,.
112 CARLOSA. SOLE
21 . VALORIZAOON DE LA NORMA BONAERENSE FRENTE A LAS C LANDESTINE RADIO BROADCASTING AS A OTRAS NORMAS HlSPANICAS: P~S FlJERA DE LA ARGENTINA SOCIOLI NGUISTIC MICROCOSM OONDESEHABLA "MEJOR" ESPANOL M. MUFSTRA TOTAL John Lipski Universi ty of Florida Madrid 42% Bogota 13% Cludad de Mexico 10% Lima 7% The use of radio broadcasting as an instrument of polit Varios otros palses1 15% 2 ical propaganda is nearly as old as radio broadcasting itself; Sin opini6n 13% the airwaves are filled with the signals of both powerful multi-station networks and individual stations of varying Se agrupan aquf varios otros paises de habla espafiola power, all of which attempt to present the position of na mencionados por los encuestados pero con porcentajes inferioros tional governments, private organizations and special in a15% de la encuesta total. terest groups. In addition to legitimately licensed govern ment and private instruments of poli tical persuasion, the 2 Este porcentaje incluye a esos encuestados que no mencionan airwaves are filled with a number of unofficial clandestine nlng\1n pals especlfico sino que advierten que no existe tal cosa stations serving as the outlets for rebel movements, exile como "mejor" espafiol, sino "diferente N espafiol. groups, internal resistance fronts and occasional political action organizations (Browne 1984; Mickelson 1984; Hale 22. LA LENCUA COMO EXPRESrON DE LA NAOONAU DAD 1975). The observation of the techniques, format, and be ARGENTINA havior of these "parallel" broadcasting services provides for fasci nating studies of political persuasion through me MUESTRA TOTAL dia manipulation, but an equally Significant dimension is the sociolinguistic characteristics of clandestine/rebel radio SI 83% broadcasting. The present note is quite limited in scope, No 17% being devoted to an overview of clandestine broadcasting involving three Latin American countries, namely EI Sal 23. LA LENGUA COMO EXPRESION DE LA NACIONAUDAD: ORDEN vador, Nicaragua and Cuba. DE JERARQUIA FRENTE A LA TRADIOON/CULTIJRA Y RELIGION Clandestine radio broadcasting in Latin America ap pears to have had its "official" beginning during the u.s. MUESTRA TOTAL sPonsored overthrow of the Guatemalan government in Primer lugar: Tradici6n/Cultura 51 % 1954, when the Central Intelligence Agency set up a rebel Segundo lugar: Lengua 44% station inside Honduras, to warn of a phantom invasion Tercer lugar: Religi6n 5% of Guatemala from the former country, and the subse quent devastation of the elected government and its sup porters (Immerman 1982: 164; Soley and Nichols 1987: ~hap. 9). The OA returned to rebel radio broadcasting prior o t ~e Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba in 1961, setting up a stahon on Swan Island in the Caribbean.1 It is not clear to What extent the CIA or other entities of the United States 114 JOHN M. UPSKI CLANDESTINE RADIO BROAOCASTlNG 115 government have been involved in the spa te of anti gram content is divided between anti-Castro editorial Castro Cuban exile stations which have appeared and commentary and popular music and talk programs, pro disappeared over the past 20 years, but such stations, to be duced in a style similar to that of commercial Latin Amer studied below, have been both numerous and tenacious, ican and United States radio stations. The R. Marti broad in addition to the recently opened Voice of America outlet casts of the Voice of America are strikingly similar to the Radio Marti, which however, enjoys official, state CID broadcasts and it is hard to imagine that the latter controlled status (Berg 1983; Soley and Nichols 1987: chap. have no t influenced the VOA programming, bu t the 7; Nichols 1984). amount of explicit editorial commentary and open criti In Nicaragua, a nation traditionally characterized by a cism of the Castro regime is much higher in the CID high proportion of privately owned radio stations, the broadcasts. The GD radio personnel represent pre-Castro Sandinista insurrection against Anastasio Somoza made radio broadcasting in Cuba, particularly in the linguistic extensive use of a clandestine outlet.2 Almost immediately dimension, where a highly artificial articulation is used, following the overthrow of Somoza, counter revolution which is severely at odds with the patterns of spoken ary groups, claiming various affiliations, formed to oust Cuban Spanish, even among educated individuals (Lipski the Sandinistas, and each has operated at least one 1983, 1986a). In keeping with the patterns found in other clandestine radio station. Latin American nations whose local