title: New King James Version

text: The Executive Editor of the NKJV, Arthur L. Farstad, addressed textual concerns in a book explaining the NKJV translation philosophy. While defending the Majority Text (also called the Byzantine text-type), and claiming that the Textus Receptus is inferior to the Majority Text, he noted (p. 114) that the NKJV references significant discrepancies among text types in its marginal notes: "None of the three [textual] traditions on every page of the New Testament ... is labeled 'best' or 'most reliable.' The reader is permitted to make up his or her own mind about the correct reading."


title: New King James Version

text: The NKJV is the basis for the Orthodox Study Bible. The New Testament is largely the same, being based on the Textus Receptus (which the Eastern Orthodox consider most reliable). Although the Old Testament was translated from the Academy of St. Athanasius Septuagint (which the Orthodox consider an inspired text), it has been rendered in the NKJV fashion. In addition, the deuterocanonical books are included, which is the first time they have been modeled according to the New King James style, as the original NKJV, being a largely Protestant translation, did not include them.


title: New King James Version

text: The NKJV translation has become one of the best-selling Bibles in the USA. it is listed as the sixth best selling Bible by the ESPA (Evangelical Christian Publishers Association).


title: New King James Version

text: An unabridged audiobook version called "The Word of Promise Audio Bible" has been produced by the publisher. It is narrated by well-known celebrities and fully dramatized with music and sound effects.


title: New King James Version

text: Gideons International, an organization that places Bibles in hotels and hospitals, at one stage used the NKJV translation along with the KJV, offering the KJV as the default translation and offering the NKJV when an organization asked for a Bible in newer English to be used. After HarperCollins' acquisition of Thomas Nelson, however, the Gideons have chosen to start using the English Standard Version (ESV) instead of the NKJV.


title: Body odour and sexual attraction

text: Odour is sensory stimulation of the olfactory membrane of the nose by a group of molecules. Certain body odours are connected to human sexual attraction. Humans can make use of body odour subconsciously to identify whether a potential mate will pass on favourable traits to their offspring. Body odour may provide significant cues about the genetic quality, health and reproductive success of a potential mate.


title: Body odour and sexual attraction

text: Body odour affects sexual attraction in a number of ways including through human biology, the menstrual cycle and fluctuating asymmetry. The olfactory membrane plays a role in smelling and subconsciously assessing another human's pheromones. It also affects the sexual attraction of insects and mammals. The major histocompatibility complex genes are important for the immune system, and appear to play a role in sexual attraction via body odour. Studies have shown that body odor is strongly connected with attraction in heterosexual females. The women in one study ranked body odor as more important for attraction than “looks”. Humans may not simply depend on visual and verbal senses to be attracted to a possible partner/mate.


title: Body odour and sexual attraction

text: The olfactory epithelium is a thick yellow/brown structure, about one inch square, located in the upper nasal cavity of the human nose. Made up of olfactory receptors and glands, the epithelium is used as a tool to smell others' body odor and pheromones. Chemicals that produce odour pass through the olfactory epithelium to the olfactory bulbs, which contain biological receptors that detect the chemicals, and respond with an electrical signal transmitted to the brain by the olfactory nerves. The olfactory epithelium plays a large role in why humans are attracted to persons biologically rather than physically; this relates directly to the sense of smell and not physical appearance. Olfactory communication is common in all animals and recent studies have shown that humans have this communication trait as well. This kind of communication happens subconsciously, and often influences a person's attraction to another.


title: Body odour and sexual attraction

text: Pheromones are chemical messengers produced and emitted by the body that contribute significantly to interpersonal attraction. The two types of pheromones include signal and primer, each playing a distinct role in human behavior. Signal pheromones act as attractants and repellents; they are classified as short term behavioral pheromones. Primer pheromones produce long term changes in human behavior and hormone production. The vomeronasal organ is used to detect the pheromones of others. Pheromones emitted from sweat glands play a role in sexual attraction, sexual repulsion, mother-infant bonding, and menstrual cycles.


title: Body odour and sexual attraction

text: There is a relationship between various aspects of human biology and genetics with sexual attraction. This includes the role of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC), the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) and their different heterozygotic variations. Such genetic factors may play a role in sexual selection. Signalling odours in reproduction are called attractants; their function is to bring about successful mating.


title: Body odour and sexual attraction

text: The MHC (major histocompatibility complex) is a group of genes essential for the immune system, playing an important role in immunological recognition. These olfactory cues are involved in mate choice and preferences. HLA refers to the human form of MHC, and is a gene complex which encodes the MHC.


title: Body odour and sexual attraction

text: There is a correlation between mate choice, odour preference and genetic similarity at the MHC. Unique body smells are heavily influenced by MHC; these olfactory cues are probably involved in mate choice and preferences.


title: Body odour and sexual attraction

text: MHC is expressed codominantly; a more diverse set of MHC genes leads to a stronger immune system. Women prefer male partners with differing MHC genes from themselves. An evolutionary explanation is that females are attracted to males with MHC alleles different from their own, to provide their offspring with a stronger immune system.


title: Body odour and sexual attraction

text: Females not using hormonal contraceptives were more attracted to the scent of males with dissimilar MHCs. Females currently using hormonal contraceptives preferred the scent of men with MHCs similar to their own. The scent of an individual with low fluctuating asymmetry is universally more attractive.


title: Body odour and sexual attraction

text: The increased attraction between people of dissimilar MHCs may help to prevent incest and subsequent birth defects. This inbreeding avoidance hypothesis proposes that biases towards heterozygotic alleles prevent harmful genetic consequences which can arise from mating with genetic family members. Olfactory cues can be used to recognise kin.


title: Body odour and sexual attraction

text: Couples who have many failed attempts at conception share a considerably larger amount of genes than those who are able to conceive without problems. If, for these genetically similar couples, there is a successful conception, the babies are often born early or underweight.


title: Body odour and sexual attraction

text: A third hypothesis explaining the function of dissimilar MHC mate preferences, the parasite hypothesis, suggests that MHC heterozygotes may be resistant to rapidly evolving parasites.


title: Body odour and sexual attraction

text: The human leukocyte antigen system is a protein complex which is encoded by MHC in humans. Over thirty olfactory receptor genes have been located at the HLA class I region, which presents peptides from inside the cell to be destroyed by the immune system. HLA- linked olfactory receptor genes can therefore provide a possible mechanism for detecting HLA- specific odours.


title: Body odour and sexual attraction

text: Men and women are attracted to the pheromones they produce and HLA is related to the perceptions of other peoples' odours. Males produce androstenol and androstenone. Androstenol is produced by fresh male sweat and is most attractive to women, while androstenone is produced once the sweat is exposed to oxygen and is highly unpleasant to women.


title: Body odour and sexual attraction

text: Studies have shown that women who are at the most fertile stage of their menstrual cycle prefer the smell of men that have higher testosterone levels. Heterozygosity of HLA can also be detected through scent: in this case, heterozygosity confers greater ability to recognize a wider variety of antigens. Females, especially when not using hormonal contraceptives, are more attracted to the scent of males heterozygous for HLA.


title: Body odour and sexual attraction

text: However, the same attraction and mate preferences are not held by males for heterozygous females. Males are, however, more attracted to the scent of females with rare HLA alleles. Men's arousal can be influenced by a variety of odours. For example; pumpkin pie, liquorice, doughnuts, and lavender can increase penile blood flow consequently causing arousal.


title: Body odour and sexual attraction

text: Two types of male pheromones: 5α-androst-16-en-3-one (MP1, androstenone) and 4,16-androstadien-3-one (MP2, androstadienone) and one type of female pheromone: 1,3,5(10),16-estratetrael-3-ol (FP, estratetraenol) are used as signals of mating quality. Studies showed that MP2 has the strongest response produced by female vomeronasal organ (VNO), which is the first stage of the olfactory system. Sex-difference processing in the hypothalamus has been found between female and male pheromone, including in the VNO, where opposite-sex pheromones have different surface potential.


title: Body odour and sexual attraction

text: Studies have illustrated a relationship between human facial attraction and pheromones. Individuals rated those of the opposite sex as more attractive if they preferred the individual's pheromones' odour. It was also demonstrated that partners in a long-term relationship would have higher concordance between two types of signals of mating quality, vision and olfaction. In addition, no difference was found between two types of male pheromones in women's preference aside from the location of pheromones production.


title: Body odour and sexual attraction

text: Women's fertility levels shift dramatically throughout the menstrual cycle, so the period surrounding ovulation is extremely important because it represents the peak period of reproductive fertility. As conception is most likely to occur during a woman's brief fertile period, evolutionary theories suggest that men possess adaptations designed to maximize their reproductive success during this period. Women's fertility shapes male mating behaviour, many studies have shown that being exposed to the scent of women's fertility led men to display greater implicit accessibility to mating-related concepts, males also judged the odours of women during the follicular phase as more pleasant and 'sexy' than odours during the luteal (non-ovulatory) phase. Olfaction, therefore, transmits information relevant to human mate selection, through which men are capable of detecting shifts in women's fertility.


title: Body odour and sexual attraction

text: There is now also considerable evidence from psychological studies that women's preferences for various male traits change throughout the menstrual cycle. Hormonal fluctuation across the menstrual cycle explains temporal variation in women's judgment of the attractiveness of members of the opposite sex. This is due to the psychological processes that shape the formation and maintenance of human romantic relationships, which are influenced by variation in hormonal levels.


title: Body odour and sexual attraction

text: Due to their high hormone content, oral contraceptives have the potential to alter women's partner preference for a range of male traits, which could have important consequences on sexual relationships, as it alters women's attraction to their partner and, potentially, to other men. If a woman's use of oral contraceptives is congruent, meaning she was using oral contraceptives when she met her partner, her current preference will more closely match the preference that shaped her partner choice in the first place, and the desire is higher than that of a woman whose use of oral contraceptives is incongruent. The resulting factor is that women's partner preferences are influenced by oral contraceptives use, meaning that attraction towards an existing partner changes over time if a woman initiates or discontinues oral contraceptive use.


