Isleño Spanish

By Andrew T. Miloshoff. Published July 2, 2021 (Edited July 11, 2022).

Please note, this page is a work in progress. Future updates will be coming shortly to more accurately describe the Isleño Spanish dialect.

The Isleño Spanish dialect is spoken by the descendants of the original Canary Islanders who arrived in what would become St. Bernard Parish during the late eighteenth century. While remaining recognizably Canarian in origin, the dialect has been influenced through contact with speakers of English, Louisiana French, and Louisiana Creole (Kouri-Vini) as well as Spanish-speaking immigrants from the Iberian Peninsula and the Caribbean.

Since as early as the turn of the twentieth century, the Isleño way of life has been in jeopardy. Following World War I and II, improved access to eastern St. Bernard Parish, greater urbanization along the Mississippi River, and a monolingual English educational system ultimately disrupted the transmission of Isleño Spanish and other customs. Many Isleños during this period sought work outside their traditional communities and began to use English with their children. At the same time, increased coastal erosion and repeated, devastating natural disasters forced many Isleños to leave their homes.

Despite this, Spanish is still the first language of many elderly Isleño community members from eastern St. Bernard Parish, but the language is considered highly endangered. Many more Isleños are semi-speakers or passive bilinguals of the dialect. Efforts are being made to promote and revitalize the language through bilingual signage at Los Isleños Museum and Historic Village as well as through other initiatives. In over two centuries since the arrival of Canary Islanders in Louisiana, Isleño Spanish remains a living language today.

The following descriptions are intended for educational purposes and the revitalization of the Isleño Spanish language only. A standard form of the Isleño Spanish language is presented which may not reflect all variations in the language. Careful consideration is taken for current linguistic trends due to language death. Please see Objective I of the Restated and Amended By-Laws of Los Isleños Heritage and Cultural Society of St. Bernard.

Pronuncation

The phonology and phonetics of Isleño Spanish are similar to most dialects of Spanish apart from some key distinctions. Elements of note are discussed below:

Spanish Vowel	Isleño Spanish Word	English Translation	Approximate English Equivalent
A	casa	house	A in ‘father’
E	mesa	table	A in ‘face’
I	niño	boy	EE in ‘tree’
O	otro	other	O in ‘go’
U	mucho	many	OO in ‘food’

Spanish Diphthong	Isleño Spanish Word	English Translation	Approximate English Equivalent
AI, AY	baile; hay	dance; there is/are	I in ‘item’
AU	jaula	cage	A in ‘face’
EI, EY	seis; rey	six; king	I in ‘item’ 1
EU	Europa	Europe	AYW in ‘wayward’
UA	cuando	when	WA in ‘want’
UE	bueno	good	WA in ‘way’
UI	guirre	vulture	WEE in ‘week’
UO	cuota	fee	WO in ‘woke’
IA	vía	route, track	YA in ‘yard’
IE	biera	beer	YE in ‘yes’
IO	Dios	God	YO in ‘yore’
IU	ciudad	city	Same as ‘you’
OI, OY	coincidencia; hoy	coincidence; today	OY in ‘toy’

Spanish Consonant	Isleño Spanish Word	English Translation	Approximate English Equivalent
B	bicho; jaiba	bug; blue crab	B in ‘baby’ or No equivalent 2
C	cochino	pig, hog	K in ‘kid’
CH	chico	small, kid	CH in ‘chair’
D	dir	to go	D in ‘dog’ 3
F	fango	mud, muck	F in ‘leaf’
G	gato	cat	G in ‘gate’ or No Equivalent 4
H	hola	hello	Silent or H in ‘home’ 5
J	jugo	juice	H in ‘home’
L	lacre	lake	Similar to L in ‘late’ 6
LL	llave	key	LL in ‘million’ 7
M	mesmo	same	M in ‘me’
N	noche	night	N in ‘need’
Ñ	liña	fishing line, string	NY in ‘canyon’
P	papa	potato	P in ‘lip’
Q	quejo	jaw	K in ‘key’
R	caro	expensive	TT in ‘butter’ 8
RR	arriba	above	No equivalent 8
S	sato	racoon	S in ‘soup’ 9
T	tanta	aunt	Similar to T in ‘eat’ 10
V	vamos	we go	B in ‘baby’ or No equivalent 2
X	examen	exam	X in ‘extra’
Y	ayer	yesterday	No equivalent 11
Z	azúcar	sugar	S in ‘soup’ 9
K, SH, W	Shell Beach; whisky	Shell Beach, whiskey	SH in ‘sheep’ and W in ‘whale’ 12

