The Andalusian Tongue, by Juliet Mattox

Being in Spain, I knew that it was going to take some time to not only get adjusted to the different culture, but to get used to speaking the language. Of course I had learned Spanish in school because in order to study abroad in Spain you have to have taken some Spanish classes. However, no one prepared me for the language barriers that were to come with arriving in Sevilla. As most people may know we are in the region of Andalusia here in Spain. In Andalusia, I have noticed that people tend to speak extremely fast especially when talking to a close friend or a loved one. To complicate things even more locals tend to remove the last syllable or letter of each word. For example, the word “gracias” is shortened to “gracia or graci” or a simple verb like “llegar” is shortened when conjugated. This makes learning Spanish as an international student virtually impossible because the combined action of speaking fast and shortening words is hard to understand. Additionally, an article published by Penn State, discussed how the possible loss of a syllable in a word or the reason why people here speak rapidly is in part due to the Arab/Mozarab influence that is incorporated into Andalusian culture. On the other hand, cities in Northwestern Spain for example, don’t have that influence. This results in a controversy over what is the real dictionary-approved way of pronouncing Spanish words. It seems that this Andalusian bubble causes turmoil for other regions of Spain that Sevillians are trying to communicate with. I have also noticed during my time here in Spain that when Andalusians text online, they text in this informal fashion where they drop that last syllable. However, in formal writing that does not occur. In class we talked about how culture has an idea of “shared sense of ordinary,” meaning that each culture regarding language and perception is going to be different even if we normalize categorizing Spain as one singular culture. Furthermore, cultures have a way of imposing themselves on society, meaning that this creates certain institutions and norms for how people should behave. In the case of Andalusia, the norm surrounding dialect is that you are supposed to talk fast and you are supposed to incorporate Andalusian slang that only immediate people inside the culture know about. This dialect in turn, ultimately shapes the identity of the Andalusian people.

Something as simple as ordering a cup of coffee is different between regions in Spain (ie Asturias versus Andalusia) Reference: https://www.personal.psu.edu/jml34/Andalusia.pdf