Talk:Puerto Rican Spanish

message: The content posted is insulting.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2602:30A:C031:EC10:B10C:9DA3:370A:C29D (talk) 14:18, 31 March 2017 (UTC)
thread_title: Untitled

message: Am I the only one who takes offense to this statement? It is the least subjective line I've ever read on any Wiki. I've never had any problem communicating with people from other countries and I was born and raised in Puerto Rico and only moved away from there very recently. There are times when I may use a word somebody doesn't understand without noticing (for example, "guiar" in the context of driving, not guiding), but as soon as somebody asks me what I said I quickly use a word they'd recognize ("manejar" or "conducir"). We all have our slip-ups but it's not the lowest of lows in Spanish. Our vocabulary actually parallels official Spanish more than others', while our pronounciation is mostly geared towards saying things as quickly as possible, we know for sure how they are correctly pronounced and written.
Claiming there is such a thing as a "normal Spanish variant" is preposterous. Spanish is Spanish and the main thing we differ in is pronounciation and the rhythm of our speech. I've spoken with Argentinians, Colombians, Mexicans, Dominicans, Ecuatorians, Cubans... and in all cases it was just a matter of getting used to their accents. Answa (talk) 19:38, 3 August 2011 (UTC)
thread_title: "is spoken so poorly no one can understand it..."

message: I'm under the impression that there are also Puerto Rican varieties of Hispanic English and Spanglish.
So far, I know far more about the Spaniards than I do about the Puerto Ricans. Gringo300 05:38, 13 Jun 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: *You're right, and I'll do my best to address those, somehow. However, it is an extensive topic. The term "Spanglish" was coined by a Puerto Rican, and yet most Spanglish known to Americans has (rather logically) a Mexican/Chicano twist to it. OTOH, Latino English spoken by Puerto Ricans is a topic that has to be developed carefully. I've tried to start with the most basic reference to it: that for Goleta English... Demf 17:14, 16 June 2006 (UTC)
replies: text:  I'll add a little note to that: There are two definitions of the term "Spaniard"- a nationality and an ethnicity. In the above comments, I meant Spaniards by ethnicity. Gringo300 (talk) 21:18, 28 August 2013 (UTC)
thread_title: Variants of Hispanic English and Spanglish

message: I removed the following text string:
:REDIRECT TO Spanish dialects and varieties
--Dpr 03:24, 8 September 2005 (UTC)
thread_title: Redirect

message: I have John Lipski's Latin American Spanish with me, which discusses some of the most notable features (as of the early 1990s or so) of the dialects of each country in Latin America. When I have more time in the next few days, hopefully I'll be able to clean up this article a bit and cite some stuff. Cleanup will be...difficult, though. I'll do what I can! Hopefully! --Miskwito 22:35, 8 April 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: This will be a much welcome effort. This page is needed, and some of the information is relevant and verifiable, but a lot is hearsay, and original research. If only I had time...--Cerejota 06:29, 18 April 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Cleanup

message: After reading the article and the above comments I think I can point out some problems with this article:
First, the list of vocabulary mixes all of the words that are from all influences are included on the list, as well as words that are  just the way people pronounce the words whether or not they are influenced by other words from Africa, Tainos, etc. Also, so many examples are not needed, not to mention that not all explanations don't seem accurate nor well stated and of course as everyone has noted there are no citations/references for any of them.
Second, I think there needs to be a separate section on particular pronunciation of the Puerto Rican Spanish (possibly titled Phonology). While it has some similarities with the Spanish from Cuba and the Dominican Republic, a person (at least one from Puerto Rico) can clearly tell the difference from a Cuban, Dominican or Puerto Rican accent. So I disagree with the statement that the differences "are quite miniscule to almost non existent". While it is true that all three cultures have many similarities (the mere fact that all three countries were under Spanish rule at one point is enough), there are still notable differences in each speech and thus the reason why there are three separate articles on each of these variations of Spanish.
A comment on the example given:
"rice with beans arroz con habichuelas becomes ajo cong habichuela"
I do not think this is an accurate representation of the "rr" since "ajo" is actually another word in Spanish (meaning "garlic") but it is a very true peculiarity in the language which I think should definitely be mentioned in the article and is currently missing.
--Madgirl 15 (talk) 10:12, 5 January 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: Conflicts with this page

