Word of the Day: Dialecto

Dialecto is 'dialect' in Spanish, but in the rural areas of Costa Rica you might hear people referring to dialect as a language completely different from Spanish. In my area of Guatuso, people would often explain to me that the indigenous Maleku Indians spoke a "dialect". The textbook understanding of the word would make it seem as if Maleku were a dialect of Spanish. What they mean to say is that it isn't Spanish at all. (A more pessimistic view may have the locals interpreting the Maleku language as somehow undeserving of the language status, which could be accurate for some.) It threw me off a bit the first time I heard someone say it, but I learn to tune it out when people continued to say use dialecto in this way.

Costa Rican Spanish Word of the Day: Si Dios Quiere

Literally translated as "if God wants" (or the more idiomatically correct "God willing" in English), 'si Dios quiere' is an expression that has permeated Costa Rican language and culture.

This expression often throws foreigners through a loop, whether they're believers or not. Many ticos will start or end the future projection of just about anything with 'si Dios quiere' (or 'si Dios permite'). While most people wouldn't have a problem with this, some ticos go a step further to add it onto your sentence when you--wittingly or not--leave it out.

I recall a specific instance when I was telling my neighbor about my graduate school plans. He nodded his head in agreement and said "Sí, si Dios quiere". If it were simply an involuntary cultural reaction I wouldn't have thought much of it, but in this case he was clearly calling attention to my omission of God in the equation.

I am personally not critical of the expression. (Even if I were, my quibbling would be nothing short of futile.) However, others have argued that the pervasiveness of the expression is a sign of--if not an actual cause of--an overreliance on faith and hope instead of self-determination in tico culture. In order to capture this attitude, I wrote the following parody for an underground Peace Corps Costa Rica fake newspaper, "The Times of Tico", which I authored while in the country: "Son's Laziness Mistaken for the Will of God".

Inside-Out

In rural Costa Rica the words 'inside' and 'outside' provide just one example of a set of vague directional references that locals will employ to confuse the hell out of you.

Adentro, to a Costa Rican living in a rural area, is a directional reference meaning "further into the country (boondocks)".

Afuera, as you may expect, means "toward the city". ("Cities" in Costa Rica are often of quite modest size.)

When city folk comes to the Costa Rican countryside, they often get confused by these references. I was witness to a conversation a Costa Rican had with a city-dwelling American when this issue caused major confusion. The rural Costa Rican asked the American (U.S.) "do you like living afuera"? The American then went on to explaining that, no, he prefers the city. The Costa Rican stopped listening at some point (as he normally does) and ended the conversation thinking that the guy actually preferred living in a rural setting. When I brought this up later on, he became defensive, assuring me that the guy didn't like living "afuera".

If you've ever tried confrontation with a Costa Rican, you'll know that it's a futile endeavor. The culture has a high level of avoidance and a distaste for 'necios' who challenge other people. As a result, I didn't try convincing this guy of the cultural divide that the conversation exemplified.

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Other confusing directional references include arriba and abajo. the rural Costa Rican has a surprisingly detailed picture of his area's topography in his head. He'll tell you, "voy pa' bajo", which means nothing to a city slicker. What he'll probably tell you, though, if you care to ask the right questions, is that the town that neighbors him to the south is at about 20 vertical meters below his own. I always wonder: "Couldn't he just tell me the name of the town"?!!? This wondering often gets you nowhere.

Also, Costa Ricans offer gestures to replace descriptive directional cues. Costa Ricans will point at things, whether near or far, with their lips. They press them together and stick them out, as if to make a duckbill, and nod their head in a slight upward motion in the indicated direction.

***Please note that this lip pointing is also a popular way for a Costa Rican man to point out an attractive woman to another dude***

Voy pa' Chepe

Mexico is well known for the nicknames it has for specific given names. Francisco can be either "Paco" or "Pancho". Ignacio you can call "Nacho" (even to his face). José can be "Pepe", but in Costa Rica, he's "Chepe". (Sometimes even Josué will become Chepe.)

As you may already know, Costa Rica's capital is San José. Even the capital de la patria cannot avoid this playful tico nomenclature. Costa Ricans outside of San José will often refer to San José as "Chepe", especially when they're making a trip to the city. (It seems that the farther you get from San José, the more often it's called "Chepe".)

"Voy pa' Chepe" is all I ever needed to say when I was leaving town.

Where 1 means I

In Costa Rica, when a person uses 'uno' as a subject pronoun, she will almost always be speaking in the first person. 'Uno', in such a case, would essentially mean 'yo'. This is a very important cultural aspect of Costa Rican language that shows the Ticos' indirect nature.

To demonstrate exactly what I'm referring to, here's a quick example to get you caught up:

Uno no podría montar a caballo por tanto tiempo
[translation] I wouldn't be able to ride a horse for so much time

Perhaps this way of speaking first originated from Costa Ricans' tendency to speak indirectly and always take the explicit personal nature out of what they say. However, this language has become so pervasive over time that 'uno' simply means 'I' (or 'me'). Even more, the use of 'uno' to mean a more general 'one', as used in English, simply does not exist in Costa Rica. I know this because I've tried using 'one' in the more general third person sense and have confused the hell out of people as a result. I was doing a presentation for a rural community group and said something along the lines of "one not being able to do something." Well, that something was apparently a personal core competency. Admitting that "one" couldn't do it compelled everyone in the room to give me odd looks. I wasn't trying to refer to myself, but everyone in the room thought I was. I clarified the situation very quickly and moved on, but many foreigners never pick up on this subtlety because it goes much deeper than conventional, direct translations between English and Spanish. So, "one" can certainly sympathize ;)

Costa Rican National Anthem - Himno Nacional de Costa Rica

The Costa Rican National Anthem was adopted in 1853 and composed by Manuel María Gutiérrez. The lyrics to the anthem have been in use since 1949. Every morning in a typical Costa Rican public primary school, the National Anthem is preceded by everyone reciting Hail Mary, Our Father, and a prayer prepared by and individual student. (Roman Catholicism is the official state religion in Costa Rica.)

Posted below are the Spanish lyrics to the Himno followed by their approximate English translation.

Noble patria tu hermosa bandera
expresión de tu vida nos da
bajo el límpido azul de tu cielo
blanca y pura descansa la paz

En la lucha tenaz, de fecunda labor
que enrojece del hombre la faz
conquistaron tus hijos labriegos, sencillos
eterno prestigio, estima y honor
eterno presitigio, estima y honor

Salve oh tierra gentil
Salve oh madre de amor
Cuando alguien pretenda tu gloria manchar
verás a tu pueblo valiente y viril
la tosca herramienta en arma trocar

Noble patria tu pródigo suelo
dulce abrigo y sustento nos da
bajo el límpido azul de tu cielo
vivan siempre el trabajo y la paz

[English]

Noble homeland your beautiful flag
expression of your life it gives us.
Beneath the limpid blue of your sky
white and pure rests peace.

In the tenacious fight of fruitful labor
that reddens the man's face
your simple laborer sons conquered
eternal prestige, esteem and honor
eternal prestige, esteem and honor

Hail oh gentile country
Hail oh mother of love
If someone intends to stain your glory
you will see your people, brave and virile
the rough tool turns into weapon.

Hail oh homeland your fertile soil
sweet shelter and sustenance it gives us.
Beneath the limpid blue of your sky
may work and peace live forever!