República Dominicana is not Dominica

Marianopolita

Former Spanish forum Mod 2010-2021
Dec 26, 2003
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I read an article two days ago and was surprised by the glaring error made by the journalist. Actually, I am surprised that a journalist could not be bothered to make sure that the information is correct. I did send them a note and I am waiting to see if they will respond back at least acknowledging the error.


Where is República Dominicana and what is the adjective of nationality? Someone needs to tell the journalist.


Un dominicano o una dominicana viene de República Dominicana.



Where is Dominica and what is the adjective of nationality? Someone needs to tell the journalist.


Un dominiqués o una dominiquesa viene de Dominica.



Here is the article:

https://www.periodicocubano.com/cuba-envio-brigada-de-constructores-a-republica-dominicana/

Cuba envió brigada de constructores a Dominica


Mientras La Habana se derrumba, el gobierno interviene en la recuperación de los dominicanos tras el paso del huracán María, en septiembre pasado



Interesting enough I have met many people who don't know the difference and people from the English-speaking Caribbean pronounce Dominican Republic like how they say Dominican as in the adjective of nationality. Then when I tell them they are two different islands you should see the puzzled look.


Article:

Islands hit by Hurricane María

https://www.vox.com/science-and-hea...arbuda-dominica-virgin-islands-cuba-st-martin





-MP.
 
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windeguy

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Jul 10, 2004
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It was for me once when I rented a car in San Jose, CA. The rental company had no option for the Dominican Republic in their data base, so they went with Dominica.
 

Caonabo

LIFE IS GOOD
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There is no such thing as journalism any longer. For generations, journalism was once an art form.
 

CFA123

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May 29, 2004
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I read an article two days ago and was surprised by the glaring error made by the journalist. Actually, I am surprised that a journalist could not be bothered to make sure that the information is correct. I did send them a note and I am waiting to see if they will respond back at least acknowledging the error.


Where is República Dominicana and what is the adjective of nationality? Someone needs to tell the journalist.


Un dominicano o una dominicana viene de República Dominicana.



Where is Dominica and what is the adjective of nationality? Someone needs to tell the journalist.


Un domiqués o una dominquesa viene de Dominica.



Here is the article:

https://www.periodicocubano.com/cuba-envio-brigada-de-constructores-a-republica-dominicana/

Cuba envió brigada de constructores a Dominica






Interesting enough I have met many people who don't know the difference and people from the English-speaking Caribbean pronounce Dominican Republic like how they say Dominican as in the adjective of nationality. Then when I tell them they are two different islands you should see the puzzled look.


Article:

Islands hit by Hurricane María

https://www.vox.com/science-and-hea...arbuda-dominica-virgin-islands-cuba-st-martin





-MP.

MP,
Help me understand... Cuba sent help to Dominica, which was devastated last year by Maria.

I didn’t see any reference to the Dominican Republic in the article... in either article.

Can you point out your area of concern? I guess my ignorance is showing but I don’t see the issue, both articles refer correctly (I think) to Dominica and don’t mention RD.
 

chrisrose97

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May 2, 2010
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MP,
Help me understand... Cuba sent help to Dominica, which was devastated last year by Maria.

I didn’t see any reference to the Dominican Republic in the article... in either article.

Can you point out your area of concern? I guess my ignorance is showing but I don’t see the issue, both articles refer correctly (I think) to Dominica and don’t mention RD.



"Cuba envió brigada de constructores a Dominica
Mientras La Habana se derrumba, el gobierno interviene en la recuperación de los DOMINICANOS tras el paso del huracán María, en septiembre pasado"

It should have been DOMINIQUENSES, right?

I always questioned myself that...
 

CFA123

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May 29, 2004
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"Cuba envió brigada de constructores a Dominica
Mientras La Habana se derrumba, el gobierno interviene en la recuperación de los DOMINICANOS tras el paso del huracán María, en septiembre pasado"

It should have been DOMINIQUENSES, right?

I always questioned myself that...

I missed that reference. Thanks!
 

AlterEgo

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South Coast

Matilda

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When i was in Dominica, the people there called themselves Dominicans, as AE says with the accent on the second i. It is a British island and yes there is some Creole spoken and maybe the OP is thinking of the Creole spelling but the British spelling is definitely Dominicans.

Matilda
 

Marianopolita

Former Spanish forum Mod 2010-2021
Dec 26, 2003
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@windeguy


Car rental bookings are by airport code. You picked up the car in San Jose, California. The DR airport was needed for the rental?


@Caonabo


The macro issue maybe journalism but the micro issue is Spanish and the journalist's knowledge of gentilicios en español. Actually, it is one of the fun grammar topics in Spanish because the rules are well there are no real rules around the formation. There are common suffixes used to form demonyms and a lot depends on the ending of the words which strongly guides the formation of the adjectives of nationality. In the article there are two possibilities:


1) the journalist does not know they are two different islands


2) the journalist does not know the adjective of nationality and the error is the result of not knowing they are two different islands.


@CFAQ123


I purposely posted the short paragraph in the thread and you still missed it. As I read article I was waiting to see if the journalist would use the right adjective of nationality and it did not take long for the mistake to occur.


@chrisrose97


I posted the correct adjective in my first post. It is dominiqués (masc.) and dominiquesa (fem.) Plural dominiqueses or dominiquesas.



Later on I will post some links on how to form gentilicios or adjectives of nationality in Spanish. Although there are no firm rules there are trends and common suffixes. In some cases there is the tendency of a population to designate their own adjective of nationality.


