Hi, everyone! I hope you enjoy the video! Don't forget to check out Spanish Uncovered, which I highly recommend: ▶ Spanish Uncovered: bit.ly/Spanish-Uncovered ◀ ▶See ALL Uncovered courses: bit.ly/Uncovered-ALL-langs ◀
Thank you Paul! As a 50 year old Puertorican myself I can attest that 95% of the colloquial terms you have presented here are fairly recent used terms exclusively by the younger generation. My generation probably used very few f those terms, and my parents and grandparents generations certainly didn’t use any of them. However, I understand language is a living organic thing and will forever adjust and change to each generation that comes
No matter who I consult with and who does the samples, some people will complain and say they don't speak that way. If I use "educated speech" then people will complain and say I didn't represent the dialect's features. The way I approach a video like this is to highlight the dialectal features, not the standard features that people also use. Why? Because it goes without saying that people use both. There is nobody anywhere who uses the dialectal variants 100% of the time. Everybody knows that. But the video is about the dialect, not about the standard language. If I make a video about Canadian English, I will absolutely highlight the discourse marker "eh", even though I have hardly used it since I became an adult. It's a natural part of my native dialect, but my life and identity dictate that I speak in a more standard way these days. But I would absolutely include it in the video. For the video on Mexican Spanish, by the way, I had a focus group of 15 native speakers from Mexico contribute ideas and review everything in the video, and critique everything in the video before its release. None of them were stupid people.
@@Langfocus was this approach taken with Puerto Ricans as well? Maybe a diverse group of ages and education levels and take what the consensus can agree on? Honestly though, this reader sounds pretty foreign to me. I get your objective to emphasize the dialect but this is off by a lot in my opinion. I truly appreciate your work though and that you highlighted our culture and way of speaking! 💙😊
The main things I hear when speaking Spanish (I'm Nuyorican) is that people from countries that do not aspirate are often scandalized that we cut them out of places (though this isn't limited to only Puerto Rico), and many people insist that half our sentences are peppered with English words. while English words absolutely are used interspersed, it is in no way half of them, and Puerto Rico is not the only Spanish-speaking country to do this as English has that influence on many languages other than Spanish. The first thing people run to when they want to imitate or mock our accent and dialect is to to change all R's into L's (no matter where they fall), as well as to pronounce all single and double R's the way it is pronounced in Portuguese and French. Opinions about our Spanish can be very split with many people saying that they love the way our accents sound and many looking down upon them or making fun of them. I have always felt that our accents very effectively express the lively spirit and warmheartedness of our people🇵🇷.
The Puerto Rican 🇵🇷 accent comes from the region of Andalucia on Spain 🇪🇸 and the Canary Islands 🇮🇨. Me as a Puerto Rican, I’m really happy that you did a video about the puerto rican spanish.
Puerto Rico is not Spanish and Hispanic and Latino until given back to Spain and getting independence only from Spain your Americans who speak Spanish this is the Spanish family ♥️🇨🇴🇵🇦🇨🇷🇸🇻🇬🇹🇳🇮🇻🇪🇪🇨🇵🇾🇨🇱🇺🇾🇬🇶🇵🇪🇧🇴🇩🇴🇦🇷🇭🇳🇲🇽🇪🇸🇨🇺🇦🇩🇳🇱♥️
The trilled r is most likely influence from Corsican settlers… To me, there is Portuguese influence indeed (and some Galician), but Catalan and West African languages had more of an influence in our Spanish that we Puerto Ricans still have to come to terms with. Whomever was the native speaker is using rather EXTREME inflections of our accent, which some young people may be using, but we tend to moderate the accent a bit on formal situations. Greetings from (where else?) Puerto Rico 🇵🇷
Si fuera del francés hubiéramos adoptado otras cosas como sus vocales o y u que suenan diferentes , del portugués además de la r arrastrada adoptamos pai Mai emprestame agora
I'm nuyorkrican, not really well versed in the language but some of the sayings he said that may not seem disrespectful in English, I kind of recall they would get our butts beat if we said them as kids. I was wondering if there were some sayings In there that are typically considered disrespectful in the language or if I just misheard them
As a Puerto Rican raised in New York its so refreshing to see our accent talked about in a way that's not judgmental or prescriptive ! I was constantly corrected for so many of these things in school and looked out funnily in Spain hahaha
Exactly! The Spaniards also look down on the Andalusian and Canary accents where they aspirate as well. There is a always a big debate about it over there.