Spanish dialects are The current insurrection in El Salvador traces its roots characterized by significant deviations from "spelJing" to the peasant uprising of 1932 and the brutal massacre of pronunciation, Cuban radio broadcasting adhered to strict tens of thousands of unarmed peasants {and their leader, standards of diction and elimination of regional expres Farabundo Martn by the Salvadoran government sions and colloquial variants (L6pez 1981); this style, si g (Anderson 1971; Arnson 1982; Montgomery 1982); the nificantly enough, is still maintained to a certain extent by escalation of the current civil war, spearheaded by the the international service of Radio Habana, the official Frente Farabundo Marti dates from around 1980. From the Cuban broadcast service. Within Cuba, however, domestic beginning of the conflict, the Salvadoran rebels have radio broadcasting has taken a sharp turn in favor of operated clandestine stations, to be described below, which popular phonetic patterns, even in news broadcasts and provide the principal source of information on the tactics, official announcements (Knauer 1984). In the linguistic activities and official pOSition of these groups. dimenSion, the GD broadcasts project an image of the past We begin with the Cuban clandestine Voz del CID, (which can also be heard in the many Spanish-language which enjoys the most extensive facilities. The umbreIJa radio stati ons in Miami, whose programs are frequen tl y organization, Cuba Independiente y Democratica operates listened to in Cuba), reinforcing the political persuasion of openly in the United States, and is headed by Hubert CID, which advocates a return to pre-1959 Cuban lifestyles. Matos, a former Castro military commander, who was In striking contrast to the professional CID broadcasts is jailed for many years in Cuba and who now lives in Mi La Voz de Alpha 66, representing an exile organization ami. For a number of years, the CID has operated a net ~ver 20 years old. The Alpha 66 station has from time to work of radio stations, at times sharing the facilities of t~me been closed down by the U.S. Federal Communica commercial stations in Venezuela and the Dominican Re hons Commisssion, but for the last few years the public. At present a single transmitter is used, of relatively transmitter (also located in Florida) has operated on a poor modulation but powerful. CID transmissions are regular schedule and on a single frequency, which indi characterized by professional quality and a highly orga cates that some sort of working arrangement has been nized format. All announcers are Cuban, and most are as reached to avoid prosecution for violation of broadcasting sumed to be former radio announcers in Cuba. The pro- aws. The broadcasts are a continuation of the earliest 116 JOHN M. LIPSKI CLANDESTINE RADIO BROADCASTING 117 stages of the anti-Castro exile struggle, and are character tain a phonological feature highly stigmatized in Cuban ized by inflammatory rhetoric (e.g. la victoria sera nuestra, Spanish, although common in working-class speech of candela par toda la isla), invective levelled against com many regions: neutralization of syllable-final III and I rl munists, Russians, and Fidel Castro in particular. These in favor of [1] or a geminated consonant
grams is the constant and obsessive reference to the at ally the same, as are the speech style and broadcasting for tempted political liberalization of Soviet leader Gor mat. The stations usually broadcast one immediately after bachev, regarded as a positive model which should be fol the other, several times per day, in the same frequency lowed by Cuba and other nations which (R. Caiman range, and yet all available information confirms that sep affirms) are mal llllmados socialistas. The comments verg arate transmitters in two different locations are being used. ing on open praise of the Soviet leader by the clearly anti Unlike the Cuban stations, R. Venceremos/R. Farabundo communist R. Caiman and the recurring contrast of Gor Marti contain no apolitical material, and even the musical bachev and Stalin suggest that more is at stake in these segments consist of revolutionary songs by rebel songwrit broadcasts than simply venting the views of yet another ers and Latin American musical activists. The majority of Cuban exile group. the programming consists of "official" FMLN /FDR news From the linguistic standpoint, the R. Caiman an bulletins of campaign action, denunciations of Salvadoran nouncers make no attempt to hide their Cuban origin, and and U.S. government policies, and appeals for support use