Talk:Dominican Spanish

(Article inaccuracies)

This article is not wholly accurate, it contains certain errors in the presumption of certain words and usages. The word Maracuya is not Spanish, but a word borrowed from the Araucan. Dominicans do not call all foreigners Gringos, the word extranjero is of common use in the Island, as common as any other usage. Dominicans, as a general rule, call mandarins; Mandarinas, not Italianas, this can be seen in supermarkets and grocery stores across the nation. Cuartos as a word for money comes form old castillian, but in use even today in the south of Spain and recognizable by most modern speakers. Also, it is Los cuartos, for money and el cuarto for a room. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 62.25.109.195 (talk • contribs) 12:10, 30 April 2007

agreed. Gringo is often a word used in all Spanish cultures to indicate a white (possibly white american) individual, and it will NOT be used for an Asian, Indian, or Black African despite them being foreigners or extranjeros. I'm removing this section because it is simply wrong. Adreamtonight 05:10, 27 June 2007 (UTC)

I think the article should be revised to include that Dominicans are able to speak correct spanish when the need arises. The article makes it seem like they just speak a butchered version of the language. What do u guys think?FEVB 00:10, 14 November 2007 (UTC)

Good point. I think you'd like the current version. SamEV (talk) 20:22, 9 February 2011 (UTC)

Bacano

Was reading through the Colombian Spanish article and noticed that one of the slang words was bacano for good. This is also used in the Republic and should be added. FEVB 18:22, 14 November 2007 (UTC)

More On Bacano

Bacano is of Spanish origin, albeit, a corrupted form. It comes from the old Spanish word "chabacano" (see the Philippine dialect of Spanish also called chabacano). Its original meaning was 'wrong, bad or incorrect'. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.86.248.171 (talk) 18:29, 15 November 2010 (UTC)

Its use has spread recently and it is also now found in Brazilian Portuguese slang with the same meaning as in Caribbean Spanish slang. No doubt due to the growing affluence of the Latin American middle class and growing cross-border and cross-cultural connections with our Portuguese-speaking sister country. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.86.248.171 (talk • contribs) 18:31, 15 November 2010

That Article Dismisses Dominican Spanish

What is the actual intention behind emphasizing on the slang phrases used in the Dominican Republic? Is this another attempt to ridicule and denigrate Dominicans in general? It would be as if I had chosen only the slang phrases to describe the English spoken in the inner-city streets of the United States of America.

As a Dominican residing in the USA, I feel offended by the effort this article makes in portraying Dominican Spanish in such a humiliating light. There are slang phrases in every language. That is not the only way Dominicans talk. Education, of course, plays a very important role in keeping the purity of the language. But that occurs all over the world. Our (Dominican) government doesn’t spend enough on the educational system.

I can state, however that any Dominican who is lucky enough to get access to a good education, commands the language in a very accurate manner. I was raised in the Dominican Republic and I was never exposed to that kind of slang. Indeed, no member of my family or friends ever spoke that way. There are social divides everywhere in the world, and, unfortunately, the Dominican Republic is not an exception.

Most of the people who use that kind of slang come form marginalized neighborhoods, or are people who want to appear cool or street-wise. I am very proud of the Spanish I speak. Wherever I go, unlike what the article describes, everybody who speaks Spanish understands me perfectly. If anything, we always exchange information about how certain things have different names throughout Latin America.

I have met people from all over Latin America, and those who are in constant contact with all kinds of Dominicans know very well that not all of them talk like that. At the same time, I have also seen differences in speech pattern and pronunciation among all the other Spanish versions from Latin America. I have seen that the more educated the person is, the higher their command of “standard” Castilian-Spanish will be. It's sad that the last section of this article takes the easy way out by over generalizing, instead of making the assertion that cultured and well-educated Dominicans master their native language (and maybe a second or more) at the highest standard level, just as well as cultured and well-educated people from all over the world master theirs. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Atom22xy (talk • contribs) 05:40, 29 February 2008

Phonology - Morphology/Syntax ??

If I'm not mistaken, this statement:

Almost exclusively Dominican in use, is the placing of the second person singular pronoun tú before the verb in the question form: "¿Cómo tú estás?" instead of "¿Cómo estás tú?". Nevertheless, when using the more formal usted, instead of tú, the conventional word order is used.

doesn't deal with phonology. I believe there are others in the section labeled phonology that could be better classified and that this all could use some reorganization, but I'm not confident enough with my linguistics knowledge to do it myself. Ryanminier (talk) 04:18, 1 October 2008 (UTC)

Is guagua Arawak or Canary?

The article says the the word guagua originated in the Canary Islands in the Dominican Vocabulary section and from the Arawak in the Arawak table. Which one is correct? --Beirne (talk) 00:13, 7 April 2009 (UTC)

"Ello", como sujeto expletivo enfático

This form is in wide use in Dominican Spanish yet it is not mentioned here.

For example: Ello no hay azucar. (There is no sugar.) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.19.57.160 (talk) 15:49, 5 September 2010 (UTC)

Weak R

In "Phonology" section, they mention "weak r". What exactly is your definition of "weak"? because weak is an extremely vague term, and quite frankly, it's very improper in terms of phonology. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 152.18.57.67 (talk) 02:37, 25 September 2010 (UTC)

Dominican Spanish Formation ??

The article does not tell the origin or the formation of Dominican Spanish, for example, there's a part where it says the syntax for Dominican/Caribbean Spanish is different from the standard syntax of Spanish, for example Dominican Spanish go's 'como tu ta" instead of standard 'como estas tu", but that doesn't explain why that happened in the first place nor the dropping of the S's or the l for an r. It doesn't give the history of the Spanish dialect of Dominican Republic, i have only found a few websites that state some of the reasons for syntax and pronounciation, which should be added ([1],[2][3]). Remember these are just suggestions and if approved then it should be added to the article. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.196.72.160 (talk) 23:27, 30 November 2010 (UTC)

So long as you observe the policies of Wikipedia, such as WP:NOR and WP:V, you can edit the article yourself.

The policies include not editing when you're serving a block, but you violated that rule often. So it's not possible to welcome you with open arms.

Also, only the third source you listed is reliable. See WP:RS. SamEV (talk) 04:00, 1 December 2010 (UTC)

So the reliable source you say is the (A new perspective on Afro-Dominican Spanish: the Haitian contribution) am i correct. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.196.72.160 (talk) 10:20, 1 December 2010 (UTC)

Yep. SamEV (talk) 03:26, 3 August 2011 (UTC)

Mamey

I was told by Dominicans that "mamey" is the local word for "orange color" and that Dominicans are more acquainted with it as a color name that as a fruit name. If so, it should be mentioned in the section for local words. --Error (talk) 23:15, 21 October 2012 (UTC)

Maco

I'm pretty sure this is slang for vagina and it is certainly a word you might want to avoid in a conversation with a Dominican.

Update: Maco is a word for frog.