The Spanish language TV moguls in Miami despised our accent… and still do… but they’ve moderated their stance since reggaeton became profitable to them as well… 😉
i really REALLY liked the way you seemed to interact with the speaker and with your own video in a meta way to show expressions. also this is speaker is amazing, the funnest out of any video i've watched of yours
as a puertorican, born and raised in the island, i used to think puertorican spanish was pretty normal until i started hearing other varieties of spanish like argentine, chilean and dominican spanish and i started noticing how unique it actually is. im the type that doesnt have frenillo (the french r sound) and a lot of ppl here see it more as a sort of vocl disability rather than an accent but that may be bcuz i live in a rather rural part of the island
I returned to Puerto Rico after living three years in California (which forced me to use a more standardized vocabulary in interactions with other Spanish speakers), and went to graduate school back home. There were 23 Boricuas and 23 Latin Americans from elsewhere, mostly Peru and Colombia. I was always the interpreter 😝. I’d take my Peruvian classmates to a Wendy’s and they’d flip out when I “translated” back and forth. We Puerto Ricans have reduced our vocabulary to a fraction of the number of words used elsewhere, but we’ve also shaved phonemes down to those that are barely essential. On the other hand, there are other versions of Spanish that are far more localized than ours (and many of our truly native words and expressions are becoming more widespread because of the strong influence Puerto Rican music is having on the rest of the continent). Just surviving the onslaught of English over 125 years of colonial rule and maintaining Spanish as the main language of 95% of us in Puerto Rico is a triumph in and of itself.
@fiquitoyunque Wow! What do you mean by the Puerto Rican vocabulary has been reduced? Due to the influx of loan words from English cause most education + secondary is conducted in Spanish.
I believe Spanglish or Code Switching could've been covered in this video too. As a Puerto Rican living on the island, I grew up learning both English and Spanish. Most people (especially younger people) who speak English tend to begin or end a sentence in English. For example: "So ayer vimos una película. No estaba mala pero it could've been better." (So we saw a movie yesterday. It wasn't bad but it could've been better). Yes, this is typical both spoken and in text messages. I enjoyed the video a lot! I thought that our 'r' was influenced more by German or French immigrants, but I can also see the Portuguese too; especially with "mai" and "pai" which also similar to "mãe" (mom) and "pai" (dad) in Portuguese. Some words used in the examples are archaic or mostly used by Gen X or early millennials like "gufiao" or "guasa". Overall, great video!! 10/10
@@reucat24 I would argue it's also a Puerto Rico phenomenon too and not exclusive to New York or New Yorkricans. There may be more people switching in NY due to a larger population, however I witness our code-switching daily here on the island. Also, I have partaken in research, done by college researchers from the states, studying our code switch and how we are able to do so. But it's cool to know people in NY do the same.
@reucat24 not just NYC, Boricans in CHI, MIA & TX does the same thing and so do Dominicans. Specially those not born on Islands. I speak that way also, but due to me being lazy or not really knowing the right word to put in place. BTW I'm not a PuertoRican it just how I managed to learned and used Spanish living in Latinos neighborhoods.
@@reucat24As a Puerto Rican born and raised in the island I can confirm that we do code switch in Puerto Rico. It is more prominent in Gen X and onward especially when speaking to each other. In cases, of which I saw plenty growing up, kids that were part of a school where instruction was primarily in English the kids will be speaking exclusively in English with each other. Of course, in communities where schools have a poor English language program, code switching between English and Spanish is non-existent. School is not the only way to be exposed to the English language but access to media in English (in my generation mostly cable TV) was a big factor too.