popular phonetic variants (although couched in an from the Salvadoran populace. The announcers shout appropriate lexical and grammatical setting) throughout nearly all transmissions, which adds to the distortion re the programs. These include velarization of final /n/ and sulting from amateur quality equipment, and the broad loss of / s/, although interchange of /1/ and /r/ is nonexis casts are frequently punctuated by taped battle noises and tent. At least one announcer, while unmistakably Cuban, martial music. Periodically, rebel leaders offer statements has phonetic characteristics which suggest an Arab lan or denunciations, generally presented in a style which guage background. Another announcer combines popular suggests reading from a script; very infrequent are sponta Cuban phonetic traits with those associated with Chinese neous on-the-air interviews, perhaps due to the pressures speakers, and may be a member of the Cuban-Chinese of time resulting from the need to escape detection and community, most of which are living in exile in the jamming (Hauser 1979; Browne 1984: 14; Armstrong 1983; United States. The general phonetic patterns employed by Teschner 1984, Drucker 1984). the announcers are more similar to those of contemporary Although at least in theory aimed at those segments of Cuban stations than to Miami commercial stations, the the Salvadoran population most likely to sympathize with CID or R. Marti programs; this places R. Caiman in a fa armed insurrection (landless peasants and workers), the vorable position for attracting listeners within Cuba. language and diction used by the R. Venceremos/ R. Currently the clandestine stations on the air in EI Sal Farabundo Marti personnel are surprisingly free of popu vador are Radio Venceremos, the official voice of the lar tendencies. Normal weakening of consonantal FMLN (claiming to be broadcasting from Morazan articulation found in the speech of even educated Sal province), and Radio Farabundo Marti, voice of the FDR vadorans (particularly weakening of word-initial /s/ as in (broadcasting from Chalatenango province). R. Vencere la semana) is virtually absent (Canfield ]960, 1981; Lipski mos/R. Farabundo Marti provide a source of news and of 1985, ]986b), and considerable attention is paid to the use ficial PMLN /FDR viewpoints fo r foreign observers and of sophisticated political rhetoric and a syntax bespeaking monitoring services, as evidenced by the wide croS S traditional soapbox oratory. Although like the rest of Cen section of international newspapers and radio broadcasts tral America, EJ Salvador uses the second person familiar which cite these clandestine stations as a primary source. pronoun vas to the nearly total exclusion of tu, the latter Interestingly, U.S. and most other Western news serviCes pronoun, which characterizes formal poetry, prayers and cite R. Venceremos more frequently, while Cuba and east oratory, is most often used in R. Venceremos and R. ern European news services seem to prefer R. Farabundo ~~rabun do Marti's exhortations to Salvadorans (Paez 1981; Marti broadcasts, although the reported activities are USU Iddle 1954; Rona 1967; Canfield 1960; Lipski 1986b). 120 lOI-IN M. LIPSKI CLANDESTINE RADIO BROADCASTING 121
Occasionally in less charged speech, the Salvadoran lis only partial success to form a unified front, have estab tener (particularly the potentially disaffected military con lished clandestine shortwave transmitters. All such sta script) is addressed as vas when a sense of comradeship is tions claim to be operating from Nicaraguan territory, but being stressed or when the common suffering of the rural in reali ty most are located in Honduras, and at least one poor is under discussion. It is evident that most if not aU may be transmitting from El Salvador, Costa Rica, or from announcers/writers have an intellectual background, but a United States naval vessel anchored in the Gulf of Fon it is curious that the strategy of the FMLN (if indeed any seca (Richelson 1985: 129; Soley and Nichols 1987: chap. 9). conscious strategy is at work) leans toward a more tradi Currently operating or recently disappeared contra stations tional, educated speech pattern. incl ude: (1) Radio 15 de Septiembre, the flagship of the ex Starting at the beginning of 1979, the Sandinista rebels Somocista rebels operating from Honduras; (2) La Voz de in Nicaragua operated clandestine stations whose broad Sandino (apparently an alter ego of the occasional Voz de casts were very similar to those of R. Vencere Nicaragua Libre), an occasional outlet representing Eden