At what point does a dialect become a language…and the Fourth of July

Well, today was my first full day of classes, I love them, me encantan! I learned more in depth about how many Spanish words descend from Arabic, Italian, English, etc. In Semantics we learned about how language is comprised of more than just words. So much can be communicated by the intonation of your voice (is it a question, exclamation, declaration), pauses between words, gestures (a lot can be communicated by just pointing at your mouth to indicate that you’re thirsty), interpersonal space (women speak in closer proximity than men), your posture, etc. We had a very interesting discussion in Variedades Lingüísticas about the difference between a dialect and a language—at what point does a dialect become a language? When you think about it, it is very interesting. For instance, Spanish, French, Italian, and Portuguese are all Romance languages, meaning that they all originate from Latin. Pues, at what point in time did they become their own distinct languages? At what point did it become too difficult for people to communicate with one another? Our teacher told us today that one definition of a language is this: a dialect with an army. I understand that definition, it makes sense that if a country has borders to defend, it would have a national language. But I’m not sure that there is a concrete answer to this question! There are so many components that languages have in common with one another. I LOVE THAT!! Lastly, I am taking Cultura Española, where we get to learn all about the history of Spain. There is something about being here in Madrid with a Spanish teacher that makes history just come alive. It’s neat to connect the dots in my own mind with the history that I am familiar with.

Claro, we went on a walk again this afternoon to see more of Madrid! I got to try horchata, a sort of milky, sweet drink that is made of tigernuts. (This picture is from the café where we got horchata.) ¡Muy rico! A bunch of us went out to celebrate the 4th of July (see picture above)…aunque no había fuegos artificiales (no fireworks). I got back to the dorm at 2:30am with Bevin because my allergies were so bad (by the way, there is pollen in Madrid), but the rest of the group stayed out till after 6:00am!! ¡Qué loco! I am going to get some rest on Saturday!