Correction! LANGUAGE TAG REGISTRATION FORM : es-america

Peter_Constable@sil.org Peter_Constable@sil.org
Tue, 4 Jun 2002 11:42:48 -0500


On 06/04/2002 09:21:48 AM Michael Everson wrote:

>At 16:07 -0400 2002-06-03, John Cowan wrote:
>>Michael Everson scripsit:
>>
>>>  I learned Mexican Spanish and delight in speaking it here in Europ=
e.
>>>  Having said that, there are so many variations in "New World
>>>  Spanish", particularly in pronominal choice (tu, vos, and usted fo=
r
>>>  instance), that I cannot imagine what this tag is supposed to
>>>  represent.
>>
>>As Peter says: it represents written (or in principle also spoken)
content
>>that is acceptable anywhere in America.
>
>Well "t=FA" is used in the second person singular in Mexico, but "vos"=

>is used in Colombia. So which is "American Spanish"?

The idea -- at least, as I understand it -- is that, e.g. if you've got=

content that doesn't even contain the semantic that requires one to cho=
ose
between "t=FA" and "vos", then that content is equally good (all other =
things
being equal) for both Mexican and Colombian audiences. In that situatio=
n,
people want to be able to label that content so that it is ambiguous wi=
th
regard to Mexican vs. Colombian (vs. Guatemalan vs. Argentinan etc)
distinctions -- but they still want to maintain a distinction from Spai=
n.



- Peter


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Peter Constable

Non-Roman Script Initiative, SIL International
7500 W. Camp Wisdom Rd., Dallas, TX 75236, USA
Tel: +1 972 708 7485
E-mail: <peter_constable@sil.org>
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