title: Body odour and sexual attraction

text: Studies have shown that men are more attracted to women when they are more fertile and/or on their menstrual cycle. Women gave samples of when they were fertile and less fertile. The men in the study would smell and choose which sample between the two they were more attracted to. Women give off a more favorable smell the more fertile they are; in other words, men notice this and choose the more fertile sample rather than the less fertile sample.


title: Body odour and sexual attraction

text: In contrast to previous results reported in the literature, it has also been found that odours perceived from a female in follicular phase were actually considered more pleasant and sexier by males than odours perceived from that female in the luteal phase. Researchers discovered that the persistence of the menstrual cycle-dependent olfactory identification was extensive. However, the possibility of odours in the living environment overwhelming the menstrual cycle-dependent odours was not ruled out. Repeated exposure to the specific odours increases the threshold level of odour detection and therefore reduces the stimulation in humans.


title: Body odour and sexual attraction

text: Additionally, it has been proposed through research that male in a relationship would be more sensitive to their partner's onset of ovulation-linked odour, and resultantly become desensitised after repeated exposure. On the other hand, non-paired males were continuously sensitive to the odour. This demonstrates the persistence of the odour as an evolutionary or adaptation process, which could ensure the offspring reproduction success of female by keeping constant exposure to males during their menstrual cycle. During this period, the most fertile females tend to have more extra-pair copulations. Males testosterone levels are found to be associated with a females’ reproduction fertility, such that males exposed to scents of females during the peak period of their fertility, had significantly higher testosterone levels than their baseline levels. Evolution suggests this is an adaptation due to the physical changes inside the male body, although more research must be conducted to ensure these high levels of testosterone lead to reproductive behaviours.


title: Body odour and sexual attraction

text: Fluctuating Asymmetry (FA) is a type of biological asymmetry, referring to the extent to which small random deviations occur from expected perfect symmetry in different populations of organisms. In humans, for example, FA can be demonstrated through the unequal sizes of bilateral features such as the eyes, ears and breasts. FA acts as an index for measuring developmental instability as it provides a clear indicator of the possible environmental and genetic stressors affecting development. It is thought that having a preference for a symmetrical face offers some adaptive value as such symmetry may signal an individual's ability to cope with environmental challenges. FA shares an inverse relationship with certain desired traits; a low FA is correlated with higher stress tolerance, larger body size in males, smaller body size in females, and higher facial attractiveness. FA is detectable through the olfactory senses and it has a measurable effect on sexual attraction. Significant cues may be found through body odour relating to a potential mate's health, reproductive status and genetic quality and FA is one such cue as it is considered to be a marker of genetic and developmental stability.


title: Body odour and sexual attraction

text: During their fertile phase, females have repeatedly been shown as being more attracted to the body odours of more symmetrical males and of males whose faces they rate as attractive. The scent of symmetrical males provides an honest indicator of the male's phenotypic and genetic quality. This may explain why women who are highly fertile find the scent of low FA as attractive and yet this scent is not necessarily as attractive to other women. For example, it has been found that normally cycling women near their peak fertility tended to prefer the odour of shirts worn by symmetrical men and yet women at low fertility in their menstrual cycle or those using the contraceptive pill showed no preference for the odour of shirts of symmetrical men compared to those of asymmetrical men. These findings support the good genes hypothesis such that when women are in the fertile phase of their menstrual cycle, they should prefer markers of genetic benefits or 'good genes'. In other words, fertile women who prefer the scent of men with low FA are demonstrating a preference for the genetic benefits associated with those symmetric men.


title: Body odour and sexual attraction

text: It is widely accepted that men prefer the scent of women in her most fertile period. For example, in one study, men rated the body odours of T-shirts worn by women during their most fertile phase as more sexy and pleasant than T-shirts worn during their least fertile phase. Despite this, much of the research in the area concludes that the effect of the scent of symmetry appears to be sex specific such that men do not find the scent of symmetrical women more attractive than the scent of asymmetrical women. It therefore appears that attraction to symmetric body odour of the opposite sex appears to apply exclusively to women, and specifically fertile women, as non-fertile women and men do not display this preference.


title: Body odour and sexual attraction

text: Whilst a vast number of studies have been conducted to investigate body odour and mating, research is now shifting in particular towards the effect of male scent to female sexual attraction. This is largely due to the effects of the menstrual cycle and hormone contraceptives, which directly affect women's partner preference. Past research has highlighted the importance of a male's scent to females, such that smell was rated significantly more important for women than men. Furthermore, smell and body odour were rated as the most important physical factor for females, compared to looks for men. Further studies have aimed to understand these sex differences. Using questionnaires and self-report data, a greater reliance was found for females on olfactory cues than males. This reliance was valued for females in both sexual and non-sexual contexts. The research strongly supports the hypothesis that whilst men use more physical and visual cues, women rely more heavily on olfactory cues such as body odour that men tend to overlook.


title: Body odour and sexual attraction

text: It has been established that women tend to rely more heavily on olfactory cues than males, rating those with pleasant body odour as more attractive than those with less pleasant body odour. Moreover, body odour and sexual attraction can be enhanced using artificial fragrances and dietary habits. Whilst males are influenced by body odour during selection, past research has demonstrated a significantly greater reliance on such cues by females.


title: Body odour and sexual attraction

text: A dependence on such olfactory cues has led to the enhancement of male body odour to influence female attraction. Past research has shown that men using fragranced antiperspirants in videos were rated as more attractive by women than those in a placebo control condition. In addition to this, females gave higher ratings of masculinity than males, particularly in the fragranced condition. This provides evidence that females are more attentive to olfactory cues during partner selection. Aside from artificial fragrances, researchers have also begun to focus on more natural odour enhancements such as diet quality. A recent study aimed to investigate whether a dietary fruit and vegetable intake would influence female mate preferences. Its results showed that subjects rated as most pleasant smelling were those with a higher fruit and vegetable intake, suggesting male body odour can be enhanced by diet to appeal to females.


title: Body odour and sexual attraction

text: Both sexes commonly use artificial scents to enhance their perceived sexual appeal. Many of these (musk compounds) share a similar chemical profile with naturally produced body chemicals. Research has found a significant correlation between an individual's MHC genotype and the ratings they assigned to certain perfumes labelled to use "for self". This therefore supports the hypothesis that perfumes can personally enhance body odours that indicate an individual's immunogenetics. However, several infertility issues may arise when people use perfumes or scented body washes that erase their natural scent, hindering women in particular from being able to detect if their partner is genetically compatible.


title: Body odour and sexual attraction

text: Insects use extremely sensitive receptors to detect pheromone signals. Each pheromone signal can elicit a distinct response based on the gender and social status of the recipient. In insects, sex pheromones can be detected in very minute concentrations in the environment. Insect sex pheromones, usually released by the female to lure a male, are vital in the process by which insects locate each other for mating. The main purpose of releasing these sex pheromones is to attract a partner from a distance, however the sex pheromones also serve to evoke a courtship response and sexually excite the male prior to copulation. Male insects can also release sex pheromones, but this is only for the purpose of sexually exciting the female, making her more receptive to the male's advances. Generally, the majority of insects are sensitive and selective to the sex pheromone of their own species.


title: Body odour and sexual attraction

text: Insects make use of two classes of pheromone signals; the pheromones that induce immediate or releaser effects (for example, aggression or mating behaviours) and those that elicit long-lasting or ‘primer’ effects, such as physiological and hormonal changes.


title: Body odour and sexual attraction

text: There is a significant amount of research supporting body odour and sexual attraction in insects. Observations and laboratory experiments of "Culiseta inornata", identified a chemical substance involved in mating behavior, when exposed to this scent the male mosquitos were found to attempt sex with dead females and when exposed to the scent of virgin females, the males showed increased sexual activity through excited flight, searching and attempts to copulate with other males. Further evidence comes from research on the commercial silkworm moth, "Bombyx mori", a chemical produced in the abdominal sac of the female adult moth is released shortly after its emergence from the cocoon, male moths were found to be immediately attracted to this scent demonstrated by a characteristic wing flutter and attempts to copulate. The sex pheromones of the silkworm moths can elicit responses in the male antenna at concentrations of only a few hundred molecules per square centimeter.


title: Body odour and sexual attraction

text: For vertebrates, aquatic environments are an ideal medium for dispersing chemical signals over large areas. Aquatic vertebrates use chemical signals for a wide range of purposes, from attracting mates to distant nesting sites during spawning, to signalling reproductive readiness and regulating predator/prey interactions. Research on goldfish has identified that the fish release hormones in various combinations, depending on the reproductive status of the releaser, and these different combinations can elicit varying degrees of male courtship in the recipient.


title: Body odour and sexual attraction

text: In terrestrial environments, chemosignals can be either volatile or non-volatile. Accordingly, terrestrial vertebrates have two functionally and anatomically distinct olfactory systems: the main olfactory system, which is receptive to volatile cues, and the vomeronasal system, which is thought to process mostly non-volatile pheromones.


title: Body odour and sexual attraction

text: When it comes to sex, mammals use chemical signals (pheromones) to convey information to one another. Mammal's pheromones are air-borne chemical substances released in the urine or feces of animals or secreted from sweat glands that are perceived by the olfactory system and that elicit both behavioral and endocrine responses in conspecifics. Mammals use sex pheromones to arouse, attract, and elicit specific behavioral responses from the opposite sex. In mammals, chemical signals and the scent glands that secrete them have many features in common, for example, expression in only one sex, development only in adults, often only secreted in breeding season and used exclusively in mating. For an odour to stimulate sexual behavior exclusively, it must not only be perceived and preferred, but when absent there should be a decrease or complete elimination of sexual activity. This exclusivity has only been shown in golden hamsters and the rhesus monkey.