Comments

1. EI, EY. This diphthong is generally pronounced the same as the diphthong AI/AY. For example the term seis ‘six’ is typically pronounced as (SAYEHH) instead of (SEYEHH).
   
   
2. B, V. At the start of a word or following the letters M or N, the letters B and V are prounced as the same as the English letter B in ‘back’. When B or V are between vowels, a bilabial fricative [ꞵ] is produced. This is similar to the English V sound but only by vibrating your lips together. There are a handful of exceptions to these rules:
   1. When a word starts B or V and is preceeded by a word ending in a vowel, it is pronounced as [ꞵ]. For example, la vida ‘the life’ is pronounced (LAH ꞵEE-dah).
   2. Occasionally, B or V is dropped in everyday converations so that bueno ‘good’ is pronounced (WEH-no) or también ‘also’ (tahm-YEN ).
      
      
3. D. At the start of a word, D is most often pronounced as it is in English. When placed in between vowels and at the end of words, the letter is dropped. For example, miedo ‘fear’ (MEEAY-oh), usted ‘you’ (oo-TEH).
   
   
4. G. At the start of a word, G is usually pronounced as the English letter G in ‘gate’. When G is in between vowels, it is a softer sound, similar to the English letter G in ‘angry’ but by not touching the roof of your mouth with your tongue. The combination GÜ is often pronounced as the W in ‘water’.
   
   
5. H. This letter is aspirated in specific words. These words include but are not limited to: ahogar ‘to drown’; hablar ‘to talk’; hacer ‘to do, to make’; hallar ‘to find’; hoyo ‘hole’; and hurón ‘mink’; etc. Hitorically, the letter F in Vulgar Latin became an aspirate H in Spanish. While this aspiration became silent in other dialects, Isleño Spanish perserves the older pronuncation. To emphasize this, some transcriptions of Isleño Spanish replace H with J.
   
   
6. L. This letter is typically pronounced in a “lighter” fashion to the “dark” English L. To approximate this sound, attempt to a L sound towards the front of the mouth. Occasionally, the L sound will replace R in everyday conversation. For example, arte ‘seine net’ is often pronounced as (AHL-taye).
   
   
7. LL. At the start of a word, LL is a pronounced as the voiced palatal lateral approximant /ʎ/. When LL is placed between vowels, it is pronounced as a palatal glide and occasionally dropped in pronuncation. For example: silla ‘chair’ (SEE-ah).
   
   
8. R, RR. In all positions, RR is pronounced as an alveolar trill, or a trilled R. At the beginning of words, the single leter R is also pronounced as an alveolar trill. At the end of words, R is is habitually dropped. In all other positions, R is represented as an alveolar tap which can be heard in the English word ‘butter’. Occasionally, R s pronounced [l] or [d] like cortar ‘to cut’ (kohl-TAH/kohr-TAH).
   
   
9. S, Z. The letters S and Z represent the English sound S in ‘snake’. In nearly all cases, S and Z are is pronounced as an aspiration like the English H in ‘house’. For example, the phrase los dos ‘the two’ is pronounced (LOHH DOHH). However, when a vowel immediately proceeds S or Z, it is not aspirated. For example, los isleños ‘the Isleños’ is pronounced as (LOHS eehh-LAYN-yohh) with the S in los being preserved. Only in highly formal situations or when signing décimas may an Isleño Spanish speaker preserve S or Z.
   