Growing up mostly in New York I see how heavily influenced my Spanish has been by Puerto Ricans. I leaned Spanish in middle school and was chastised by my family for speaking Puerto Rican "slang". Clearly they had no understanding of Puerto Rican Spanish. I am proud of the influence my Puerto Rican, Dominican and Mexican friends had have on the way I speak Spanish. Great video.
As a Dominican, I think there are no differences between my variation and boricua rather than the intonation. We use the same vocabulary, same way of speaking (L for R, drop the S, cut the words). It is like a whole extended culture that makes part of two countries but we can be easily one country and we will not have to adapt. Much love my Boris. Of the big bird Cuba and PR are the wings while DR is the heart.
While we certainly are both a independent country don’t go to P.R. thinking its going to be same as the U.S.. Imagine yourself going into a latinamerican country that has been influenced by by american capitalism and pop culture. But, do come it is beautiful and you’ll likely wont run out of things to do in a trip however you need to be careful with the bad people and dangerous places such as beaches and rivers, those here don’t forgive and many tourists die because they’re ignorant of the weather conditions
The morphing of "-r" at then end of words to "-l" also happens on Cuba. We had to wait for the "inspectol" from the insurance agency after getting rear-ended by a motorcycle in our rental car.
I'm dominican, a lot of the differences are shared between both varieties! It'd have been interesting to do a video on Caribbean Spanish as a whole, because a lot of the characteristics you mention exist on a continuum between the different varieties and Puertorrican Spanish stands in the middle or closer to the standard in a lot of them! But this video was interesting nonetheless
As a Brazilian I'm impressed how many terms are like in Brazilian Portuguese, even those not indicated as such. Like "pai" for "father" and "gata" for a pretty and hot girl.
@@ingridrobyn2848 Really? In Brazil it just means beautiful. But in a kinda flirtatious way. So saying that to a random strange woman, specially seriously, would sound weird. But other than that it's pretty harmless in Braizlian Portuguese. How is it used there?
@@JohnnyLynnLee mostly to say beautiful woman/man but gata can also be mistress or not so serous girlfriend, if used as I have a "gata". Also you can say habían par de gatos - there were a few people. In this sense I only use it as masculine and means people. A variation, is "pelagatos" this means people but a bit despective, like referring to them as less important. El banco estaba cerra'o, habia un pelagato afuera esperando. The bank was closed, there was a pelagato waiting outside. Implying this person means nothing to the situation.
Amazingly well done video! There are some points I hadn't even realized myself, but they are spot on. By the way, I have to note that the pronunciation of the voice actor did have a funny intonation and pronunciation, although it probably just is that the actor is a puertorrican born/raised in the US or a puertorrican who has lived in the US for a few years.
12:56 as far as I know, “acho” was really popularly used in Puerto Rican Spanish during the 1980s, and there was even a culture associated with the word. Now it’s seen as old-fashioned or even dated.
Boricua🇵🇷 here! Overall great video with insightful information about our dialect. I would like to add that the word "zafacón" could possibly be traced from word "zafa" or "zafaca" as seen in regional southern Spain Spanish and has it's roots from the Andalusian Arabic sáhfa, and this from the classical Arabic sahfah which means "basin" or "small clay container." This would make sense as "zafacón" is also a common word for garbage can in Dominican Republic which is not a US-influenced country nor dialect to the extent of Puerto Rico (if at all). Not to mention, the written usage of z in "zafacón" is quite strange if it developed from the sternly pronounced s sound from English: "safe-a can."
It's funny how it has a lot of common features with Portuguese: - the drop of the final "r" in verbs - the pronunciation of "r" at the beginning or "rr" in the middle of words - the words "pai" for "father" and "mai", which looks like Portuguese "mãe", for mother - the use of the word "gato" or "gata" ("cat") to mean "an attractive person"
This was pretty good but a lot reffered to how the people of the reggeaton music culture speak and not everyone speaks like that in the island. Thank you for making the video. I check always Langfocus and Geofocus channels they are very interesting.
