Mikyoan Spanish: view article

Mikyoan Spanish—referred to locally as Micano or Micañol—is a variety of Spanish spoken by small communities in Mikyo, chiefly in Yongnagumei and Ishigagi. Varieties of the Carribean and Mexico have heavily influenced Mikyoan Spanish, however, some Castilian and Filipino Spanish has made its way into the Mikyoan variety, particularly in vocabulary.

Phonological Features

- Like most Spanish dialects, Mikyoan Spanish features yeísmo: where the sounds represented as <ll> (the palatal lateral /ʎ/) and <y> (historically the palatal approximant /ʝ̞/) are merged into one. In Mikyoan Spanish these are typically merged as [j], however, some speakers may also merge them as [j], [ʝ], [ɟ͡ʝ], [d͡ʒ], or even [d͡ʑ]. There is no standard in Mikyo for the pronunciation of yeísmo. This causes cayó (he/she/they became silent) and calló (he/she/they fell) to be homophones

- Mikyoan Spanish also has seseo: where the phonemes /s/ and /θ/ are merged as /s/. This causes casa (house) and caza (hunt) to be homophones

- Debuccalization of /s/ to [h] or deletion, /d/ to deletion (or [ɦ] in Yongnagumei), and /t/ to [ʔ] in syllable-final positions is a common feature of Mikyoan Spanish
ex. Este niño está comiendo la mitad del yogurt en el otcháng*
[ˈe(h)t̪e ˈnĩɲo e(h)ˈt̪a koˈmjẽn̪d̪o la miˈt̪a ðel joˈɣulʔ ẽŋ el oʔˈt͡ʃãŋ]
(This boy is eating half of the yoghurt in the closet)
*otcháng is a Korean loanword meaning ‘closet’

- The phoneme /l/ is often merged with [ɾ] intervocalically
ex. Venezuela [bẽn̪eˈsweɾa]

- The phoneme [r] <rr> (trilled) is merged with the tapped [ɾ] <r> or with the liquid [l] <l>. This can cause the words perro (dog) and pero (but) to be homophones or it may cause the words perro (dog) and pelo (hair) to be homophones.

- Syllable-final /r/ is frequently omitted by most speakers or merged with [l].
ex. Saber (to know) [saˈβel~saˈβe]

- /d/, especially in sequences like /Vdo/ and /Vdi/, is often dropped. This causes the word cansado (married) to be pronounced [kan̪sˈao] and médicos (doctors) to be pronounced [ˈmeikoh]. In words like <nada>, where the vowels surrounding the /d/ are the same, only the first syllable is pronounced, leading to [n̪a]

- Word final /n/ shifts to [ŋ]
ex. Hablaron (they spoke) [aβˈlaɾõŋ~aβˈlaɾõŋ͡m]

- /n/ tends to assimilate to the following phoneme in coda positions.
ex. Ambientación (atmosphere) [ãmbjẽn̪t̪aˈsjõŋ~ãmbjẽn̪t̪aˈɕjõŋ͡m]

- Stops and nasals are velarized in clusters
ex. Étnico (ethnic) [ˈeɡn̪iko], Himno (anthem) [ˈĩŋn̪o]

- /b/, /d/, and /g/ remain plosives rather than shifting to approximates or fricatives after nasals
ex. Ambientación (atmosphere) [ambjen̪t̪aˈsjoŋ~ambjen̪t̪aˈɕ(j)oŋ͡m], Hablando (speaking) [aβlan̪d̪o], Pongo (orangutan) [poŋgo]

- For some speakers, /l/ before another consonant assimilates to the preceding vowel, elongating it
ex. Dulce (sweet) [ˈd̪u:se]

- <j> and <g> before /i/ and /e/ (pronounced usually as /x/) are frequently realized as [h] or deleted
ex. La gente juega en el pueblo
[la ˈ(h)eŋte ˈ(h)weɣa eŋ el ˈpweβlo]
(The people play in the town)

Features Specific to Heavily Mikyoanized Accents

Some individuals, particularly second or third generation speakers of Spanish, will have a heavily Mikyoanized accent.

- For some speakers, /s/ before /i/ and /j/ is shifted to [ɕ]
ex. Estación [e(h)t̪aˈɕ(j)oŋ͡m]
* this is considered uneducated by many speakers

- For some speakers, especially in Ishigagi and Gullu, /e/, /o/, and /a/ will shift to [ɪ~ɯ̽], [ʊ], and [ɐ] in a syllable following a stressed one
ex. Este (east) [ˈe(h)t̪ɪ~ˈe(h)t̪ɯ̽], Estuvo (he/she/they were) [e(h)ˈt̪uβʊ], Cama (bed) [ˈkmɐ]

- For some speakers, /tj/ shifts to [t͡ɕ(j)] and /dj/ shifts to [d͡ʑ(j)]
ex. Tiene (he/she has) [ˈt͡ɕ(j)enɪ~ˈt͡ɕ(j)enɯ̽], Dientes (teeth) [ˈd͡ʑ(j)eŋt̪ɪ(h)~ˈd͡ʑ(j)eŋt̪ɯ̽(h)]

- <j> and <g> before /i/ are commonly shifted to [ç]
ex. La jirafa es gigante
[la çiˈɾafɐ e(h) çiˈgãŋtɪ~la çiˈɾafɐ e(h) çiˈgãŋtɯ̽]
(The giraffe is giant)

- <f>, especially before /u/ or /w/, is commonly shifted to [ɸ]
ex. El fuego no es falso
[el ˈɸweɣʊ no e(h) ˈɸa:sʊ]
(The fire is not fake)

Grammatical Features

- The Mikyoan honorific system has influenced the 2nd person pronouns to some degree. The pronouns vos, tú, and usted now form a hierarchy, with tú being considered informal and only to be used towards people younger than the speaker or with close friends and family, vos being considered more neutral and to be used with people the same age as or older than the speaker, and usted being considered formal and humble, only to be used with people in positions of power or more formal settings. Because the pronoun vosotros is considered archaic and purely religious in Mikyo and many Spanish-speaking countries, the only plural 2nd person pronoun that exists for daily use is ustedes. Because 2nd person pronouns can cause some issues, it is also common to use one’s name or title when speaking to them instead of a pronoun.

