GRAN CANARIA
Language
Language
Cities in GRAN CANARIA
| Maspalomas | Playa de taurito | Playa del ingles |
Popular destinations SPAIN
| Andalusia | Catalonia | Costa blanca |
| Costa brava | Costa del sol | El hierro |
| Formentera | Fuerteventura | Gran canaria |
| Ibiza | La gomera | La palma |
| Lanzarote | Mallorca | Menorca |
| Tenerife |
Language
The Canary population speaks Castillian Spanish (Castellano), the official language of Spain. The only difference is that the pronunciation is slightly different and they have a slightly lilting Caribbean accent; there are also some similarities with Andalusian. For tourists, the pronunciation of the dialect is far too fast and unclear. For example, the slot "s" is swallowed by the "canarios", making it unclear whether one means, for example, La Palma or Las Palmas. The Guanche language is now extinct, but there are still some corrupted Guanche words in use, including "guagua" for bus and "papa" for potato.
Spanish dialectsPhoto: Stephen Shaw at the English Wikipedia CC 3.0 Unported no changes made
Castellano (Castilian) has been the official state language since around 1250. In other countries, Castellano is actually always called "Spanish". Castellano is a Romance language with many derivations from Latin, but also from many other languages. Spanish contains about 100 words that were brought to the peninsula by the Visigoths, among others. During the rule of the Moors about 4000 words were introduced into the Spanish language. Furthermore, many words have been borrowed from French and Italian and more recently from English.
Examples of derivations are:
| Arabic | Frech | West-Gotic | English |
| Alcázar | monje | guardia | lider |
| Aldea | vinagre | ropa | mitin |
| Acequia | menú | tapa | tractor |
| Alcoba | coqueta | espuela | fútbol |
Castellano differs greatly from other Romance languages in some respects, especially in pronunciation. The letters of the Spanish alphabet are: a, b, c, ch, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, ll, m, n, ñ, o, p, q, r, rr, s, t, u, v, x, y, z.
The name 'Gran Canaria' is first mentioned on a Spanish map from 1339. The Roman historian Pliny the Elder called the island 'Canaria', possibly referring to the large dogs (dog = canis in Latin) that lived on the island.
Sources
Anderson, B. / Gran Canaria
Deltas
Evers, K. / Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura, Lanzarote
Gottmer/Becht
Gruschwitz, B.F. / Canarische Eilanden
Het Spectrum
MacPhedran, G. / Gran Canaria
Kosmos-Z&K
Rokebrand, R. / Reishandboek Gran Canaria
Elmar
Weniger, S. / Gran Canaria
Van Reemst
CIA - World Factbook
BBC - Country Profiles
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