mos/Farabundo Marti, although more obviously aimed at Pastora's now defunct ARDE movement, which transmit internal insurgents within Nicaragua than at an interna ted from Costa Rica; (3) Radio Monimb6, representing an tional audience of mOnitoring services and expatriot sym. unidentified Christian-Democratic oppOSition, of un pathizers (Hauser 1979; Soley and Nichols 1987: chap. 9). known location; (4) Radio Miskut, located in the Mosquito As such the language tended toward direct, pragmatic ap Coast region of Honduras, and representing the Miskito peals for support and solidarity, and a natural approxima Indian co ntra s; this station broadcasts in Spanish and tion to local Nicaraguan Spanish was observable, despite Miskito, with occasional programs in Sumu and Rama. Of the middle-class intellectual background of most of the in these stations, some of which enjoy powerfu l transmitters, surgent leaders. With the Sandinista triumph, the professional facilities and protection from political perse clandestine broadcasters simply shifted to the confiscated cution, only R. Monimb6 approximates the programming Somoza radio sta tions, with the result that official styles and format of commercial non-clandestine stations. Nicaraguan radio broadcasting represents a direct continu At least half of the programming involves popular Latin ation of rebel broadcasting. This flavor has been continued American music, from a well-stocked library of favorites. to the present time, not only in official government sta Interspersed between the songs are extensive editorial tions but by the private stations as well, especially in view commentaries, all highly critical and sarcastic of Sandin of the required "national network" news broadcasts in ista government policies, and delivered in a low-key non which official programs are obligatorily aired over all sta hysterical voice which resembles that used by many radio tions. Not only is broadcast language characterized by a evangelists, when delivering their basic messages. Unlike style of diction and syntax typical of regional colloquial the other rebel stations, R. Monimb6 does not broadcast Spanish, but the choice of themes and associated vocabu infl ammatory rhetoric clamoring for armed insurrection lary reflects a revolutionary framework, savoring triumph ~nd sabotage, bu t rather focuses on the foibles of Sandin over tyranny and embarking on an ambitious program of Ista leaders, their misuse of government funds for conSciousness raiSing and national reconstruction. With personal gain and the theme of t he betrayal of the insur the advent of counterrevolutionary attacks, the revolu rection against the Somoza. The tone is one of disappoint tionary tone of Nicaraguan radio broadcasting shifted away ment, set against the backdrop of expectations of the even from reconstruction and political awareness to national tual overthrow of the Sandinista government, which, defense in the face of foreign/mercenary aggression. however, is not openly advocated by R. Monimb6. Conso In the past few years, the various Nicaraguan counter nant with its appeal to middle and professional classes, R. revolutionary movements, which have attempted with Monimb6's announcers speak slowly and carefully, avoid " 122 JOHN M. LIPSKI CLANDESTINE RADIO BROADCASTING 123 ing the extreme phonetic reductions characteristic of broadcast language are conSiderably more conservative popular Nicaraguan Spanish, but making no attempt at than those of (domestic) Nicaraguan official and private avoiding the intonation and more subtle phonetic traits broadcasts, perhaps attempting to influence an interna which are unmistakably Nicaraguan. tional audience. Nevertheless, the Nicaraguan origin of R. Miskut's announcers are probably all members of the the announcers is apparent at all times, and those appeals Miskito nation, and all speak Spanish with the light accent aimed directly at the Nicaraguan populace enhance these typical of fluent Miskito bilinguals (many Miskitos speak features, at times even making use of the familiar pro little or no Spanish). Although music is occaSionally noun vas instead of the formal usted or the non-Central played, the bulk of R. Miskut's broadcasting consists of American tli. In general, however, R. 15 de Septiembre's revolutionary appeals to the Miskito nation, dispersed transmissions appear to be directed at middle/professional throughout the Honduras-Nicaragua border region. The class audience, which while employing popular and even format is the shouted, impassioned delivery found in R. vulgar forms and diction in colloquial