Accents/Dialects: Bogota vs. Southern Colombia

la campiña says on Jan 18, 2008, 16:29:

I'm married to a rola ( Bogota) we both live in cali and I have fun listening to her deciphering caleño idiomas ha.

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la campiña says on Jan 18, 2008, 16:44:

bogota cali
bolsa chuspa
mogolla asema
taxi tasi
esfero lapicero

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Portena says on Jan 18, 2008, 16:58:

What is mogolla? And, asema is the cali equivalent, I guess? Thanks, la campina! I've read here the speech of Rolo's is rather short, clipped and probably not 'singsong'. Any better words for describing the differences in speech?

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MaFe says on Jan 18, 2008, 18:44:

When I hear Colombians speak here (outside of Colombia) I can pick up on their accents, and in Colombia...
I believe it's like every country...there are different accents/words per regions..

"All human actions have one or more of these seven causes: chance, nature, compulsions, habit, reason, passion, desire. "-Aristotle

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Portena says on Jan 18, 2008, 18:50:

Right! : ) And, I'm wondering what people here have noticed about the differences with regard to specific words (like examples provided by la campina), the accents, rate of speech, etc. between the Colombians in these specific regions.

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Gator says on Jan 18, 2008, 19:07:

Mrs. Gator spots them in a New York minute-best I can do is Medellin and La Costa. Funny though, Mrs. Gator can't tell a Texas accent from a New Yorker-says they all sound the same to her.

"Credidi pretio parvo emere et magno vendere tibi in animo fuisse!" .

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bartolo_colon says on Jan 18, 2008, 21:29:

This is only my opinion, so dont eat me alive guys. When speaking with someone from Bogota, even folks from the lower caste, there spanish sounds very clean, even the gamines sound somewhat educated. The Paisa accent is hard to describe, but it sounds cool, a little bit more rhythmic and sing-songy, and maybe a bit ruder. Costeno's tend to machine gun sentences at you, they mash the words together, but not as bad as Cubans, they drop the S's sometimes, but not as bad as Guayaquil or Chile. In all parts, there speech can be peppered with hysterical slang. And, like no other spanish speaking country I have been, there choice of words can be stunningly beautiful.

Hey, careful, man, there's a beverage here!

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Portena says on Jan 18, 2008, 21:42:

Thanks, Bartolo - even if they do want to eat you alive those are the kinds of comparisons I was hoping for!

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Desi1 (Moderator) says on Jan 19, 2008, 00:37:

I would have to say that the Spanish spoken by an educated Caleño is a pleasure to hear. Without sounding a little pedantic like a Rolo or a little provincial like a Paisa or a little sloppy like a costeño, the middle/upper class, college-educated caleño speaks with a great grammatical dominion and ample vocabulary, no detectable singsong intonation, phonetically clean and precise Spanish, only with a tiniest touch of local flavor, giving the speech a sweet and subtle cadence.

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Man Tequila says on Jan 19, 2008, 16:37:

"college-educated caleño speaks with a great grammatical dominion and ample vocabulary, no detectable singsong intonation, phonetically clean and precise Spanish, only with a tiniest touch of local flavor, giving the speech a sweet and subtle cadence."

For these reasons, while it's somewhat less powerful than other accents, this can be an advantage in that it adapts to a wide variety of foods. College educated caleños are especially good served with earthy dishes -- anything with mushrooms and/or truffles, parmesan type cheeses, and tomato-based sauces and stews.

Aunque no me creas/ si me lo propongo/ lograre olvidarte/ porque a fin de cuentas/ no soy tan cobarde./ Y termino todo una de estas tardes/ no sera dificil buscar algún sitio donde refugiarme/ donde nunca mas vuelvas a encontrarme. (Polo Montañez)

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Portena says on Jan 19, 2008, 18:11:

So Caleno accents are like fine wines...

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Gator says on Jan 19, 2008, 19:02:

Bartolo_colon came the closest. Sorry Tia Desi but neither Mrs. Gator (from Cali) or I (lived there quite a while) agree fully with you assessment. (But the La Costa accent drives her nuts as does the upward lift when Medallos end most sentences.)

"Credidi pretio parvo emere et magno vendere tibi in animo fuisse!" .

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Desi1 (Moderator) says on Jan 20, 2008, 01:33:

Sorry Tio Gator but I find that even the gamines in Bogotá sound a bit stuffy and pretentious ;) But I know I have a bias for southern accents, well, not pastuso (we used to call it pastense) but I think people from Popayán speak a nice, clean Castilian too.

Now, the irritating "mira ve caleño" and the voceo loaned from the paisas that have become so popular in Cali are strictly "pueblo", barrio talk. That's Siloé, Distrito de Aguablanca, not the traditional caleño middle class talk.

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Cerealkiller says on Jan 20, 2008, 04:58:

I am fine with rolo accent, its urban and educated. I am not crazy about southern accents, i guess an educated Cali accent passes as undetectable in Cali, not in Bogota. I like paisa accents from Manizales not Medellin. Medellin accent is too strong to the point of becoming annoying, and I find Santander accent to be amongst the funniest accents in Colombia, I love people from Santander!!!

Conservatives are not necessarily stupid, but most stupid people are conservatives -John Stuart Mill

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Portena says on Jan 20, 2008, 09:59:

How is the pastuso accent different from the caleno accent? Are there striking differences or is it much more subtle? And if the person from the south is not highly educated how does the way of speaking differ from those who are (besides vocabulary?)

