# Spanish speech impediment? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 18, 2004, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-speech-impediment/264839 "2004-09-18T12:41:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2004, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-speech-impediment/264839/1 "2004-09-18T12:41:06Z")
Working with a new driver last night I noticed something odd about his speech: he tends to drop off the consonant off the end of his words. For example, five becomes fie, thing becomes thin or even thih, around becomes arow, etc. I’ve noticed this occurring in a handful of other hispanics I’ve encountered…is this a common impediment amongst hispanics? ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2004, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-speech-impediment/264839/2 "2004-09-18T12:58:31Z")
You’re aware of the difference between `impediment' and `accent’, right? If I noticed a pattern like that among a population that shared a common mother tonuge, I would not be quick to call it an impediment. Perhaps I’m completely wrong, and these people do not (as your title seems to imply) share Spanish as their first language. But the idea of a shared accent seems like a fruitful avenue to investigate, if nothing else. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2004, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-speech-impediment/264839/3 "2004-09-18T13:19:30Z")
Are they Cuban or Puerto Rican hispanics by any chance? ---
**Author:** ![monica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a183cd/32.png) [@monica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monica)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2004, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-speech-impediment/264839/4 "2004-09-18T14:18:00Z")
I’d also be quicker to call it an accent than an impediment. Now, this is just a guess, but I think part of the reason is that the stops between words in Spanish occur in different places than those in English. Words often end with vowel sounds, where as words in English seem to more frequently end in consonant sounds. For example: Estoy hablando de la lengua. I am talking about the language. See how the Spanish ended in more vowel sounds and the English in more consonants? Because the hispanics are not used to the consonant endings, they may have a bit of trouble pronouncing them. ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2004, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-speech-impediment/264839/5 "2004-09-18T14:31:03Z")
I´ll go with the accent explanation; one of my brother´s mate at the naval academy is a Panama exchange student, he drops the last consonant of words all the time, for example he says “seño-o” instead of “señor”. Over here in Uruguay that accent trend is mostly asociated with lower classes speech or very informal talk, like saying “vamo-o” instead of “vamos” (“let´s go”) So no, unless there are clinical conditions to speak of, it´s not a speech impediment, just an accent. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2004, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-speech-impediment/264839/6 "2004-09-18T15:12:49Z")
Following up on **Balthisar’s** and **ale’s** comments, dropping the consonants at or near the end of words is a common feature of the “Caribbean” Spanish accent, found in Cuba, Puerto Rico, and also Panama. e.g. _venado_, "deer,’ becomes _vena’o_, _dañado_, “damaged,” becomes _daña’o_, etc. There is also a tendency to drop or soften “s:” _estos_ becomes _ehtoh_. However, what the OP is talking about is more likely due to the fact that certain consonant combinations found in English do not occur in Spanish. For example, “v” rarely if ever occurs as a terminal consonant sound (it would almost always be followed by a vowel); “ng” and “nd” do not occur terminally (and would normally be pronounced as part of two different syllables in any case). Spanish speakers may drop these sounds rather than try to pronounce them. And yes, what you describe is an “accent,” not an “impediment,” unless you consider the inability of many English speakers to properly roll their r’s an impediment. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2004, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-speech-impediment/264839/7 "2004-09-18T15:37:07Z")
I didn’t think it was an accent: the majority I’ve encountered and worked with could pronounce their ending consonants just fine. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2004, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-speech-impediment/264839/8 "2004-09-18T15:59:45Z")
> [@Enola Straight](#): > > I didn’t think it was an accent: the majority I’ve encountered and worked with could pronounce their ending consonants just fine. This driver probably just has a stronger accent. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2004, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-speech-impediment/264839/9 "2004-09-18T15:59:58Z")
> [@Enola Straight](#): > > I didn’t think it was an accent: the majority I’ve encountered and worked with could pronounce their ending consonants just fine. Then the answer to the OP is “no.” If it was really an impediment and not an accent, then it is not particulary common among hispanics. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2004, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-speech-impediment/264839/10 "2004-09-18T16:07:04Z")
It’s an accent, not a speech impediment. Says someone who speaks similar to that in English, and knows others that do the same. Easier for me to say, and sometimes I don’t mind getting the exact pronunciation right as long as they understand me. Following up what Colibrí said: Some of those accents are vulgar, or wrong pronunciations(dañao, venao, etc.). Not supposed to be used if you’re giving a presentation, for example. Dropping the ‘s’, specifically at the end of the word, is accepted as long as the next syllable does not start with a vowel. Correct: _Lah mujereh lindas_ instead of _las mujeres lindas_. Incorrect: _Loh hombreh guapos_ instead of _Los hombreh guapos_. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2004, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-speech-impediment/264839/11 "2004-09-18T16:29:00Z")
BTW, the alleged origin of this speech pattern (aspirated final consonant) among Caribbean-Spanish speakers is from Andalusian and Southern-Castille _Castellano_. The pattern from the native dialect carries over to the learning of the second language. Now… English may have a relatively simple grammar, but its _phonetics_ can be a serious problems for some ESL learners – specially those from languages that use fewer phonemes, or that use very different phonemes. (I have also heard speakers of some Asian languages drop some final consonants, e.g. “fifteen dollah”, apparently patterned on how their language handles in what sound a syllable may or may not end). ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2004, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-speech-impediment/264839/12 "2004-09-18T16:30:39Z")
We got a Naval Academy in Panama? Donde the heck? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2004, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-speech-impediment/264839/13 "2004-09-18T16:37:44Z")
> [@Paul in Saudi](#): > > We got a Naval Academy in Panama? Donde the heck? As far as I know, Uruguay doen’t have a Naval Academy here, _compa_. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2004, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-speech-impediment/264839/14 "2004-09-19T19:14:26Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > Now… English may have a relatively simple grammar, but its _phonetics_ can be a serious problems for some ESL learners – specially those from languages that use fewer phonemes, or that use very different phonemes. Very true! That is why you see so many people in the Spanish Caribbean who say _pe’si_ instead of Pepsi (I noticed a couple of people in Puerto Rico doing the same). Some English words are pretty hard for the Spanish speaker because they either have a few consonants following each other (something that is almost non-existent in Spanish), words that end in two consonants or words that to us should sound the same yet change due to context. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-speech-impediment/264839/15 "2004-09-20T17:05:35Z")
As Latin evolved into the various Romance languages, most of the consonant clusters that had been present in Latin were simplified. The consonant cluster **pl** in Latin has usually evolved into **pi** in Italian. Other clusters, such as **dj** , **kt** , and **ks** almost always became simplified to just the second element. For example: [ul] [li]Latin _plangere_ --\>Ital. _piangere_ (to cry)[/li][li]Latin _sexus_ --\> Ital. _sesso_ (sex) (remember in this example the ‘x’ actually stands for the cluster **ks**.)[/li][li]Latin _administratione_–\>Ital. _amministrazione_[/li] [/ul] I bring this up because the OP indicates that this process is still going on in Romance languanges today, to an extent that I wasn’t aware of. Probably no language has gone so far in this respect as French. [Link.](http://www.orbilat.com/Languages/Italian/Italian.html) ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2004, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-speech-impediment/264839/16 "2004-09-21T01:42:47Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > As far as I know, Uruguay doen’t have a Naval Academy here, _compa_. 😉 Right. The _student_ is from Panama, he is at the (presumably Urugayan) Naval Academy. (Presumably, as **Ale** is posting from Montevideo; he does not explicitly state so)