I don’t suppose anyone reading this journal speaks Castilian Spanish? (i.e. the Spanish of Spain, not Latin America.) I could use some help with incidental words of a casual variety, like endearments and insults, that probably vary from culture to culture (and therefore shouldn’t just be pulled from a dictionary).
If no one else comes forward, try speaking nicely to . If he doesn’t read your journal, he ought to. And you can tell him I said that.
Aw, shucks. 🙂
If you don’t get anyone here, shoot me an e-mail. I’ll introduce you to a friend of mine. I’m pretty sure she’d be able to help you, assuming she’s not too busy with her own deadlines.
I’ve got a lead on someone at the moment, but I’ll keep that in mind. Thanks!
I have a friend who was born in Spain. If no one shows up here, I can ask him to take a look.
I think I’m all set, but I’ll let you know if I need more. Thanks!
Note that Castilian is one of the Spanishes of Spain. Or alternatively, it’s Spanish and Spain also has several related languages.
This might or might not make a difference.
I definitely want Spanish, not Galician or Catalan or what-have-you. (Unless I change my mind on a matter of geography, but for now, I’m going with the less-problematic option.)
Is it modern Spanish you want? My sis is almost bilingual after spending some time in Barcelona. If you don’t find a native speaker, I can ask her.
(I ask because I presume 19th-century Spain was very, very different from the modern version. Also, if you want dialects, you probably need a native speaker from the region).
Why would you presume it was “very, very different”? Sure, languages change, but unless there’s a factor that made Spanish change a lot more radically than English has in the last century or so, the differences aren’t major.
It does affect slang the most, of course, but what I’m looking for help with actually won’t be quite modern or period, but rather something specific to the character. Anyway, I’ve already had someone pinged on my behalf, but if that doesn’t work out I’ll let you know.
Sorry, didn’t express myself properly. I meant that I imagined insults or terms of endearment would be different today than in the 19th Century (basing myself on how such terms have evolved in French). But if the time period doesn’t matter, then that’s not a problem.
Okay, then I don’t disagree. But I’m actually hoping to find someone who’s read some older Spanish literature (not in translation), and then we can work from there to get what I need.
