Is there really a difference between a dominican american accent and a dominican accent? I was born and raised in the U.S.A but have been speaking spanish since i was born. Every time i travel to DR i get questioned on my accent frequently, have any of you had the same experience? My spanish is fine btw, i speak it daily here in the states.
- Thread starter Brian Bobadilla
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Difference in dominican accents.
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To my ear, there are at least three different Dominican 'accents'.
1. The ones who speak proper Spanish, and pronounce all the letters in the words.
2. The ones who drop their s's and cut off half their words
3. The Cibaeno accent.
Could it be you actually speak properly, and they can't pick you out as one of the #2 Dominicans?
1. The ones who speak proper Spanish, and pronounce all the letters in the words.
2. The ones who drop their s's and cut off half their words
3. The Cibaeno accent.
Could it be you actually speak properly, and they can't pick you out as one of the #2 Dominicans?
Welcome, Brian.
If you could give some specifics about the context in which your accent is questioned, please.
If you could give some specifics about the context in which your accent is questioned, please.
in the way i say the word in spanish is the context in which my accent is questioned. I grew up speaking english and spanish at the same time so i guess my english accent rubbed off into my spanish accent and vice versa.
people tell me that its americanized but i honestly dont see how since i grew up speaking the language. i wish i could post an audio clip of me talking so you all could comment.
Most likely you sound like a Spanish speaker but you may not have an authentic Dominican accent. Once you speak English and Spanish and you are in a predominantly English environment, it's almost inevitable. There are probably Dominican features identifiable in your accent and speech but it's hard to sound authentically Dominican if you did not grow up and learn to speak there for a significant period of time but it's not entirely impossible.
Don't be bothered by people's comments. Some people like to critique a person's accent or try to find something particular in a person's speech as insignificant as it may be. Chances are they like the way you speak and recognize that it is different and it is not the typical Dominican speech pattern although you have some features of it in your speech.
The Dominican vernacular which is predominantly very informal when speaking, most /s/ are dropped (and some added where they don't belong), non standard speech patterns and grammatical forms are not elements that should be mirrored. If you speak a standard form of Spanish or what I call international Spanish all the time, I think that's more in your favour especially since you don't live in the DR. Just ask them what they mean when they make comments about the way you speak.
BTW- in reference to post #2, I think example 1 and 2 are examples of speech patterns meaning the way a person speaks. Example #3, el cibae?o is actually one of the few true dialects in Spanish. Differences in accents etc are regional forms of speech i.e. a Cuban accent, a Uruguayan accent, a Colombian accent etc all which may encompass different patterns of speech, regional pronunciation etc.
My .02 cents
-MP.
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yeah i think you are on to something right there and i agree. it has to do with the fact that i was raised in a english environment without to develop the authentic dominican accent as you said
I know the feeling:
I was at a Casa de cambio in Santo Domingo last year, and upon hearing me speak, the folks there asked if I was "Peruvian or something." And no matter how hard I tried to convince them that I was born and raised in the Cambel?n sector of Hig?ey, they continued insisting I was a foreigner. (If they only knew I could do a killer Jimmy Stewart, a Pakistani gas station owner, and an unequal Forrest Gump... all rolled into one. I reserve that for my American audience.)
In Texas, other Latinos have said, "Usted no parece dominicano." I think they are accostumed to watching dominicanos peleando en el Show de Cristina y Caso cerrado.
However, while I'm hanging out with buddies, I'm at my best chopo:
D?melo, ke lo ke, maltido pariguayo del diablo?
Aqu?, ya tu sabe: trag?ndome un cable, pero no e' tu culpa.
I was at a Casa de cambio in Santo Domingo last year, and upon hearing me speak, the folks there asked if I was "Peruvian or something." And no matter how hard I tried to convince them that I was born and raised in the Cambel?n sector of Hig?ey, they continued insisting I was a foreigner. (If they only knew I could do a killer Jimmy Stewart, a Pakistani gas station owner, and an unequal Forrest Gump... all rolled into one. I reserve that for my American audience.)
In Texas, other Latinos have said, "Usted no parece dominicano." I think they are accostumed to watching dominicanos peleando en el Show de Cristina y Caso cerrado.
However, while I'm hanging out with buddies, I'm at my best chopo:
D?melo, ke lo ke, maltido pariguayo del diablo?
