Missimack
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editDear Missimack:
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Spanish words beginning with "a"
editHello, I saw your correction on "Fundraising 2012/Translation/Poongothai" just now but it's wrong. In Spanish, some feminine nouns beginning w/ "a" don't take a feminine article but a masculine one, i.e, UN águila negrA, EL azúcar blancA, UN alma buenA. It should be, then, UN aula. Could you fix it please? I'm copyediting an article and have no time. Thanks. Best, --Cocolacoste 14:46, 28 October 2012 (UTC) --Cocolacoste (talk) 14:47, 28 October 2012 (UTC)
I was going by what my Spanish teacher taught me back in primary school, but having looked it up now, apparently both forms are correct! I guess you learn something new every day. =] The reason some feminine nouns get assigned a masculine article is a clash between the stressed syllables. "El azúcar" sounds better than "la azúcar", as both "la" and the first "a" are stressed, so the article gets changed into a masculine. This isn't necessary with an indefinite article (like "una").
Anyway I changed it back, though it doesn't seem to actually matter. Missimack (talk) 15:12, 28 October 2012 (UTC)
- Nope, sorry to contradict you, but that rule doesn't apply (not sure if it even exists. Spanish grammar is tricky). Besides, the 1st "a" in azúcar isn't stressed (unlike in águila, for ex.), just look at where the diacritic is placed. The feminine thing applies to def and undef articles, the exception being demonstrative pronouns (estA aula/ azúcar/ whatever). Will you trust me? It's my mother tongue! And what I studied at uni. No showing off here or being an insufferable pedant: just trying to help. (there was a conflict edit, we were both typing at the same time)
Yup, it does matter, since "una aula" is plain wrong. Ta for fixing it. Best
- A bit of a pedant here too, though I've been away from Spain for so long that sometimes I feel insecure in my own language! Here, in the first paragraph, the RAE says it's fine: http://lema.rae.es/dpd/srv/search?id=Fxvof0jo4D607Wtv5t but infrequent these days. As said, in primary school I was taught to use it that way so I assumed it was wrong to say it the other way, as when people say "mucho agua", which is obviously plain wrong. I was wrong too =]. As for the stressed syllable, you're right. That was a very rushed reply and I just picked a random word from your list of examples without really paying attention to what it was! Anyway, I left it the way you preferred, which the RAE says is the more frequent way. Have a good day! Missimack (talk) 15:47, 28 October 2012 (UTC)
- This is funny, are you Spanish? Why are we writing in English then? Thanks for the link. Gotta say, though, that I take everything that awful bunch of staunch prescriptivists say w/ a saltshaker. The amount of out-of-date info the mighty RAE spews is appalling. I do pay attention to grammar rules, but prefer descriptivist linguistic theories.Cheers,--Cocolacoste (talk) 16:04, 28 October 2012 (UTC)
- Spanish, but not by birth: only by law and culture. Sure, I'm more of a citizen of the world these days! I replied in English because you enquired in English. My academic background is engineering, so I can't comment on "staunch prescriptivists" hehe. Still, I figured that since they're the ones who set the language in stone, I should go by what they say. Missimack (talk) 16:23, 28 October 2012 (UTC)
- Aaah, since you said "away from Spain" I thought you were Spanish. I wrote in English 'cause I didn't know where you were from, plus dunno if writing in a lang other than English is allowed here. Yup. As you said, they put our beautiful and ever-changing lang in stone, turning it into a fossil. Thankfully, there's a lot of criticism of their views. A humble suggestion: don't go always by what they say, you'd be surprised (especially when it comes to the definition of slang words).
- A pleasure running into you in this virtual neck of the virtual woods. Hasta luego.--Cocolacoste (talk) 16:52, 28 October 2012 (UTC)
- Spanish, but not by birth: only by law and culture. Sure, I'm more of a citizen of the world these days! I replied in English because you enquired in English. My academic background is engineering, so I can't comment on "staunch prescriptivists" hehe. Still, I figured that since they're the ones who set the language in stone, I should go by what they say. Missimack (talk) 16:23, 28 October 2012 (UTC)
- This is funny, are you Spanish? Why are we writing in English then? Thanks for the link. Gotta say, though, that I take everything that awful bunch of staunch prescriptivists say w/ a saltshaker. The amount of out-of-date info the mighty RAE spews is appalling. I do pay attention to grammar rules, but prefer descriptivist linguistic theories.Cheers,--Cocolacoste (talk) 16:04, 28 October 2012 (UTC)
- A bit of a pedant here too, though I've been away from Spain for so long that sometimes I feel insecure in my own language! Here, in the first paragraph, the RAE says it's fine: http://lema.rae.es/dpd/srv/search?id=Fxvof0jo4D607Wtv5t but infrequent these days. As said, in primary school I was taught to use it that way so I assumed it was wrong to say it the other way, as when people say "mucho agua", which is obviously plain wrong. I was wrong too =]. As for the stressed syllable, you're right. That was a very rushed reply and I just picked a random word from your list of examples without really paying attention to what it was! Anyway, I left it the way you preferred, which the RAE says is the more frequent way. Have a good day! Missimack (talk) 15:47, 28 October 2012 (UTC)
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As changes applied for 12 days. --125.36.185.11 02:55, 25 June 2019 (UTC)