speech, has a lin Venceremos/Farabundo Marti and Alpha 66 broadcasts, guistic self-image which rejects such forms as improper and the insurrectionary message is clear. Of all the under public scrutiny and which attempts to achieve a Nicaraguan contra stations, R. Miskut is the least con more "universal" pan-Hispanic form of speech. In these cerned with reaching an international audience or expa broadcasts, there is no comprehensive and consistent lin triot symp athizers outside of the general region. The guistic modification to fit the ideolOgical and political de Spanish used by R. Miskut's announcers is popular in the signs of the contra groups, but the juxtaposition of R. 15 de extreme, with phonetic reductions, choice of vocabulary Septiembre and the domestic and internationa l broadcasts and syntax stemming from and aimed at listeners in the of the Voz de Nicaragua provides striking contrast. Mosquitia region with a low level of education, as evi Table 1 depicts the sociopolitical configuration of the denced by the fact that one broadcast claimed that vaccines various clandestine stations, and their official counter distributed by Sandinista health volunteers would tum parts. Table 2 contains a breakdown of linguistic character people into atheist communists and another warned that istics in the various groups. communists (Le. Cuban medical personnel) ate babies. La Voz de Sandino has not been monitored for some Table 1: Characteristics of rebel vs. official stations time, and its format and program content suggested that it may have eventually served as a second outlet for the STATION program domestic inn speech target powerful R. 15 de Septiembre, after the expulsion of Eden content audience audience sty le group Pastora by ARDE and the consolidation of Pastora's fol R. Habana general none exclusively formal int'l lowers with the openly pro-Somoza contras based in Hon (int'l) duras. The latter station has been the principal source for +prop. elite Cuban official contra rhetoric, and is extensively listened to by general exclusive none popular general contras established in urban areas of Central America and (domestic) pop. the United States, as well as by sympathizers within VO% de ClD prop. + mostly some formal middl e Nicaragua. The format of R. 15 de Septiembre's broadcasts general cla ss is similar to those of R. Venceremos/Farabundo Marti a n~ R. Caim4n music + mostly some popular youth R. Miskut, consisting of shouted announcements of rebe prop. victories, calls for armed resistence to the Sandinista goV it/phil 66 ernment, and impassioned denunciations of that gOV polemic mostly slight informal workers ernment's policies. The phonological characteristics of the 124 JOHN M. LIPSKI CLANDESTINE RADIO BROADCASTING 125
Table 2: Linguistic profile of rebel vS. official statinns STATION program domesHc int'l speech ta rget content audience audience style group STATION reduction reduction pro. for vulgar popular of /s#V/ of /s##/ audience phon. lexicon
El Salvador general mostly slight usually general (domestic) formal pop. R. Habana sporadic rare usted none rare (int'l) R. Venceremos prop. yes yes ra ther popular formal masses Cuban general general tU (usted) at times frequent (domestic) R.F. Mart{ prop. yes yes ra ther popular formal masses Voz de CID at times at times usted none at times
------_ ...... - .... -- -._..... R. Caim4n at times rare usted none rare V. Nicaragua general slight mostly formal int'l Alpha 66 general frequent usted (tU) frequent frequent Unt'/) + prop. eli te .. _------_ ...... -- ...... --- ...... -- ...... --_ ... --_ ... ---_ ... .. --..... -_ ...... ---......
V . Nicaragua general mostly slight popular general ( domestic) EI Salvador rare none usted (ill) none none pop. (domestic) 15 de Sept. prop. yes yes rather middle R. Venceremos frequent at times vos (usted) at times at times formal class + i nt' I R.F. Mart{ frequent at times vas (usted) at times at times V. Nic. LiUre prop. yes yes rather middle formal class + int'l V. Nicaragua rare none usted none none (int'l) R. Miskut prop. mostly sligh t popular Indig. masses V. Nicaragua general general vos (usted) frequent frequent (domestic) R. Monimb6 prop. + mostly some formal middJe general class + 15 de Sept. general frequent usted (vos) at times at times exiles V. Nic. Libre general frequent usted (vos) at times at times Voz de UNO prop. some mostly informal middle class + R. Miskut general general vos frequent frequent intl'l R. Monimb6 at times rare usted none rare Abbrevia tions: prop. = propaganda and political rhetoric; pop. = population; int'I international; indigo = indigenous. VOl de UNO at times at times usted (ill) rare rare