title: Body odour and sexual attraction

text: Mammalian pheromones can elicit both long-lasting effects that alter the hormone levels of the recipient animal, and short-term effects on its behavior. For example, detection of male pheromones by female mice has been found to encourage onset of puberty, however the detection of female pheromones have been found to delay the onset of puberty.


title: Body odour and sexual attraction

text: Odour can influence mammalian mating both directly and indirectly. Odour may act as a direct benefit to females, for example by avoiding contagious diseases by using odour cues to choose a healthy mate. Odour can also act as an indicator mechanism, a form of indirect benefit, for example when a male displays a particular trait such as strength of odour which is in proportion to their heritable viability, females choosing males with strong odours will gain genes for high viability to pass to their offspring.


title: Body odour and sexual attraction

text: There is vast evidence for the use of pheromones in mating behaviors. For example, when boars become sexually aroused, they salivate profusely dispersing pheromones into the air. These pheromones attract receptive sows, causing it to adopt a specific mating posture, known as standing, which allows the male boar to mount it and therefore copulate.


title: Body odour and sexual attraction

text: Regardless of the species, sex pheromones are often structurally similar and for that reason different species need to be able to respond to the correct pheromone. It is the variation in the ratios of each compound within a pheromone that yields species specificity. The use of mixtures of compounds as pheromones is well documented in insects, research into male orchid bees demonstrates that specific odours mediate exclusive attraction within a species.


title: Turkish mafia

text: Turkish mafia () is the general term for criminal organizations based in Turkey and/or composed of (former) Turkish citizens. Crime groups with origins in Turkey are active throughout Western Europe (where a strong Turkish immigrant community exists) and less so in the Middle East. Turkish criminal groups participate in a wide range of criminal activities, internationally the most important being drug trafficking, especially heroin. In the trafficking of heroin they cooperate with Bulgarian mafia groups who transport the heroin further to countries such as Italy. Recently however, Turkish mafia groups have also stepped up in the cocaine trafficking world by directly participating in the massive cocaine smuggling pipeline that runs transnationally from South America to Europe. They allegedly have a lucrative partnership with the Venezuelan drug-trafficking organization known as the Cartel of the Suns who ships them cocaine along with criminal elements from Ecuador. Turkish organized crime has pushed into less traditional cocaine markets as well such as into Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and the wealthy petro-states of the Persian Gulf. Cosa Nostra and the Turkish Mafia are also known to be extremely close. Criminal activities such as the trafficking of other types of drugs, illegal gambling, human trafficking, prostitution or extortion are committed in Turkey itself as well as European countries with a sizeable Turkish community such as Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Albania, and the United Kingdom.


title: Turkish mafia

text: Most Turkish crime syndicates have their origin in two regions: the Trabzon province on the Black Sea coast of northeastern Turkey and the East and Southeast Anatolia in the south of the country. The biggest origin is on the coast of the Black Sea, located near Trabzon.


title: Turkish mafia

text: The Turkish Mafia was involved in the weapons trade in the 1970s, and the heroin trade in the 1980s to present, and then moved along into human smuggling.


title: Turkish mafia

text: Bekir Çelenk was one of the members of the Turkish mafia and was involved in the plot to assassinate pope John Paul II.


title: Turkish mafia

text: Some members of the Turkish mafia have ties to the deep state in Turkey, including the National Intelligence Organization (MIT), as well as the Grey Wolves. These ties became public during the Susurluk scandal.


title: Turkish mafia

text: Criminal groups composed of Turks are active throughout the country and in communities with a large ethnically Turkish population. Certain Turkish criminal groups have strong links with corrupt politicians and corrupt members of the local law enforcement. They are active in different sections of organized crime and can often be linked to politically motivated groups, such as the Grey Wolves. This can especially be the case with criminals in immigrant Turkish communities. Powerful and important Turkish criminal organizations mostly have their origin in the Trabzon Province and incorporate members of both the Turkish and the Laz populations.


title: Turkish mafia

text: Even though crime groups composed of Turks come from all over the country, a relatively high amount of them have origins in the Black Sea region of Turkey, especially in Trabzon. These groups consisting of Turks and Laz people are especially strong in the country itself. Eastern Black Sea crime bosses such as Alaattin Çakıcı and Cengiz Telci are known from having links to or being members of the politically motivated group Grey Wolves.


title: Turkish mafia

text: Following the substantial immigration of Turkish Cypriots to London criminal gangs composed of Turkish Cypriots were formed in working-class neighborhoods. Mainly involved in drug trafficking, armed robbery, money laundering these crime clans have more in common with the traditional White British crime firms than with the Turkish mafia.


title: Turkish mafia

text: Some ethnically Kurdish crime groups have their origin in the Southeast Anatolia part of Turkey. These groups are believed largely clan based and their main source of income is allegedly believed to be the trafficking of heroin and weapons. Some group of those leaders, such as Hüseyin Baybaşin had been active in Western European countries, especially Great Britain. Some Turkish sources have accused them to have links to the PKK, but never confirmed by authorities.


title: Turkish mafia

text: While ethnically Zaza groups are not noteworthy in Turkey itself, large Alevi Zaza immigrant communities have formed in Great Britain and Germany. Criminal gangs from these communities have links with other Turkish and Kurdish crime bosses and are involved in drug trafficking and contract killing. An example in London is the brutal turf war between Turkish gangs, such as the so-called "Tottenham Boys" and the "Hackney Turks". The Tottenham Boys and Hackney Turks are mainly ethnic Kurdish gangs, but they also have some Turkish members.


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: Some of the regional varieties of the Spanish language are quite divergent from one another, especially in pronunciation and vocabulary, and less so in grammar.


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: While all Spanish dialects adhere to approximately the same written standard, all spoken varieties differ from the written variety, to different degrees. There are differences between European Spanish (also called Peninsular Spanish) and the Spanish of the Americas, as well as many different dialect areas both within Spain and within the Americas. Chilean and Honduran Spanish have been identified by various linguists as the most divergent varieties.


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: Among grammatical features, the most prominent variation among dialects is in the use of the second-person pronouns. In Hispanic America the only second-person plural pronoun, for both formal and informal treatment, is , while in most of Spain the informal second-person plural pronoun is with used only in the formal treatment. For the second-person "singular" familiar pronoun, some American dialects use (and its associated verb forms), while others use either (see "voseo") or both "tú" and (which, together with "usted", can make for a possible three-tiered distinction of formalities).


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: There are significant differences in vocabulary among regional varieties of Spanish, particularly in the domains of food products, everyday objects, and clothes; and many American varieties show considerable lexical influence from Native American languages.


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: While there is no broad consensus on how American Spanish dialects should be classified, the following scheme which takes into account phonological, grammatical, socio-historical, and language contact data provides a reasonable approximation of Latin American dialect variation:


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: The non-native Spanish in Equatorial Guinea and Western Sahara (formerly Spanish Sahara) has been influenced mainly by varieties from Spain. Spanish is also an official language in Equatorial Guinea, and many people speak it fluently.


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: Though no longer an official language in the Philippines, Philippine Spanish has had a tremendous influence on the native tongues of the archipelago, including Filipino.


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: The Spanish spoken in Gibraltar is essentially not different from the neighboring areas in Spain, except for code-switching with English and some unique vocabulary items. It is frequently blended with English as a sort of Spanglish known as Llanito.


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: Judaeo-Spanish, a "Jewish language", encompasses a number of linguistic varieties based mostly on 15th-century Spanish; it is still spoken in a few small communities, mainly in Israel, but also in Turkey and a number of other countries. As Jews have migrated since their expulsion from Iberia, the language has picked up several loan words from other languages and developed unique forms of spelling, grammar, and syntax. It can be considered either a very divergent dialect of Spanish, retaining features from Old Spanish, or a separate language.


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: The distinction between and is maintained in northern Spain (in all positions) and in south-central Spain (only in syllable onset), while the two phonemes are not distinguished in the Americas, the Canary Islands, and much of Andalusia. The maintenance of phonemic contrast is called "distinción" in Spanish. In areas that do not distinguish them, they are typically realized as , though in parts of southern Andalusia the realization is closer to ; in Spain uniform use of is called "ceceo" and uniform use of [s] "seseo".


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: In dialects with "seseo" the words ('house') and ('hunt') are pronounced as homophones (generally ), whereas in dialects with "distinción" they are pronounced differently (as and respectively). The symbol stands for a voiceless sibilant like the "s" of English "sick", while represents a voiceless interdental fricative like the "th" of English "think".


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: In some cases where the phonemic merger would render words homophonic in the Americas, one member of the pair is frequently replaced by a synonym or derived form—e.g. "caza" replaced by , or ('to boil'), homophonic with ('to sew'), replaced by . For more on "seseo", see González-Bueno.


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: Traditionally Spanish had a phonemic distinction between (a palatal lateral approximant, written "ll") and (a voiced palatal approximant, written "y"). But for most speakers in Spain and the Americas, these two phonemes have been merged in the phoneme . This merger results in the words ('silenced') and ('fell') being pronounced the same, whereas they remain distinct in dialects that have not undergone the merger. The use of the merged phoneme is called "yeísmo".


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: In Spain, the distinction is preserved in some rural areas and smaller cities of the north, while in South America the contrast is characteristic of bilingual areas where Quechua languages and other indigenous languages that have the sound in their inventories are spoken (this is the case of inland Peru and Bolivia), and in Paraguay.


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: The phoneme can be pronounced in a variety of ways, depending on the dialect. In most of the area where "yeísmo" is present, the merged phoneme is pronounced as the fricative or approximant , and also, in word-initial positions, affricates and (the latter is also used in other positions as variants of ). In the area around the Río de la Plata (Argentina, Uruguay), this phoneme is pronounced as a palatoalveolar sibilant fricative, either as voiced or, especially by young speakers, as voiceless .


