Dominican Real Estate Listings - Dominican Republic Real Estate
The origin of Dominican Spanish, like the Dominican people themselves, is multi-layered. The basis, as for all Spanish dialects in the Americas, is the Spanish of the 15th century conquistadors, enhanced by subsequent waves of settlers from Spain, and peppered with the influence of the indigenous Taino population and the African slaves who were later brought over by the Spanish. Add to that spicy mix the more recent influence of the United States, which also left its mark on Dominican Spanish during its two military occupations of the country in the 20th century, in 1916 and 1965.
Accent-wise especially, Dominican Spanish shares some common elements with the rest of the Spanish-speaking Caribbean, but retains some distinctive features in its vocabulary as well. The tendency to slur consonants (‘colmao’ for ‘colmado’, for instance) and drop ‘s’s (‘gracia’ for ‘gracias’) is characteristic of fast-paced Spanish accents like that of the south of Spain, and several other Latin American Spanish accents, most notably in the Caribbean region.
Unusually for a relatively small country, the Dominican Republic has a rich variety of distinct regional accents. The unusual ‘i’ substitution for ‘r’ is typical of the Cibao region (‘poi favoi’ for ‘por favor’ and ‘por que’ ‘poi que’). The ‘l’ for ‘r’ characteristic is common, especially in the capital where ‘por favor’ becomes ‘pol favol’, and ‘por que’ is transformed into ‘pol que’. The reverse happens in the southwest, where ‘l’s become ‘rs, (‘la capitar’ for ‘la capital’). Linguistic experts believe these to be remnants of the Andalusian accent. The latter especially occurs in southern Spain as well.
This gives rise to many a political joke, especially when you learn that the PRD and PLD – the two main political parties – sound practically the same when many Dominicans pronounce their names.
The syntax patterns in Dominican Spanish have characteristics that stem from the African influence dating back to the 17th century. The characteristic word order in questions like ‘como tú estás’ as opposed to the standard Spanish ‘como estás (tú)’ is the most common. In typical Dominican Spanish, this is pronounced ‘Como tu ’ta’. Most questions are inverted in this way. For example – ‘que tú crees’, ‘como tú te llamas’, and ‘que tú piensas’.
A small number of words that can be traced back to African languages are also present, mainly surviving in names for foodstuffs like ‘mondongo’ (stewed tripe) and ‘casabe’ (cassava bread).
Although the Tainos, who lived on the island when the Spaniards arrived, did not survive, their legacy is present in many of the words that make up the Dominican everyday vocabulary.
An ‘areíto’ is a traditional celebration. An ‘arepa’ is a corn pudding. ‘Bohío’ means house or hut. ‘Batey’ means ball court, and is still in use as the word for cane cutter settlements. ‘Chichigua’ is kite, and ‘conuco’ is the Dominican word for small family farming plot. ‘Guaraguao’ is a red-tailed hawk, and ‘maco’ is another word used for frog in the DR, as well as the standard Spanish word, ‘rana’. The fermented drink ‘mabí’ takes its name from the Taino word for fruit tree.
Some, like ‘tiburón’ (shark), ‘jaiba’ (freshwater crab), ‘cacique’ (chieftain) and ‘colibrí’ (hummingbird) have spread further across the Spanish speaking world, while others like ‘canoa’ – canoe, ‘hamaca’ – hammock, ‘barbacoa’ – barbecue, ‘tabacu’ – tobacco, ‘jurakan’ (the god of thunder) – hurricane, ‘sabana’ – savannah, ‘maraca’ – maraca, ‘manatí’ – manatee, and ‘iguana’, have become universal.
This range of words reflects the Tainos’ lifestyle and beliefs, their particular type of community organization, the foods they ate and their natural environment. Countless place names in the Dominican Republic date back from pre-Columbian times: the Cibao Valley, cities like Mao, Bonao and Nagua, and the Macorís of San Pedro and San Francisco de Macorís.
When it comes to English, the most famous examples are ‘watchiman’ for watchman (standard Spanish would be ‘guardian’), ‘zafacón’ for trash can (safety can), standard Spanish would be ‘papelera’ or simply ‘cubo de basura’, ‘suape’ for mop, and some say even ‘mangú’ derives from a US serviceman’s verdict when served the quintessential Dominican breakfast dish, mashed plantains: “Man, this is good!” This may of course be apocryphal.