message: I'm afraid I have to take issue with this entire article.  I know that it is a pervasive misapprehension in the United States that Spanish has many "dialects" throughout the world, but this is simply not true.  All the details of variations in pronounciation, and the idiosyncratic words which sometimes appear in everyday Puerto Rican speech, are indeed true as described in the article.  But I must emphasize that these phonological variations are trivial, do not denote a true "dialect," and are mainly used in casual, careless speech, much like stateside Americans may use "ain't" and ungrammatical constructions such as "could have did" and "should have went."  (The latter two are particularly common, almost universally used, actually, in the region of northwest Florida and southern Alabama, where I reside.)
You would not hear words like "pa" for "para," or r's pronounced as l's in a university lecture, or in a serious news broadcast, for example.  Nobody would use such careless language in a job interview, or other formal occassions.  Furthermore, the language as written is exactly Spanish and nothing else.  It's hardly a dialect if the written form is indistinguishable from the root language.  
There are many words that are peculiar to Puerto Rico.  Some obvious examples are "guagua" for bus, china (which means "chinese woman") for orange (the fruit, not the color), and "Zafacon" for garbage can (actually a corruption of the English term "safety can.").  However, it is important to note that the formal Spanish terms for those items, "autobus", "naranja", etc.  are all recognized and used at times also in common speech.  The Puerto Rican terms are more common, but are added to the language, they do not supplant the formal Spanish terms.  
Much is made also of "spanglish" and other nonsensical notions of how Puerto Ricans speak.  It is true that there is a tremendous English influence in Puerto Rico, since it is part of the United States.  Thus, many times English words are used, such as "truck" for "camion."  Once again, the Spanish word is not lost, and often used, but the English words are sort of thrown in for convenience, as is the habit of attaching a Spanish ending on to an English word, such as "parkear" for "estacionar" (meaning to park a car).  Once again, this is just plain sloppy and incorrect speech, NOT A DIALECT OR ANOTHER LANGUAGE, and is recognized as such by all who occassionally indulge in its convenience in informal speech, including this writer.  Nobody in his right mind would use such language in a formal occassion, in a serious magazine or journal article, in a book or lecture setting, in short, in any situation where one felt that attention to precise speech was required.  It is careless slang pure and simple, and everybody knows it, and nobody is foolish enough (except for stateside Americans) to think it's a separate or distinct language.
Puerto Ricans can speak to any Spanish speaker from any country in the world without a trace of difficulty, and the language is identical.  Regional slang and idiosyncratic regional vocabulary are trivial variations and don't interfere with comprehension any more than a person from Alabama would be bewildered because a milk-shake is a "cabinet" in Connecticut.   I am in fact a native Spanish speaker from Puerto Rico, I've traveled, and communicated with Spanish speakers in most Latin American countries, and spent time in Spain.  I know for a fact, Spanish is Spanish, I don't speak a "dialect," and there is no communication barriers between Spanish speakers anywhere.  I recommend that this article be re-titled or revised to reflect that it deals with regional language variations, and that the foolish word "dialect" be removed from it.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by Cd195 (talk • contribs) 17:18, 10 February 2008 (UTC)
replies: text:  I second the motion. It should be removed. Puerto Rican Spanish is NOT a dialect. I can easily understand people from Spain, and most Central and South American countries. "Variation" or an equivalent to this should be placed instead.--Madgirl 15 (talk) 21:51, 21 April 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: "Dialect"

message: If you are Colombian and have difficulty understanding a Puerto Rican, I suggest any of the numerous excellent hearing-aid devices now available.  As a matter of fact, Colombian speech is much more similar to Puerto Rican speech than other Latin American accents.  As a Puerto Rican, I can usually easily tell if a person speaking Spanish to me is Mexican or Argentinian, but a Colombian sounds pretty much like the Spanish in Puerto Rico.  I can't imagine what the person who wrote the above comment can possibly be referring to.  She arrives to the US from Colombia and needs a translator to speak to a Puerto Rican?  Give me a break!  That's ridiculous!  Either you are exaggerating for the sake of dramatic emphasis, or you are not a native Spanish speaker, or you have a serious hearing impairment.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by Cd195 (talk • contribs) 05:52, 23 November 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: More on "dialect"

message: See Puerto_Rican_accents for discussion on possible merger.--el Aprel (facta-facienda) 20:51, 13 December 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: I know this request is almost a year old, but is it all right if I can help with the merge? --Daniel Blanchette 02:44, 23 October 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: Sure, go ahead. - Caribbean~H.Q. 03:11, 23 October 2009 (UTC)
thread_title: Merger

message: According to it, syllable final s -> h & any r -> χ, but at the same time it gives [las muˈheɾeh] instead of [lah (...)] & 'Puelto Rico' instead of '... [χ]ico' (whatever way it may be spelt without using IPA). When I tried to make it coherent, it was deemed bordering on vandalism by Ubiquity, apparently not a Spanish speaker himself either. 46.186.34.99 (talk) 21:57, 29 May 2014 (UTC)
replies: text: I am very sorry I mistook your efforts for vandalism. At the time, it didn't look right to me, but now I understand. I restored the change and removed the vandalism notice from your talk page. ubiquity (talk) 09:55, 30 May 2014 (UTC)
replies: text:  Never mind, thank you! 46.186.34.99 (talk) 16:10, 30 May 2014 (UTC)
thread_title:  'Accent: Features' needs revision 

message: This article sound as pure Original Research. It has been tagged as "in need of sources" since 2007, to no avail. I'll be doing some heavy clean up on it soon. Material that is not supported by reliable sources will be removed. We may end up with a stub, what can be good for a fresh, more cautious, new beginning. --damiens.rf 14:37, 6 August 2014 (UTC)
thread_title:  Pure original research 

message: Could Cerejota please provide a source for the statement "Sephardic Jews among others described themselves as "Canarios" to disguise their lack of "Spanish" accent" Thank you.S. Valkemirer (talk) 03:04, 14 March 2021 (UTC)
thread_title:  "Sephardic Jews among others described themselves as "Canarios" to disguise their lack of "Spanish" accent. "