As a speaker of Argentine Spanish, there are definitely features that feel strangely familiar, but at the same time if a stranger ever called me "Papi" I'd be sent back a few steps 😂
Excellent video about Spanish spoken in Puerto Rico. It was really authentic. Borinquén is an old Taino name for the island if I am not mistaken and Boricua is the name of the person from the Borinquén island.
In general, a lot of what's said in the video is true but not true at all, all the time or for everyone in Puerto Rico. I sure say "perro" with the double r more than said here like a "French r." Basically in the end it's Spanish, and a lot of people think If I go to Spain, someone from Mexico talks to me, we can't understand each other. Not true at all. Spanish is Spanish, and the royal academy of Spanish has a chapter on every hispanic speaking country to try to incorporate new word into the language in a formal / documented way. I was born and raised in Puerto Rico. Just want to make sure people know that we do understand each other (Spanish speakers).
Maybe some of these are not only unique to PR, and maybe I’m wrong, but some other interesting Boricua words and phrases I’ve learned lately from friends and music are- - perrear, perrea, perreo, perreando 🤣 🍑 (the obvious) lol - bellaco (un hombre sucio? Jeje) - bellaqueo, bellaquita, bellaquear (sex appeal? Sexy?) - piquete (‘tienes mucho piquete’, o ‘estilo’) - fumateo (fumando la hierba?) - sateo (assuming it’s like tomar/beber, or ‘to satiate’, para curar la sed) - full (loan word meaning ‘totally’ or ‘fully’) - bailoteo - partyseo - la moña (not sure what this is but I hear it a lot) - Krippy (PR pronunciation of ‘Krispy’ marijuana, or the strain Krispy Kush) - la nota (I hear this everywhere, too. Is it ‘the high’ from smoking? Or the good vibes?)
My only experience with Spanish was learning a few phrases here and there from a co-worker many years ago who came from Spain. One of the two things I still remember vividly was most of the c is the same as the 'th' sound in English, which I'm still used to saying "gracias" as "gla-thee-as", "cinco" as "theen-call" and was also told to always address a group of gals with "vosotras" and not "vosotros" (where that 'v' has the same sound as the 'b' in English). Just sharing what I still remember.
Paul! As always it's a pleasure to have a new video of your's pop up. I love the editing style and how you made each idea flow into the next! And I really liked the enthusiastic reader XD
A LOT of those properties are basically Caribbean Spanish. You do find them in Cuba as well. My sister in law is Cuban and she sounds THE SAME in so many ways.
As you said learning any language is definitely exciting ! I will keep on watching some of your videos. It enhances the learning of other languages. Thank you. God bless you ¡
As a Puerto Rican myself when I speak most latinos smile and laugh at me. These days my Spanish is very "standard" when I speak with people of other Spanish speaking countries. Colombians and Mexicans tell me that we do not speak Spanish "well" which for me it is just ignorance since our culture and influence is different.
As a puerto rican, i have never heard anyone say mano for brother or sister unless they're using it like "man," similar to how people use "oh man" or "yo man" lol. It's mostly used for friends, lol. Also, guasa-guasa isn't as widely used anymore, at least not on my part of the island. Also, "bichote" is more used when describing a gang member or shot caller/ high ranking gang member, not really used outside of that context to describe an important person. Gufiar isn't often used in the goofy context either. it's often used as "gufiao," meaning "cool."Se ve gufiao" or "it/that looks cool." But overall, great job on covering most of the differences and slang!
My friend is (was?) a native speaker of Puerto Rican Spanish. one thing he said that interested me (though it could've been a local thing in the small city he lived in in puerto rico) was the pronunciation of 'll' as something akin to /ʒ/
I grew up in a Puerto Rican and Irish neighborhood in New York City, and I remember being called "papi" or, when I was really little, "papito" by adults.
