About the names of concepts and phenomena peculiar to the Spanish language.
13
votes
2answers
283 views
Are there other words that can't be written? (like sal-le)
Recently, I learned that there is at least one Spanish word that can be pronounced but not written.
It is the imperative form of 'salirle'. It is prononunced as 'sal-le' and the written form should ...
6
votes
3answers
459 views
What is the symbol “&” called in Spanish?
The symbol & is a representation of the Latin word et (see DPD, Appendix 4). Wikipedia claims that the symbol itself is called et; however, the DRAE's entry for et doesn't list the symbol as a ...
6
votes
1answer
112 views
Is there a name for words having two opposite meanings?
In the question "Are there any words that have opposite regional meanings?" there is a list of Spanish words each one having two opposite meanings. Is there a name (in Spanish) for this kind of words?
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5
votes
3answers
76 views
Is it acceptable to say Brasilero instead of Brasileño?
On the wikipedia article in spanish about Brazil, both terms, Brasileño and Brasilero, are used as gentilic for people born in Brazil, it also mentions that Brasilero is used only on certain regions ...
5
votes
1answer
84 views
What is an expression in parentheses in the middle of a phrase called?
While I was reading the newspaper today I stumbled against something that is quite common and a bit obscure in writing in spanish.
It comes from this opinion column. (The opinion and debate exposed ...
4
votes
1answer
539 views
Spanish phrasal verbs
The most difficult feature of English language (at least for myself) are "Phrasal verbs".
Today I stumbled upon one sentence from a newspaper that made think about Phrasal verbs in Spanish. If we ...
4
votes
2answers
157 views
What are leísmo, loísmo, and laísmo?
What are leísmo, loísmo, and laísmo? How common are they, and where are they primarily encountered?
4
votes
1answer
492 views
What's the best way to say “perífrasis verbal” in English?
"Perífrasis verbal" seems to be used pretty consistently at least in some references to refer to grammatical constructions like ir a.
But I'm not sure if it's a set grammatical or linguistic term, ...
3
votes
1answer
302 views
se pronoun in “no fault constructions”
One page I recently ran across discusses the concept of "no fault constructions" or verbs that use se in such a way to describe an action as taking place apart from the person who caused the action. ...
3
votes
1answer
153 views
Debuccalization of /s/ to [h]
What is meant in Spanish phonology by the debuccalization of /s/ to [h]? What dialects does this phenomenon primarily occur in? In those dialects, does it take place in all cases or only in some ...
2
votes
2answers
278 views
Spanish names for preterite and imperfect tenses
In school, I learned that the Spanish past tenses were called preterite and imperfect in English, and preterito and imperfecto in Spanish. However, in talking to native speakers I've run across other ...
2
votes
2answers
145 views
Why is “missing” added to waiting in Spanish?
In Perú we say "me falta esperar 10 minutos", in United States we do not say "I am missing waiting 10 minutes". Why is "falta/missing" added in Peruvian Spanish? Or conversely, why in American English ...
