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116-603: Dominican Americans ( Spanish : domínico-americanos , estadounidenses dominicanos ) are Americans who trace their ancestry to the Dominican Republic . The phrase may refer to someone born in the United States of Dominican descent or to someone who has migrated to the United States from the Dominican Republic. As of 2021, there were approximately 2.4 million people of Dominican descent in
232-584: A Dominican American are with a non-Hispanic partner. Cities with the highest percentages of Dominicans are usually smaller cities that are 40% Latino or higher, with large Dominican populations and many times larger numbers of other Hispanic groups as well, including Providence, Rhode Island; Allentown, Pennsylvania; Lawrence, Massachusetts; and Paterson, New Jersey, among others. Among neighborhoods in larger cities like New York City, Dominicans usually settle in neighborhoods that are majority Hispanic, like Washington Heights, Bushwick, Jackson Heights, and many areas of
348-612: A Spanish-based creole language called Chavacano developed in the southern Philippines. However, it is not mutually intelligible with Spanish. The number of Chavacano-speakers was estimated at 1.2 million in 1996. The local languages of the Philippines also retain significant Spanish influence, with many words derived from Mexican Spanish , owing to the administration of the islands by Spain through New Spain until 1821, until direct governance from Madrid afterwards to 1898. Cibao The Cibao , usually referred as El Cibao,
464-603: A considerable number of words from Arabic , as well as a minor influence from the Germanic Gothic language through the period of Visigoth rule in Iberia. In addition, many more words were borrowed from Latin through the influence of written language and the liturgical language of the Church. The loanwords were taken from both Classical Latin and Renaissance Latin , the form of Latin in use at that time. According to
580-522: A dramatic change in the pronunciation of its sibilant consonants , known in Spanish as the reajuste de las sibilantes , which resulted in the distinctive velar [x] pronunciation of the letter ⟨j⟩ and—in a large part of Spain—the characteristic interdental [θ] ("th-sound") for the letter ⟨z⟩ (and for ⟨c⟩ before ⟨e⟩ or ⟨i⟩ ). See History of Spanish (Modern development of
696-482: A first language by Spaniards and educated Filipinos ( Ilustrados ). Despite a public education system set up by the colonial government, by the end of Spanish rule in 1898, only about 10% of the population had knowledge of Spanish, mostly those of Spanish descent or elite standing. Spanish continued to be official and used in Philippine literature and press during the early years of American administration after
812-415: A long history in the territory of the current-day United States dating back to the 16th century. In the wake of the 1848 Guadalupe Hidalgo Treaty , hundreds of thousands of Spanish speakers became a minoritized community in the United States. The 20th century saw further massive growth of Spanish speakers in areas where they had been hitherto scarce. According to the 2020 census, over 60 million people of
928-480: A meat like chicharrón de pollo (deep-fried chicken), mangú (mashed green plantains served with sautéed onion), slices of avocado, fried eggs, salami, empanadas and pastelitos (fried meat pies), and sancocho (stew of meats and root vegetables). The most well known drink is " Morir Soñando " which translates to "die dreaming". It is a drink of orange juice, cream and vanilla. Desserts include flan, bread pudding, rice pudding and tres leches. Dominican restaurant owners in
1044-722: A native name for the island, although the Spanish used it during the Spanish conquest to refer to the rich and fertile valley between the Central and Septentrional mountain ranges. El Cibao occupies the central and northern part of the Dominican territory. To the north and east of the region lies the Atlantic Ocean ; to its west lies the Republic of Haiti and to the south the Central Range, which separates El Cibao from
1160-689: A presence in the financial industry. Cid Wilson was ranked #1 Wall Street financial analyst in the Specialty Retailing category by Forbes in 2006. On July 14, 2014, he was named President & CEO of the Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility (HACR) in Washington, DC, thus becoming the first Afro-Latino to lead a major national Latino organization in the U.S. Julio A. Portalatin, chairman and CEO of Mercer LLC (subsidiary of Marsh & McLennan Companies ),
1276-508: A primarily Hassaniya Arabic -speaking territory, Spanish was officially spoken as the language of the colonial administration during the late 19th and 20th centuries. Today, Spanish is present in the partially-recognized Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic as its secondary official language, and in the Sahrawi refugee camps in Tindouf ( Algeria ), where the Spanish language is still taught as
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#17327829287251392-617: A second language features characteristics involving the variability of the vowel system. While far from its heyday during the Spanish protectorate in Morocco , the Spanish language has some presence in northern Morocco , stemming for example from the availability of certain Spanish-language media. According to a 2012 survey by Morocco's Royal Institute for Strategic Studies (IRES), penetration of Spanish in Morocco reaches 4.6% of
1508-531: A second language, largely by Cuban educators. The number of Spanish speakers is unknown. Spanish is also an official language of the African Union . Spanish was an official language of the Philippines from the beginning of Spanish administration in 1565 to a constitutional change in 1973. During Spanish colonization , it was the language of government, trade, and education, and was spoken as
1624-545: A symbol in times of celebration. For example, when the Dominican Republic won the World Cup of Baseball, Dominican Americans cheered carrying plantains. The experience of Dominican American cuisine goes beyond the consumption of the food, however. It is vitally integrated into the everyday culture of the Dominican American community. Through the sensations of eating, to the act of cooking, Dominican American food
1740-416: Is cognate to the root word of satisfacer ("to satisfy"), and hecho ("made") is similarly cognate to the root word of satisfecho ("satisfied"). Compare the examples in the following table: Some consonant clusters of Latin also produced characteristically different results in these languages, as shown in the examples in the following table: In the 15th and 16th centuries, Spanish underwent