AbbreViations: / s#V / =word-final prevocalic (los amigos); /5## / = phrase-final (vamos); pro. = pronoun used to address listening audience; vulgar phon. = use of popu lar / vulgar phonetic traits; forms in parenthesis are occasional. 126 JOHN M. LIPSKI CLANDESTINE RADIO BROADCASTING 127
These qualitative observations indicate a significant within a given sociocultural stratum, as well as across correlation among (1) existence of an international audi strata, is the realization of word-final / s/ before unstressed ence; (2) a primary target of middle- and professional-cla Ss vowels (los amigos ), where aspiration to [h] or elision is listeners, and (3) a rather formal, artificial speech style. common in the popular speech of the regions under con These considerations obtain both for official and for clan sideration, but where carefully monitored speech destine/rebel broadcasting, despite wide divergence in (particularly broadcast language) exhibits much lower rates other parameters. For example, the relative proportion of of reduction of / s/. Previous research has shown this to be propaganda or general interest material is essentially irrel one of the most useful stylistic and sociolinguistic vari evant to variation in linguistic style, although the first pa ables characterizing Spanish dialects and discourse modes, rameter is correlated with the social/cultural class of the for while behavior of syllable-final / s/ in other environ audience, as is speech style. Giving a quanti tative demon ments may differ only slightly from formal speech to radio stration of the sociolinguistic differentiation found among broadcasting and other public appearances, the clandestine/rebel broadcasts and their official antagonists transformation from aspiration [h] to retention of a si bi is rendered much more difficult, given the lack of widely lant [5] in word-final prevocalic positions is a nearly excep accepted quantitative measures of formal vs. popular tionless mark of the transition away from normal speech. Spanish usage, and the similar lack of comparative studies Table 3 gives comparative quantitative data for the three on broadcast language techniques and styles among dialects under consideration, representing the speech of Spanish-speaking nations. The problem is compounded by middle-class speakers (the presumed direct recipients of the generally poor reception conditions, caused by amateur most cl andestine broadcasts), in comparison with the var quality portable equipment as well as jamming, which ious broadcast sources under discussion, using as a sample renders detailed studies precarious at best. The most editorial comments or announcements which appeared to promising dimension for quantitative studies is variation represent improvized rather than prepared (and read) in pronunciation of key elements, which can be used to scripts.3 Figure 1 gives a graphic comparison of these data. measure the degree of approximation of broadcast lan guage to normal speecl'\ patterns of various sociocultural Table 3: Rate (%) of retention of Is#vI as [sl groups in the countries under study. In the case of Cuba, EI Salvador and Nicaragua, the best phonological indicator is the realization of phoneme lsI, in syllable- and word-final Dialect % /s #v/ as [sJ contexts (Lipski 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986a; Terrell 1977, 1979). Cuba and Nicaragua clearly belong to the most "radical" R. Havana into 99 group of dialects with regard to weakening of syllable- and Cuban domestic 78 word-final lsI, while El Salvador straddles the last two VOZdel em 95 categories, since while many peasants and poor urban res R. Caiman 83 R. Mart! idents reduce / s/ nearly to the levels found in Nicarag.u ~1 95 Voz de Alpha 66 middle- and upper-class Salvadorans retain /s/ as a SIbI 69 CUban speech 10 lant [s] in a greater number of cases. Within each dialect .._-- zone, the general tendencies are toward increased reduc tion of / s/ as one descends the sociocultural scale, and a. I S~ £\ Salvador domest. 100 ItVenccremos in contexts of increased informality, urgency or colloqUia 95 It Farabundo Marti 89 ity, although with noteworthy idiosyncratic exceptio~s. In £\ Salvador speech 28 particular, the most significant differentiator of reglsterS ------128 JOHN M. LIPSKI CLANDESTINE RADIO BROADCASTING 129
V. NIcaragua Int'} 97 NIcaragua domestic 15 R. 15 de septiembre 38 Nicarag ua V. Nicaragua Libre 52 R Mlskut 24 RMonimb6 73 Nicaragua sp. Nicaragua speech 7 V. Nic (i ntI.)
Nic. (dam.)
