Cuba 3

Listen to Cuba 3, a 73-year-old woman from Havana, Cuba, and the United States. Click or tap the triangle-shaped play button to hear the subject.

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BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

AGE: 73

DATE OF BIRTH (DD/MM/YYYY): 27/10/1936

PLACE OF BIRTH: Havana, Cuba

GENDER: female

ETHNICITY: Cuban (exact ethnicity unknown)

OCCUPATION: politician

EDUCATION: college

AREA(S) OF RESIDENCE OUTSIDE REPRESENTATIVE REGION FOR LONGER THAN SIX MONTHS:

The subject moved to the United States and attended school for two years before returning to Cuba.  After university (Cuba), the subject married a marine and traveled across the United States and has lived there since.

OTHER INFLUENCES ON SPEECH:

The subject attended bilingual schools throughout her education. She traveled the United States as a young woman.

The text used in our recordings of scripted speech can be found by clicking here.

RECORDED BY: Paul Meier

DATE OF RECORDING (DD/MM/YYYY): 15/03/2009

PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION OF SCRIPTED SPEECH: N/A

TRANSCRIBED BY: N/A

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): N/A

ORTHOGRAPHIC TRANSCRIPTION OF UNSCRIPTED SPEECH:

Well, I was born in Havana, Cuba in 1936 — October 27 — which, by the way, is the date that Cuba was discovered in 19…1492.  So that was a great day for everybody, including me, to be born.  I came to United States … through my whole youth … ah … first time I remember it was 1939 I was 3 years old and I loved the beach — I was in Miami Beach.  After that, we came and lived in United States when I was 5, turning 6, in 1942 and stayed here for two years, which I went to first and second grade, and that’s where I think I was able to learn how to pronounce in English.  I went back to Cuba.  Had a grandfather who adored United States and lived here in Philadelphia … had become American citizen and then joined the Rough Riders and went back to Cuba and decided really he did want to stay where he was born and became back a Cuban citizen but never lost a love for United States.  So at the table, every time we had lunch, which is a custom at that time in Cuba, the whole family got together, and he made sure that we spoke English around the table.  I always went to bilingual schools, including a bilingual university, St. Thomas of Ilanova [?].  And I thank my grandfather every day, because I was able to come to United States and live here fifty years ago, and be able to speak the language.  Before that I was married to an American — and he was a Marine — and we traveled to different places of United States.  But I ended going back to Cuba, during his, er, during our marriage a couple a times.  Until the end, er, when we were here and Fidel took over, and we were never able to go back and we got divorced, and, uh, I moved on, and have always remembered my love for United States, and my love for my country.  I have children that speak Spanish and English, and I have some grandchildren that speak Spanish and English and some are having a little bit of difficulty. But I really believe being bilingual has been a blessing that my family bestowed upon me.  [She then speaks the first paragraph of “Comma Gets a Cure,” which she translated into Spanish.]

TRANSCRIBED BY: Paul Meier

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): 15/03/2009

PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION OF UNSCRIPTED SPEECH: N/A

TRANSCRIBED BY: N/A

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): N/A

SCHOLARLY COMMENTARY:

As you hear, the subject’s English has very little Spanish accent. I hear some instances where she devoices some final and medial voiced consonants. She pronounces “Comma” using the Spanish vowel in the first syllable. Some NURSE words have a little Latin flavor. Her rhythm has something of the even, equal distribution of stress that characterizes some Spanish dialects.

COMMENTARY BY: Paul Meier

DATE OF COMMENTARY (DD/MM/YYYY): 15/03/2009

The archive provides:

• Recordings of accent/dialect speakers from the region you select.
• Text of the speakers’ biographical details.
• Scholarly commentary and analysis in some cases.
• In most cases, an orthographic transcription of the speakers’ unscripted speech.  In a small number of cases, you will also find a narrow phonetic transcription of the sample (see Phonetic Transcriptions for a complete list).  The recordings average four minutes in length and feature both the reading of one of two standard passages, and some unscripted speech. The two passages are Comma Gets a Cure (currently our standard passage) and The Rainbow Passage (used in our earliest recordings).

 

For instructional materials or coaching in the accents and dialects represented here, please go to Other Dialect Services.