What kind of Spanish? (Miami, Hialeah: homes, construction, estimates)

[Neutre]

Hello!

I'd like to know what kind of Spanish is spoken in Miami predominantly?
Is it Cuban Spanish? Puerto Rican? Mexican? Or something else?
And don't tell me they are the same. You can differentiate their accents almost immediately.

Saludos,


Neutre

[Besitomio]

Neutre,
I will not tell you that all the Spanish spoken here is the same, just as the Latin/Hispanic population here is not the same.
But the differences are not that major.
Although the Miami-Dade area is nearly 67% Hispanic, that includes folks of many different originating countries, of which nearly 35% are from Cuba.
The rest of the Latin/Hispanic population here comes from, Nicaragua,
Honduras, Columbia, Argentina, Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, and others.
Although there are fewer numbers of folks from Mexico, there are some families that reside in primarily Homestead and but throughout Miami-Dade, as well.
Being a "Gringa" myself, having been born in Texas, and married to a Cuban for over 20 years, I do speak fluent Spanish, and I do not find it difficult to
manage the different types of Spanish spoken. The differences are slight.
Most differences are subtle regional differences, basically just a few different words for certain things, and primarily different slang used.
There is also a large Carribbean population here, as well, and obviously black & white Americans. It is a huge melting pot.
If you know and speak or understand any type of Spanish at all, you will not have any difficulty communicating here.
IMHO-If a person didn't speak Spanish at all, they could still do fine here!

[Neutre]

Thanks for the answer, Besitomio!

I never knew that the Spanish speaking community in Miami is so diverse!
Apparently Mexican Spanish is not very present there, is it?

[DomHPD]

Originally Posted by Neutre

Thanks for the answer, Besitomio!

I never knew that the Spanish speaking community in Miami is so diverse!
Apparently Mexican Spanish is not very present there, is it?

depends on the areas, Homestead has a large population of Mexicans

[MiamiVice1985]

Cuban Spanish is the most common, as Cubans are the vast majority of people who speak Spanish. This is widespread throughout Miami, but most common in predominantly Cuban areas i.e 8th street, Westchester, Hialeah.

Other wealthier areas flaunt a more Iberian Spanish accent. Coral Gables being a prime example. Also common in wealthier areas is the ever romantic cosmo-Argentinean accent, where males have high pitched, sensitive voices and females seem to slur or drag out the letter "s."

Downtown Homestead is the only little Mexico I know of. There arent too many Mexicans in Miami Dade it seems. Oh yea, I forgot, there are over 100,000 construction workers who are the real muscle in Miami's construction boom. They are mostly of Central American descent, and I don't know what it sounds like. I would have to imagine it is similar to Southern Mexican dialects.

[kevinkagy]

FYI, Miami-Dade is 61% Hispanics not 67% according to the 2006 U.S. Census estimates. But the Spanish-speaking population is very diverse from all over Latin America, the Caribbean and Spain.

[Neutre]

Thanks a lot for your answers so far!!

Originally Posted by MiamiVice1985

Cuban Spanish is the most common, as Cubans are the vast majority of people who speak Spanish. This is widespread throughout Miami, but most common in predominantly Cuban areas i.e 8th street, Westchester, Hialeah.

Other wealthier areas flaunt a more Iberian Spanish accent. Coral Gables being a prime example. Also common in wealthier areas is the ever romantic cosmo-Argentinean accent, where males have high pitched, sensitive voices and females seem to slur or drag out the letter "s."

Downtown Homestead is the only little Mexico I know of. There arent too many Mexicans in Miami Dade it seems. Oh yea, I forgot, there are over 100,000 construction workers who are the real muscle in Miami's construction boom. They are mostly of Central American descent, and I don't know what it sounds like. I would have to imagine it is similar to Southern Mexican dialects.

I think one of the easiest way of differentiating the accents are the way they say "español"

Many Spanish speakers say "ehpanyol".

In fact, only Northern Spaniards, most Mexicans, and most Costa Ricans consistently say "esspanyol".


Central American accents are also easily distinguishable from the Mexican.
Most of them, except Costa Ricans, aspirate their S's. So they'd say "ehpanyol".
The Central Americans also usually use vos instead of tú, or mixing up both (like saying vos entiendes or tú entendés). Although most Panamanians would use tú.

[Chelito23]

Miami Vice hit the nail on the head.

Also to note, the Miami Spanglish isn't even real spanish, it is heavily influenced by English...with many Cuban and Caribbean terms americanized. It isn't what is spoken in Cuba, but it isn't what you would find anywhere else. Many of the Hispanics here are second and third generation offspring of immigrants. Therefore, their English is stronger, and their Spanish is weak.

It really is a linguistic melting pot, but I would say the Cuban influence wins hands down.