uruguay and judio in Spain.
If you take modern words into consideration the situation is no different. In Spain a computer is ordenador while in Latin America it is either computador or computadora.
The pronunciation of Spanish is also highly variable. Within Spain itself there are several regional differences (for example, seseo, ceseo and distinción), and in Latin America there are a multitude of different accents and Spanish dialects. There is no consistency and this is in spite of the existence of the Real Academia Española for the past three centuries.