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: One of the most distinctive features of the Spanish variants is the pronunciation of when it is not "aspirated" to or elided. In northern and central Spain, and in the Paisa Region of Colombia, as well as in some other, isolated dialects (e.g. some inland areas of Peru and Bolivia), the sibilant realization of is an apico-alveolar retracted fricative , a sound transitional between laminodental and palatal . However, in most of Andalusia, in a few other areas in southern Spain, and in most of Latin America it is instead pronounced as a lamino-alveolar or dental sibilant. The phoneme is realized as or before voiced consonants when it is not aspirated to or elided; is a sound transitional between and . Before voiced consonants, [ ~ ] is more common in natural and colloquial speech and oratorical pronunciation, [s ~ ] is mostly pronounced in emphatic and slower speech.


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: In the rest of the article, the distinction is ignored and the symbols are used for all alveolar fricatives.


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: In much of Latin America—especially in the Caribbean and in coastal and lowland areas of Central and South America—and in the southern half of Spain, syllable-final is either pronounced as a voiceless glottal fricative, that is commonly voiced to before voiced consonants (debuccalization, also frequently called "aspiration"), or not pronounced at all. In some varieties of Hispanic American Spanish (notably Honduran and Salvadoran Spanish) this may also occur intervocalically within an individual word—as with , which may be pronounced as —or even in initial position. In southeastern Spain (eastern Andalusia, Murcia and part of La Mancha), the distinction between syllables with a now-silent "s" and those originally without "s" is preserved by pronouncing the syllables ending in "s" with (that is, the open/closed syllable contrast has been turned into a tense/lax vowel contrast); this typically affects the vowels , and , but in some areas even and are affected, turning into . For instance, " " ('all the swans are white'), can be pronounced , or even (Standard Peninsular Spanish: , Latin American Spanish: ) (the sequence is commonly degeminated to a short regardless of the dialect). This vowel contrast is sometimes reinforced by vowel harmony, so that "casas" 'houses' differs from "casa" not only by the lack of the final in the former word but also in the quality of both of the vowels. For those areas of southeastern Spain where the deletion of final is complete, and where the distinction between singular and plural of nouns depends entirely on vowel quality, the case has been made to claim that a set of phonemic splits has occurred, resulting in a system with eight vowel phonemes in place of the standard five. [h] is more common in natural and colloquial speech, whereas [s] tends to be pronounced in emphatic and slower speech. In oratorical pronunciation, it depends on the country and speaker; if the Spanish speaker chooses to pronounces all or most of syllable-final [s], it is mostly voiced to [] before voiced consonants.


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: Although the vowels of Spanish are relatively stable from one dialect to another, the phenomenon of vowel reduction—devoicing or even loss—of unstressed vowels in contact with voiceless consonants, especially , can be observed in the speech of central Mexico (including Mexico City). For example, it can be the case that the words ('pesos [money]'), ('weights'), and ('fish [pl.]') sound nearly the same, as . One may hear ('well (then)') pronounced . Some efforts to explain this vowel reduction link it to the strong influence of Nahuatl and other Native American languages in Mexican Spanish.


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: In the 16th century, as the Spanish colonization of the Americas was beginning, the phoneme now represented by the letter "j" had begun to change its place of articulation from palato-alveolar to palatal and to velar , like German "ch" in "Bach" (see History of Spanish and Old Spanish language). In southern Spanish dialects and in those Hispanic American dialects strongly influenced by southern settlers (e.g. Caribbean Spanish), rather than the velar fricative , the sound was backed all the way to , like English "h" in "hope". Glottal is nowadays the standard pronunciation for "j" in Caribbean dialects (Cuban, Dominican, and Puerto Rican) as well as in mainland Venezuela, in most Colombian dialects excepting Pastuso dialect that belongs to a continuum with Ecuadorian Spanish, much of Central America, southern Mexico, the Canary Islands, Extremadura and western Andalusia in Spain; in the rest of the country, alternates with a "raspy" uvular fricative , sometimes pronounced with a simultaneous voiceless uvular trill. In the rest of the Americas, the velar fricative is prevalent. In Chile, is fronted to (like German "ch" in "ich") when it precedes the front vowels and : , ; in other phonological environments it is pronounced or [h].


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: In standard European Spanish, as well as in many dialects in the Americas (e.g. standard Argentine or Rioplatense, inland Colombian, and Mexican), word-final is, by default (i.e. when followed by a pause or by an initial vowel in the following word), alveolar, like English in "pen". When followed by a consonant, it assimilates to that consonant's place of articulation, becoming dental, interdental, palatal, or velar. In some dialects, however, word-final without a following consonant is pronounced as a velar nasal (like the "-ng" of English "long"), and may produce vowel nasalization. In these dialects, words such as ('bread') and ('well') may sound like "pang" and "byeng" to English-speakers. Velar "-n" is common in many parts of Spain (Galicia, León, Asturias, Murcia, Extremadura, Andalusia, and Canary Islands). In the Americas, velar "-n" is prevalent in all Caribbean dialects, Central American dialects, the coastal areas of Colombia, Venezuela, much of Ecuador, Peru, and northern Chile.


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: This velar "-n" likely originated in the northwest of Spain, and from there spread to Andalusia and then the Americas.


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: Loss of final "-n" with strong nasalization of the preceding vowel is not infrequent in all those dialects where velar "-n" exists. In much of Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela (except for the Andean region) and Dominican Spanish, any pre-consonantal or can be realized ; thus, a word like "ambientación" can be pronounced .


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: All varieties of Spanish distinguish between a "single-R" and a "double-R" phoneme. The single-R phoneme corresponds to the letter "r" written once (except when word-initial or following "l", "n", or "s") and is pronounced as , an alveolar flap—like American English "tt" in "better"—in virtually all dialects. The single-R/double-R contrast is neutralized in syllable-final position, and in some dialects these phonemes also lose their contrast with , so a word such as may sound like "altesanía". This neutralization or "leveling" of coda and is frequent in dialects of southern Spain, the Caribbean, Venezuela and coastal Colombia.


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: The double-R phoneme is spelled "rr" between vowels (as in "carro" 'car') and "r" word-initially (e.g. rey" 'king', ropa" 'clothes') or following "l", "n", or "s" (e.g. "alrededor" 'around', "enriquecer" 'enrich', "enrollar" 'roll up', "enrolar" 'enroll', "honra" 'honor', "Conrado" 'Conrad', "Israel" 'Israel'). In most varieties it is pronounced as an alveolar trill , and that is considered the prestige pronunciation. Two notable variants occur additionally: one sibilant and the other velar or uvular. The trill is also found in lexical derivations (morpheme-initial positions), and prefixation with "sub" and "ab": "abrogado" (also pronounced , or ), 'abrogated', "subrayar" (also pronounced , or ), 'to underline'. The same goes for compound word "ciudadrealeño" (from "Ciudad Real"). However, after vowels, the initial "r" of the root becomes "rr" in prefixed or compound words: "prorrogar, infrarrojo, autorretrato, arriesgar, puertorriqueño, Monterrey." In syllable-final position, inside a word, the tap is more frequent, but the trill can also occur (especially in emphatic or oratorical style) with no semantic difference, especially before "l", "m", "n", "s", "t", or "d"—thus "arma" ('weapon') may be either (tap) or (trill), "perla" ('pearl') may be either or , "invierno" ('winter') may be or , "verso" ('verse') may be or , and "verde" ('green') or . In "word"-final position the rhotic will usually be: either a trill or a tap when followed by a consonant or a pause, as in "amo" "paterno" 'paternal love') and "amo", with tap being more frequent and trill before "l", "m", "n", "s", "t", "d", or sometimes pause; or a tap when followed by a vowel-initial word, as in "amo" "eterno" 'eternal love') (Can be a trill or tap with a temporary glottal stop in emphatic speech: "amo" "eterno", with trill being more common). Morphologically, a word-final rhotic always corresponds to the tapped in related words. Thus, the word "olor" 'smell' is related to "olores, oloroso" 'smells, smelly' and not to "*olorres, *olorroso", and the word "taller" 'workshop' is related to "talleres" 'workshops' and not to "*tallerres". When two rhotics occur consecutively across a word or prefix boundary, they result in one trill, so that "da rosas" ('s/he gives roses') and "dar rosas" ('give roses') are either neutralized, or distinguished by a longer trill in the latter phrase, which may be transcribed as or (although this is transcribed with in , even though it differs from purely by length); "da rosas" and "dar rosas" may be distinguished as vs. , or they may fall together as the former.


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: The pronunciation of the double-R phoneme as a voiced strident (or sibilant) apical fricative is common in New Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Bolivia, Chile, and Paraguay; in western and northern Argentina; and among older speakers in highland areas of Colombia.


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: Some linguists have attempted to explain the assibilated "rr" (written in IPA as []) as a result of influence from Native American languages, and it is true that in the Andean regions mentioned an important part of the population is bilingual in Spanish and one or another indigenous language. Nonetheless, other researchers have pointed out that sibilant "rr" in the Americas may not be an autonomous innovation, but rather a pronunciation that originated in some northern Spanish dialects and then was exported to the Americas. Spanish dialects spoken in the Basque Country, Navarre, La Rioja, and northern Aragon (regions that contributed substantially to Spanish-American colonization) show the fricative or postalveolar variant for "rr" (especially for the word-initial "rr" sound, as in "Roma" or "rey"). This is also pronounced voiceless when the consonants after the trill are voiceless and speaking in emphatic speech; it is written as [], it sounds like a simultaneous and . In Andean regions, the alveolar trill is realized as an alveolar approximant or even as a voiced apico-alveolar , and it is quite common in inland Ecuador, Peru, most of Bolivia and in parts of northern Argentina and Paraguay. The alveolar approximant realization is particularly associated with the substrate of Native American languages, as is the assibilation of to in Ecuador and Bolivia. Assibilated trill is also found in dialects in the /sr/ sequence wherein /s/ is unaspirated, example: "las rosas" ('the roses'), "Israel" . The assibilated trill in this example is sometimes pronounced voiceless in emphatic and slower speech: "las rosas" ('the roses'), "Israel" .