1856-666: Is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from the Vulgar Latin spoken on the Iberian Peninsula of Europe . Today, it is a global language with about 500 million native speakers, mainly in the Americas and Spain , and about 600 million when including second language speakers. Spanish is the official language of 20 countries , as well as one of the six official languages of
1972-515: Is a mixture of two dialects: that of the 16th- and 17th-century Portuguese colonists in the Cibao valley, and of the 18th-century Canarian settlers. There is also some influences from African languages in the dialect. Merengue music , played using the güira , tambora and accordion , was originated in El Cibao. The original folk type of merengue is known as perico ripiao or típico , which
2088-406: Is a region of the Dominican Republic located in the northern part of the country. As of 2009, the Cibao region has a population of 5,622,378, making it the most populous region in the country. The region constitutes a "developed macro-region"; with a large industrial base and high levels of progress among its inhabitants, it has the highest levels of education and the highest quality of life among
2204-454: Is estimated that about 486 million people speak Spanish as a native language , making it the second most spoken language by number of native speakers . An additional 75 million speak Spanish as a second or foreign language , making it the fourth most spoken language in the world overall after English, Mandarin Chinese, and Hindi with a total number of 538 million speakers. Spanish is also
2320-761: Is heavily influenced by Venezuelan Spanish. In addition to sharing most of its borders with Spanish-speaking countries, the creation of Mercosur in the early 1990s induced a favorable situation for the promotion of Spanish language teaching in Brazil . In 2005, the National Congress of Brazil approved a bill, signed into law by the President , making it mandatory for schools to offer Spanish as an alternative foreign language course in both public and private secondary schools in Brazil. In September 2016 this law
2436-509: Is part of the Dominican American experience. The vast majority of Dominicans adhere to Christianity , with most being Roman Catholic and many others being Protestant. Some Dominican Americans are non-religious, while a few others practice African diasporic religions like Dominican Vudú . It is estimated that 59% of Dominican Americans are Catholic, 21% are Protestant, together Christianity makes up 80%. Another 16% are non-religious and 4% practice other religions. The Dominican American community
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#17327829287252552-419: Is played to this day by local musical groups, as a variation of the merengue, with a faster pace. During Late January and through February, several carnivals are held within the region. The most popular of these festivals belongs to the province of La Vega , and dates back to the first European settlements. It began as a religious activity celebrating the pre-Lent season, and the carnival's theme revolves around
2668-732: Is related to Castile ( Castilla or archaically Castiella ), the kingdom where the language was originally spoken. The name Castile , in turn, is usually assumed to be derived from castillo ('castle'). In the Middle Ages , the language spoken in Castile was generically referred to as Romance and later also as Lengua vulgar . Later in the period, it gained geographical specification as Romance castellano ( romanz castellano , romanz de Castiella ), lenguaje de Castiella , and ultimately simply as castellano (noun). Different etymologies have been suggested for
2784-500: Is split between those that only know Spanish and little to no English, and those that are fully bilingual in both languages. Very few Dominican Americans speak English only and no Spanish, as preserving aspects of Dominican identity, including the Spanish language, is very important to Dominican Americans. About 51% of Dominican Americans are Spanish-dominant, 5% are English-dominant, and 44% are fully bilingual. Dominicans who only speak English fluently usually come from families that been in
2900-844: Is spoken by very small communities in Angola due to Cuban influence from the Cold War and in South Sudan among South Sudanese natives that relocated to Cuba during the Sudanese wars and returned for their country's independence. Spanish is also spoken in the integral territories of Spain in Africa, namely the cities of Ceuta and Melilla and the Canary Islands , located in the Atlantic Ocean some 100 km (62 mi) off
3016-813: Is the de facto national language of the country, Spanish is often used in public services and notices at the federal and state levels. Spanish is also used in administration in the state of New Mexico . The language has a strong influence in major metropolitan areas such as those of Los Angeles , Miami , San Antonio , New York , San Francisco , Dallas , Tucson and Phoenix of the Arizona Sun Corridor , as well as more recently, Chicago , Las Vegas , Boston , Denver , Houston , Indianapolis , Philadelphia , Cleveland , Salt Lake City , Atlanta , Nashville , Orlando , Tampa , Raleigh and Baltimore-Washington, D.C. due to 20th- and 21st-century immigration. Although Spanish has no official recognition in
3132-404: Is the highest ranking Dominican American Fortune 500 executive in the U.S. Traditional Dominican cuisine has translated well to the United States as Dominican Americans have opened reputable restaurants throughout the diasporic communities. Traditional cuisine is very colorful with red and green peppers and cilantro. Traditional cuisine consists of rice, beans, tostones (known as fritos ), and
3248-554: The Associated Press . Biden won Dominican American neighborhoods of New York City 85%-15%, according to a post-election New York Times analysis of precincts. Junot Diaz drew on his life and the Dominican American experience generally in authoring Drown and The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao , the latter of which won him the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2008 and made him the first Dominican American and
3364-520: The CIA , assassinated General Rafael Trujillo , the nation's military dictator. In the wake of his death, fear of retaliation by Trujillo's allies, and political uncertainty in general, spurred migration from the island. In 1965, the United States began a military occupation of the Dominican Republic and eased travel restrictions, making it easier for Dominicans to obtain American visas. From 1966 to 1978,
