Spanish Dialects in Central America and the Caribbean

[NALs]

[sayanora]

someone has no life and missed geography class.

[donP]

I do not care how much they twist their noses, I stick to proper Spanish and I shall not emulate their gobbledygook.

[No, I am not a Spaniard.]


donP

[Derfish]

Myself I just try to be understood. There are so many words in the DR that are different than elsewhere. Who could possibly note the differentiation from one part of this island to another without having at least a Master's in Linguistics?

[Chip]

The 3 major accents(from what I've been told notwithstanding Nals source) here in the DR are noticeable to most who have spent a long enough time here in the DR.

I will say that I've heard some Cubans and Venezuelans talk that I thought were Dominican at first. It seems in some parts of DR in the campo around Santiago specifically people speak very similarly to the Cubans in that a lot of words are shortened. Also, I've watched news in Venezuela which I first thought was in the DR but surprisingly most of the Venezuelans I've met in person have a very distinctive accent which corresponds to what most see in the telenovels from Spain.

With regard to the Mexicans their accent is noticeable but all the other countries CA accent's seem to blend in to me especially since they use "Os".

In general the Colombian Spanish I've witnessed is the clearest and easiest to understand but then again I've met professionals from all over including the DR that one might mistake for a Colombian.

Puerto Rican Spanish is also quite distinctive and one of the easiest for me to pick up probably due to all my years living in Florida.

I can now recognize Spanish from Spain generally when before I confused it with Argentinian version. When it comes to other countries I haven't listed I can generally tell the accent is different but don't know where it's from.

All in all the info Nals posted is very interesting - thanks.

[pkaide1]

I would like to see the same picture for Spain and the English dialect spoken in the United State, especially in the mid west and the south. Do no make me laugh please

[sayanora]

While spending time in Peru I learned that Peruvian castellano is widely accepted as the most universal form of spanish.

[Kyle]

education and economy has everything to do with dialect just like english. the poor tend to speak worse than the educated. in central america panama is the best followed by costa rica and so on. while in the carribean puerto rico is best followed by cuba and the DR.
as with anything there are always exceptions to this thought. i've heard rich people speak like barrio hoodrats and vice versa.

[CaptnGlenn]

I think there is a quantum difference between casual conversation in private and formal communication, possibly in a public venue. The failure to recognize this difference, and adjust one's language accordingly, is the measure by which a person should be judged with regard to their linguistic ability, education, and in some ways the reflection of their personal integrity.