figure 1 Dialact V. Nic. Li bra R. 15 Sept. Cuba. R. Miskut I I Cuban sp&9Ch R. Monimb6 Cuban Radio o 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 8 0 90 100 % /s/tvl as Voz da Alpha 66 [5]
Dialact R. Calm4n
Radio Marti International broadcasts from Cuba and Nicaragua have R. Habana Int adopted more formal patterns of pronunciation, as noted earlier, which includes retention of /s/ as a sibliant [s] to a VOZdaCld~1 far greater extent than is found in daily speech, and in o 10 2 0 3 0 4 0 50 60 70 8 0 90 100 keeping with broadcasting language of Spain and o ther % I'&#VI as Is) prominent Latin American nations. El Salvador offers no international broadcasting service (although Radio Na cional occasionally broadcasts on shortwave bands), and EI Salvador hence cannot be included in these comparisons. Fi nally, broadcasts from the clandestine/rebel stations described earlier add to the complex sociolinguistic mosaic Salvadoran Sp. characterizing behavior of /s/ in Latin American radio b.roadcasting, since the styles range from the highly artifi R. F. Marti Cial styles of the Voz de ClD (retaining sibilant [s] in nearly Dialect all cases) to the highly popular format of R. Miskut and La
R. Venc9ramos Voz de Alpha 66, passing through the moderately formal patterns of R. Venceremos, R. Farabundo Marti, R. Mon unb6, R. Caiman and R. 15 de Septiembre. EI Sal. radio Normally, a person's ability to modify pronunciation h~s only a slight range of variation, involving a single re o 10 20 30 4 0 5 0 6 0 70 80 11 0 100 flonal dialect and possibly approximations to other well '" Is/lvl as Is) nOWn dialects. At the same time, pronunciation is more 130 JOHN M. LIPSKI CLANDESTINE RADIO BROADCASTlNG 131 frequently associated with social status and regional origin bounds of observable speech, especially as regards the than with political values, although in the case of "elitist" absolute and inviolable nature of phonetic traits. The and "grassroots" politicians, the deliberate choice of certain other side of the coin involves "proper" speech, which in speech styles has obvious political motivation. In the the popular imagination, fostered by the prominence of clandestine radio broadcasts described above, the political Spanish-born nuns, priests and teachers in Latin Ameri values associated with certain phonetic variants are can schools and churches, includes pronouncing all word aligned both with the speakers' attitudes and conception of final consonants as they are written (such as /s/, /r/ and the listening audience, but also on the latter's real process /1/), and even distinguishing the letters sand z, giving an ing strategies, awareness of and concern for subtle lan interdental pronunciation [e] (as in English thick) to the guage modifications. Awareness of such patterns in re latter element; such speech traits are not naturally found ceived speech is less well known, given the lack of studies in any variety of Latin American Spanish. The old style of of perception and Unguistic interpretation of such vari Cuban radio broadcasting, typified by the CID and R. MarH ables (Lipski 1986b, b). Perhaps the best point of departure broadcasts, carries these ideas to their logical extreme, and is the study of linguistic attitudes toward varieties and interviews with Cubans of all social classes give evidence dialects of Spanish, since in a given country or region, that phonetic precision is a highly prized concomitant of these atti tudes are well defined. In the case of Salvadoran "proper" speech. The use of this artificial style of Spanish and Nicaraguan Spanish, the severe social and economic diction in U.s.-based Cuban radio broadcasting is less a inequalities of the two nations have naturally contributed conscious effort to project an image of conservatism and to the differentiation of popular/rural and educated respectabili ty than a simple carryover of radio styles of the varieties of Spanish, as reflected both in pronunciation past; the latter fact itself is indicative of the nostalgia for a and in vocabulary / syn tax. At the same time, the lack of a SOciety and a lifestyle which effectively ceased to exist widespread norm for educated professional speech has more than 25 years ago. created less differentiation between upper and working Salvadoran Spanish is less stratified sociolinguistically cl ass speech than in nations such as Mexico, Colombia, in the phonological dimension, although as demonstrated Argentina, Chile and Spain. A similar situation obtained in previous sections, precise diction is a constant of edu in Cuba prior to the 1959 revolution, when social barriers cated, formal speech. Although the gap between Salvado were widely and rigidly enforced; in the post ran popular speech and radio broadcast language is wider revolutionary generations, more widespread educational than in some neighboring countries, interviews with Sal opportunities coupled with less social segregation in vadorans do not suggest a high degree of consciousness schools and community activities, and the use of popular regarding phonological levels of style or social class. Only speech in the mass media has partially obliterated the strict the extreme cases of