3480-604: The Hudson River in New Jersey, topped by Paterson in absolute number and with Perth Amboy having the highest proportion in the U.S., alongside other areas of New Jersey, including cities like Jersey City , Union City (even though Union City is mostly Cuban descent) and Newark and many other areas in Passaic County and Hudson County . In Massachusetts, there is a very large Dominican population throughout
3596-459: The Pueblo Viejo mine , is located in the Cibao region. The internationally known Barrick Gold and Falconbridge are the companies in charge of the extraction of these ores. The valley is not only a geographical unit, but also a cultural and linguistic unit. The Cibao region is considered to be the cultural heartland of the Dominican Republic. The typical accent spoken in the Cibao region
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3712-595: The Southwest . The first recorded person of Dominican descent to migrate into what is now known as the United States , outside of New Spain , was sailor-turned-merchant Juan Rodríguez . He arrived on Manhattan in 1613 from his home in Santo Domingo , which makes him the first non- Native American person to spend substantial time in the island. He also became the first Dominican, the first Hispanic and
3828-568: The Spanish as a First Foreign Language (SAFFL) initiative in March 2005. Spanish has historically had a significant presence on the Dutch Caribbean islands of Aruba , Bonaire and Curaçao ( ABC Islands ) throughout the centuries and in present times. The majority of the populations of each island (especially Aruba) speaking Spanish at varying although often high degrees of fluency. The local language Papiamentu (Papiamento on Aruba)
3944-508: The Spanish–American War but was eventually replaced by English as the primary language of administration and education by the 1920s. Nevertheless, despite a significant decrease in influence and speakers, Spanish remained an official language of the Philippines upon independence in 1946, alongside English and Filipino , a standardized version of Tagalog . Spanish was briefly removed from official status in 1973 but reimplemented under
4060-674: The U.S. territories of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands , in the former of which Dominicans make up the majority of recent immigrants. Since 2010, there has been huge increases in the Dominican population in New York City (especially the Bronx), but also significant increases in Boston, Philadelphia, Miami, Orlando and many smaller cities throughout the coastal Northeast. According to 2014 estimates, Boston and New York City are
4176-548: The United Nations . Spanish is the world's second-most spoken native language after Mandarin Chinese ; the world's fourth-most spoken language overall after English , Mandarin Chinese, and Hindustani ( Hindi - Urdu ); and the world's most widely spoken Romance language. The country with the largest population of native speakers is Mexico . Spanish is part of the Ibero-Romance language group , in which
4292-480: The 13th century. Spanish colonialism in the early modern period spurred the introduction of the language to overseas locations, most notably to the Americas. As a Romance language, Spanish is a descendant of Latin. Around 75% of modern Spanish vocabulary is Latin in origin, including Latin borrowings from Ancient Greek. Alongside English and French , it is also one of the most taught foreign languages throughout
4408-404: The 2021–2022 school year alone. The local business process outsourcing industry has also helped boost the language's economic prospects. Today, while the actual number of proficient Spanish speakers is around 400,000, or under 0.5% of the population, a new generation of Spanish speakers in the Philippines has likewise emerged, though speaker estimates vary widely. Aside from standard Spanish,
4524-595: The 20th century, Spanish was introduced to Equatorial Guinea and the Western Sahara , and to areas of the United States that had not been part of the Spanish Empire, such as Spanish Harlem in New York City . For details on borrowed words and other external influences upon Spanish, see Influences on the Spanish language . Spanish is the primary language in 20 countries worldwide. As of 2023, it
4640-573: The Bronx and Manhattan. New York Dominicans usually share communities with other Hispanics, particularly Puerto Ricans and other Hispanics from Mexico and South/Central America, African Americans, West Indian/African immigrants, and caucasian. Dominicans recently became the city's largest Hispanic population, dethroning the older longstanding Puerto Rican population, they now make up 9% of New York City and nearly 35% of New York Hispanics. Dominicans have strong and growing influential clout and political power in
4756-547: The Bronx, such as Highbridge , University Heights , among others, have some of the largest urban concentration of Dominicans in the US. Many other areas, like Cypress Hills and Bushwick in Brooklyn and Corona, Queens have strong Dominican populations. Despite strong segregation, Dominicans can be seen in many different neighborhoods throughout New York. New York City, as of 2017, has nearly 800,000 Dominicans, over half of them in
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4872-413: The Bronx. The South Bronx, west of the Bronx river and south of Fordham Road, is around 70% Hispanic, a majority of which is Dominicans and Puerto Ricans. Dominican Americans tend to be heavily focused on issues in Dominican Republic, rather than that of the United States, with many having intentions of returning. It is normal in the Dominican American community to work in the United States and later invest
4988-564: The Dominican Americans today arrived since the 1990s, especially in the early part of that decade. There has been another surge of immigration in recent years as immigration from Mexico has declined, which allowed more backlogged Dominican applicants to obtain legal residence. Dominican Americans are the fifth-largest Hispanic American group, after Mexican Americans , Stateside Puerto Ricans , Cuban Americans and Salvadoran Americans . Although Dominicans constitute 3.5 percent of
5104-461: The Dominican Republic remains high, facilitated by the social networks of now-established Dominican communities in the United States. Until about the early 2000s, the majority of immigration from the Dominican Republic came from the Cibao region and "La Capital" ( Santo Domingo area). However now, Dominican immigrants are arriving to the United States from many parts of the country. Almost half of all
5220-654: The Equatoguinean education system and is the primary language used in government and business. Whereas it is not the mother tongue of virtually any of its speakers, the vast majority of the population is proficient in Spanish. The Instituto Cervantes estimates that 87.7% of the population is fluent in Spanish. The proportion of proficient Spanish speakers in Equatorial Guinea exceeds the proportion of proficient speakers in other West and Central African nations of their respective colonial languages. Spanish