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: The other major variant for the "rr" phoneme—common in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic—is articulated at the back of the mouth, either as a glottal followed by a voiceless apical trill [] or, especially in Puerto Rico, with a posterior articulation that ranges variously from a velar fricative to a uvular trill . Canfield describes it as a voiceless uvular trill . These realizations for "rr" maintain their contrast with the phoneme , as the latter tends to be realized as a soft glottal : compare "Ramón" ('Raymond') with "jamón" ('ham').


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: In Puerto Rico, syllable-final can be realized as (probably an influence of American English), aside from , , and , so that "verso" ('verse') becomes , alongside , , or ; "invierno" ('winter') becomes , alongside , , or ; and "parlamento" (parliament) becomes , alongside , , or . In word-final position, the realization of depends on whether it is followed by a consonant-initial word or a pause, on the one hand, or by a vowel-initial word, on the other:


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: The same situation happens in Belize and the Archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina, in these cases an influence of British English.


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: In Paraguay, syllable-final is pronounced as before "l" or "s" and word-final position, influenced by a substrate from Native American languages.


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: In Chile, as in Andalusia, the archiphoneme in the sequence is sometimes assimilated to in lower-class speakers, and sometimes in educated speakers. Thus, "jornada" 'workday' may be pronounced .


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: The letter "x" usually represents the phoneme sequence . An exception to this is the pronunciation of the "x" in some place names, especially in Mexico, such as and the name itself, reflecting an older spelling (see "Name of Mexico"). Some personal names, such as "Javier", "Jiménez", "Rojas", etc., also are occasionally spelled with "X": "Xavier", "Ximénez", "Roxas", etc. and the pronunciation of "x" is either . A small number of words in Mexican Spanish retain the historical pronunciation, e.g. .


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: There are two possible pronunciations of in standard speech: the first one is , with a voiceless plosive, but it is commonly realized as instead (hence the phonemic transcription ). Voicing is not contrastive in the syllable coda.


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: In dialects with "seseo", "c" following "x" pronounced is deleted, yielding pronunciations such as for .


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: Mexican Spanish and some other Latin American dialects have adopted from the native languages the voiceless alveolar affricate and many words with the cluster (originally an affricate ) represented by the respective digraphs and , as in the names Atzcapotzalco and Tlaxcala. is a valid onset cluster in Latin America, with the exception of Puerto Rico, in the Canary Islands, and in the northwest of Spain, including Bilbao and Galicia. In these dialects, words of Greek and Latin origin with , such as and , are also pronounced with onset : , . In other dialects, the corresponding phonemic sequence is (where is the onset), with the coda realized variously as and . The usual pronunciation of those words in most of Spain is and .


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: The sound also occurs in European Spanish in loanwords of Basque origin (but only learned loanwords, not those inherited from Roman times), as in "abertzale". In colloquial Castilian it may be replaced by or . In Bolivian, Paraguayan, and Coastal Peruvian Spanish, also occurs in loanwords of Japanese origin.


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: Spanish has a fricative for loanwords of origins from native languages in Mexican Spanish, loanwords of French, German and English origin in Chilean Spanish, loanwords of Italian, Galician, French, German and English origin in Rioplatense Spanish and Venezuelan Spanish, Chinese loanwords in Coastal Peruvian Spanish, Japanese loanwords in Bolivian Spanish, Paraguayan Spanish, Coastal Peruvian Spanish, Basque loanwords in Castilian Spanish (but only learned loanwords, not those inherited from Roman times), and English loanwords in Puerto Rican Spanish and all dialects.


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: The Spanish digraph "ch" (the phoneme ) is pronounced in most dialects. However, it is pronounced as a fricative in some Andalusian dialects, New Mexican Spanish, some varieties of northern Mexican Spanish, informal and sometimes formal Panamanian Spanish, and informal Chilean Spanish. In Chilean Spanish this pronunciation is viewed as undesirable, while in Panama it occurs among educated speakers. In Madrid and among upper- and middle-class Chilean speakers, it can be pronounced as the alveolar affricate .


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: In some dialects of southeastern Spain (Murcia, eastern Andalusia and a few adjoining areas) where the weakening of final leads to its disappearance, the "silent" continues to have an effect on the preceding vowel, opening the mid vowels and to and respectively, and fronting the open central vowel toward . Thus the singular/plural distinction in nouns and adjectives is maintained by means of the vowel quality:


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: Furthermore, this opening of final mid vowels can affect other vowels earlier in the word, as an instance of metaphony:


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: Final, non-stressed and may be raised to and respectively in some rural areas of Spain and Latin America. Examples include 'night', . In Spain, this is mainly found in Galicia and other northern areas. This type of raising carries negative prestige.


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: Judaeo-Spanish (often called "Ladino") refers to the Romance dialects spoken by Jews whose ancestors were expelled from Spain near the end of the 15th century.


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: These dialects have important phonological differences compared to varieties of Spanish proper; for example, they have preserved the voiced/voiceless distinction among sibilants as they were in Old Spanish. For this reason, the letter , when written single between vowels, corresponds to a voiced —e.g. ('rose'). Where is not between vowels and is not followed by a voiced consonant, or when it is written double, it corresponds to voiceless —thus ('to sit down'). And due to a phonemic neutralization similar to the "seseo" of other dialects, the Old Spanish voiced and the voiceless have merged, respectively, with and —while maintaining the voicing contrast between them. Thus ('to make') has gone from the medieval to , and ('town square') has gone from to .


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: A related dialect is Haketia, the Judaeo-Spanish of northern Morocco. This too tended to assimilate with modern Spanish, during the Spanish occupation of the region.


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: Spanish is a language with a "T–V distinction" in the second person, meaning that there are different pronouns corresponding to "you" which express different degrees of formality. In most varieties, there are two degrees, namely "formal" and "familiar" (the latter is also called "informal").


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: For the second person "formal", virtually all Spanish dialects of Spain and the Americas use and (singular and plural respectively). But for the second person "familiar", there is regional variation—between and for the singular, and, separately, between and for the plural. The use of "vos" (and its corresponding verb forms) rather than "tú" is called "voseo".


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: Each of the second-person pronouns has its historically corresponding verb forms, used by most speakers. Most speakers use both the pronoun "vos" and its historically corresponding verb forms (e.g. "vos ", 'you have'). But some dialects use the pronoun "tú" with ""vos" verb forms" (verbal "voseo"—"tú "), while others use "vos" with ""tú" verb forms" (pronominal "voseo"—"vos ").


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: In most dialects the familiar second person singular pronoun is "tú" (from Latin "tū"), and the formal pronoun is "usted" (usually considered to originate from " ", meaning 'your grace' or, literally, 'your mercy'). In a number of regions in the Americas, "tú" is replaced by another pronoun, "vos", and the verb conjugation changes accordingly (see details below). Spanish "vos" comes from Latin "vōs", the second person "plural" pronoun in Latin.


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: In any case, there is wide variation as to when each pronoun (formal or familiar) is used. In Spain, "tú" is familiar (for example, used with friends), and "usted" is formal (for example, used with older people). In recent times, there has been a noticeable tendency to extend the use of "tú" even in situations previously reserved for "usted". Meanwhile, in several countries (in parts of Middle America, especially, Costa Rica and Colombia), the formal "usted" is also used to denote a closer personal relationship. Many Colombians and some Chileans, for instance, use "usted" for a child to address a parent and also for a parent to address a child. Some countries, such as Cuba and the Dominican Republic, prefer the use of "tú" even in very formal circumstances, and "usted" is seldom used.


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: Meanwhile, in other countries, the use of formal rather than familiar second-person pronouns denotes authority. In Peru, for example, senior military officers use "tú" to speak to their subordinates, but junior officers use only "usted" to address their superior officers.


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: Using the familiar "tú", especially in contexts where "usted" was to be expected, is called . The corresponding verb is (a transitive verb, the direct object being the person addressed with the pronoun). The verb "tutear" is used even in those dialects whose familiar pronoun is "vos" and means 'to treat with the familiar second-person pronoun'.


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: Pronominal voseo, the use of the pronoun "vos" instead of "tú", is the prevalent form of the familiar second person singular pronoun in Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Paraguay, Argentina and Uruguay. In those countries, it is used by many to address others in all kinds of contexts, often regardless of social status or age, including by cultured/educated speakers and writers, in television, advertisements, and even in translations from other languages. In Guatemala and Uruguay, "vos" and "tú" are used concurrently, but "vos" is much more common. Both pronouns use the verb forms normally associated with "vos" ("vos " / "tú querés", 'you want').


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: The name "Rioplatense" is applied to the dialect of Spanish spoken around the mouth of the Río de la Plata and the lower course of the Paraná River, where "vos", not "tú", is invariably used, with the "vos" verb forms ("vos tenés"). The area comprises the most populous part of Argentina (the provinces of Buenos Aires and Santa Fe) as well as an important part of Uruguay, including Montevideo, the capital.


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: In Ecuador, "vos" is the most prominent form throughout the Sierra region of the country, though it does coexist with "usted" and the lesser-used "tú". In this region, "vos" is regarded as the conversational norm, but it is not used in public discourse or the mass media. The choice of pronoun to be used depends on the participants' likeness in age and/or social status. Based on these factors, speakers can assess themselves as being equal, superior, or inferior to the addressee, and the choice of pronoun is made on this basis, sometimes resulting in a three-tiered system. Ecuadorians of the Highlands thus generally use "vos" among familiarized equals or by superiors (in both social status and age) to inferiors; "tú" among unfamiliarized equals, or by a superior in age but inferior in social status; and "usted" by both familiarized and unfamiliarized inferiors, or by a superior in social status but inferior in age. In the more-populated coastal region, the form "tú" is used in most situations, "usted" being used only for unfamiliar and/or superior addressees.