popular speech, typified by widespread sociolinguistic stratification. Within the three nations, loss of /s/ and other phonological distortions, are consis there is considerable popular stereotyping of the dis~ ct tently identified by middle and professional class Salvado SOciolinguistic levels, frequently associated WIth rans as pertaining to "vulgar" and "uneducated" speech, racial/ethnic typing or at the least with outward physi~ al although colloquial speech of the latter groups makes use appearance. The variables most often identified WIth ~~ the same patterns. When specifically questioned about sociolinguistic stereotyping are phonological, and are the e language used by rebel broadcasts, Salvad~ran s same elements which appear in local-color literature, ~rnrnent first on the impassioned vocabulary and the jokes and dramatic presentations. Although pop~l~ 8 Outed delivery, rather than concentrating on the impressions often coincide with objective lingUIStiC pronUnCiation of individual sounds. characteristics, social stereotyping normally exceeds the 132 JOHN M. LIPSKI CLANDEsTINE RADIO BROADCASTING 133
Nicaraguans of various political persuasion are nearly conscious, voluntary and involuntary facets of language unanimous in noting the artificial nature of the official variation, as well as the multitude of external forces and Voice of Nicaragua broadcast language, and those who influences which affect the organization and practices of have heard (usually only by listening to recordings sup the stations. The continued study of the language of clan plied by the present investigator) the R. Mi skut broadcasts destine broadcasting vis -a-vis official and quasi-official note the highly popular/rustic language and the associa stations promises to be fru itful source of data on the use of tion with indigeneous subjects who speak Spanish less subtle language variation as a tool of social manipulation. than perfectly. Upon hearing the R. Monimb6 broadcasts, Nicaraguans similarly note the artificial, melifluous speech, which is oddly incongruent with the subliminal counterrevolu tionary message directed at armed insur Notes gents and saboteurs. Finally, the R. 15 de Septiembre transmissions, mixing impassioned calls to arms and pop 1 Berg (1983); Soley and Nichols (1987: chap. 7); Browne ular appeals with a somewhat artificial overall fonnat, are (1 984: 150). For the history of Radio Swan later known as regarded as ironically similar to the clandestine Sandinista Radio America, d . Wyden (1 979: 23, 118, 208-9. 292); Wise broadcasts heard throughout Nicaragua shortly before the (1 964: chap. 24); Richelson (1985). An on-the-scene report overth row of the Somoza government. Although was offered by Kneital (1961). Nicaraguan speech and radio broadcast language is not stiffly stratified along phonetic lines as other Spanish di 2 Most of my information on radio broadcasting in alects, Nicaraguans do demonstrate an awareness of subtle Nicaragua comes from extensive personal monitoring, varia tions in pronunciation, and respond to the various and fieldwork carried out in Nicaragua in the time period rebel and official broadcasts in a fashion correlated wi th 1982-1984, during which it was possible to visit several ra stylistic variations in the latter. dio stations and speak with government officials and pri Summing up, the behavior refl ected in the present re vate individuals about past and current broadcasting search d oes not suggest conscious, consistently planned (Lipski a, d . Cf. also AHs ky (1955); G. Wood (1 983); Hauser modification of a single linguistic parameter by the direc (1979); R. Wood (1975). After the materials had been col tors and announcers of the offi cial, nonofficial and clan lected for this study, an excellent update on clandestine destine broadcasts being discussed. Rather, the linguistic broadcasts by Dexter (1987) appeared. Cf. also Dexter (1984); profile adopted by the individuals involved stems directly Soley Nichols (1 987: chap. 9); Soley ( 981). and naturally from the ideological concerns of the groupS they represent. That the speech of radio personnel differs 3These results are compared to a wider range of nations significantly from local colloquial patterns comes as nO and broadcast formats in Lipski (1983, 1986a). Specific data surprise, nor does the concept of a station being sensitive On clandestine and non-official broadcasting to and in EI to the impact of certain linguistic configurations on listen Salvador and Nicaragua are fou nd in Lipski (1986b, a, b). ers. In the war of words and ideas between official outlets For more general comments on linguistic correlates of and rebel stations in Latin America, the situation becomes radio speech, see GoHman (1981); Fracastoro Martini more complex, due to the simultaneous consideration of (951); Ferguson (1983); Gutierrez (1976) . domestic and international audiences of differing ideolog ical, sociocultural and dialectological profiles. The lingul.S tic behavior o f announcers and occasional radI O personalities reflects the interaction of conscious and un- 134 JOHN M. LIPSKI CLANDESTINE RADIO BROAOCASTING 135
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