@@awesomeant9509 I was told it meant "little daddy", which is much the same thing. This was well over 50 years ago, so the meaning may have changed slightly.
Well said. Yo soy puertorriqueña y me encantan todos los dialectos de todas las partes de Puerto Rico. Lo más importante es que nos amamos. Nuestra cultura, el amor por nuestra isla y nuestro amor amor por nuestro lenguaje. Nos hace únicos y más bonitos. ❤🎉
For further learning the Boricua "dialect" just listen to some Bad Bunny tunes and also from a couple of other puertorican "reggaetoneros" who sing reggaetón or "música urbana". 😅
It's like listening to Wiz khalifa and saying that's the way all African Americans speak or Britney Spears is how all white Americans speak. It's a very poor generalization. If you wanted a better example listen to Olga tañon or chayanne! Haha Bad bunny is a an example of how some Puerto Ricans speak for sure but I wouldn’t even say a majority.
I was born and raised in California but have lived in the Dominican Republic for the past 5 years. I have been to Puerto Rico once. I speak with a Dominican accent like the people I live with but it's still sometimes difficult for me to tell whether someone is from PR or DR based on just their accent (if they don't use any country-specific slang). Most people around here in the northeast peninsula (I can't speak for other regions) of DR do things that were mentioned in this video like replacing the R with L and get rid of the S, especially if it's at the end of the word. When I go back to visit California and speak Spanish with strangers, they often ask where I'm from or where I learned Spanish and then laugh and nod their head when I say Dominican Republic.
I definitely encourage you to keep making these videos, a full 21-country (and throw in U.S. Spanish too!) series would make an amazing resource for Spanish linguistics intros and Spanish classes that prioritize the inclusion of cultural variation
I will say that you did a very good research. Around 90% of that is accurate and the rest is somehow true or partially true. A lot of those slang belongs to newer pop/getto/popular culture and they keep constantly changing or adding new ones for no reason, just to be “popular or cool” I guess( just like English does with hip hop and trap singers that they mumble and say nonsense). The other thing is some of those audios sounds more like Dominican, Cuban or other American Spanish but puertorrican, or if whoever did those are trying to do our accent but you can tell they’re not from PR, some others did sound like a real boricua 😂. Thank you for the video!
I’m Puerto Rican and according to experts on our history we are canarios and talk like Canarios too. Our accent is practically the same, we and Cubans are very similar too.
Many points (nearly most of them) are common with informal Spanish pronounciation in both Spain and the Hispanic American countries. The video is very good. Thanks As a constructive feedback: I think you could had review the script with other Spanish speakers from other countries to really make sure you put the focus on the differences. Nevertheless, you have highlighted a good number of them, I did not know pronouncing RR like strong J/G was a common thing, I had only listened one boricua speaking loke that and thought it was his defect 😂 (Jamsha the reggaeton artist, who is great). I think a video about informal Spanish would be great, and as you'll see the differences between american and iberian pronounciations are lower. thanks again and congratulations for this amazing work!! 🎉🎉🎉
I only went to Puerto Rico once and knew almost no Spanish then. I enjoyed learning Mexican American Spanish. Maybe I can try some of these if I go back.
I never realized how different Boricua Spanish was from Cuban? Spanish. I guess that's the Spanish I know. Though when I was growing up, we were all taught the same Spanish in class.... meaning Mexican, Cubans, Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, and Spaniards were all taught the same Castellano. And regional differences were taught as a side bar in class.
muchas de estas expresiones dependen de los pueblos donde uno se encuentre. yo soy de Aguadilla y el papi ,el mami, el mi amol y el valgame es muy común jajaja
I'm Mexican and grew up in Chicago with a lot of Puerto Rican people...didn't really learn too much as we all mostly spoke English unit I got a sales job in a major company and started calling Puerto Rico...learned so much as I was there for 10 yrs calling the Island...at first I was confused when people would tell me things like "NO AY CHAVO" or "LA PINA ESTA AGRIA(the pineapple is sour) meaning things weren't to good money wise...We in the Spanish team loved calling Puerto Rico....missed calling there.....Loved talking to them as they were very classy meaning even when they weren't happy they always expressed themselves with respect....unfortunately the hurricanes and earthquakes did away with that market.
