Dominican Spanish dialect

[Dominicanese]

Dominican Spanish -Spoken in the Dominican Republic and it's diaspora in Puerto Rico, USA, Spain, and Canada etc...

Dominican Spanish is similar to other Caribbean Spanish or Coastal Caribbean Spanish dialects, as well as Canarian Spanish (Canary Islands of Spain) and Andalusian Spanish (Andalucia, southern Spain).[1] Speakers of Dominican Spanish may also use several Spanish archaisms.

Dominican Spanish, spoken in the Dominican Republic, is similar to Coastal Caribbean Spanish dialects and based on mainly Andalucian/Canarian Spanish dialect, however it has strong influences from West African languages.

The official language spoken in the Dominican Republic is Spanish. However, dialects are spoken across the country. The local dialect of the Dominican Republic is called Dominican Spanish and has some African influences. Moreover, it has borrowed vocabularies from the Arawak language.

Usage:
It is common in the Dominican Spanish language to drop the letter “s”. For example “mosquitos” becomes “mosquito” and “where are you”, dondé tu esta will be dondé tu ta. Also, some words in Dominican Spanish are different compared to modern Spanish. For instance, guapo means handsome in Spanish, but in Dominican Spanish guapo means angry.

Moreover, in Santo Domingo (the capital of Dominican Republic), people tend to change the letter “r” to an “l”. For instance, “porque” will sound like “polque”. However, in the northern part of the country, the letter “r” sounds like an “i”. So it will sound like “poique”.

Another important thing is that Domicans tend to speak very loud and fast and gesticulate a lot while talking. Expats will get used to this expressive style of communication.

History and origins of the dialect
Most of the Spanish-speaking settlers came from what is known as the Andalusia region of south Spain, as well as people from the Canary Islands of Spain. When they first arrived in present-day Dominican Republic, the first non-Spanish speaking people they had contact with were the Arawak speaking Taino people. The environment on the island was much different than that of Spain, so they needed to borrow words of Arawak origin in order to indicate such things. The rapid deaths of the indigenous people led to the importation of African slaves particularly from West and Central Africa to work the plantations. In the 1700s, the Spanish imported large numbers of African slaves and because of this they needed to quickly find ways for the masters and slaves to communicate. This led to some creolization in the Spanish being spoken at the time. The African influence can be heard today in modern Dominican Spanish in the syntax patterns, grammar, vocabulary, and many words, as well as some indigenous words.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominican_Spanish
https://www.justlanded.com/english/D...nican-Republic
http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Espa%C3%B1ol_dominicano

Examples of Dominican Spanish both Urban and Rural, and both typical/natural and proper/standard

standard/proper


Rural
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JelwVpttos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDOt7Mjr3uI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ltsc_-NU00
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkZNPVnTL30
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UH_Eff0emY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujkm6A7_ILA

more standard (Urban)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gelVYD2g0P0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCI_syjW4pg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcBaq9XcgzE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IcSZ8wPJWM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0P1C_l98EnU

feel free to post better and more samples if desired to, feel free to do so

[SupaThug]

When I was in NYC,I met a dominican,he understood my spanish,but I didn't understand him

[Dominicanese]

When I was in NYC,I met a dominican,he understood my spanish,but I didn't understand him

lol, haha lmao

that happens alot, i feel you man. Eventually you can get used to it but a Dominican if wanted to they can speak slower and withdraw the use of idioms and pronunciations common in Dominican speech, think of it as like a Jamaican Patois but in Spanish.

It also depends on the person

[Sikeliot]

Dominican Spanish sounds like an African accent but in Spanish.

[Isleño]

The Dominican Spanish accent to me sounds like if you took the Canarian Spanish accent and added some West African influence to it.

[Sikeliot]

The Dominican Spanish accent to me sounds like if you took the Canarian Spanish accent and added some West African influence to it.

Basically the Spanish equivalent to the way the Gullah speak English.

