Why do the people of Spain have a lisp in their accent?

Question

I was listening to my teacher talk and she said this is how they talk in Spain with a lisp and I'm trying to figure out why do they add the lisp to their accent instead of talking like everybody else? Also can you tell me a webiste that can help me find this info.

Answer 1

It's called Castillian Spanish. Way back in the day, the King had a lisp, and he made everyone in his kingdom speak with one too (so he wouldn't feel bad). I think. Either that, or the people just started speaking like him because he was the king. I think it was the first one though.

I was wrong. Turned out to be an urban legend. But at least I didn't make it all up in my head. Here's the info you want.

http://spanish.about.com/cs/qa/a/q_lisp.htm

Answer 2

it may not be a real "lisp", but is just a much different accent than you are used to. Lisps are an actual disease, while accent is something that you will get to and know better after some time. If you spent time with a spainiard for a while it will most likely go away or die down, just like what happens after you know a person with a lisp, for a long time. Hope this helps!

Answer 3

Actually, they created the Spanish language (that's why they call it "Spanish").
The question should be "Why don't Spanish speakers outside Spain have that lisp in their accent?".
The answers: When the Spaniards started colonizing America they forced the natives to learn Spanish. These people already spoke their own languages and dialects. This created a Spanish language with a native dialect accent. You can notice this just by talking to people from different countries in Latin America. They all have different accents depending on which civilizations used to be in their countries many centuries ago.

By the way, Castillian Spanish is the one that everybody speak in Latin America. We just know it as Spanish because it's the most spoken all over the world and Spain. However, there are other dialects of Spanish that are only spoken in some regions of Spain, such as catalan, basque, galician, occitan, ladino, calo, etc.

Answer 4

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
Why do the people of Spain have a lisp in their accent?
I was listening to my teacher talk and she said this is how they talk in Spain with a lisp and I'm trying to figure out why do they add the lisp to their accent instead of talking like everybody else? Also can you tell me a webiste that can help me find this info.

Answer 5

It's not really a lisp.
A lisp is a speech impediment where people say an interdental sound instead of saying an "s" (alveolar) sound.
The accent in Spain is not a speech impediment, it's just that they use an interdental sound in the same place where many other dialects of Spanish have an interdental sound.
An equivalent in English, for example, is how different dialects of English pronounce the vowel in "four" differently.

Answer 6

Spanish Lisp

Answer 7

A lisp? And it's an English speaker with all the "th"s in the language who says that?

So, yeah, Castillan pronunciation requires that the soft c be pronounce like the English "th" in "thick", or the Norse "thorn" sound, and French are is a throaty rattle, and Japanese does not make a difference between L and R (or B and V for that matter), and African languages have a glottal click that is heck to reproduce by Europeans, and the Quebecois speak French in such a way that people from France have trouble understanding them... Different places, different habits.

Answer 8

Umm they invented the language with the lisp, so the real question is really "Why do the people of Latin America not have a lisp in their accents?"

Answer 9

There was a story that a king of Spain at one time had a lisp,so the people spoke like he did.

Answer 10

well they are like the red neck here in the usa their english is different from the ppl in england =D but youre right and i hate them why they lisp is a mystery in itself...