Of all the inhabitants of Lima, the white Creoles speak the best Spanish; but still their language is far from pure. The ladies in particular have the habit of substituting one letter for another in certain words; for example, instead of pulso (pulse) they say purso, and instead of salsa (sauce) they say sarsa. In other words they substitute d for r, saying amod for amor, cavalledo for cavallero. The ll is frequently sounded by the Peruvians like y, a blunder which foreigners are also very apt to commit; for example, in the word pollo (chicken), which they pronounce as if it were spelled poyo, and gallina (hen) they pronounce as if spelled gayina. Not only do they confound single letters, but they frequently change whole syllables; as for instance, in the word pared (wall), which they transform into pader. The name of the well-known ex-President Orbegoso was, by two-thirds of the natives of Lima, pronounced as if written Obregoso. There is no word in the Spanish language beginning with an s followed by a consonant, and the Limeños, when they attempt to pronounce foreign words or proper names commencing in the manner just described, never fail to prefix to them the letter e. I know not whether in the schools and colleges of old Spain this method of prefixing the letter e is adopted in teaching Latin; but the practice is universal among the students of all the colleges in Lima. For studium they say estudium; for spurius, espurius; for sceleratus, esceleratus, &c.
To the Limeños the correct pronunciation of these words is extremely difficult, and many have assured me that they find it impossible to omit the e before the s. Still more arbitrary is their conversion of h into k in the words mihi, nihil, &c., which they pronounce miki, nikil.
The colored Creoles, who are generally uneducated, speak the Spanish language much more corruptly than the whites. The Negroes have a very bad accent. Their tongues seem quite unfitted for the pronunciation of the Spanish language, which many of them render unintelligible by transposing letters and lopping off syllables.
FOOTNOTES:
[13] Interpretations of the Indian Laws.
[14] His divine genius has produced eternal spring in Arequipa.
[15] "Guia del Peru." "Observaciones sobre el clima de Lima y sus influencias en los seres organizados en especial el hombre."
[16] The women of Lima clean their teeth several times a day with the root called Raiz de dientes (literally root for the teeth), of which they keep a piece constantly in their pocket.
[17] It is related that, during the war of independence, when Lima was alternately in possession of the Patriots and the Spaniards, a party of the latter, in order to ascertain the spirit of the Limeños, disguised themselves as Patriots and marched to the vicinity of the town. On their approach becoming known, a great number of persons proceeded from Callao to the Alameda to meet them. Among those who went forth to welcome the supposed patriots were a number of women dressed in the narrow sayas above described. When the disguised Spaniards had advanced within a little distance of the deceived multitude they began to attack them. The men saved themselves by flight; but the women, whose sayas impeded their motion, were unable to escape, and were almost all killed.
[18] A Tapada is a lady closely concealed beneath the folds of her veil or manto. The term is derived from the verb tapar, to cover or conceal. Taparse a media ojo, is said of a lady when she draws her manto over her face so as to leave only one eye or rather the half of an eye uncovered.—T.