- Thread starter GringoRubio
- Start date
Dominican dialect Exception list.
I told my Guatemalan friend about my confusion with guapo.
me to woman rather breathlessly: eres muy guapa...
she defensively: no soy guapa!
She said that in Guatemala that guapo can be angry, but it's seldom used like that. The above would not be confused like it is here where it is exclusively used for anger.
I love a language so open to double entendres...
It grew into a series of four articles thanks to feedback and suggestions from readers. One section got lost when we updated the site and I've never been able to retrieve it. We also applied some corrections to errors pointed out by readers.
This might be a topic for another thread - I asked an English-Spanish translator who works for US clients how she chooses which Spanish words to use for an audience made up of US Latinos with origins in several Latin American/Caribbean countries. She said they use what is known as "broadcast" Spanish, which is what you hear on Univision and CNN en Espa?ol. It would be interesting to find out how they decide which words should be used as the standard.
You'll find US Spanish on phone/computer keyboards and spellcheckers. It's probably the same until you feed it words that is commonly used.
Torte is also the word for cake in German. I heard it almost exclusively growing up.
It would not reject the less common words though - apart from colloquialisms the less common variations would not be considered incorrect. The cake example is perfect - which word would be chosen for a publication aimed at a US-based Spanish speaking audience? Spellcheck would not reject any of the others, except perhaps for queque.
Torte is also a word in English - I suspect they share the same origin, confirmed by Googling the etymology:
same here, I thought I was so hot when I was mad for a while, that my beauty eclipsed my angry face. But, I was just being asked if I was upset/mad :disappoin
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I wpould imagine that SER guapo/guapa would mean to be handsome (a permanent trait) and ESTAR guapo/guapa would be a condition, such as angry.
In Cuba a plastic bag is a nailon. (Pronounced NAI lon, not nail?n.) LIke the word for women's hose in the US
Interesting. I hope it was not errors in the first article that I helped you put together. You should have let me know. I would have been able to clarify for sure.
Yes, on my side of the pond we are taught to use a very generic Spanish especially in professions that require usage of the language for a broad audience i.e. educators, translators, language consultants etc. I went through the experience academically for years and it's totally worth it.
To answer your question in brief plenty of resources are used such as the dictionary and specialized ones for Latin American Spanish (I don't think Spain is taken into consideration). As well, exposure over time plays a huge factor (this has helped me tremendously) after a while you get familiar with regionalisms etc.
I watch CNN en espa?ol daily for years and I can't ever say I had a problem understanding any of the journalists or broadcasters and they come from various countries. They speak with their local accents some stronger than others but absolutely comprehensible. I also feel when learning a language it's all in the approach. Some learners are extremely focused on localization (which is incorrect IMO) whereas they should just learn Spanish. Knowledge of all variations will fall into place if they are exposed to Spanish on a broad scale. That is one advantage when you live in a city/ country with a variety of Spanish speakers as opposed to in a Spanish-speaking country like the DR (not enough variety).
-MP.
There weren't major errors. E.g. one that I remember was the English and Latin names of the tree known as amapola in the DR. We also made additions to the list of countries/regions where bananas are called guineos, which was more common than we realised.
In terms of vocabulary, though, when addressing a Latino audience in the US and you want to talk about a cake, which word do you use and what are the criteria for using it? I would guess pastel rather than bizcocho or torta.
It makes sense that Iberian Spanish is not taken into account, but are words in Mexican Spanish, for example, more commonly used than say, Caribbean or Argentinian Spanish?
You'd think. I noticed I use estar more often than my Dominican friends. They seem quite lazy about the "changing mood" thing and Dominicans are nothing if not changing moods. I'm still trying to tease out the uses here.
Oh, I agree. As somebody pointed earlier (DerFisch?), the objective is always to communicate effectively. So I always recommend breadth over depth and learn the phrases that get you through the day. Enjoy the moment, and don't take your Spanish to seriously; certainly, no one else does and thankfully Spanish speakers are good natured and quick to laugh.
I've always enjoyed languages even though I can safely say that I lack natural ability. Even in English, I'll hunt down meanings and etymologies and learn several new words a week. I often discover words that mean different things to different people even in the same community. It's part of the inaccuracy of language that I find fascinating.
A stack of flash cards with the Dominican variations (ie, the very thing that I'm asking for) would ruin my fun.
Thanks for that. I've been looking for 'guineo'. I've only seen it written once at a cafe in 'la capital'. It's specific to a sweet banana good for eating raw, isn't it?
Here are two more articles with a specific focus on the words guineo and china:
http://www.dominicancooking.com/2571-why-bananas-called-guineos.html
http://www.dominicancooking.com/1314-dominicans-call-oranges-chinas.html
http://www.dominicancooking.com/2571-why-bananas-called-guineos.html
http://www.dominicancooking.com/1314-dominicans-call-oranges-chinas.html