Quote:
Originally Posted by Caballero
Is it instantly recognizable as a Canarian accent?
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Yes, but it is not so much an accent as a speech defect. Even the local newsreader on TV sounds as though he needs special medical attention. Seriously though, it involves the omission of a lot of consonants, particulary S, and the swallowing of the last syllable of each word, and the end of each sentence. Each sentence must start with one of two words which print as **** or ***** on this forum. The subjunctive mood does not exist and they have never heard of a perfect tense, always the preterite. They never use the second plural verb endings but use vosotros + 3rd plural.
Some claim this is all a influence of Portuguese, others claim the return from South America of pre-war emmigrants, and others have less flattering explanations.
You can detect dialect variations between the seven Canarian Islands, which is quite interesting, but they all sound quite different from the South American accents I have heard, which are not many.