Also known as the "Telemundo syndrome/effect", it is a mysterious ailment that affects a number of Latinos living in the US for a long time (either as immigrants or naturals) and that causes a very peculiar
symptom in them, by which they talk in English with an extremely weird accent (which is not the traditional Latino accent that you might hear in a character from a comedy, such as South Park) that sounds like they are trying so hard to imitate the original American English accent.
When you hear it, you might not recognize it as an accent at first, but rather as a way of spelling things. This kind of English sounds like the speaker's tongue is partially numb by dental anesthesia, hence depriving it of its normal movement capabilities, making the words sound smeared, flattened in the high vowels, and phonetically undeveloped, with vowels sounds usually heard being forced down to the mid spectrum: "eh" and "oh" sound. For example: "Nevada" sounds like "Neh-veh-räh", "Samsung" sounds like "Mzem-zem", "America" sounds like "Oh-meh-rreh-koh".
The name "Univision syndrome/effect" comes from the fact that if you tune highly Americanized Latino TV channels such as Univisión or Telemundo, you will often encounter people in shows and ads that speak in such a peculiar way, but it is actually a phenomenon that manifests outside the TV studios too, among everyday Latino Joes and Janes.
symptom in them, by which they talk in English with an extremely weird accent (which is not the traditional Latino accent that you might hear in a character from a comedy, such as South Park) that sounds like they are trying so hard to imitate the original American English accent.
When you hear it, you might not recognize it as an accent at first, but rather as a way of spelling things. This kind of English sounds like the speaker's tongue is partially numb by dental anesthesia, hence depriving it of its normal movement capabilities, making the words sound smeared, flattened in the high vowels, and phonetically undeveloped, with vowels sounds usually heard being forced down to the mid spectrum: "eh" and "oh" sound. For example: "Nevada" sounds like "Neh-veh-räh", "Samsung" sounds like "Mzem-zem", "America" sounds like "Oh-meh-rreh-koh".
The name "Univision syndrome/effect" comes from the fact that if you tune highly Americanized Latino TV channels such as Univisión or Telemundo, you will often encounter people in shows and ads that speak in such a peculiar way, but it is actually a phenomenon that manifests outside the TV studios too, among everyday Latino Joes and Janes.
Univision syndrome symptoms:
—¡Hola mija, Dios mio, qué de tiempo, al fin nos vemos!
—Ven mamá dejame llevalte a comel al "Petzah hät" del "damn tehwm"
—¡Ay mija, ¿vas drogada? ¿Por qué hablas así?!
—¡Hola mija, Dios mio, qué de tiempo, al fin nos vemos!
—Ven mamá dejame llevalte a comel al "Petzah hät" del "damn tehwm"
—¡Ay mija, ¿vas drogada? ¿Por qué hablas así?!
by J. J. B. Bravo March 24, 2023