- Colloquial Mikyoan Spanish relies heavily on contractions and shortening words. For example voy a cocinar (I'm going to cook) becomes voácosnar [boˈakohna~boˈakohna] or vuácosnar [ˈbwakohna~ˈbwakohna]

- Spoken Mikyoan Spanish tends to omit articles, however, they are still used in writing and are used when teaching Spanish in Mikyoan schools

- In Mikyoan Spanish the use of the subjunctive is uncommon and considered awkward and robotic when used outside formal settings or writing

- Due to Mikyoan and other East Asian languages which have influenced Mikyoan Spanish being without grammatical gender, for some speakers the distinction between él/ella, el/la, ellos/ellas, este(s)/esta(s), los/las, nosotros/nosotras, and other gendered sets of words is lost. Because of this the suffix -o, which is usually the masculine ending in Spanish, is often completely neutral

- As Mikyoan and other East Asian languages lack plural forms, most speakers of Mikyoan Spanish omit the plural endings entirely when speaking (this causes the word casa to be plural or singular depending on context)

Vocabulary

Mikyoan Spanish vocabulary is heavily influenced by many of the languages in Mikyo, such as the Lingua Franca Mikyoan, but also Chinese and Tagalog, and to a lesser extent Indonesian, Korean, and Vietnamese and other Asian-Pacific languages spoken in the islands.

A common word in Mikyoan Spanish is vaina, which is adopted from Carribean Spanish varieties, which can mean a wide variety of things and is often an interjection or a nonsensical filler. The word vaina has also been adopted into Ishigagi Mikyoan as 바이나 baina.

Some Mikyoan Spanish words of Mikyoan origin are:
- donchi, "commrade" (from 同志 dungji)
- jinaco, "clam" (from 히나코 hinako), sometimes used as an insult for people who are constantly nervous or very shy
- aidel, "celebrity" (from 아이덜 aideol)
- manofon, "cellphone", "hand phone" (calque of 핸두폰 haendupon or 'hand phone')
- gulía, "kitchen" (from 厨 gullya)
- binche, "letter" (from 便紙 bingchei)
- tinugui, "raccoon" (from 狸 tinugi)
- suel, "small", "tiny" (from 쉘 suel), often used in combination with the ending -ito/-ita (ex. el suel perrito)
- chon, "area", "place", "zone" (from 地帯 jong)

Slang Words

Slang speech is frequent in popular culture. In Ishigagi and Gullu, the local varieties of slang speech are known as "Pampay". Many slang expressions originate in Tagalog, Kampanamgapay, Mikyoan, and other languages. Many have spread outside their original areas and are now commonly understood throughout the country and in some small communities of Lyko-Mikyoan living abroad.

Some slang terms, with their literal translations, meanings, and origins (if applicable) include the following:

- auma: condom, from Vietnamese áo mưa, meaning "raincoat"
- anenico(a): calm; tranquil; chill, from Kampanamgapay ʻan neng, meaning "tranquility" (usually used comedically)
- bala: clapback; comeback; witty response, literally means "bullet", often used in the phrase "recibir la bala" or "to get the bullet"
- baba: daddy, literally means "father", used affectionately for someone's boyfriend
- cambu: banana, from Venezuelan Spanish cambur
- caucaí: healthy foods, from Kampanamgapay kawkay, meaning "vegetable"
- chévere: cool; admirable, adopted from varieties of Caribbean Spanish
- comer dangus: eat ass, literally means to "eat dumplings"
- dangu: ass, literally means "dumpling"
- fresco(a): fresh; swaggy, usually used to describe new clothes or a cool outfit, often used comedically
- gusuli: crack cocaine, from Mikyoan 薬/구술리/gusulli, meaning "medicine"
- güachiman: watchman, police officer, security personel, etc., from Venezeulan Spanish
- ladrillo: a stack of money, literally means "brick". The phrase "tener ladrillos" or "to have bricks" means "to be rich."
- maírapo(a): difficult; gusty; having the qualities of a bad bitch; having balls; stubborn, from Tagalog mahirap, meaning difficult
- tener síndrome de los mis: having erectile dysfunction, from Kampanamgapay mi, meaning noodle
- no es trabajo: it's no work; it's not your buisiness, a direct translation of Mikyoan 職델루나/쇼쿠델루나/shokudelluna, meaning "it's no work" but tends to carry the meaning "it's none of your buisiness" in casual conversation
- pampanga: guy; dude; fam; bruh; sis; my guy; daddy, from Kampanamgapay pampanga, of the same meaning
- yungmo: someone who puts off marriage, childbirth, and/or relationships because they lack enough money to do so; from Yongnagumei 熊貓/흉모/xhiungmo, meaning panda ✎ Edit Article ✖ Delete Article

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