5336-615: The Hispanic/Latino community include Massachusetts, where they make up 19.7 percent of all Hispanics, New Jersey at 16.4 percent, New Hampshire at 15.0 percent, Pennsylvania at 13.9 percent, Connecticut at 8.1 percent, and Florida at 4.8 percent of all Hispanics/Latinos in each respective state. U.S. states with higher percentages of Dominicans than the national average (0.6%) as of 2020, are Rhode Island (4.9%), New York (4.4%), New Jersey (3.5%), Massachusetts (2.6%), Connecticut (1.5%), Florida (1.3%), and Pennsylvania (1.2%). As of 2017,
5452-471: The Hispanic/Latino population in the United States, there are some states where Dominicans make up a much larger portion of the Hispanic/Latino population, including Rhode Island, where 29.5 percent of the state's Hispanics/Latinos are of Dominican descent and New York, where Dominicans make up 22.0 percent of the Hispanics/Latinos. Other states where Dominicans make up a remarkably large portion of
5568-705: The Iberian Peninsula. These languages included Proto-Basque , Iberian , Lusitanian , Celtiberian and Gallaecian . The first documents to show traces of what is today regarded as the precursor of modern Spanish are from the 9th century. Throughout the Middle Ages and into the modern era , the most important influences on the Spanish lexicon came from neighboring Romance languages — Mozarabic ( Andalusi Romance ), Navarro-Aragonese , Leonese , Catalan/Valencian , Portuguese , Galician , Occitan , and later, French and Italian . Spanish also borrowed
5684-454: The New York City area. The largest populations of Dominicans are in the following metropolitan areas, according to the 2020 ACS 5-Year Estimates: As of the 2020 census, the top 25 U.S. communities with the largest Dominican populations are the following: As of the 2020 census, the top 25 U.S. communities with the highest percentages of people claiming Dominican ancestry are the following: The 10 large cities (over 200,000 in population) with
5800-459: The New York metro area and nearly 60% of the Dominican American community, the highest percentage of any metropolitan area. However, even though Dominicans are now the largest Hispanic group in New York City itself, Dominicans are still second in size to Puerto Ricans in the New York metropolitan area as a whole. The Boston metropolitan area is the only major metropolitan area where Dominicans are
5916-540: The Old Spanish sibilants) for details. The Gramática de la lengua castellana , written in Salamanca in 1492 by Elio Antonio de Nebrija , was the first grammar written for a modern European language. According to a popular anecdote, when Nebrija presented it to Queen Isabella I , she asked him what was the use of such a work, and he answered that language is the instrument of empire. In his introduction to
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#17327829287256032-597: The Spanish-speaking world, Spanish is called not only español but also castellano (Castilian), the language from the Kingdom of Castile , contrasting it with other languages spoken in Spain such as Galician , Basque , Asturian , Catalan/Valencian , Aragonese , Occitan and other minor languages. The Spanish Constitution of 1978 uses the term castellano to define the official language of
6148-492: The Trujillo regime. Dominican immigrants during this period where largely classified as anti-Trujilo political exiles. During that decade, the United States admitted an average of 990 Dominican nationals per year. During the second half of the twentieth century there were three significant waves of immigration to the United States . The first period began in 1961, when a coalition of high-ranking Dominicans, with assistance from
6264-420: The U.S. Latino media. Tina Aumont , Miguel A. Nuñez , Karen Olivo (a Tony Award winner), Victor Rasuk , Judy Reyes , Shalim Ortiz (son of Charytín) and Tristan Wilds also have Dominican origin. For Dominican Americans, there is a disparity between men and women in terms of access and ability to complete education. Spanish language Spanish ( español ) or Castilian ( castellano )
6380-733: The U.S. Republican party. However, most U.S.-born Dominican Americans, especially in urban areas in the Northeast, tend to far more liberal than foreign-born Dominicans and Dominican Americans from other parts of the country, ones who are registered to vote tend to do so for the Democratic Party , though support for the Republican party has been growing among Dominican Americans and other Hispanic/Latino people. In 2020 , Joe Biden carried Dominican American voters with 64% support to Trump 's 33%, according to voter surveys conducted by
6496-502: The U.S. population were of Hispanic or Hispanic American by origin. In turn, 41.8 million people in the United States aged five or older speak Spanish at home, or about 13% of the population. Spanish predominates in the unincorporated territory of Puerto Rico , where it is also an official language along with English. Spanish is by far the most common second language in the country, with over 50 million total speakers if non-native or second-language speakers are included. While English
6612-616: The United States and the Dominican Republic, oftentimes a home of a family member. A significant number of Dominican Americans are young, first-generation immigrants without a higher education, since many have roots in the country's rural areas. Second-generation Dominican Americans are more educated than their first-generation counterparts, a condition reflected in their higher incomes and employment in professional or skilled occupations and more of them pursuing undergraduate education and graduate degrees . Over 21% of all second-generation Dominican Americans have college degrees, slightly below
6728-750: The United States are passionately involved in politics "back home", but unlike other Hispanic/Latino national groups, such as Cuban Americans and Mexican Americans, they are not as inclined to take an active part in U.S. politics , but recent research has shown an increasing involvement in this area. Voter participation among Dominicans living in the U.S. is low, especially among the foreign-born. Foreign-born Dominicans are more involved in Dominican politics than U.S. politics. Most Foreign-born Dominicans and some U.S.-born Dominicans are more socially conservative, religious, very family-oriented, and exert Dominican nationalist and cultural pride, traits that align more with
