Cuban Spanish - Origins of Cuban Spanish

Origins of Cuban Spanish

Of all the regional variations of the Spanish language, traditional Cuban Spanish is most similar to, and originates largely from the Spanish spoken in the Canary Islands of Spain. Cuba owes much of its speech patterns to the heavy Canarian migrations, of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Migrations of other Spaniards such as Galicians, Catalans, Basques and Asturians also occurred, though without as considerable an influence.

Much of the typical Cuban replacements for standard Spanish vocabulary stems from Canarian lexicon. For example, guagua ('bus') differs from standard Spanish autobús. The word guagua originated in the Canaries and is an onomatopoeia stemming from the sound of a Klaxon horn. An example of Canarian usage for a Spanish word is the verb fajarse ('to fight'). In standard Spanish the verb would be pelearse, while fajar exists as a non-reflexive verb related to the hemming of a skirt.

Much of the vocabulary peculiar to Cuban Spanish comes from the different historic influences on the island. Many words come from the Canary Islands, but some words are of West African, French or indigenous Taino origin, as well as peninsular Spanish influence outside of the Canary Islands, such as Andalusian or Galician. American influence has lent several words such as pulover (which is used to mean "T-shirt") and chor ("shorts", with the typical Spanish change from English 'sh' to 'ch') for clothing. The unique political situation today has led to the development of words which are specific to modern Cuban culture.