   
10. T. The letter T is pronounced further in the front of the mouth than in English by placing the tip of the tongue on your top teeth.
    
    
11. Y. The letter Y has traditionally been pronounced as the voiced palatal fricative /ʝ/ which does not have a direct equivalent in English (MacCurdy, 1950). To make this sound, say the word ‘you’ but place your tounge closer to the roof of your mouth so that some turbulence or friction is created in the Y sound. It is similar to combining the English letters J and Y. This sound has weakened substantially during the last half of the twentieth century and has become unstable (Lipski, 1990).
    
    
12. K, SH, W. These letters are only present in loanwords such as Shell Beach, whisky, and others.

Grammar

Generally, Isleño Spanish follows many of the grammatical constructions followed by Canarian Spanish and dialects of the Americas. Any items of note will be examined in this section.

Nouns

Just as in other dialects of Spanish, nouns have a gramatical gender and can be singular or plural. A masculine noun is marked by -o and -ón while a feminine noun is represented by -a . Other endings to feminine nouns are -ona, -ción, -sión, -dad, -tad, and -tud. The endings -ista and -ente can be masculine or feminine depending on the context. Other endings such as -e can be masculine or feminine. In order to make a noun plural, simply add -s or -es onto the end of a noun. There are some irregular Spanish nouns that do not follow these rules.

There are a handful of nouns which have a different grammatical gender in Isleño Spanish when compared to other dialects. These nouns can be found in the list below. It has been suggested that these differences are due to the influence of Portuguese on Canarian Spanish (Lipski, 1990).

• la color (‘color’)
• el costumbre (‘custom, habit’)
• la mar (‘sea’)
• el miel (‘honey’)
• la sartén (‘frying pan’)

Pronouns

The subject pronouns used in Isleño Spanish are the following: yo (I), tú (you [informal]), usted (you [formal]), él (he), ella (she), nosotros/nosotras (we), ellos/ellas (they), and ustedes (y’all). The pronoun vosotros does not exist in Isleño Spanish. The form ellos is used to decribe a subject that is all masculine (i.e. a group of men) or masculine and feminine (i.e. a group boys and girls). Meanwhile, the form ellas is used to decribe a subject that is only feminine. This same patern is used for nosotros/nosotras. One notable characteristic of Isleño Spanish is that it generally preserves subject pronouns in a sentence in order to avoid confusion. This is not always done though. Please reference the examples below for the use of subject pronouns:

• Yo canto una décima. (‘I sing a décima.’)
• Tú cuidas el jardín. (‘You take care of the garden.’)
• Usted duerme en la cama. (‘You sleep in the bed.’)
• Él nada en la mar. (‘He swims in the sea.’)
• Ella corre a la casa. (‘She runs to the house.’)
• Nosotros/Nosotras semos tramperos/tramperas. (‘We are trappers.’)
• Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes son buenos/buenas estudiantes. (‘They/Y’all are good students.’)

Speakers use the “standard” direct and indirect object pronouns in all forms of speech. The direct object pronouns can be found below tih examples of their use:

• me (me) — Él me vió. (‘He saw me.’)
• te (you [informal]) — Él te va a llamar./Él va a llamarte. (‘He is going to call you.’)
• lo/la (you [formal]) — Yo lo/la ayudo. (‘I help you/him/her.’)
• nos (us) — Usted nos conoce. (‘You know/meet us.’)
• los/las (them/y’all) — Ella los/las haya. (‘She find them/y’all.’)

Additionally the indirect object pronouns include:

• me (to me) — Ella me lo da. (‘She gives it to me.’)
• te (to you [informal]) — Yo te enseño. (‘I teach you.’)
• le (to you [formal]/him/her/it) — Usted le gusta el caldo. (‘You like caldo.’ [literally: ‘Caldo is pleasing to you.’])
• nos (to us) — Él nos mercó un regalo. (‘He bought us a gift.’)
• les (to them/you) — Tú les hablas. (‘You talk to them/us.’)