6844-411: The United States for many generations. In many cities in the Northeast region, the Dominican dialect of Spanish is the most commonly heard. Spanish is spoken at home by 88% of Dominican American families, higher compared to 73% of the overall Latino community. Maria Montez was dubbed "The Queen of Technicolor " for the numerous Hollywood adventure films that she starred in the 1940s. Zoe Saldana ,
6960-528: The United States, including both native and foreign-born. They are the second largest Hispanic group in the Northeastern region of the United States after Puerto Ricans, and the fifth-largest Hispanic/Latino group nationwide. The first Dominican to migrate into what is now known as the United States was sailor-turned-merchant Juan Rodríguez who arrived on Manhattan in 1613 from his home in Santo Domingo . Thousands of Dominicans also passed through
7076-651: The Water Saints . Héctor Rivera was a Dominican poet who lived in New York. He was born in Yamasá, República Dominicana in 1957 and died from cancer in July 2005. He lived during the diaspora, in which Dominican authors wrote about nostalgia that Dominican immigrants experienced in New York. Some of his works include: "Los emigrantes del siglo", Poemas no comunes para matar la muerte, and Biografía del silencio. Another Dominican American writer and poet, Elizabeth Acevedo,
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#17327829287257192-457: The administration of Ferdinand Marcos two months later. It remained an official language until the ratification of the present constitution in 1987, in which it was re-designated as a voluntary and optional auxiliary language. Additionally, the constitution, in its Article XIV, stipulates that the Government shall provide the people of the Philippines with a Spanish-language translation of
7308-489: The average for all Americans (24%) but significantly higher than US-born Mexican Americans (14%) and Stateside Puerto Rican (9%). In New York City, Dominican entrepreneurs have carved out roles in several industries, especially the bodega and supermarket and taxi and black car industries. Over two dozen Dominican Americans are elected local or state legislators, mayors or other in New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Maryland , Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. Dr. Eduardo J. Sanchez
7424-678: The boroughs of the Bronx and Manhattan , and to a lesser degree in Queens and Brooklyn . There are also small populations in other parts of New York State, like Long Island in towns like Uniondale , Freeport and Brentwood being engulfed by the Salvadoran population, and the Hudson Valley including cities like Yonkers , Haverstraw , Sleepy Hollow and Newburgh . A rapidly growing population of up to 250,000 Dominicans reside across
7540-439: The cities of Providence and Pawtucket . To a lesser extent, Connecticut has small Dominican populations in Fairfield County and New Haven County , including the cities of Waterbury , Danbury , Bridgeport and Stamford . In Pennsylvania, there are sizeable Dominican populations in the eastern portion of the state, including Philadelphia , Hazleton , Bethlehem , Allentown and Reading . Hazleton in Pennsylvania has one of
7656-412: The city live in the Bronx. Rhode Island has the highest percentage of Dominicans in the country and it is the only state where Dominicans are the largest Hispanic group. Dominicans are the most dominant Latino group in most of southeastern New England (Rhode Island and eastern Massachusetts). Dominicans are also becoming more dominant in many areas in North Jersey and the Lower Hudson Valley , including
7772-566: The classic hispanus or hispanicus took the suffix -one from Vulgar Latin , as happened with other words such as bretón (Breton) or sajón (Saxon). Like the other Romance languages , the Spanish language evolved from Vulgar Latin , which was brought to the Iberian Peninsula by the Romans during the Second Punic War , beginning in 210 BC. Several pre-Roman languages (also called Paleohispanic languages )—some distantly related to Latin as Indo-European languages , and some that are not related at all—were previously spoken in
7888-446: The consonant written b (a bilabial with plosive and fricative allophones). In modern Spanish, there is no difference between the pronunciation of orthographic b and v . Typical of Spanish (as also of neighboring Gascon extending as far north as the Gironde estuary , and found in a small area of Calabria ), attributed by some scholars to a Basque substratum was the mutation of Latin initial f into h- whenever it
8004-404: The country's constitution. In recent years changing attitudes among non-Spanish speaking Filipinos have helped spur a revival of the language, and starting in 2009 Spanish was reintroduced as part of the basic education curriculum in a number of public high schools, becoming the largest foreign language program offered by the public school system, with over 7,000 students studying the language in
8120-413: The diasporic community really aim to conserve the taste of the mainland as they feel that is what immigrants seek out when looking for authentic Dominican cuisine. Achieving that taste is not hard in the United States as most grocery stores stock Dominican, Puerto Rican and other Latin American products made by Goya Foods . Dominican Americans take pride in their food from their homeland and they use it as
8236-412: The eastern part of the state, especially Boston , Lawrence , Lynn , Holyoke and many other parts of the Boston area. Lawrence in particular has one of the highest percentages of Dominicans in the nation alongside Perth Amboy, New Jersey; Haverstraw, New York; and Hazleton, Pennsylvania. In Rhode Island, there is a large Dominican population throughout the state, especially Providence County , including
8352-422: The exodus continued, fueled by high unemployment and political repression. Communities established by the first wave of immigrants to the U.S. created a network that assisted subsequent arrivals. In the early 1980s, unemployment, inflation and the rise in value of the dollar all contributed to the third and largest wave of emigration from the island nation, this time mostly from the lower-class. Today, emigration from
8468-688: The family, may lead the children to identify with the ancestry of one of their parents rather than the other. Poet Sandra Maria Esteves has identified mainly with the ethnicity of her Puerto Rican father rather than that of her Dominican mother. In contrast to Puerto Ricans who have high overall intermarriage rates with non Hispanics, Dominican Americans have the lowest intermarriage and interracial reproduction rates of all major Hispanic groups with populations over 500,000. Majority of Dominican Americans marry and create families with other Dominican Americans, smaller numbers with other Hispanics especially Puerto Ricans as stated earlier. Only 2.8% of marriages involving