[Isleño]

Basically the Spanish equivalent to the way the Gullah speak English.

Sorta. I've heard several Dominican dialects/accents and it still sounds like Spanish, but it has this Africanized flair to it. However, I did meet some white Dominicans, and their accent was less Africanized sounding and closer to a Canarian accent. Out of all of Latin America, I think the closest accents to Canarian accents are Cuba and Venezuela. Puerto Rican accents are also similar. I think Canarian influence was strongest on the accents of these areas.

[Dominicanese]

i agree with the both of you ^^, and i think both of you are correct

It can't argued or ignored that the Canarian influence is there and the African influence is also very obvious

According to another linguists book about the origins of Dominican Spanish

The base of the accent of what is called Dominican Spanish is actually of Andalucian extraction/origin but with West African influences, other words it's Andalucian/Canarian Spanish with African influences (to varing degrees), obviously the black and mulatto Dominican population which is the majority will speak with heavier African infuences than the Euro one's but sometimes there's exceptions. However education plays a role, everyone in Dominican Republic knows and understands standard Spanish threw the media and educational system, and we can speak it but with a light or heavy Dominican accent.

BTW Canarian Spanish ( i know isleno knows) is heavily influenced by Andalucian Spanish since many settlers who came to present day canary islands came largely from southern spain but there is also other influences but that one's the heaviest as far as i know. So whenever someone uses Andalucia they can also include Canarian since they speak similar.

Many Dominicans can trace their ancestry to the Canary islands since many canarians came to Dominican Republic in the colonial era, im one of them, i can trace my ancestry to the canary islands in Tenerife largely.

[Isleño]

BTW Canarian Spanish ( i know isleno knows) is heavily influenced by Andalucian Spanish since many settlers who came to present day canary islands came largely from southern spain but there is also other influences but that one's the heaviest as far as i know. So whenever someone uses Andalucia they can also include Canarian since they speak similar.

Many Dominicans can trace their ancestry to the Canary islands since many canarians came to Dominican Republic in the colonial era, im one of them, i can trace my ancestry to the canary islands in Tenerife largely.

Yes, that's very true, the Canarian accents are largely influenced by Andalucía. Ships left out of Sevilla usually filled with mariners that would go to the Canary Islands and Latin America. But there were others from all over Spain, it's just Andalucía had the largest impact on the current accent. And this Canarian accent was brought to the Latin American colonies of Spain and flourished in the Caribbean basin with Canarian migration there. There are 5 Latin American countries associated with the Canarian diaspora: Cuba, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic and Uruguay. In these 5 countries there were sizable Canarian populations. Canarians have been migrating to the Caribbean for centuries. If you listen to Caribbean accents of Cuba, Venezuela, Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, they sound incredibly close to Canarian accents, much more than Andalusian ones.

I often get confused for someone of one of those heritages when I leave my state and I speak Spanish (Castellano) (I live in the US in Louisiana where there is a large Canarian community). I usually get Cuban, Puerto Rican or Venezuelan here in the states since they are not familiar with Canarian accents or even Andalusian ones. When I tell them that I am Spanish descent, they wonder why I don't speak Spanish with a "Spanish accent" as they often put it. But the truth is, there is no one Spanish accent, but they often mean in the way you hear from Madrid, but Canarians don't sound like that. We have our own sound. Heck, Andalusians don't even sound like those of Madrid. But what do they know. When I'm speaking to someone from la península (from the Iberian peninsula part of Spain), they recognize the Canarian sound automatically and they know how we sound. I think Andalusian dialects are also similar in a way.

And it's nice to meet you, I also have lots of ancestry from Tenerife. I have some from a couple of other islands too, but Tenerife is where much of it comes from. I suggest you join those of us here with Canarian ancestry by putting up a Canarian permission group on your profile (the Canarian flag and the name "Canarian" would appear under your name like it does mine). I'm always excited to meet someone with Canarian ancestry. Do you live in the states? What part? Do you find Dominicans know about their partial Canarian ancestry or are they ignorant to it? I find that Cubans and Venezuelans know usually, Puerto Ricans sometimes know, but often don't.