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: "Vos" can be heard throughout most of Chile, Bolivia, and a small part of Peru as well, but in these places it is regarded as substandard. It is also used as the conversational norm in the Paisa Region and the southwest region of Colombia, in Zulia State (Venezuela), in Honduras, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Guatemala, and the state of Chiapas in Mexico.


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: In Chile, even though "tú" is the prestige pronoun among educated speakers, the use of "verbal voseo", i.e. ""tú" + verb conjugation of "vos"" (e.g. "tú ") is widespread. On the other hand, "pronominal voseo", the use of the pronoun "vos"—pronounced with aspiration of the final —is used derisively in informal speech between close friends as playful banter (usually among men) or, depending on the tone of voice, as an offensive comment.


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: In Colombia, the choice of second person singular varies with location. In most of inland Colombia (especially the Andean region), "usted" is the pronoun of choice for all situations, even in speaking between friends or family; but in large cities (especially Bogotá), the use of "tú" is becoming more accepted in informal situations, especially between young interlocutors of opposite sexes and among young women. In Valle del Cauca (Cali), Antioquia (Medellín) and the Pacific coast, the pronouns used are "vos" and "usted". On the Caribbean coast (mainly Barranquilla and Cartagena), "tú" is used for practically all informal situations and many formal situations as well, "usted" being reserved for the most formal environments. A peculiarity occurs in the Altiplano Cundiboyacense and among some speakers in Bogotá: "usted" is replaced by for formal situations (it is relatively easy to identify a "Boyacense" by his/her use of this pronoun). "Sumercé" comes from "su merced" ('your mercy').


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: In parts of Spain, a child used to use not "tú" but "usted" to address a parent. Today, however, this usage is unusual. Among the factors for the ongoing replacement of "usted" by "tú" are the new social relevance of youth and the reduction of social differences. In particular, it has been attributed to the egalitarianism of the right-wing Falange party. By contrast, Spanish leftists of the early 20th century would address their comrades as "usted" as a show of respect and workers' dignity.


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: According to Joan Coromines, by the 16th century, the use of "vos" (as a second person "singular" pronoun) had been reduced to rural areas of Spain, which were a source of many emigrants to the New World, and so "vos" became the unmarked form in many areas of Latin America.


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: A slightly different explanation is that in Spain, even if "vos" (as a singular) originally denoted the high social status of those who were addressed as such (monarchs, nobility, etc.), the people never used the pronoun themselves since there were few or no people above them in society. Those who used "vos" were people of the lower classes and peasants. When the waves of Spanish immigrants arrived to populate the New World, they primarily came from these lower classes. In the New World, wanting to raise their social status from what it was in Spain, they demanded to be addressed as "vos".


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: Through the widespread use of "vos" in the Americas, the pronoun was transformed into an indicator of low status not only for the addresser but also for the addressee. Conversely, in Spain, "vos" is now considered a highly exalted archaism virtually confined to liturgy.


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: Speakers of Ladino still use "vos" as it was used in the Middle Ages, to address people higher on the social ladder. The pronoun "usted" had not been introduced to this dialect of Spanish when the Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492 so "vos" is still used in Ladino much as "usted" is used in modern Spanish.


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: A variant of "usted", "vusted", can be heard in Andean regions of South America. Other, less frequent forms analogous to "usted" are (short for " "), and "usía" (from "vuestra ").


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: There is a traditional assumption that Chilean and River Plate "voseo" verb forms are derived from those corresponding to "vosotros". This assumption, however, has been challenged, in an article by —in the theoretical framework of classical generative phonology—as synchronically inadequate, on the grounds that it requires at least six different rules, including three monophthongization processes that lack phonological motivation. Alternatively, the article argues that the Chilean and River Plate "voseo" verb forms are synchronically derived from underlying representations that coincide with those corresponding to the non-honorific second person singular "tú". The proposed theory requires the use of only one special rule in the case of Chilean "voseo". This rule—along with other rules that are independently justified in the language—makes it possible to derive synchronically all Chilean and River Plate "voseo" verb forms in a straightforward manner. The article additionally solves the problem posed by the alternate verb forms of Chilean "voseo" such as the future indicative (e.g. "vay a bailar" 'will you dance?'), the present indicative forms of "haber" ("habih" and "hai" 'you have'), and the present indicative of "ser" ("soi", "eríh" and "erei" 'you are'), without resorting to any ad hoc rules.


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: In Standard European Spanish the plural of "tú" is "vosotros" and the plural of "usted" is "ustedes". In Hispanic America "vosotros" is not used, and the plural of both "tú" and "usted" is "ustedes". This means that speaking to a group of friends a Spaniard will use "vosotros", while a Latin American Spanish-speaker will use "ustedes". Although "ustedes" is semantically a second-person form, it is treated grammatically as a third-person plural form because it originates from the term " " ('your [pl.] graces,' sing. "vuestra merced").


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: The only vestiges of "vosotros" in the Americas are / in Papiamento and the use of "vuestro/a" in place of " ( ustedes)" as second person plural possessive in the Cusco region of Peru.


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: In very formal contexts, however, the "vosotros" conjugation can still be found. An example is the Mexican national anthem, which contains such forms as and .


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: The plural of the Colombian (Cundi-Boyacense Plateau) "sumercé" is "sumercés/susmercedes", from "sus mercedes" ('your mercies').


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: In some parts of Andalusia (the lands around the Guadalquivir river and western Andalusia), the usage is what is called "ustedes-vosotros": the pronoun "ustedes" is combined with the verb forms for "vosotros". However, this sounds extremely colloquial and most Andalusians prefer to use each pronoun with its correct form.


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: In Ladino, "vosotros" is still the only second person plural pronoun, since "ustedes" does not exist.


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: Each second-person pronoun has its historically corresponding verb forms. The formal "usted" and "ustedes", although semantically second person, take verb forms identical with those of the third person, singular and plural respectively, since they are derived from the third-person expressions "vuestra merced" and "vuestras mercedes" ('your grace[s]'). The forms associated with the singular "vos" can generally be derived from those for the plural "vosotros" by deleting the palatal semivowel of the ending ("vosotros habláis" > "vos hablás", 'you speak'; "vosotros coméis" > "vos comés", 'you eat').


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: General statements about the use of "voseo" in different localities should be qualified by the note that individual speakers may be inconsistent in their usage, and that isoglosses rarely coincide with national borders. That said, a few assertions can be made:


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: As for the second person familiar "plural", it can be said that northern and central Spain use "vosotros" and its verb forms ("vosotros habláis", 'you [pl.] speak'), while the rest of the Spanish-speaking world merges the familiar and formal in "ustedes" ("ustedes hablan"). Usage in western Andalusia includes the use of "ustedes" with the traditional "vosotros" verb form ("ustedes habláis").


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: In Ladino, the second-person pronouns are quite different from those of Spain and Latin America. The forms "usted" and "ustedes" had not yet appeared in 1492 when the Jews were expelled from Spain. Speakers of Ladino still use "vos" as it was used in the Middle Ages (as a singular) to address people higher on the social ladder. And "vosotros" is the only second person plural pronoun. In Ladino the formal singular for 'you speak' is "vos avláis" (pronounced , and the same verb form serves for the plural, both formal and familiar: "vosotros avláis" (). The subjunctive 'that you lose (formal singular)' is "que vos pedráis" (), while the plural (both formal and familiar) is "que vosotros pedráis" (). The formal "singular" imperative ('come') is "venid" or "vení", and the same form serves as the "plural" imperative, both formal and familiar.


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: In a broad sense, when expressing an action viewed as finished in the past, speakers (and writers) in most of Spain use the perfect tense—e.g. "he llegado" *'I have arrived')—more often than their American counterparts, while Spanish-speakers in the Americas more often use the preterite ("llegué" 'I arrived').


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: The perfect is also called the "present perfect" and, in Spanish, "pasado perfecto" or "pretérito perfecto compuesto". It is described as a "compound" tense ("compuesto" in Spanish) because it is formed with the auxiliary verb "haber" plus a main verb.


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: The preterite, also called the "simple past" and, in Spanish, "pretérito indefinido" or "pretérito perfecto simple", is considered a "simple" tense because it is formed of a single word: the verb stem with an inflectional ending for person, number, etc.


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: The choice between preterite and perfect, according to prescriptive grammars from both Spain and the Americas, is based on the psychological time frame—whether expressed or merely implied—in which the past action is embedded. If that time frame includes the present moment (i.e. if the speaker views the past action as somehow related to the moment of speaking), then the recommended tense is the perfect ("he llegado"). But if the time frame does not include the present—if the speaker views the action as only in the past, with little or no relation to the moment of speaking—then the recommended tense is the preterite ("llegué"). This is also the real spontaneous usage in most of Spain.


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: Following this criterion, an explicit time frame such as "hoy" ('today') or "este año" ('this year') includes the present and thus dictates the compound tense: "Este año he cantado ('I have sung this year'). Conversely, a time frame such as "ayer" ('yesterday') or "la semana pasada" ('last week') does not include the present and therefore calls for the preterite: "La semana pasada canté ('I sang last week').


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: However, in most of the Americas, and in the Canary Islands, the preterite is used for all actions viewed as completed in the past. It tends to be used in the same way in those parts of Spain where the local languages and vernaculars do not have compound tenses, that is, the Galician-speaking area and the neighbouring Astur-Leonese-speaking area.


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: In most of Spain, the compound tense is preferred in most cases when the action described is close to the present moment:


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: Prescriptive norms would rule out the compound tense in a "cuando"-clause, as in the second example above.