8584-739: The fastest growing Dominican communities in the nation, going from 1% in the 2000 census to about 35% according to the 2017 estimate. There are also large Dominican populations in Florida, including in Miami , Pembroke Pines , Orlando , Kissimmee , Tampa and many other parts of the Miami and Orlando metropolitan areas. There are also much smaller but growing Dominican populations in New Hampshire , Delaware , Maryland , Virginia , North Carolina , Georgia , Ohio , Texas and California , as well as
8700-520: The female lead of the 2009 film Avatar , is an actress born in New Jersey, but raised in the Dominican Republic, to a Dominican father and a half-Dominican, half-Puerto Rican mother. Michelle Rodriguez , born of a Dominican mother and a Puerto Rican father, is known for her roles on the television series Lost and the films The Fast and the Furious , S.W.A.T. and Resident Evil . Judy Reyes , best known for her roles as Carla Espinosa on
8816-563: The first formerly undocumented American to be elected to Congress. The electoral participation of Dominicans in the United States may improve as a result of the 1994 approval of dual citizenship by the Dominican legislature , which makes it easier for migrants to become U.S. citizens without relinquishing their Dominican nationality. A 1997 Dominican law, which took effect in 2004, allows Dominicans living abroad to retain their Dominican citizenship and voting rights even if they become citizens of another country. Traditionally, Dominicans living in
8932-465: The first person with European (specifically Portuguese ) and African ancestry to settle in what is present day New York City . Dominican emigration to the United States continued throughout the centuries. Recent studies from the CUNY Dominican studies Institute identified 5,000 Dominican nationals who were processed through Ellis Island between 1892 and 1924. During the 1930s and 40s,
9048-427: The flow of Dominicans to the United States fluctuated after Rafael Trujillo , who rose to power in 1930, imposed heavy restrictions on the outward migration of his citizens. Many of the 1,150 Dominicans immigrating to the United States between 1931 and 1940, came as secondary labor migrants from Cuba , Puerto Rico and Panama . A larger wave of Dominicans began after 1950, during a time when cracks began to appear in
9164-683: The following table: Spanish is marked by palatalization of the Latin double consonants ( geminates ) nn and ll (thus Latin annum > Spanish año , and Latin anellum > Spanish anillo ). The consonant written u or v in Latin and pronounced [w] in Classical Latin had probably " fortified " to a bilabial fricative /β/ in Vulgar Latin. In early Spanish (but not in Catalan or Portuguese) it merged with
9280-466: The former British colony of Belize (known until 1973 as British Honduras ) where English is the sole official language, according to the 2022 census, 54% of the total population are able to speak the language. Due to its proximity to Spanish-speaking countries and small existing native Spanish speaking minority, Trinidad and Tobago has implemented Spanish language teaching into its education system. The Trinidadian and Tobagonian government launched
9396-513: The gates of Ellis Island in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The most recent movement of emigration to the United States began in the 1960s, after the fall of the dictatorial Trujillo regime. Since the establishment of the Spanish Empire , there have historically been immigrants from the former Captaincy General of Santo Domingo to other parts of New Spain which are now part of the United States , such as Florida , Louisiana and
9512-604: The grammar, dated 18 August 1492, Nebrija wrote that "... language was always the companion of empire." From the 16th century onwards, the language was taken to the Spanish-discovered America and the Spanish East Indies via Spanish colonization of America . Miguel de Cervantes , author of Don Quixote , is such a well-known reference in the world that Spanish is often called la lengua de Cervantes ("the language of Cervantes"). In
9628-499: The highest percentages of Dominican residents include (2020 Census): Since 1980, the Census Bureau has asked U.S. residents to classify their race separately from their Hispanic origin , if any. In 2010, 29.6% of Dominican Americans responded that they were white , while 12.9% considered themselves black . A majority of 57.5% chose the category 'Other race'. The prevalence of the 'other race' category probably reflects
9744-486: The interior Cibao region, while African is strongest in the southeast plain. According to the 2013 Pew Research Center survey there is an estimation about 1.8 million of Dominican origin that are residing in the United States which account for 3.3% of the US Hispanic population in 2013. When they were asked to identify themselves about 66% of them said they used the term 'Dominican', 16% use ' Americans ', and 17% use
9860-540: The language is also known as Castilian ( castellano ). The group evolved from several dialects of Vulgar Latin in Iberia after the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century. The oldest Latin texts with traces of Spanish come from mid-northern Iberia in the 9th century, and the first systematic written use of the language happened in Toledo , a prominent city of the Kingdom of Castile , in
9976-549: The language's hegemony in an intensely centralising Spanish state were established from the 18th century onward. Other European territories in which it is also widely spoken include Gibraltar and Andorra . Spanish is also spoken by immigrant communities in other European countries, such as the United Kingdom , France , Italy , and Germany . Spanish is an official language of the European Union . Today,
10092-583: The large number of people who identify as mixed African and Spaniard ancestry in the Dominican Republic, where 73% of the population identified as being of mixed Spaniard and African descent , commonly known as mulatto , similar to other Caribbean Hispanics. Genetically, some are tri-racial, however, having also Taíno Native American ancestry. Taíno ancestry among Dominicans usually hovers about 10% on average. With African ancestry hovering between 30 and 45% on average, and Spaniard ancestry hovering between 45 and 60%. Spaniard ancestry tends to be strongest in
