América Latina

Lesley D · #1 03-31-2006, 09:02 PM

The diversity of Latin America interests me not only from a language perspective but from a cultural perspective too. Although Spanish speaking Latin American countries have much in common there are also many differences that catch my attention. It's a never ending and very interesting learning experience if you venture to learn all the beautiful aspects of Latin America. Sometimes one does not realize the many similarities and differences until someone asks about a particular food, dance, custom etc of a country. Therefore to show these differences in a fun way I thought some of you would like to test your own knowledge of Latin America.

Below you will find several words that represent an aspect of Latin America. It may be a typical dish, dance, city, dialect etc. Beside each word write the country (Puerto Rico included) associated with each word. There should only be one country per word but in some cases there could be more than one option. The list of countries are below. Try to match as many as you can without research. Enjoy!

Example:

Paella = España

Bailes/Ritmos (Dances/Rhythms)

la cumbia
el tango
la bachata
el joropo
el merengue
el son
la bomba y plena

Platos (Dishes)

mofongo
mondongo
tamal (tamales)
ceviche
cuy
arepa
sancocho
arroz con frijoles negros
pupusa

Dialectos/Argot/ Lenguas indígenas o africanas (Dialects/Slang/ Indigenous or African languages)

lunfardo
el parlache
el cibaeño
el guaraní
quechua
aymara
la lengua palenquera
náhuatl

Ciudades de Latinoamérica (Latin American Cities)

Miraflores
Bucaramanga
Barquisimeto
Arecibo
Holguín
Tegucigalpa
Guayaquil
San José
La Paz

Colombia/ Perú/ Ecuador/ República Dominicana/ Puerto Rico/ Venezuela/ Cuba/ Argentina/ Bolivia/ Honduras/ Paraguay/ Costa Rica/ El Salvador/ México/ Panamá/ Nicaragua

Chirimoya · #2 03-31-2006, 09:42 PM

Bailes/Ritmos (Dances/Rhythms)

la cumbia - Colombia
el tango - Argentina
la bachata - República Dominicana
el joropo - Venezuela
el merengue - República Dominicana
el son - Cuba
la bomba y plena - Puerto Rico

Platos (Dishes)

mofongo - República Dominicana
mondongo - República Dominicana
tamal (tamales) - México y Centroamérica
ceviche - Perú/Ecuador
cuy - Perú/Ecuador
arepa - Venezuela/Colombia/República Dominicana
sancocho - República Dominicana
arroz con frijoles negros - Cuba? In Venezuela they're called caraotas

Dialectos/Argot/ Lenguas indígenas o africanas (Dialects/Slang/ Indigenous or African languages)

lunfardo - Argentina
el parlache - Colombia
el cibaeño - República Dominicana
el guaraní - Paraguay
quechua - Perú
aymara - Perú/Bolivia
la lengua palenquera - México
náhuatl - Centroamérica

Ciudades de Latinoamérica (Latin American Cities)

Miraflores - Perú, Panamá
Bucaramanga - Colombia
Barquisimeto - Venezuela
Arecibo - Puerto Rico?
Holguín - Cuba
Tegucigalpa - Honduras
Guayaquil - Ecuador
San José - Costa Rica
La Paz - Bolivia

Colombia/ Perú/ Ecuador/ República Dominicana/ Puerto Rico/ Venezuela/ Cuba/ Argentina/ Bolivia/ Honduras/ Paraguay/ Costa Rica/ El Salvador/ México

juancarlos · #3 03-31-2006, 10:09 PM

Good, Chirimoya! Yes, arroz y frijoles negros in Cuba, of course they are also eaten in other countries, like Venezuela, where they call beans caraotas. And Cubans eat tamales too. I love Cuban tamales!

NALs · #4 03-31-2006, 10:29 PM

Bailes/Ritmos (Dances/Rhythms)

la cumbia - Colombia
el tango - Argentina
la bachata - República Dominicana also, very popular in Honduras.
el joropo - Venezuela
el merengue - República Dominicana Puerto Rico has an equal love for this genre and it's heard through out the region and world.
el son - Cuba According to some circles, there is a minor dispute of whether Son is Cuban or Dominican (ahem), regardless its a classic favorite through out the region.
la bomba y plena - Puerto Rico