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: Meanwhile, in Galicia, León, Asturias, Canary Islands and the Americas, speakers follow the opposite tendency, using the simple past tense in most cases, even if the action takes place at some time close to the present:


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: In Latin America one could say, ""he viajado a España varias veces"" ('I have traveled to Spain several times'), to express a repeated action, as in English. But to say "El año pasado he viajado a España" would sound ungrammatical (as it would also be in English to say "last year, I have traveled to Spain", as "last year" implies that the relevant time period does not include the present). In Spain, speakers use the compound tense when the period of time considered has not ended, as in "he comprado un coche este año" ('I have bought a car this year'). Meanwhile, an American Spanish-speaker is more likely to say, ""compré un carro este año"" ('I bought a car this year').


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: Different regional varieties of Spanish vary in terms of vocabulary as well. This includes both words that exist only in certain varieties (especially words borrowed from indigenous languages of the Americas), and words that are used differently in different areas. Among words borrowed from indigenous languages are many names for food, plants and animals, clothes, and household object, such as the following items of Mexican Spanish vocabulary borrowed from Nahuatl.


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: In addition to loan words, there are a number of Spanish words that have developed distinct senses in different regional dialects. That is, for certain words a distinct meaning, either in addition to the standard meaning or in place of it, exists in some varieties of Spanish.


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: The different dialects and accents do not block cross-understanding among the educated. Meanwhile, the basilects have diverged more. The unity of the language is reflected in the fact that early imported sound films were dubbed into one version for the entire Spanish-speaking market. Currently, films not originally in Spanish (usually Hollywood productions) are dubbed separately into two accents: one for Spain and one for the Americas (using a neutral standardized accent without regionalisms). Some high-budget productions, however, such as the "Harry Potter" film series, have had dubs in three or more of the major accents. On the other hand, productions from another Spanish-language country are seldom dubbed. Exceptionally, the made-in-Spain animated features "Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds" and "The World of David the Gnome", as well as TV serials from the Andean countries such as "Karkú" (Chile), have had a Mexican dub. The popularity of "telenovelas" and music familiarizes the speakers with other accents of Spanish.


title: Spanish dialects and varieties

text: Prescription and a common cultural and literary tradition, among other factors, have contributed to the formation of a loosely defined register which can be termed Standard Spanish (or "Neutral Spanish"), which is the preferred form in formal settings, and is considered indispensable in academic and literary writing, the media, etc. This standard tends to disregard local grammatical, phonetic and lexical peculiarities, and draws certain extra features from the commonly acknowledged canon, preserving (for example) certain verb tenses considered "bookish" or archaic in most other dialects.


title: Ben Zobrist

text: Benjamin Thomas Zobrist (; born May 26, 1981), is an American former professional baseball second baseman and outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays/Rays, Oakland Athletics, Kansas City Royals, and Chicago Cubs. Zobrist played in three World Series and won the last two, becoming a two-time World Series champion in consecutive seasons of 2015 with the Royals and 2016 with the Cubs, and was the World Series MVP in the latter.


title: Ben Zobrist

text: A versatile defender and a switch-hitter with a high walk rate, he played roughly half his innings at second base, and spent significant time at shortstop and various outfield positions. Thus, he has often been referred to as a "super utility player," with subsequent players who also filled this role often being compared to Zobrist.


title: Ben Zobrist

text: Zobrist was born and raised in Eureka, Illinois, by his parents Cynthia "Cindi" (née Cali) and Tom Zobrist, senior pastor of Liberty Bible Church in Eureka. He grew up a St. Louis Cardinals fan.


title: Ben Zobrist

text: Zobrist played baseball starting when he was eight years old; he and his friends built their own wiffle ball field behind his house. Zobrist attended Eureka High School, graduating in 1999. After no professional scouts or college recruiters considered him by the time he graduated, Zobrist thought baseball was over for him. "Baseball was not even a thought in my mind", Zobrist said, "When I was done with my last high school game, I was driving around town just thinking I'm done with baseball the rest of my life." Zobrist planned to attend Calvary Bible College in Kansas City, Missouri, but his high school coach encouraged him to spend $50 to participate in an annual summer event that showcased seniors in Peoria, Illinois. He played in the showcase, and was given an offer to play college baseball at Olivet Nazarene University, which he accepted. In his time at Olivet, he pitched and also played at shortstop and second base. In 2002 he was named to both the all-CCAC and all-Region VII First Teams, and received NAIA Honorable Mention All-America status. He was named the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Player of the Year, first team All-Region VII, and first team NAIA All-America in 2003. He transferred to Dallas Baptist University for his senior year, where he played shortstop and batted .378 with a .590 slugging percentage.


title: Ben Zobrist

text: Zobrist played for the Twin City Stars of the Central Illinois Collegiate League (Now Prospect League) in 2002 and then in Wausau, Wisconsin, for the Wisconsin Woodchucks of the Summer Collegiate Northwoods League in 2003. He was voted team MVP and led his team to the League Championship.


title: Ben Zobrist

text: Zobrist was drafted by the Houston Astros as a shortstop in the sixth round of the 2004 MLB draft. With right-handed pitcher Mitch Talbot, Zobrist was traded to the Tampa Bay Rays for first baseman/designated hitter Aubrey Huff and cash on July 12, 2006.


title: Ben Zobrist

text: Zobrist made his MLB debut with Tampa Bay on August 1, 2006. He exclusively played shortstop in his first two seasons with Tampa Bay.


title: Ben Zobrist

text: Zobrist struggled through parts of the 2006 and 2007 seasons with the Rays. One day, he met a "swing mechanic" (batting coach) looking for students. The swing coach was able to help Zobrist, and it was evident to the Rays during the 2008 season. "He added the power component", Rays executive vice president Andrew Friedman said, "He became a lot more physical."


title: Ben Zobrist

text: Zobrist was for the most part used as a right fielder and a back-up shortstop during the 2008 season. In certain situations where a fifth infielder was needed, he or B.J. Upton (a former infielder himself) would be moved in from the outfield during the season. Zobrist went to his first World Series as a player with the Rays in 2008. His versatility was showcased during Game 3 of the 2008 World Series against the National League champion Philadelphia Phillies when he came in as part of a double switch to play right field. However, Zobrist initially played unusually shallow, in essence becoming a fifth infielder.


title: Ben Zobrist

text: Zobrist was placed in right field for the beginning of the 2009 season, and was made the starting second baseman after teammate Akinori Iwamura was injured. Zobrist enjoyed a breakout season, finishing fourth in the American League in on-base percentage (.405), sixth in walks (91), and seventh in slugging percentage (.543). He earned a trip to his first All-Star Game in St. Louis in 2009. The Tampa Bay Chapter of the Baseball Writers' Association of America named him MVP of the Rays for 2009.


title: Ben Zobrist

text: Zobrist led all hitters in the majors in 2009 for wins above replacement with 8.6, ahead of Albert Pujols' 8.4 WAR.


title: Ben Zobrist

text: On April 23, 2010, Zobrist and the Rays agreed to a three-year contract extension through the 2013 season, with a team option for 2014 and 2015, a deal potentially worth $30 million. In 2010, Zobrist batted .238, with a .353 slugging percentage.


title: Ben Zobrist

text: On April 28, 2011, Zobrist collected a Tampa Bay Rays record eight RBIs in a 15–3 rout of the Minnesota Twins. Another game was held during the day to make up for a previously rained out game and Zobrist drove in another two runs, making a total 10 RBIs for the day.


title: Ben Zobrist

text: Zobrist led the American League in WAR with 8.8, ahead of MVP Justin Verlander and MVP runner up Jacoby Ellsbury.


title: Ben Zobrist

text: During the 2012 season, Zobrist's skills were used at multiple positions. He played 47 games at shortstop, the most since his rookie season. He was also used as an outfielder and second baseman.


title: Ben Zobrist

text: On April 8, 2013, Zobrist became the strikeout victim on a disputed call that led to Joe Nathan's 300th career save. Zobrist was named an All Star for the second time of his career. He finished the 2013 season with a .275 batting average, his highest since 2009.


title: Ben Zobrist

text: On September 10, Zobrist recorded his 1,000th career hit, which came against the New York Yankees in Yankee Stadium.


title: Ben Zobrist

text: On January 10, 2015, Zobrist was traded to the Oakland Athletics with teammate Yunel Escobar in exchange for John Jaso, Daniel Robertson, and Boog Powell.


title: Ben Zobrist

text: On Opening Day with the Athletics, Zobrist hit a two-run home run in his first at-bat. On April 25, 2015, it was revealed that Zobrist had a torn medial meniscus in his left knee, putting him on the 15-day disabled list. The knee required surgery, keeping Zobrist out of action for 4–6 weeks.


title: Ben Zobrist

text: On July 28, 2015, Zobrist was traded to the Kansas City Royals for Sean Manaea and Aaron Brooks. He played 59 games in the regular season for Kansas City and finished with a batting average of .284, with 7 home runs, 37 runs scored, and 23 RBIs.


title: Ben Zobrist

text: The Royals won the AL Central Division and played the Houston Astros for the ALDS with Zobrist starting in all five games. The Royals advanced to the World Series after defeating the Toronto Blue Jays in six games to become the American League Champions. The Royals won the 2015 World Series after defeating the New York Mets in four of the five games played. Zobrist played second base and batted second in every game of the 2015 Royals postseason. He hit .303 in the 2015 postseason with 66 at bats, 15 runs scored, 20 hits, 2 home runs, and 6 RBIs.


title: Ben Zobrist

text: On December 8, 2015, Zobrist agreed to a four-year, $56 million contract with the Chicago Cubs. The signing reunited him with Joe Maddon, his manager when he was a member of the Tampa Bay Rays. In 2016, he batted .272/.386/.446 and led the major leagues in walks-per-strikeout at 1.17.