10208-589: The largest Hispanic group, recently surpassing Puerto Ricans. The Providence area also has a huge Dominican-dominant Latino community. New York City has had a large Dominican community since as early as the 1960s. However, the community did not start to boom until the 1980s. Since then, Washington Heights in Upper Manhattan has remained the center of the Dominican American community, often nicknamed "Little Santo Domingo". The eastern portions of Washington Heights and Inwood , as well as many western areas of
10324-431: The majority of Dominican Americans are in a handful of states, including New York (872,504; 4.4% of state population), New Jersey (301,655; 3.3%), Florida (259,799; 1.2%), Massachusetts (172,707; 2.5%), Pennsylvania (146,329; 1.0%), Rhode Island (52,100; 5.1%) and Connecticut (40,543; 1.1%). Around 47% of Dominican Americans live in New York state with 41% in New York City alone; close to 40% of all Dominicans in
10440-694: The majority of the Spanish speakers live in Hispanic America . Nationally, Spanish is the official language—either de facto or de jure —of Argentina , Bolivia (co-official with 36 indigenous languages), Chile , Colombia , Costa Rica , Cuba , Dominican Republic , Ecuador , El Salvador , Guatemala , Honduras , Mexico (co-official with 63 indigenous languages), Nicaragua , Panama , Paraguay (co-official with Guaraní ), Peru (co-official with Quechua , Aymara , and "the other indigenous languages"), Puerto Rico (co-official with English), Uruguay , and Venezuela . Spanish language has
10556-714: The medical comedy series Scrubs (2001-2009) and Zoila Diaz in the Lifetime comedy-drama series Devious Maids (2013-2016) is an actress born in The Bronx , New York to Dominican immigrants. Dania Ramirez is known for playing Callisto in X-Men: The Last Stand , Sadie in Quarantine , Alex on Entourage and Maya Herrera on Heroes . Merlin Santana was a New Yorker whose most notable role
10672-414: The money in a house and business back in Dominican Republic. Dominican American investments are a major contribution to the economy of the Dominican Republic. A large portion of Dominican immigrants and Dominican Americans engage in circular migration , in which they would live the early years working in the United States to retire the later years in Dominican Republic, or frequently relocate between homes in
10788-528: The northern portion of the New York City area like the Bronx and Westchester. In New York City, the borough of Manhattan (New York County) is the only county in the country where Dominicans are the largest ancestral group and its Washington Heights neighborhood has long been considered the center of the Dominican American community. The 2010 Census estimated the nationwide Dominican American population at 1,414,703. About 41% of Dominican Americans live in New York City alone. Many of New York's Dominicans live in
10904-734: The northwest of the African mainland. The Spanish spoken in the Canary Islands traces its origins back to the Castilian conquest in the 15th century , and, in addition to a resemblance to Western Andalusian speech patterns, it also features strong influence from the Spanish varieties spoken in the Americas, which in turn have also been influenced historically by Canarian Spanish. The Spanish spoken in North Africa by native bilingual speakers of Arabic or Berber who also speak Spanish as
11020-704: The only major cities where Dominicans are now the largest Hispanic group, recently surpassing Puerto Ricans in both cities, due to slower growth (Boston) or decline (New York City) of the Puerto Rican populations in those cities and much faster growing Dominican populations. However, in both cities, Dominicans make up only a plurality of the Hispanic population. As of 2017, the New York City Area , which includes southern New York state and North Jersey, has nearly 1.1 million Dominicans, making up about 5.3% of
11136-654: The other hand, currently uses the term español in its publications. However, from 1713 to 1923, it called the language castellano . The Diccionario panhispánico de dudas (a language guide published by the Royal Spanish Academy) states that, although the Royal Spanish Academy prefers to use the term español in its publications when referring to the Spanish language, both terms— español and castellano —are regarded as synonymous and equally valid. The term castellano
11252-560: The other natural regions. The Cordillera Central mountain range is located within El Cibao, containing the highest peak in all of the Caribbean, Pico Duarte . Two of the largest rivers of the country are also located inside this region: the Yaque del Norte , the largest river of the Dominican Republic , and the Yuna river . Both of these rivers contain several chains of dams used to provide
11368-533: The population. Many northern Moroccans have rudimentary knowledge of Spanish, with Spanish being particularly significant in areas adjacent to Ceuta and Melilla. Spanish also has a presence in the education system of the country (through either selected education centers implementing Spain's education system, primarily located in the North, or the availability of Spanish as foreign language subject in secondary education). In Western Sahara , formerly Spanish Sahara ,
11484-406: The region with water for irrigation (since agriculture is the main activity of the area) and hydroelectric energy. Rice , coffee and cacao are the most important crops grown in the area. The central mountain range also has important mining activity. Its main mineral resources include gold , iron and nickel , among others. The largest gold mine in the Americas and second largest in the world,
11600-654: The second Hispanic American in history to win the Pulitzer Prize . Julia Alvarez is the nationally recognized author of In the Time of the Butterflies , a fictional book based on the lives of the Mirabal sisters , and How the García Girls Lost Their Accents . Nelly Rosario , born in the Dominican Republic and raised in New York City, also won critical acclaim for her debut novel Song of
11716-537: The term español (Spanish). According to the Royal Spanish Academy, español derives from the Occitan word espaignol and that, in turn, derives from the Vulgar Latin * hispaniolus ('of Hispania'). Hispania was the Roman name for the entire Iberian Peninsula . There are other hypotheses apart from the one suggested by the Royal Spanish Academy. Spanish philologist Ramón Menéndez Pidal suggested that
11832-414: The terms ' Hispanic ' or ' Latino '. Those that prefer the term Hispanic is 29%, 11% prefer the term ' Latino ', and the rest have no preference for either of the terms ' Latino ' and Hispanic. When they were asked if they believed to be American about 53% did see themselves as American, 49% Hispanic adults were more likely to see themselves as typical American than the 44% that saw themselves different from
