Español canario

Canarian Spanish

The Spanish that is spoken by inhabitants of the Canary Islands is a variant of the Spanish language. In terms of their general accent, there is a very distinctive sound of the "s" in words that are written with -c and -z. ( e.g "cena", "cine" or "zapato" would be pronounced as "sena", "sine" and "sapato"). This particular aspect is shared with natives from Andalucía, the southern region of the peninsula. 

It is said that this influence comes from when the Canary Islands were conquered by the Spanish from the peninsula, back in the 15th century. The ports in Andalucía were used to send the expeditions and lots of Andalusians were involved in these.

There are also many words that derive from the predominant language in the Canary Islands, previous to the Spanish conquest, that is the "Guanche language", such as "jaira" (goat), "tenique" (big stone), or "gofio" (a type of flour). Most of them refer to agriculture and nature.

Thinking...