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Man Tequila says on Jan 20, 2008, 10:09:

Calí and Pasto are pretty close, I could not hear much difference, but my sample sizes are too small. Maybe Goin_South or Desi can?

Aunque no me creas/ si me lo propongo/ lograre olvidarte/ porque a fin de cuentas/ no soy tan cobarde./ Y termino todo una de estas tardes/ no sera dificil buscar algún sitio donde refugiarme/ donde nunca mas vuelvas a encontrarme. (Polo Montañez)

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Desi1 (Moderator) says on Jan 20, 2008, 10:16:

Very different. The caleño accent is not really a southern accent, not like pastuso. They are totally different. In Pasto you can hear the approximity of the Andean nations and the clipped sonsonete of the indigenous peoples.

I don't share much of CerealKIller's tastes in accents; I don't have much problem with the rolo way of sustained s-sound or archaic vocabulary of some older folks, just with certain stuffiness and formality; the rolo accent is even less neutral than the educated caleño accent and easier for a foreigner to place correctly.

I have plenty of friends from the coffee-growing region and am very used to the paisa accent spoken in Risaralda, Quindio and Caldas, it's fairly pleasant to the ear and not as heavy as the Medellín paisa accent.

But hands down, the worst Spanish spoken in Colombia must be the on the Caribbean coast...it's like another dialect totally.

I have bias, of course, I lived in Cali and learned my Spanish in Cali and share some of the preconceived ideas many caleños have on this issue.

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Lisa Zee says on Jan 20, 2008, 10:25:

There is a huge difference if you listened to an educated person or a campesino, no mater where they are from.

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Desi1 (Moderator) says on Jan 20, 2008, 10:37:

Absolutely, Lisa, and that applies to all languages and all peoples in the world.

I've been comparing the accents of a college-educated middle class people but the same comparison could be made with poor barrio people. I believe that even in the hoods the caleños tend to have a rather clear and crisp way of talking compared with, say for example, Medellin comunas.

The most irritating accent in Colombia for me personally, is the santandereano.

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Desi1 (Moderator) says on Jan 20, 2008, 10:39:

Man Tequila, that's funny, to me it's like two different countries.

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Lisa Zee says on Jan 20, 2008, 10:46:

Me gusta como hablan los Calenos, muy sexy!

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Portena says on Jan 20, 2008, 11:02:

So to the east of Pasto, would that also tend to be more the pastuso/indigenous accent? (Florencia, Neiva) or is there so much movement of the populace due to displacement/civil that it's hard to say?

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Desi1 (Moderator) says on Jan 20, 2008, 11:12:

I have very limited experience of the dialects of the southeast Colombia. I know a few people from Neiva and to me they don't sound like pastusos at all.

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Desi1 (Moderator) says on Jan 20, 2008, 13:36:

Man Tequila, you're a funny guy....so it sounded like I was writing a wine review hahaha.

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msaucey says on Jan 20, 2008, 20:06:

There's a differences.... Never noticed....

No es que esa vaina de los diferentes dialectos es dificil para el sordo.... Pero, bueno, si una no esta acostumbrado a las diferencias entonces, ni idea tendran de que parte de colombia es uno....

I can only understand my uncles spanish half the time.... He's lived on the coast for over 25 years...

The trouble about trying to make yourself stupider than you really are is that you very often succeed. - CS Lewis

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Desideria (Moderator) says on Jan 21, 2008, 05:16:

I expected trouble when I was in Cartagena; it was my first time on the coast and I've not had many costeño friends, but I didn't have any problem understanding the locals. Otherwise, I'll have to agree with Desi1 100%.
Cheers!

"When shall we three meet again? In thunder, lightning, or in rain?"(First Witch in Macbeth)

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Robert Jorge says on Jan 21, 2008, 06:37:

Care to elaborate JJ?

BEWARE of gold diggers.

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Desideria (Moderator) says on Jan 21, 2008, 06:46:

Yes, I'd love to hear that too.

"When shall we three meet again? In thunder, lightning, or in rain?"(First Witch in Macbeth)

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Desideria (Moderator) says on Jan 21, 2008, 07:56:

Ok, jack_jason, I can either delete it or let it stand but you'll have to take the full responsibility for all the hurt feelings and angry retorts you will get, both for US Americans and people from south/southwest Colombia. I'm sure our Cali residents don't agree with your asessment of the southern dialects and I know I definitely don't.

"When shall we three meet again? In thunder, lightning, or in rain?"(First Witch in Macbeth)

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manINred says on Jan 21, 2008, 09:17:

People in Cali don't have a southern 'Colombia accent'. Quite frankly, no such thing exists.

Pastusos and people in Ipiales speak fairly similarily. They have the slow and clear andean Spanish, typical of Spanish from Indigenous non-coastal Ecuador and Bolivia. Hell many are the same people/race anyway...

And I used to think Spanish from Guayaquil was difficult, but it's not. Speak to some poor bugger with no shoes at the coast, and then you're talking, or trying to at least.

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Desideria (Moderator) says on Jan 21, 2008, 09:29:

Basically, there's no such thing as southern accent in Colombia, I agree. But to establish a comparison between different dialects of Colombian Spanish the geographical denomination has its advantages. I personally consider pastuso and most Nariño province dialects "southern" and payanés (from Popayan) has some southern influence too, but not as much. Caleño and "valluno" accent is unique to that area, but it's a soft, smooth and most people don't think it's irritating since it does not have a pronounced intonation. It's definitely NOT "clumsy or vulgar" like another posted seemed to indicate.

"When shall we three meet again? In thunder, lightning, or in rain?"(First Witch in Macbeth)

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