title: Ben Zobrist

text: In Game 4 of the 2016 National League Division Series against the San Francisco Giants with the Cubs having a 2–1 series lead, Zobrist drove in Kris Bryant to score the first run in the top of the ninth and later scored the tying run on a two-run single by Willson Contreras. The Cubs scored another run later that inning, sending them to the National League Championship Series. Following the Cubs' Game 7 victory in the 2016 World Series, after driving in the first of two go-ahead runs in the top of the 10th inning, he was named the World Series Most Valuable Player and received his second World Series ring. He became the eighth player in Major League history to win consecutive World Series championships on different teams.


title: Ben Zobrist

text: In 2017, Zobrist played in 159 games, batting .232/.318/.375. Playing five different positions, he committed only three errors and had a fielding percentage of .991. He was a finalist for the Gold Glove Award at second base, along with Dee Gordon and winner DJ LeMahieu.


title: Ben Zobrist

text: In 2018, he had a career-high batting average of .305. He was ejected for the first time in his career on August 14, 2018, by home plate umpire Phil Cuzzi.


title: Ben Zobrist

text: In 2019, Zobrist started the season playing in 26 games before being placed on the restricted list on May 6 to deal with a family matter. Following rumors throughout the next months, Zobrist announced his return in late July 2019, and began rehab assignments with the South Bend Cubs and Myrtle Beach Pelicans. Zobrist also had his first Major League pitching appearance in September 2019, striking out Yadier Molina. In 2019 he batted .260/.358/.313 with one home run in 150 at bats.


title: Ben Zobrist

text: In February 2020, Jon Heyman reported that Zobrist was not planning to play in the 2020 season. Zobrist confirmed his retirement on March 6, and said he was open to joining the Cubs in a non-player capacity "down the line".


title: Ben Zobrist

text: Zobrist was an above-average hitter with a career slash line of .264/.354/.429 and a wRC+ of 118. He accomplished this with a patient, contact-based approach; his swing rate was one of the lowest in the league, leading to a walk rate of 12.5% and a contact rate of 85.3%. He was also an above-average baserunner, who had 102 stolen bases at a success rate of 74%.


title: Ben Zobrist

text: Zobrist was noted for his defensive versatility. He played over 4,200 defensive innings at second base, over 2,200 in right field, over 1,700 at shortstop, and over 500 innings at other outfield positions. Zobrist was rated by UZR as a significantly above-average defender at second and in right, and a marginally below-average defender at shortstop.


title: Ben Zobrist

text: His nickname, "Zorilla," was given to him by his manager Joe Maddon while playing for the Rays in 2009. Zobrist chose "Zorilla" as his nickname for the Players Weekend during the 2017 season.


title: Ben Zobrist

text: Zobrist lives in Franklin, Tennessee. He and his estranged wife, singer Julianna Zobrist (), have three children, one of whom was born five days after Zobrist's Royals won the 2015 World Series. Julianna gave birth to Blaise Royal the day after the Royals World Series parade. In May 2019, Zobrist filed for legal separation in Tennessee on the same day that Julianna Zobrist filed for divorce in Illinois. Their marital problems had led Zobrist to pause his participation in the 2019 MLB season.


title: Ben Zobrist

text: In June 2021, Zobrist filed a lawsuit in Tennessee against his former pastor, Byron Yawn, in which he accused Yawn of defrauding Zobrist's charity, Patriot Forward, of millions of dollars. The lawsuit also alleged that Yawn had had a year-long sexual affair with Julianna Zobrist beginning in the spring of 2019.


title: Ben Zobrist

text: Zobrist is a former counselor for Camp of Champions USA, a Christian summer day camp in central Illinois. He speaks at church events about his early life and success, which he credits all to God. Zobrist often talks about his Christian faith, saying God helped him realize that he was supposed to play baseball. "I just felt like everything fell into place so much, that this is what I was supposed to do. This is what I was made to do." He and former teammate Gabe Gross have talked about how they organize Bible studies with their teammates. "St. Pete Times" writer Marc Topkin wrote Zobrist "doesn't judge or proselytize, refraining from forcing his beliefs on anyone, though willing to get involved if asked."


title: Ben Zobrist

text: In the 2013 film "Ring The Bell", released by Provident Films, Zobrist plays himself in a cameo role alongside Rick Sutcliffe, John Kruk, Mark Hall (also playing themselves), Ryan Scharoun, Ashley Anderson McCarthy, and Casey Bond.


title: Cannabis strain

text: "Cannabis" strains are either pure or hybrid varieties of the plant genus "Cannabis", which encompasses the species "C. sativa", "C. indica", and "C. ruderalis".


title: Cannabis strain

text: Varieties are developed to intensify specific characteristics of the plant, or to differentiate the strain for the purposes of marketing or to make it more effective as a drug. Variety names are typically chosen by their growers, and often reflect properties of the plant such as taste, color, smell, or the origin of the variety. The "Cannabis" strains referred to in this article are primarily those varieties with recreational and medicinal use. These varieties have been cultivated to contain a high percentage of cannabinoids. Several varieties of "cannabis", known as hemp, have a very low cannabinoid content, and are instead grown for their fiber and seed.


title: Cannabis strain

text: The two species of the "Cannabis" genus that are most commonly grown are "Cannabis indica" and "Cannabis sativa". A third species, "Cannabis ruderalis", is very short and produces only trace amounts of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), and thus is not commonly grown for industrial, recreational or medicinal use. However, because "Cannabis ruderalis" flowers independently of the photoperiod and according to age, it has been used to breed autoflowering strains.


title: Cannabis strain

text: Pure "sativas" are relatively tall (reaching as high as 4.5 meters), with long internodes and branches, and large, narrow-bladed leaves. Pure "indica" varieties are shorter and bushier, with wider leaflets. They are often favored by indoor growers for their size. "Sativas" bloom later than "indicas", often taking a month or two longer to mature. The subjective effects of "sativas" and "indicas" are said to differ, but the ratio of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) to cannabidiol (CBD) in most named drug varieties of both types is similar (averaging about 200:1). Unlike most commercially developed strains, "indica" landraces exhibit plants with varying THC/CBD ratios. Avidekel, a medical marijuana strain developed in Israel, has a very low content of THC but a high content of CBD, limiting its psychoactive potential while exploring the beneficial medical effects of the latter.


title: Cannabis strain

text: The informal designation "sativa" and "indica" may have various, controversial meanings. Morphologically, the name "sativa" designates tall plants with narrow leaves, while "indica" refers to short plants with wide leaves. Among the marijuana community however, "sativa" rather refers to equatorial varieties producing stimulating psychoactive effects , whereas "indica"-type plants from Central Asia are used for relaxing and sedative drugs (THC:CBD > 1).


title: Cannabis strain

text: There is an increasing discussion about whether the differences between species adequately represents the variability found within the genus "Cannabis".


title: Cannabis strain

text: There are five chemotaxonomic types of "cannabis": one with high levels of THC, one which is more fibrous and has higher levels of CBD, one that is an intermediate between the two, another one with high levels of cannabigerol (CBG), and the last one almost without cannabinoids.


title: Cannabis strain

text: There has also been a recent movement to characterize strains based on their reported subjective effects. For example, WoahStork has used machine learning algorithms to classify strains into six Distinct Activity groups.


title: Cannabis strain

text: In addition to pure "indica", "sativa", and "ruderalis" varieties, hybrid varieties with varying ratios of these three types are common, such as the White Widow hybrid which has about 60% "indica" and 40% "sativa" ancestry. These hybrid varieties exhibit traits from both parental types. There are also commercial crossbred hybrids which contain a mix of both ruderalis, indica or sativa genes, and are usually autoflowering varieties. These varieties are bred mostly for the medicinal "cannabis" market, since they are not very appreciated by recreational "cannabis" users because "ruderalis" varieties are lower in THC and impart a slightly unpleasant taste. "Lowryder" was an early auto-flowering hybrid that retained the flowering behavior of "ruderalis" plants, while also producing appreciable amounts of THC and CBD. Autoflowering "cannabis" varieties have the advantage of being discreet due to their small stature. They also require shorter growing periods, as well as having the additional advantage that they do not rely on a change in the photoperiod to determine when to flower.


title: Cannabis strain

text: Breeding requires pollinating a female "cannabis" plant with male pollen. Although this occurs spontaneously and ubiquitously in nature, the intentional creation of new varieties typically involves selective breeding in a controlled environment.


title: Cannabis strain

text: When "cannabis" is cultivated for its psychoactive or medicinal properties, male plants will often be separated from females. This prevents fertilization of the female plants, either to facilitate "sin semilla" flowering or to provide more control over which male is chosen. Pollen produced by the male is caught and stored until it is needed.


title: Cannabis strain

text: When a male plant of one strain pollinates a female of another strain, the seeds will be F1 hybrids of the male and female. These offspring will not be identical to their parents. Instead, they will have characteristics of both parents. Repeated breeding results in certain characteristics appearing with greater regularity.


title: Cannabis strain

text: It is impossible for a hermaphrodite to create any male-only seeds. A hermaphrodite may create female only seeds and hermaphrodite seeds. Also the female-only seeds may carry the hermaphrodite trait.


title: Cannabis strain

text: Hybridization is the process of plants and animals breeding. Natural wind currents help speed up this hybridization process and promotes a positive growth. Some plants produce many seeds while some produce little to none depending on how it is bred. If seeds are produced traits from both the original parents will be expressed.


title: Cannabis strain

text: Techniques such as mutation breeding are used to develop new strains using irradiation or chemical mutagens such as colchicine. Various companies have been experimenting with creating new strains using genetic engineering techniques.


title: Cannabis strain

text: During the selective breeding process for medical marijuana, THC:CBD ratios are accounted for and accommodated to the needs of the client's preference/illness. Due to the large genetic diversity and different geographical climates and environments, a wide range of strains and properties exist.