From a Puerto Rican on the mainland ..thanks for such a well researched, and fun video! That said, Paul was very kind ...as we do curse a tad more than reflected in the video :)
Thank you so much! Im Puerto Rican but I never got to learn Puerto Rican Spanish. Now that grandmother has passed away I need it find other ways to learn it. I want to learn it to stay connected to the culture and so I can communicate with family members. If you know any other online resources or books to learn Puerto Rican Spanish please let me know. I would greatly appreciate it
One little comments and correction I want to give as an island Boricuan: 1. The US did not invade us in 1896, they invaded us on July 25th of 1898. 2. I personally never heard Puerto Ricans say guasa when they express something is bullshit or lies, we do say however, that something is feca. For example: "Cabrón ese mama'o se pasa diciendo mucha feca, no le creas." Which means, "Bro, that sucker goes around saying bullshit, don't believe him." We also say mentira or embuste to express the same concept, maybe guasa is a rural term, but someone from área metro, I never heard it being said. As for terms to express an attractive person, gato/a is also unheard of though maybe the boomer and millennials will know it, but for me, we hear words like "guapo" or "guapa", "papichulo", "mamacita", "bellaca." There are bound to be more but they are probably, um, nsfw, lol. Also on another note: This is probably a me thing but the example speaker most definitely did not sound Puerto Rican, or at least not entirely, in some sentences, he tried to sound Mexican, but in others he sounded Dominican, but that's probably just me. Overall great presentation. I like the Spanish language series, keep up the work, man. Also, as for Puerto Rican Spanish being made fun of: Personally I don't care, I happen to think our language is the topkek of all Spanish dialects and that's fine. However, if it helps some Boricuans, I spoke to a Brazilian trying to learn Spanish and he tells me that out of all Spanish, he thinks the Chilean one is unintelligible and almost gibberish, and other Brazilians say similar things, whereas most Spanish speakers just think we speak too fast or we speak as if we were some rapper or whatever, lol. But yeah overall I don't care. I think my Spanish is kek and I'm proud of it. To be fair we Puerto Ricans also imitate other Spanish dialects for keks too and it's honestly just friendly banter, nothing deep about it. P.S: For the uninitiated, kek is another way of saying something funny or very funny.
You should’ve mentioned “acho nene” when talking about “acho” lol. I feel like it’s one of the most commonly used phrases amongst Puerto Ricans. “Nene” is just another word for boy. I’m Dominican and my family consists of Dominicans and Puerto Ricans and I really appreciate this video, Some of the ways the language is formatted feels natural to me compared to the “proper” or “traditional” way of speaking.
Some of the pronunciation quirks of Puerto Rican Spanish seem to be almost exactly the same as Salvadorean/Honduran/Nicaraguan Spanish, with the aspirated 's' saying "voy a" as "vwa", and sometimes dropping 'd' and 'r' between vowels, and shortening the verb "estar" and it's forms to "tar", though similarities seem to end there, something interesting about the more rural accents in El Salvador at least (don't know if it's the same in Honduras or Nicaragua) is pronouncing every single 's' as 'h', regardless of position, I'd love to see a video about Salvadorean/Honduran/Nicaraguan Spanish one day
As a Spanish speaker, the way it sounds to me is like toddlers who are still learning to speak and cut off words or mix up Syllables. I had to keep asking people to repeat what they said cause I couldn’t understand it. I couldn’t understand english either. I think they don’t get English as a subject in school very early. I found there are a lot of remaining African influences in the culture.