11948-444: The theories of Ramón Menéndez Pidal , local sociolects of Vulgar Latin evolved into Spanish, in the north of Iberia, in an area centered in the city of Burgos , and this dialect was later brought to the city of Toledo , where the written standard of Spanish was first developed, in the 13th century. In this formative stage, Spanish developed a strongly differing variant from its close cousin, Leonese , and, according to some authors,
12064-640: The third most used language on the Internet , after English and Chinese. Spanish is the official language of Spain . Upon the emergence of the Castilian Crown as the dominant power in the Iberian Peninsula by the end of the Middle Ages, the Romance vernacular associated with this polity became increasingly used in instances of prestige and influence, and the distinction between "Castilian" and "Spanish" started to become blurred. Hard policies imposing
12180-455: The three main regions of the Dominican Republic. Cibao is social-culturally characterized by being the predominant center of the European legacy on the island, and economically for being the most prosperous region in the country. The word Cibao, from Taino Ciba-o 'stone mountain'; from Taino ciba 'rock, stone' and o 'mountain '. Cibao was
12296-425: The typical American. More than 55% of Dominican Americans are foreign-born. Dominican Americans have a Latin Caribbean culture similar to Puerto Ricans and Cubans, they also have very high intermarriage and procreation rates with Puerto Ricans. The intermarriage of Dominicans with partners of other ethnicities sometimes creates circumstances that, depending on the dominant ethnic presence in the environment surrounding
12412-544: The victory of good over evil. Many important Dominican patriots were of Cibaenian origin. Among the most important are local generals José Desiderio Valverde and José Antonio Salcedo , who were responsible for the restoration of the Republic in the later decades of the 1800s. During the Trujillo dictatorship, the Mirabal sisters arranged clandestine organizations to rebel against the fascist dictatorship. The sisters were brutally murdered in 1960, and remain today as some of
12528-585: The whole of Spain, in contrast to las demás lenguas españolas (lit. "the other Spanish languages "). Article III reads as follows: El castellano es la lengua española oficial del Estado. ... Las demás lenguas españolas serán también oficiales en las respectivas Comunidades Autónomas... Castilian is the official Spanish language of the State. ... The other Spanish languages shall also be official in their respective Autonomous Communities... The Royal Spanish Academy ( Real Academia Española ), on
12644-582: The world. Spanish is well represented in the humanities and social sciences . Spanish is also the third most used language on the internet by number of users after English and Chinese and the second most used language by number of websites after English. Spanish is used as an official language by many international organizations , including the United Nations , European Union , Organization of American States , Union of South American Nations , Community of Latin American and Caribbean States , African Union , among others. In Spain and some other parts of
12760-473: Was as Romeo on The Steve Harvey Show . Carlos De La Mota, born in New York to Dominican parents and raised in La Vega , and José Guillermo Cortines are popular telenovela actors who often work stateside. Claudette Lali is a former model turned actress also born in New York and raised in the Dominican Republic. Charytín is an actress, singer, dancer, and television host who has been a longtime fixture in
12876-939: Was born in New York City. She is the winner 2018 National Book Award for Young People's Literature, the Boston Globe-Hornbook Award Prize for Best Children's Fiction, and the Pura Belpré Award. She also won the National Poetry Slam Competition. She received her bachelor's degree at The George Washington University in performing arts, and she received her MFA in creative writing at the University of Maryland. Some of her works include Beastgirl & Other Origin Myths, The Poet X, With The Fire On High, "Afro-Latina" and "Hair". Dominican Americans have increasingly made
12992-634: Was developed in the cities of Toledo , in the 13th to 16th centuries, and Madrid , from the 1570s. The development of the Spanish sound system from that of Vulgar Latin exhibits most of the changes that are typical of Western Romance languages , including lenition of intervocalic consonants (thus Latin vīta > Spanish vida ). The diphthongization of Latin stressed short e and o —which occurred in open syllables in French and Italian, but not at all in Catalan or Portuguese—is found in both open and closed syllables in Spanish, as shown in
13108-622: Was distinguished by a heavy Basque influence (see Iberian Romance languages ). This distinctive dialect spread to southern Spain with the advance of the Reconquista , and meanwhile gathered a sizable lexical influence from the Arabic of Al-Andalus , much of it indirectly, through the Romance Mozarabic dialects (some 4,000 Arabic -derived words, make up around 8% of the language today). The written standard for this new language
13224-713: Was followed by a vowel that did not diphthongize. The h- , still preserved in spelling, is now silent in most varieties of the language, although in some Andalusian and Caribbean dialects, it is still aspirated in some words. Because of borrowings from Latin and neighboring Romance languages, there are many f -/ h - doublets in modern Spanish: Fernando and Hernando (both Spanish for "Ferdinand"), ferrero and herrero (both Spanish for "smith"), fierro and hierro (both Spanish for "iron"), and fondo and hondo (both words pertaining to depth in Spanish, though fondo means "bottom", while hondo means "deep"); additionally, hacer ("to make")
13340-462: Was revoked by Michel Temer after the impeachment of Dilma Rousseff . In many border towns and villages along Paraguay and Uruguay, a mixed language known as Portuñol is spoken. Equatorial Guinea is the only Spanish-speaking country located entirely in Africa, with the language introduced during the Spanish colonial period . Enshrined in the constitution as an official language (alongside French and Portuguese), Spanish features prominently in
13456-574: Was the Commissioner of Health for the state of Texas from 2001 to 2006, and Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez , of Puerto Rican and Dominican descent, held her post as New York Secretary of State from 2007 to 2010. In November 2016, Adriano Espaillat became the first Dominican American to be elected to the United States Congress, he represents New York's 13th Congressional District which is predominantly Dominican American. He also became
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