If you are interested in reading a good article on the R to L change in Caribbean Spanish that explains some key aspects of this linguistic concept and where it is more prevalent in Latin America, I have attached an article that was posted earlier this year in BBC Mundo (it is in Spanish).
The common imitation of Puerto Rican speakers by other Spanish speakers is prevalent and even wrong in many cases meaning when imitating PR speech. People tend to change R to L in a word (position) where linguistically it would not be possible which is ironic and incorrect.
Dr. Orlando Alba, a Dominican linguistics professor and native of Santiago has researched this concept and some of his comments on this phenomenon are added in the article. His points are interesting and accurate. Many people think R to L is limited to Puerto Rico but it is not. It is prevalent in PR but not to say that it is not heard in DR and Cuba. The latter has the lowest usage of the three but it is still heard in a specific segment of the population.
The reverse phenomenon L to R is associated with the DR (and regional) and in my experience there is still not enough research and documentation on this particular linguistic phenomenon. I have never heard L to R by a Cuban.
https://www.bbc.com/mundo/noticias-42414814
The article gets you thinking in a different light especially if you are aware of the concept, hear it on a regular basis and can make the distinction then comparing it to other linguistic concepts that exist in Spanish spoken in the rest of Latin America. In my opinion, it is another example of how Spanish today is still a language with many varieties (regardless how it is viewed) but is still one language.
-MP.
The common imitation of Puerto Rican speakers by other Spanish speakers is prevalent and even wrong in many cases meaning when imitating PR speech. People tend to change R to L in a word (position) where linguistically it would not be possible which is ironic and incorrect.
Dr. Orlando Alba, a Dominican linguistics professor and native of Santiago has researched this concept and some of his comments on this phenomenon are added in the article. His points are interesting and accurate. Many people think R to L is limited to Puerto Rico but it is not. It is prevalent in PR but not to say that it is not heard in DR and Cuba. The latter has the lowest usage of the three but it is still heard in a specific segment of the population.
The reverse phenomenon L to R is associated with the DR (and regional) and in my experience there is still not enough research and documentation on this particular linguistic phenomenon. I have never heard L to R by a Cuban.
https://www.bbc.com/mundo/noticias-42414814
The article gets you thinking in a different light especially if you are aware of the concept, hear it on a regular basis and can make the distinction then comparing it to other linguistic concepts that exist in Spanish spoken in the rest of Latin America. In my opinion, it is another example of how Spanish today is still a language with many varieties (regardless how it is viewed) but is still one language.
-MP.
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