Hola Paul: I am a retired professor and I taught Spanish in different universities and colleges in the USA for over 5 years and this variety is new to me. You have presented a variety of Puerto Rican Spanish that is not used by the majority of Puerto Ricans. Most of the words and terms you presented are correct, and I do use some of them, but not like you have presented. This variety is used mostly by a group that is inspired by rappers and it is a new variety of Puerto Rican Spanish. I do understand this variety, but it does not represent us all. I do not know who helped you with this video, but you need to do better research on this topic. Thank you!
@@luisa.acevedo3326 This video talks like all Puerto Ricans talk like the examples he gave are how all of use talk, that is a stereotype. Not all young people talk like that either, to my knowledge only those that are involved in the rap culture. I know that we have, by regions or towns different words of speech, but it is ridiculous to give us all the same speech patterns, specially when it is not true. Como decimos en mi pueblo, se le quemo.
not even young people talk like that, regueton artists sing in a clownish cartoon way and people from outside of Puerto Rico who do not know any better think that is a standard average accent on the island, terrible.
I've known many Latinos, from many different countries, & I think Puerto Rican Sp is probably one of the harder varieties, as they speak very quickly (sometimes, it almost sounds like a machine gun firing off).
Yeah, the French actually helped Spain-Puerto Rico from a British invasion. The French were veterans under Napoleon, so when they saw the British flag, oh, it was pay back, Google how the Arecibo ( my home town ) got their coat of arms.
As someone who speaks Mexican Spanish, I find it interesting how the stress of Puertorican Spanish feels slightly different. Like "Mira" sounds more like "Mirá" to me.
As a L2 Spanish speaker,I have a couple of things to say. First and foremost, I didn't know that PR Spanish was so particular, maybe because there aren't a lot of puerto rican here in Italy. Second, the guy speaking for the examples is the best ever, you can hear he was having a lot of fun showing his language to the Internet, which is a sentiment I very much appreciate.
Nah the accent here is way too extreme. Puerto Rican Spanish ain't that sing-song. It is to a certain extent but this sounds like a caricature. Like our Spanish has a melodic quality but in normal every day speech is more laid back than that.
As an Argentine Spanish speaker, Puerto Rican Spanish had always sounded somehow playful, dead worried, angry and overly energetic all at the same time XD It's one of the most "sung" accents I know, together with Chilean. It's very fun to imitate, I really love it XD
As a Brazilian I'm impressed how many terms are like in Brazilian Portuguese, even those not indicated as such. Like "pai" for "father" and "gata" for a pretty and hot girl.
@@JohnnyLynnLeeYes! We also use prieto for black (Preto in Brasil.) My wife was born in P. R. but her paternal grandmother was from Brasil. So i fell in love with the Brazilian culture. I also play bossanova on my guitar. Duolingo is helping me a lot with Portuguese also. So pronouncing the Brazilian "r" is pretty easy for me even though my family and I don't have that in our Puerto Rican dialect.
The most beautiful Spanish accent of all.I am a gringo that lived in PR. 27 years and my wife,the most beautiful soul I've ever known,taught me Puerto Rican Spanish.She died almost 2 yrs ago and I've since returned to the US.I was so lucky I learned Spanish there in PR because I learned to speak in the very fluid,flowing style they speak.Now here in Atlanta,Ga. I speak Spanish mostly with Mexicans and people from Central America.They insist that I am a Latino.I love all Latinos but Puerto Rico is so very dear to me and I will always have a special place in my heart for her.
I'm a second generation Cuban living in rural Texas. I work retail and meet a LOT of different people daily. My accent is often confused as Puerto Rican By Mexicans and Central Americans (Sounds competently different to me) While Dominicans can tell I'm Cuban right away. Go figure...
Funny , im puertorican and worked retail in the cuban parts of south and west florida. Apparently they thought i was cuban and my wife told me i picked up their accent.