All these expressions are well established in the Dominican vocabulary, harking back to well before the more recent influence of globalized popular culture whose lingua franca is English, the increasing number of bi-lingual schools or the cross-fertilization with the Spanglish of the Dominican community in the US.
Many an English speaker has felt confused after having struggled bravely to remember the correct Spanish word, to find that it not the right one after all. Even stranger, the word being used by Dominicans sounds surprisingly familiar.
Consider some of the vocabulary for items of clothing: ‘Brasier’ is a bra (from brassiere, while the standard Spanish is ‘sostén’), a ‘poloché’ (polo shirt), ‘pantis’ (panties) and ‘ténis’ – sports shoes.
Baseball is another case in point. Most of the vocabulary associated with baseball is made up of anglicisms: ‘batear’ (to bat), ‘pichar’ (to pitch) and ‘jonrón’ (home run). The correct ‘cuadrangular’ is seldom used. The baseball pitch is always ‘El Play’, pronounced the English way. This, however, is not unique to the DR. All Latin American countries where baseball is popular, like Nicaragua, Panama, Cuba and Venezuela have adopted these terms in preference to their Spanish translations.
Some foods are called by peculiar adaptations of their English names, which might not be immediately obvious to the untrained ear. ‘Greifrú’ is grapefruit as well as the more standard Spanish ‘toronja’, and ‘cachú’ is ketchup. ‘Crinchí’ is cream cheese, and ‘chizqué’ is cheesecake. Makes complete sense, now, doesn’t it?
At the hardware store you will be pleased to discover that ‘teipi’, not ‘cinta adhesiva’ is adhesive tape, ‘swiche’ is light-switch, not ‘interruptor’, and ‘playú’ is plywood. What else?
When it comes to motor vehicles, you peer through the ‘winchí’ (windshield, standard Spanish is ‘parabrisas’), engage the ‘cloche’ (clutch, standard Spanish is ‘embrague’) and if you’re lucky, you’re driving a ‘yipeta’ (four-wheel drive vehicle, from the word ‘jeep’), which is the ultimate ingredient of the Dominican dream.
The Spanish influence, in terms of population movement, came from Galicia and the Canary islands, traditionally the regions in Spain that provided the majority of migrants to Latin America. If Dominican surnames are anything to go by, there is also an important Catalan, Basque and Andalusian heritage. All these migrants brought over their language with them, including provincial idiosyncrasies and words that were in common usage in Spain at the time. As a result, a number of words that are now defined as archaic in Spain are still alive and well in the Dominican Republic. Three common examples are ‘apear’ meaning ‘to get down’ or ‘to get off’, ‘asechar’ which means ‘to look’ or ‘to watch’, and ‘prieto’ for black. These have fallen out of everyday use in modern Spain, but have endured in the lands colonised and settled by the Spanish, in the same way as some 16th century English words and grammar still appear in present day Caribbean English (‘vexed’) and US English (‘gotten’).
Then there are the Dominicanisms that are definitely and distinctively Dominican, but are of obscure origin. ‘Un chin’ (a little bit, also ‘un chinchin’ – a tiny bit) is one example. ‘Chele’ meaning ‘cent’ is another uniquely Dominican word, with no obvious origin.
Some words have different, and sometimes potentially problematic, meanings in the Dominican Republic. ‘Guapo’ is handsome (‘guapa’ – beautiful) in standard Spanish, while in the DR it means angry or tough. ‘Un guapo’ in the DR is a tough guy, in Venezuela for example he would be a pimp, and in Mexico or Spain, a matinee idol. Not quite the same thing! It’s also useful to remember to say ‘funda’ for ‘bag’, instead of the standard ‘bolsa’ which is vulgar. ‘Nalgas’ is the acceptable term for buttocks. The standard Spanish ‘culo’ is never used in polite conversation.
When a foreigner says these words, some, but not all Dominicans will be aware of the standard meaning, and realise what you’re on about. The challenge is to learn which of these words are uniquely Dominican and which are not. You’ll also need to know this if ever you are going use your Spanish in any different Spanish speaking country, especially if you want people to actually understand what you’re saying.