Platos (Dishes)

mofongo - República Dominicana Very popular in Puerto Rico, to the point that some Boricuas call this "dish" their own.
mondongo - República Dominicana
tamal (tamales) - México y Centroamérica
ceviche - Perú/Ecuador
cuy - Perú/Ecuador
arepa - Venezuela/Colombia/República Dominicana
sancocho - República Dominicana Also in Colombia, albeit has slight variations, then again, so does the Dominican version.
arroz con frijoles negros - Cuba? In Venezuela they're called caraotas

Dialectos/Argot/ Lenguas indígenas o africanas (Dialects/Slang/ Indigenous or African languages)

lunfardo - Argentina
el parlache - Colombia
el cibaeño - República Dominicana really?
el guaraní - Paraguay
quechua - Perú
aymara - Perú/Bolivia
la lengua palenquera - México
náhuatl - Centroamérica

Ciudades de Latinoamérica (Latin American Cities)

Miraflores - Perú, Panamá
Bucaramanga - Colombia
Barquisimeto - Venezuela
Arecibo - Puerto Rico? No question mark needed, you are right on the mark.
Holguín - Cuba
Tegucigalpa - Honduras
Guayaquil - Ecuador
San José - Costa Rica
La Paz - Bolivia

Chirimoya · #5 03-31-2006, 10:51 PM

Right about mofongo - thing is, when I was replying PR wasn't on Lesley's list (I think she later came back and edited it) hence the ? after Arecibo. I wondered if there might be another place with the same name somewhere else in the Americas.

Nahuatl was spoken south of Guatemala - many place names in Nicaragua, Honduras and El Salvador are of Nahuatl origin IIRC.

We could try a similar exercise with place names that re-occur all over the Spanish speaking world. Santiago, Palenque, Merida, Cordoba, Granada, Leon...

juancarlos · #6 03-31-2006, 11:06 PM

"According to some circles, there is a minor dispute of whether Son is Cuban or Dominican (ahem), regardless its a classic favorite through out the region."

yeah, but that "minor dispute" exists only in the DR. And even there, not everyone supports the theory that the son is Dominican. The danzón is also Cuban, although influenced by the French who came to Cuba from Haiti, I've read. It is supposed to be Cuba's National Dance, but it is hardly played there anymore, yet, in Mexico it is danced everyday in several cities. The bolero was born in Cuba too- I've seen some reports in DR claiming it is Dominican too- but there are as many made in Mexico boleros as there are in Cuba and many countries and peoples consider it their own too. The same thing applies to the son, as you stated, it is a classic favorite throughout the region. That is true.

NALs · #7 03-31-2006, 11:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chirimoya

We could try a similar exercise with place names that re-occur all over the Spanish speaking world. Santiago, Palenque, Merida, Cordoba, Granada, Leon...

As far as Santiago goes, here are the one's off the top of my head...

1. Santiago de los 30 Caballeros
2. Santiago de Cuba
3. Santiago de Cali (Colombia)
4. Santiago de Chile
5. Santiago de los 30 Caballeros (this one is in Nicaragua, I think)

There probably are others, but I am not aware of them...

-NALs

NALs · #8 03-31-2006, 11:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chirimoya

Nahuatl was spoken south of Guatemala - many place names in Nicaragua, Honduras and El Salvador are of Nahuatl origin IIRC.

You are correct.

I must have been thinking about the Maya, which were a native civilization, not a language or dialect.

Ah, it happens.

-NALs

juancarlos · #9 03-31-2006, 11:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chirimoya

We could try a similar exercise with place names that re-occur all over the Spanish speaking world. Santiago, Palenque, Merida, Cordoba, Granada, Leon...

That is true, for example, not only are there many Santiagos in L.A, there are other cities which were named Santiago de los Caballeros, not only in DR, but also in Central America. I was surprised when I read that. There are also many Palenques, even in Cuba there are some, and I read they all went back to runaway slaves who set up their communities, which were called palenques. Similar to the Brazilian quilombos. The most famous Méridas over here are the ones in Mexico and Venzuela. I am sure there are other lesser known Méridas. Granada and León, the two famous colonial Nicaraguan cities and León in Mexico.

Lesley D · #10 03-31-2006, 11:18 PM

Wonderful all. I am glad this topic peaked everyone's interest. Before I give my usual feedback when I start a thread I will give others a chance to look at my original post.

Chiri, I did not edit Puerto Rico. It was on my original list. What I edited to add was another dish 'pupusa'. Can someone name the origin?

Nals, I would like this thread to be about origin not so much about popularity. Therefore, bachata is RD, el son is Cuba etc. Culture disseminates as we all know but the answers I am looking for should pertain to the country of origin where possible.

The common names of cities s/b a separate thread.

-LDG.