But as I delve further into the language in my current classes with Loli and Lolita, I'm more aware of the pitfalls of mispronunciation. Saying a word wrong can bring about reactions from mild amusement to hilarity to disdain to outrage — although outrage is rare since Mexicans are a lot more patient with the Spanish of gringos than North Americans are with the English of latinos.
Two of my favorite sources which present me with a new word each day are Dictionary.com and SpanishDict.com (which I mentioned in a previous post). I like the fact that they both give sample sentences and the roots of the words, which help me remember them. SpanishDict also offers idioms or common Spanish sayings too. (Collecting choice idioms is even more fun than collecting words!)
Today's Spanish word is noctorno, easy because it's a cognate, similar enough to the English word to be recognizable. But yesterday's was a challenge, not because it's long but because it's not easy to pronounce: otorgar which means to grant, to award or bestow. I had a hard time wrapping my tongue around the "r" so I had to exaggerate rolling it and I still can't say it fast (not to speak of three times!) But it's a word I want for my collection because the idiom is one we should all keep in mind: Quien calla otorga, which means "Silence gives consent."
My English word-for-the-day was orthoepy, the study of pronunciation, which is precisely what I'm trying to do. If I were to study Spanish without a teacher, using only a book as I used to do
How's that for an insult?
5 comments:
I am having lots of fun with Spanish malapropisms. For example, instead of saying "Eres mi testigo" (You are my witness) I will say "Eres mi testículo" (You are my testicle). My fellow workers are aware that I am joking around but sometimes visitors aren't and it really gives them a jolt :)
i wouldn't worry about remembering the word otorgar-it's not very common, at least not for cubans. heck, i'd never even heard it before. wonder why they would teach such unusual words. you should ask loli and lolita if it is a commonly used word there. i never heard it in my many visits down there.
have a great weekend.
thanks for the comment on cynthia and mike's blog. i do hope you can make it up next year.
teresa
I´m with you Teresa. The only place that I have ever encountered the word "otorgar" is on diplomas or certificates of achievement. However, you can never learn enough words so as we way, "No lo pongas en un morral roto", which means, take care of it and don't keep it in a knapsack that has a hole :)
Re: the pronunciation of otorgar.
You'll be relieved to hear that neither of the 'r's in otorgar need to be rolled! It's only the 'rr' that gets the roll.
Try this tongue-twister:
Rr con rr cigarro, rr con rr barril, rapido corren los carros, cargando de azucar del ferrocarril.
Have fun!
Cristina
bob, you're right, we can never learn too many words. but why bother with some that aren't used when there are so many that are?
sorry mexico cooks but you are mistaken. the r in the beginning of a word is also rolled, ex. raton, rata, rincon-the list goes on.
teresa in lake stevens
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