Dialectología aplicada

Shibboleth is any distinguishing practice that is indicative of one’s social or regional origin. It usually refers to features of language, and particularly to a word whose pronunciation identifies its speaker as being a member or not a member of a particular group.] — OrigenListasLet’s Call the Whole Thing Off (banda sonora)

  • In the Paraguay War (1864–1870), Brazilian soldiers would identify Paraguayan citizens by having them say the wordpão, meaning “bread”. Non-native Portuguese speakers have great difficulty replicating the ão sound — instead, they would say pan or pao (without the due nasalization indicated by the tilde).
  • During the Cuban War of Independence, prisoners caught by the insurgents were asked to pronounce the word “garbanzo” (pronounced [ɡarˈβanθo] in Castilian Spanish). Cubans pronounced the /r/ as /l/, and the /θ/ as /s/, resulting [ɡalˈβanso]. They were considered traitors.
  • The Spanish word perejil (parsley) was used as a shibboleth by Dominican Republic strongman Trujillo against Haitian immigrants at Río Massacre. See [2].[3