In Spanish you can play games by guessing the adjective of nationality and this is also a way to learn as well.

¿Cuál es el gentilicio de equis país?





-MP.
 
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chrisrose97

Member
May 2, 2010
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OK! So the difference is in pronunciation, right?

People from RD are /do MI ni cans/ (stress in 2nd syllable)

and from Dominica are /do mi NEE cans/ stress in 3rd syllable...! NEE pronounced KNEE

and thats the difference in English, right?
 

Marianopolita

Former Spanish forum Mod 2010-2021
Dec 26, 2003
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When i was in Dominica, the people there called themselves Dominicans, as AE says with the accent on the second i. It is a British island and yes there is some Creole spoken and maybe the OP is thinking of the Creole spelling but the British spelling is definitely Dominicans.

Matilda


I know the difference between the two islands. I referenced the stress pattern difference in my first post.

What are you talking about? People from Dominica are DomiNIcans in English. People from the English-speaking Caribbean say DomiNIcan Republic which is wrong when it should be DoMInican Republic.


In the Spanish article the title says Dominica which is not República Dominicana then in the article they reference los dominicanos.



-MP.
 

Marianopolita

Former Spanish forum Mod 2010-2021
Dec 26, 2003
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OK! So the difference is in pronunciation, right?

People from RD are /do MI ni cans/ (stress in 2nd syllable)

and from Dominica are /do mi NEE cans/ stress in 3rd syllable...! NEE pronounced KNEE

and thats the difference in English, right?



Yes.


In Spanish there is no confusion because the names of the islands are different. Refer to my previous post.



-MP.
 

Marianopolita

Former Spanish forum Mod 2010-2021
Dec 26, 2003
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Here's an article I wrote about it with input from a lovely lady who used to post on DR1. Her children are half Dominican half Dominican. :D

https://www.dominicancooking.com/18437-almost-namesakes-dominica-and-dominican-republic.html

Nice easy read article.


I am still amazed though when Caribbean people don’t know the difference between the two islands. As a young kid growing up I learned fast Dominica is not Dominican Republic and Dominica is in the Lesser Antilles. In general, Caribbean islands have many similarities whether it is the Spanish, English or Dutch Caribbean. The differentiators are the language, food, food preparation, music etc. In my household it is often discussed. Good laugh when needed.


-MP.
 

Marianopolita

Former Spanish forum Mod 2010-2021
Dec 26, 2003
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As I mentioned in my post #9 I said I would add links about the formation of gentilicios or adjectives of nationality in Spanish.


There no official rules but rather common suffixes or trends that can be observed when trying to say a person is from xxx country, city or region. In my opinion and experience knowing some of the adjectives is instinctive and it makes for fun learning if you are interested in continuing to learn and take your knowledge of Spanish to the next level.

https://www.ecured.cu/Gentilicio

https://www.fundeu.es/noticia/la-esquina-del-idioma-construccion-de-gentilicios-5578/


The newspaper error is a perfect example of why you should not guess if you don't know because you think you are talking about the people of a particular country and it may be far from the case. Keep in mind there can be more than one adjective of nationality for a city, country or region. Usage depends on preference. For example, brasileño or brasilero or saudí or saudita.


List of gentilicios from the RAE:

http://www.rae.es/diccionario-panhispanico-de-dudas/apendices/paises-y-capitales-con-sus-gentilicios


Here is more of a fun way to learn with exercises and videos

https://aprenderespanol.org/vocabulario/paises-nacionalidades-gentilicios-recursos-imprimibles.html



-MP.
 

NALs

Economist by Profession
Jan 20, 2003
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I remember last year when one of the hurricanes swept through Dominica, several Dominican television commentaries mention that the international media was confusing Dominica with Dominican Republic in their advisory against travelling to the affected area. In more than a few morning shows it was implied that the confusion was made on purpose in order to hurt Punta Cana's tourism and have more tourists visit the other islands that the hurricanes missed. It also didn't helped that in the international media often referred to Dominicans (from Dominica) as Dominicans (from DR.)

Something has to be done regarding the nationality of Dominica on the basis that the DR is a much older country than Dominica, so the real Dominicans are the one's first to consider themselves as such. Not to mention that the population of Spanish Santo Domingo in colonial times was often referred to as Dominicans and at times it referred to itself as Dominicans too. A quick glance of the declaration of independence of Spanish Haiti in 1821 leaves no room for doubt when it clearly talks about 'the Dominican people.'

A similar 'problem' arose with the name for natives of the city of Santo Domingo vs natives of the country (Dominican in the Dominican Republic derives from Santo Domingo, which was not only the name of the capital city but also of the Spanish territory, and to this day the DR is often referred to simply as Santo Domingo too.) To avoid the confusion, the Real Academia de la Lengua Española decided that Dominicans apply to natives of the Dominican Republic and Capitaleño applies to natives of the city of Santo Domingo.

Notice that Capitaleños are also Capitalinos. The second one is a general name for anyone from any capital city, but the first one applies only to natives of the city of Santo Domingo, DR. A lot of people think Dominicans refer to Capitalinos as Capitaleños on the basis of a popularly accepted mispronunciation, but in reality there's a logical and intentional reason behind it all.

There's now a new 'problem' with the creation of the province of Santo Domingo, but this issue hasn't attracted much attention. Needless to say, the natives of the province of Santo Domingo have no name, so to speak.
 
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beeza

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Nov 2, 2006
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To save confusion, people of the DR should be called Dominican Republicans!

There are also two Congos. There is the Republic of Congo and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The latter should be just known as Democrats!