Pronunciation Of Caballo In Spanish?
 

I am back to trying to learn a little Spanish (once again) for our up-coming trip to BA Jan/March 2012. I am giving Rosetta Stone a try, this time.

How is caballo pronounced? I can't make out on pronunciation the CD. I looked it up on the net on this site: http://www.spanishdict.com/translate/caballo
But, their sound pronunciation seems to be different from their written pronunciation [cah-bahl-lyo]. Confused

Most Spanish speakers pronounce a double L as our letter Y, as in the word YOU.

cah-bah-yo

Far south down Argentina way, it would be pronounced as almost a ZH, as in DR. ZHIVAGO.

cah-bah-zho

Stick with the first one and you'll be fine. :)

I lack any knowledge of phonetics, but I'd say in Argentina we pronounce it as: cah-bah-joh.

Have a great time in our country.

As AVRooster says:

Cah ba sho - Took us a while also, but the Arg. (especially BsAs) pronunciation of LL is nearly always SH (or the soft J) and not Y as in other Spanish speaking cultures.

And don't forget the VOS instead of USTED unless speaking to ...well, you will get it. Be patient with yourself, and enjoy it.

~Marnie

As a tourist, stick with Usted. Don't bother with tú/vos, because:

1. The chances are slim you'll get to know anyone well enough to use the informal form of address with them.

2. You can't go wrong with it. It's better to err on the side of cuation.

Avrooster, I think you are the closest in your phonetics of what I think I am hearing. But, I still hear a bit of the L sound before the joh sound.

Marnie & Jeff, your phonetics sound the way I have been learning Spanish, both Mexican & Argentine.

When, I think of how much English varies between Canada, the USA, Great Britain, Australia, & New Zealand; Spanish isn't that hard! I just wonder why it is taking me so long to learn it.:)

I'd say that if the other person adresses you as "vos" (which will most likely be the case much of the time) it's fine to do likewise.

Our younger people very seldom use "Usted", even when adressing much older persons.

Have a great time practicing your Spanish in our town. LOL!!!

I'm sure Rosetta Stone does not teach vos. Spanish instruction in the U.S. usually does not, so how is one going to know the verb forms that go with it? Gosh, I didn't even know such a thing existed until I moved to Costa Rica, also a vosear country. But Costa Ricans tend to be more formal about this. You'll hear many of them using Usted even with their pets. :)

The idea of a foreign visitor going into a shop and saying, "Vos tenés _________?" You risk showing a lot of disrespect by doing that with someone you don't know. If you've learned Usted, stick with it. You can't go wrong.

It's true, most Spanish courses are not teaching the Castillano pronunciation of Argentina.

I am a French speaker, and in France, I would never address an adult with TU instead of VOUS, unless invited to. But in Buenos Aires, except for really older folks or those of some status, I have almost never heard (or therefore used) any but the VOS form. Not so in Costa Rica, not in Honduras, not in Mexico not in Spain - true, but in Buenos Aires. That's why my DH and I tread through the juvenile Español Entonces program - it is an Argentine focused teaching program. And we try to talk to AV Rooster as often as possible :-)

~Marnie

Yeah, that's great, but I'm sort of old-fashioned (besides old) and I tend to call almost everyone USTED.

Oh and I again move Marnie be named Chief DE for this forum! LOL!!

And you always do it in English !

~M

Avrooster is right in the use of the vos and usted. Customs have changed rapidly, another amazing change is the use of what in Spanish we calle Malas Palabras, meaning insults or coarse language.
It is so wide spread in Argentineans specially in Buenos Aires that it can be shocking for visitors from other Spanish speaking countries.
There must be some explanation for this social behavior.....I would love to hear it.
May be Avrooster can enlighten me.

"Mature" (meaning old) guys like me tend to believe "todo tiempo pasado fué mejor" (things were better in my time). LOL!!!

So, I'd say it's just a part of the general deterioration of "social behaviour" all over Argentina and perhaps in BA in particular.

Seeing high school boys "tomando" (taking) their schools as a matter of course, demanding whatever crosses their minds and being usually rewarded with concessions, instead of being evicted by the police and severely punished, is just one of many examples.

I believe this deterioration may have started in the 90's with "el turco" Menem and fed on itself until reaching the present state of things.

I'm afraid I'm incapable of further "enlightenment".

Perhaps Gardel in the famous tango "Cambalache" can?

Es lo mismo el que labura
noche y día como un buey,
que el que vive de los otros,
que el que mata, que el que cura
o está fuera de la ley...

Hi avrooster, well done, you have nicely used the wording from famus tangos which are full
of wisdom,
this reminds me of Gotan, and its author the dear Dr. Julio Tahier, which btw was such an excelent pediatrician. I take my hat to him, he took care of our children and of thousands or other children ...

We had a Central American Housekeeper, it was used often & pronounced by her

Kah Bye Yo

Yes, cah-bah-joh instead of Kah Bye Yo - That's an excellent example of what makes the difference in the charming, lilting, Italianate Argentine pronunciation !

That, and the pasta, of course, set it apart from a number of other Hispanic cultures :-)

~Marnie

MarnieWDC: On our trip last winter to the Yucatan when I used the the charming, lilting, Italianate Argentine pronunciation of Argentina that I worked so hard to learn, I was constantly being corrected by the locals. I got quite shy about using the little Spanish that I had learned.

Such is the life of an adventurer !

~M

So true. I just have to get over my ego & go for it!