Standard Spanish

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Standard Spanish or Neutral Spanish, is a linguistic variety or lect that is considered the correct educated standard for the Spanish language. Standard Spanish is not merely Spanish adjusted to fit in prescriptive molds dictated by a linguistic overseeing authority, but also a form of language that respects the literary and cultural tradition. All aspects of this standard variety, from grammar and prosody to phonetics and lexicon, are therefore removed, to some degree, from everyday common usage.

However, Standard Spanish is not simply Spanish without local idioms or regional mannerisms. In other words, it is not a lowest common denominator of all varieties of Spanish. Indeed, Standard Spanish has many features that are absent from other lects, such as certain tenses that are obsolete in spoken dialects.

Many confuse Standard Spanish with a lowest common denominator in part because of the strong prescriptive and centralized tradition of the Real Academia Española, which has historically dominated the written language, and also because Standard Spanish is not a geographically bound dialect, but rather a register that many speakers employ in addition to their own dialects in formal contexts or in writing. Mastery of Standard Spanish is necessary in some professions and activities, such as teaching, law, and the media.

Reference

This article draws material from [the corresponding article] in the [Spanish Wikipedia].

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