I’m a Puerto Rican born in NJ who lived and studied in Madrid . I will never forget visiting my family in PR after my years in Spain and being called the tourist . The older I get the more I appreciate the wonderful colorful way my island family speaks . Putting the demonstrative pronoun after the noun actually sounds normal to me , hearing ese tipo as opposed to el tipo ese sounds strange . Also I lived and studied in Brazil 🇧🇷 the use of the glottal Puerto Rican R helped me big time . My ancestors on the island are of Portuguese and Catalan decent , your history of the island is spot on . Great video
My dad was stationed in Madrid. One of the things they used to do, was make new GIs and their families take the tour to get to know your neighborhood ( Alcala de Henares in my case ). So we were on a bus with a family that was Boricuans and they started talking with my dad and tour guide in Spanish . And the tour guide was like what the hell is that while pointing at them . She told them not to speak to her with that language and to follow my dad's prounications. They take their language serious. They where embarrassed. I really can't say too much, my Spanish is horrible
@@kfelix2934 I used to live in Torrejón de Ardoz it’s legit 15 mins from Alcalá . Wow that was a wild story . I remember being asked where my family was from and a lot of Spaniards didn’t even know where Puerto Rico was I used to say things like el país de Ricky Martin Y Jennifer López and then they would sort of get it . The Spanish do take their language super serious , it’s a blessing and a curse but hey the best way to learn is to immerse yourself and follow their lead .
This video is awesome; I never thought you'd cover the topic of Puerto Rican Spanish, let alone this comprehensively! In fact, I was just talking to some of my Puerto Rican family a few weeks ago about some of these peculiarities. I am also thrilled that you pointed out the stigma surrounding the vernacular, and that most other Spanish speakers from elsewhere in Latin America may find it to be a "lazy," or "Americanized," dialect. I think Puerto Rican Spanish is actually very unique in its style and phonology, and I'd even draw some comparisons to sounds from Portuguese and Arabic, hence its connection to Andalucía! I would like to point out a few things, however, that I found to be a bit different from what I experience(d) speaking Puerto Rican Spanish casually with my family. 1. For the shortened/slang pronunciations that you used as examples, I find that there are some definitive differences. For example, to say "mai," or "pai," is not exactly a shortening of "madre," or "padre." To me, it is more akin to saying "mah," or "pops," which some parents don't particularly care for, as it is sometimes deemed too informal/slangy, and lacking respect, which is highly-emphasized in Puerto Rican culture; "faltando respeto," (forgetting/lacking respect) is something I've heard a ton from adults when they were "bochinchando," (gossiping) about other families (think of it as this: in a dialect with so much slang and informality, there must be some honorific boundaries in certain sociocultural contexts). 2. In your vocabulary section, specifically in the example you used for "pelao," I think it's important to note for those who may not be familiar with the terms "nene," or "nena," that they don't always mean "babe," and are usually contextual. Meaning, it can of course be interpreted from your example as being used in a conversation between a guy and his girlfriend; but most often, I would use "nene" or "nena," as a way of simply saying "boy," or "girl," usually when referring to someone of the same age or younger. I apologize for the essay, but I hope you continue making videos like this in the future! A few additional slang words, by the way, can be "tipo/tipa," which is like saying "guy/lady," in an informal/unfamiliar context (ex: "Este tipo/a me esta enfojonando!" - "This guy/lady is pissing me off!"). Another term I heard a lot while growing up was "socio/socia," which is a of closer kin, and is like saying "homie," or "bro." I'm not a native speaker, so forgive me for any errors (I'm trying to make my way out of being a "yo sabo," kid lol). I'd be interested to know if any other Puerto Ricans or Latinos in general share or differ from some of these linguistic characteristics!
The Boricua speaker is so enthusiastic, I love that guy! It's fun to listen to him speak. Also, the way the language drops consonants and merges vowels without even blinking, It's like Borocuan is the Danish of the Spanish dialects 😆
En realidad, no es una característica única del español de Puerto Rico. Probablemente tenga relación con el español de Andalucía, en el cual también es muy común no pronunciar ciertas letras o acortar palabras (como decir "pa" en lugar de "para".
