Spanish book cover

[joywitch999]

Original Yahoo! HPFG Header:
No: HPFGUIDX C2849
From: joywitch999
Subject: Re: Spanish book cover
Reply To: [Yahoo! #2836] Spanish book cover
Date: 6/26/00 1:14 am  (ET)

>>>>Since the cover is different than the Spain version Skimmel_98 posted,
I assumed that it was printed in Mexico, Central America, and/or South
America, but according to the copyright page it was printed in Spain. I've
read a bit of it and the language is definitely a Mexican/Central
American/South American dialect rather than a Spanish one -- there are
certain differences, such as verb endings and the usage of "y" rather than
"i" (both mean "and," although "i" is more commonly used in Spain and
"y" is used mainly in Mexico, Central America, and South America.

I have to disagree with you. The cover that Skimmel posted is from the
Catalan edition. Catalan is a spoken in parts of Spain, but it is a
distinctly different language than what English speakers call *Spanish*,
which in Spain and a lot of Latin America is called Castilliano. Hence,
the Catalan edition was printed in Spain, but the language is NOT
Spanish. The word *i* is not a Spanish word, it is the Catalan equivalent
of the Spanish word *y*. I have the same Spanish edition that you have
(judging by the cover) and IMO the translation was definitely done in
Spain -- it uses words that seem particular to Spain rather than Latin
America. For example, Dudley plays computer games on an *ordenador*,
whereas in Latin America he would use a *computadora*. The characters also
use the verb forms for *vosotros* instead of *ustedes* for the second
person plural, which is typical of Spain. These things are a giveaway
that it is a European dialect, just like English language books which
use words like torch and lift are likely to be from England, especially
if the characters are eating steak and kidney pie.