Aqu?, ya tu sabe: trag?ndome un cable, pero no e' tu culpa.
I was told the same thing when I came to the DR.In the DR they speak spanish very fast and alot
use hand motions.
When I was living in the states unless I told someone I was Dominican,they assumed I was
Puerto Rican because they said I don't speak fast.
Like Alter Ego mentioned that cibaeno accent is a dead give away.
use hand motions.
When I was living in the states unless I told someone I was Dominican,they assumed I was
Puerto Rican because they said I don't speak fast.
Like Alter Ego mentioned that cibaeno accent is a dead give away.
Well, some folks in Hig?ey have a peculiar way of pronouncing certain words which contain the letters 'R' and 'T' somewhere in the middle, such as puerta and carta, cart?n and cart?lago. Instead of rolling the Rs, the tip of the toungue touches the roof of the mouth, then coupled with the following Ts, it produces a very distinctive sound.
But that's not me. I try to sound "neutral" in a formal setting.
The famous "L" sound of Pol fabol!
There are probably three main accents in the DR: Cibae?o, Sure?o and Capitale?o.
The Cibae?o will put an 'i' where the 'r' is supposed to go. Poi qu?? Ham? ei favoi. Pue'sei, e' veida'...
the Sure?o uses verbs differently. Me se cay? or Me se fue.
the Capitale?o will use that "l" instead of the "r" and depending on his social class do this more frequently the lower down one goes: Pol fabol, pol Di?, No se pu? hablal de eso..
Intellectuals, professionals, tend to speak properly, but every now and the their origins crop up!! Se le sale el cibae?o!
As for friend Brian, he has an accent influenced by his English. Just as my Spanish has an accent that even after 50 years, it comes out. My dear father had a Spanish accent after 60 years in the states! Some things can't be erased...
So Brian, no biggie. You understand what they are saying and they do understand what you are saying...and "Dame una Fr?a !! is understood everywhere??? Right.
HB
There are probably three main accents in the DR: Cibae?o, Sure?o and Capitale?o.
The Cibae?o will put an 'i' where the 'r' is supposed to go. Poi qu?? Ham? ei favoi. Pue'sei, e' veida'...
the Sure?o uses verbs differently. Me se cay? or Me se fue.
the Capitale?o will use that "l" instead of the "r" and depending on his social class do this more frequently the lower down one goes: Pol fabol, pol Di?, No se pu? hablal de eso..
Intellectuals, professionals, tend to speak properly, but every now and the their origins crop up!! Se le sale el cibae?o!
As for friend Brian, he has an accent influenced by his English. Just as my Spanish has an accent that even after 50 years, it comes out. My dear father had a Spanish accent after 60 years in the states! Some things can't be erased...
So Brian, no biggie. You understand what they are saying and they do understand what you are saying...and "Dame una Fr?a !! is understood everywhere??? Right.
HB
Something in common
I think it's funny to get that all the time cause it happens to me too! I get the "you don't look Dominican and you don't speak like Dominicans" all the time. I was born and raised in the states but I grew up in a household where it was Spanish only! Now I just say yes I'm Dominican and if I need to buy something where my "accent" could make me pay more I go with someone who speaks Dominican! Take it as compliment...
I think it's funny to get that all the time cause it happens to me too! I get the "you don't look Dominican and you don't speak like Dominicans" all the time. I was born and raised in the states but I grew up in a household where it was Spanish only! Now I just say yes I'm Dominican and if I need to buy something where my "accent" could make me pay more I go with someone who speaks Dominican! Take it as compliment...
Although the country isn't tiny, it isn't big and I don't think there are such regional accents, like you may find in southern and northern Spain (yes you get the old guys who've never been out of their village up in the hills that no one understands but that not regional), I can't notice a cross over anywhere in the country like I might anywhere else, besides anything else people move around too much, the place isn't big enough and not enough cities to notice this stuff. But I can hear a difference in tone when listening to American Dominicans talking to Dominican Dominicans, not an accent, but definitely a method and intent on how they deliver.
Bigger than you think.
There most definitely are. Someone that grew up outside of Ban? and someone that was raised around Moca potentially have very distinct accents and barbarisms. These become slightly subdued with education, but it's definitely there.
Does that define a regional accent? Really? A few people potentially speaking............... That fits in the description I pointed above. A regional accent is something that 'people' (not a few people) all share from living in a certain area.
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