Re: CHAT: I need help with the concept "New World Spanish"

John Cowan wrote:


>Padraic Brown scripsit:
>
>> I'd be interested in knowing your reasons for
>> propagating the "New World" v. "Old World" Spanish.
>> Maybe _I'm_ wrong and it is quite meaningful!
>
>At the moment, I have two groups to deal with.  One claims that their
>written Spanish is acceptable anywhere in the Americas (but they make
>no claims about Spain); the second group claims that the writings of
>the first group are not acceptable in Spain.
Now that you specify that _written_ Spanish is involved, I can't imagine
such an argument.  It's like someone saying that this email is acceptable in
the US, but not in Britain, Australia, Ghana or India.  Poppycock.

There is as little (or as much, if you will) difference between ordinary
written LA and Peninsular Spanish as between written US and British English.

Unless you're dealing with heavily dialectal material....but then the novels
of Jose Camilo Cela (Madrid slang) are as difficult for a Latin American as,
say, Güiraldes' _Don Segundo Sombra_ (gaucho slang) is difficult for a
Spaniard.

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