España·~8 millones
Andalusia (Southern Spain)
El sur. La música del castellano que más se aleja de la norma escrita y más identidad sonora tiene.
Pronunciation
The famous 's' aspiration or elision: 'los dos' becomes 'lo do' or 'loh doh'. End-of-syllable 's' often disappears. Seseo (vs the peninsular distinción) is common, so 'casa' and 'caza' sound identical. The 'h' from Arabic-era words sometimes preserves aspiration. Rhythm is faster and more melodic than Castilian.
Grammar and register
Standard peninsular grammar (vosotros, ustedes-formal), but heavy colloquial elisions. The diminutive '-illo' is preferred over '-ito' ('cafelillo', 'momentillo'). 'Mi arma' (= 'mi alma') and 'mi niña' as terms of address.
Distinctive words
dude / mate (= chiquillo / chiquilla)
“Quillo, ¿pa dónde vas?”
oh man / wow (= jesús)
“Ozú, qué calor hace.”
kid / young guy
“Mira ese chaval cómo corre.”
ice cream / sweet bread
“Cómprame un mantecao de fresa.”
(but pronounced 'armarjo')
“El armario está en el cuarto.”
Context
Flamenco's home. Half the world's olives. The architectural heritage of Al-Andalus is here (Alhambra, Mezquita, Giralda). 'Andaluz' is also where the Spanish that arrived in the Americas was first formed — many Latin American features (seseo, ustedes-only) trace back to Andalusian and Canary-Islands speakers.