Picturesque coasts, tropical climate, exotic flora and fauna, as well as retro cars traveling through city streets - all this is a fabulous Cuba. Not surprisingly, this place attracts tourists. By the way, Cuba has a second name (albeit unofficial) - since 1959, the country has proudly called itself Liberty Island.
And what language is spoken in Cuba? The question is really interesting, since before the colonization, the island was inhabited by tribes of the Indians. Let's look at this point in more detail.
A little about the population of Cuba
Before the Spaniards began to colonize the island, the tribes of the Siboneans, Indians of the Arawak group, Guanahanabeys, as well as immigrants from Haiti lived here. Those languages that were then spoken in Cuba have long been considered dead. They did not (or had a minimal impact) on what language is spoken in Cuba now.
The Spaniards exterminated most of the Indian tribes. They began to bring slaves to Cuba from Africa, and in large quantities - over three and a half hundred years, more than a million people were transported.
Galicians, Castilians, Navarre, Catalans also began to arrive from Spain. Besides them, the French, Germans, Italians and English moved to the island.
In the middle of the XIX century, the Chinese began to import into Cuba. In subsequent years, more than 125,000 people were transported here.
Also, in the late XIX - early XX centuries, the population of the Canary Islands actively emigrated to Cuba.
At the beginning of the 20th century, many Americans also moved to the island, who created colonies on the island of Pinos.
During the First and Second World Wars, more and more immigrants appeared in Cuba, primarily Jews moved here.
You can imagine how diverse the population of the island has become! Now more than 11 million people live here, and the data on the racial composition of the country are very ambiguous, so the question of what languages are currently spoken in Cuba becomes even more interesting.
The official language of Cuba
What language do absolutely everyone in Cuba speak? The official language here is Spanish. But, of course, it is different from European Spanish. The dialects of African slaves imported into the island centuries ago had a great influence. Also, many other immigrants from different countries have contributed to the language that is now spoken in Cuba. The result was a Cuban dialect (also called Cuban Spanish) - Español cubano.
What is interesting about the Cuban dialect?
I must say that most of all Español cubano is similar to the Canary dialect. This is due to the fact that in the late XIX - early XX centuries, residents of the Canary Islands moved to Cuba, which influenced the version of the language that is currently spoken in Cuba.
The Cuban variety of Spanish has its own nuances of pronunciation, which at first may seem unusual to those who speak classic Spanish.
The second person plural is not used here - Cubans with all speak only "you", although in fairness it should be noted that in the east of the island there is also a reference to "you". The dialect of eastern Cuba is closer to the Spanish version of the Dominican Republic.
Spanish in Cuba contains words specific to the Cuban dialect. They are called "cubanisms." Again, many cubanisms are associated with vocabulary of the Canary dialect.
In addition, in the Cuban variety of Spanish, there are borrowings from English, French and Russian. The political situation in Cuba contributed to the emergence of the words compañero / compañera, which translates as “comrade”. Here, this word is used instead of señor / señora ("lord" / "mistress").
What other languages do Cuba know?
What language is spoken in Cuba except Spanish? A small number of inhabitants of Liberty Island speak Russian - this is the same generation that studied in the Soviet Union. Many of them remember Russian well.
Some of the Cubans also know English and French. Knowledge of English, of course, helps them in the tourism business.