[Dominicanese]

Yes, that's very true, the Canarian accents are largely influenced by Andalucía. Ships left out of Sevilla usually filled with mariners that would go to the Canary Islands and Latin America. But there were others from all over Spain, it's just Andalucía had the largest impact on the current accent. And this Canarian accent was brought to the Latin American colonies of Spain and flourished in the Caribbean basin with Canarian migration there. There are 5 Latin American countries associated with the Canarian diaspora: Cuba, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic and Uruguay. In these 5 countries there were sizable Canarian populations. Canarians have been migrating to the Caribbean for centuries. If you listen to Caribbean accents of Cuba, Venezuela, Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, they sound incredibly close to Canarian accents, much more than Andalusian ones.

I often get confused for someone of one of those heritages when I leave my state and I speak Spanish (I live in the US in Louisiana where there is a large Canarian community). I usually get Cuban, Puerto Rican or Venezuelan here in the states since they are not familiar with Canarian accents or even Andalusian ones. When I'm speaking to someone from la península (from the Iberian peninsula part of Spain), they recognize the Canarian sound automatically and they know how we sound. I think Andalusian dialects are also similar in a way.

And it's nice to meet you, I also have lots of ancestry from Tenerife. I have some from a couple of other islands too, but Tenerife is where much of it comes from. I suggest you join those of us here with Canarian ancestry by putting up a Canarian permission group on your profile (the Canarian flag and the name "Canarian" would appear under your name like it does mine). I'm always excited to meet someone with Canarian ancestry. Do you live in the states? What part? Do you find Dominicans know about their partial Canarian ancestry or are they ignorant to it? I find that Cubans and Venezuelans know usually, Puerto Ricans sometimes know, but often don't.

nice to meet you too

Actually alot many Dominicans are aware of their Spanish ancestry, but they don't know what part of spain they hail from majority-wise in general. Because in the educational system they just say we came from spain (but not specific at all), there's a handful of Dominicans that acknowledge their Canarian ancestry but there's many that would like to know but have lost the information threw out the generations. Me for example in both my parents side they have told me that we have ancestors from the canary islands (my dad's side), by mom side, my granda (my mom's mom) has a family book from the town where she's from in DR, and in this book it says where the people who settled in the town came from and their surnames. In my grandma's book there was a man named Geronimo Guerrero (also my uncle's name past on) where he came from tenerife, isla canarias to Bani, Dominican Republic in 1537 (this is the first record of my canarian ancestry that goes back to as early as nearly 470 years ago) officially. Also in the book not only that man came from tenerife but many more who are related to us, but it was from that man that spread more than 40 children in his farm and would spread rapeadly threw out the generations. In mt dad's family, many also came from tenerife as well as some coming from Morocco and Gomera some 13-16 generations ago and some even more recent like my dad's mom (my other grandma) having a grandfather from the canary islands (island unknown) in the mid to late 1800s to settle in DR. These are what i know so far, and it's very common for many Dominicans to have as much canarian ancestors as me and possibly more in the region that im from in DR orginally which is Jarabacoa. I currently live in miami, florida. I think i also have some Canarian words that was passed down to my me from my family that is rarely heard in other people in DR due to isolation, such as "la patana" being one example lol

i am a very light skinned Dominican, im predominantly euro but i have visible african features but sometimes i would ask people if i can pass in the canary islands, some have said yes, they told me i have some facial features that are common there. But i get confused for all the time is Puerto Rican and sometimes cuban specially here in florida lol

how do i do the canarian mission group? i wanna join

btw, im actually gonna do a another thread if agreed to or possible about the canarian contribution to latin america. im gonna put this video just to show viewers here some samples of the canarian accent and their influence to the caribbean spanish accent