Language
CONTENTS
Learning Spanish
Pronunciation
Gender & Plurals
Accommodation
Conversation & Essentials
Directions
Health
Language Difficulties
Numbers
Question Words
Shopping & Services
Time & Dates
Transport
Travel with Children
Spanish is the official language of Cuba, and some knowledge of it is a great help in traveling around the country. Away from the hotels and tourist centers, few people speak English and then only very poorly. Despite this, many Cubans have some knowledge of English, since it’s taught in school from grade six. Almost all museum captions in Cuba are in Spanish only.
If you speak no Spanish at all, you can always ask directions simply by pointing to the name in this guidebook. Never hesitate to try out your Spanish on Cubans!
Words of Arawak Indian origin that have passed into Spanish and other European languages include barbacoa (barbecue), canoa (canoe), cigarro (cigarette), hamaca (hammock), huracán (hurricane), maíz (maize), patata (potato) and tabaco (tobacco). The only commonly used words of African origin are generally associated with the Afro-Cuban religions, but Afro-Cuban speakers have given Cuban Spanish its rhythmical intonation and soft accent.
LEARNING SPANISH
If you don’t speak Spanish, don’t despair. It’s easy enough to pick up the basics, and courses are available in Havana and Santiago de Cuba. Alternatively, you can study books, records and tapes while you’re still at home planning your trip. These study aids are often available free at public libraries – or you might consider taking an evening or college course. For words and phrases for use when ordering at a restaurant, see Eat Your Words on Click here.
Lonely Planet’s Latin American Spanish phrasebook is a compact guide to the Spanish of the region. Another useful resource is the University of Chicago Spanish–English, English–Spanish Dictionary. It’ll also make a nice gift for some friendly Cuban when you’re about to leave the country.
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PRONUNCIATION
Spanish spelling is phonetically consistent, meaning that there’s a clear and consistent relationship between what you see in writing and how it’s pronounced. The pronuciation guides included with all the words and phrases in this chapter should help you get the hang of it all.
Spanish-language soap operas (tele-novelas) are probably the best vehicle for getting a grip on pronunciation – the actors tend to speak overdramatically and a lot slower than the Spanish speakers you’re likely to meet on the street – it’s also easy to follow the plot. Just be careful you don’t get hooked!
Vowels
| a | as in ‘father’ |
| e | as in ‘met’ |
| i | as in ‘marine’ |
| o | as in ‘or’, without the ‘r’ sound |
| u | as in ‘rule’; the ‘u’ is not pronounced after q and in the letter combinations gue and gui, unless it’s marked with a diaeresis (eg argüir), in which case it’s pronounced as English ‘w’ |
| y | at the end of a word or when it stands alone, it’s pronounced as the Spanish i (eg ley); between vowels within a word it’s like the ‘y’ in ‘yellow’ |
Consonants
While the consonants ch, ll and ñ are generally considered distinct letters, ch and ll are now often listed alphabetically under c and l respectively. The letter ñ is still treated as a separate letter, and it comes after n in dictionary listings.
| b | similar to English ‘b,’ but softer; referred to as b larga |
| c | as in ‘celery’ before e and i; otherwise as English ‘k’ |
| ch | as in ‘church’ |
| d | as in ‘dog’; between vowels and after l or n, it’s closer to the ‘th’ in ‘this’ |
| g | as the ‘ch’ in the Scottish loch before e and i (‘kh’ in our pronunciation guides); elsewhere, as in ‘go’ |
| h | invariably silent; worth noting if your name begins with ‘h’ and you’re waiting for public officials to call you |
| j | as the ‘ch’ in the Scottish loch (‘kh’ in our pronunciation guides) |
| ll | as the ‘y’ in ‘yellow’ |
| ñ | as the ‘ni’ in ‘onion’ |
| rr | very strongly rolled |
| v | similar to English ‘b,’ but softer; referred to as b corta |
| x | as in ‘taxi’ except for a few words, when it’s pronounced as j |
| z | as the ‘s’ in ‘sun’ |
Word Stress
In general, words ending in vowels or the letters n or s have stress on the second-last syllable, while those with other endings have stress on the last syllable. Thus vaca (cow) and caballos (horses) both carry stress on the second-last syllable, while ciudad (city) and infeliz (unhappy) are both stressed on the last syllable.
Written accents will almost always appear in words that don’t follow the rules above, eg sótano (basement), América and porción (portion). When counting syllables, be sure to remember that diphthongs (vowel combinations, such as the ‘ue’ in puede) constitute only one. When a word with a written accent appears in capital letters, the accent is often not written, but is still pronounced.
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GENDER & PLURALS
In Spanish, nouns are either masculine or feminine, and there are rules to help determine gender (there are, of course, some exceptions). Feminine nouns generally end with -a or with the groups -ción, -sión or -dad. Other endings typically signify a masculine noun. Endings for adjectives also change to agree with the gender of the noun they modify (masculine/feminine -o/-a). Where both masculine and feminine forms are included in this chapter, they are separated by a slash, with the masculine form first, eg perdido/a.
If a noun or adjective ends in a vowel, the plural is formed by adding s to the end. If it ends in a consonant, the plural is formed by adding -es.
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ACCOMMODATION
MAKING A RESERVATION
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CONVERSATION & ESSENTIALS
In their public behavior, Cubans are very informal. If you approach a stranger for information, however, you should always preface your question with a greeting like buenos días or buenas tardes. Cubans routinely address one another as compañero/a (comrade), but the traditional señor and señora are always used with foreigners. In addition, you should only use the polite form of address, especially with the police and public officials. Young people may be less likely to expect this, but it’s best to stick to the polite form unless you’re quite sure you won’t offend by using the informal mode. The polite form is used in all phrases in this chapter; where both options are given, the abbreviations ‘pol’ and ‘inf’ indicate the different forms.
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DIRECTIONS
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HEALTH
EMERGENCIES
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LANGUAGE DIFFICULTIES
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NUMBERS
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QUESTION WORDS
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SHOPPING & SERVICES
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TIME & DATES
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TRANSPORT
Private Transport
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TRAVEL WITH CHILDREN
Do you mind if I breast-feed here?
- Also available from Lonely Planet:
- Latin American Spanish phrasebook