Word Order

Like all other dialects of Spanish, the construction of sentences follows the order SVO, meaning subject-verb-object. This is the same word order used in English. Examine the following sentence in Isleño Spanish: José come el gofio (‘José eats the gofio’).

A more unique element to Isleño Spanish is the use of non-inverted questions. For example, an Isleño will say ¿Qué tú haces? (‘What are you doing?’), rather than ¿Qué haces tú? which is done in other dialects of Spanish. This feature is popular around the Caribbean and is not uncommon with elderly speakers from the Canaries (Lipski, 2004).

Verbs

Isleño Spanish follows the conventions of nearly all dialects of Spanish in terms of its verbs. Verbs are generally divided into -ar, -er, and -ir verbs with verb forms being conjugated to describe particular subjects. The various iregular and stem-changing verbs which are present in other dialects of Spanish are present in Isleño Spanish. Any important differences are discussed in this section.

Perhaps one of the most notable differences between Isleño Spanish and other dialects is the verb dir meaning ‘to go’. Many other dialects use the form ir but dir can be found in other regions of the world, namely on the Canary Islands and in the northwest of Spain. This verb is largely conjugated the same as in other dialects apart from the imperfect tense: día, días, día, díamos, and dían. Other distinctions include the present subjunctive forms (vaiga, vaigas, vaigan, vaigamos, and vaigan) as well as where imperative forms match subjunctive forms.

A handful of verb conjugations in Isleño Spanish also differ from other dialects. The exceptions include the following:

• haber  ‘to have, to be’. The conjugation of haber follows a similar patter of dir so that the present subjunctive forms include haiga, haigas, haigan, haigamos, and haigan. In certain instances, imperative forms match the present subjunctive forms.
• ser  ‘to be’. The first-person plural verb form is traditionally semos rather than somos.
• traer  ‘to carry’. The preterite forms are conjugated as truje, trujiste, trujo, trujimos, and trujieron. The imperfect subjunctive forms follow this pattern: trujiera, trujieras, trujiera, trujiéramos, and trujieran.
• ver  ‘to see’. The preterite first-person form vide and the third-person form vido are occasionally heard, but this has largely been replaced by the forms vi and vió respectively.

Glossary

Just as with any dialect, Isleño Spanish possesses a unique vocabulary which distinguishes itself. The language preserves various acharisms as well as terms originating to the Canary Islands. Different loanwords have also entered the Isleño Spanish lexicon from Louisiana French and Louisiana Creole, English, and Spanish dialects from the Carribean.

This glossary is the result of countless hours of interviews with speakers of Isleño Spanish coupled with the recollections and suggestions of Isleño community leaders. These findings have been subsequently supported by the works of academics such as Manuel Alvar, Samuel G. Armistead, Patricia M. Lestrade, John M. Lipski, Raymond R. MacCurdy, and others. The following descriptions are intended for educational purposes only with the goal of providing fellow Isleño community members the tools to perserve their language.

References

Alvar López, M. (1998). El dialecto canario de Luisiana. Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain: Servicio de Publicaciones de la Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.

Armistead, S. G. (1992). The Spanish Tradition in Louisiana: I Isleño Folkliterature. Musical transcriptions by Isreal J. Katz. Newark, DE: Juan de la Cuesta.

Lestrade, P. M. (1999). Trajectories in Isleño Spanish with Special Emphasis on the Lexicon [Doctoral dissertation, University of Alabama].

Lipski, J. M. (1990). The Language of the Isleños: Vestigial Spanish in Louisiana. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press.

Lipski, J. M. (2004). El español de América (3rd ed.). (S. Iglesias Recuero, Trans.). London, U.K.: Longman Group Limited.

MacCurdy, R. R. (1950). The Spanish Dialect in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana. Albuquerque, NM: The University of New Mexico Press.