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6 de Diciembre, 2006
Español - cognates and "u"
Categorized under Español | Tags: español
I KNEW I WAS GETTING SOMEWHERE when I could finally sing along to the song—especially the chorus—No Te Preocupes Por Mi by Chayanne. The pace at which he sings it, the trill and particular sounds one after another, the fact that the chorus has a cognate (word that resembles another in another language, like "preoccupy"), and that it has what was the last vowel sound to settle into my muscle memory ("u") made it impossible at first. Because I was around Spanish for years during my childhood (between my papi, my nanita, and a later, in Miami) my mind did not "throw out" those sounds, as the book peeple say. Another way of saying the accent was sort of in my head all the time, I could hear it, I could feel it as if it were waiting on my tongue. And when I began hearing it again, and studying it, listening to music more, thinking it forward into my life, into my "now"—it came back. Like an old, old, old, old friend. The kind that knew you before you got cynical, and a bit sad.
For a little while—in this path of reeducating myself (and much of not "re") in español, I was confused by sounds I had been saying much longer, sounds that were different but came in similiar shapes. "U" was one. In English you have this curl that starts the word, like "you." That's how "U" in English could be spelled. "Yoo." But in Spanish the "U" sound is just "ooo." Straight up "oooo"ness. And the mouth seems to really point, the tongue curl around the sound too. But for a while I wanted to make an ñ of the u! (I visualize the English "u" sound as the "ñ" of "us." I don't know if you'll understand that. The ñ also has it's own little aural "curl" when compared to the "n.")
I am fascinated how sounds are particular to languages (although some like the jota in Spanish and the "ch" in Hebrew share parts of sounds, or entire sounds), guttural sounds, nasal sounds, and ones we've never even made while playing around. For a time while I was small, I was studying French, German, and Spanish (until we moved once again!) and I carried the ability to count forward up until now. Not that this is a very useful or huge accomplishment, but I am happy that I can count to at least ten in German, French, Spanish, and Korean. It's something! (I usually stumble and fade around 11 or 13ish. Except in Spanish! I can count to 1.999, sucka!)
Also cognates, as I said, were at first tough for me in Spanish. Especially the long ones (and there are some long ones) where my tongue had time, between the start and the end of the word, to forget the (shape of the) Spanish sounds (not my ear, the connection between hearing it and speaking it) and fall back upon on English sounds—which are generally higher in the chest and throat than (my experience of) Spanish vowels. Not to mention that when this happens with you with a cognate, you start saying the entirely wrong sound. You're like "e," oh yeah, "EEEee."
Spanish vowels are much shorter (almost like huffs of sound) and come from deeper in the mouth or throat. At least that's how I visualize it. In the case of the "o," the sound (as in something like tonto, The "Lone Ranger's" way of calling Indians "stupid" in a mainstream, chummy way) springing up low and bassy from the diaphragm. English would have you saying those "o"s up in your throat. Spanish "o" has no sound in English to compare. That part of the mouth and throat is not used in English.
I have stupid big gratitude for bringing Spanish back into my life. I would miss these sounds if had no reason to make them, have missed them, missed them more than I'd admitted even to myself. I love this language. To me, it's like singing, even while you speak.
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