Puerto Rico 1

Listen to Puerto Rico 1, a 90-year-old man from Old San Juan, Puerto Rico. Click or tap the triangle-shaped play button to hear the subject.

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BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

AGE: 90

DATE OF BIRTH (DD/MM/YYYY): 1921

PLACE OF BIRTH: Old San Juan, Puerto Rico

GENDER: male

ETHNICITY: Puerto Rican (exact ethnicity unknown)

OCCUPATION: scholar, cultural anthropologist, archeologist, author

EDUCATION: Ph.D. Harvard, M.A. University of Chicago, B.S. University of Puerto Rico

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

The subject lived in Chicago for three and a half years while attending the University of Chicago, then returned to Old San Juan for five years before living in Cambridge, Massachusetts, for four years while earning a doctorate from Harvard. Then, in 1960, he returned to Old San Juan, where he has lived for 50 years.

OTHER INFLUENCES ON SPEECH:

The subject received education in Chicago, Illinois, and in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

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

RECORDED BY: David Nevell

DATE OF RECORDING (DD/MM/YYYY): 21/01/2011

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, the problem here, from the cultural point of view, is the fact that Puerto Rico is a nation; it is a nation that was invaded by the United State forces, military forces in 1898, and since that moment we are a colony of the United States. The United State avoids the word colony; they call it territories, but as I told once to President Clinton, if you look about that word territory you’ll find it in the constitution of the United States written in the 18th century, and there it says that Congress could dispose of the territory, in singular, because at that time there was an Indian territory in the United States. That’s why the island is divided in three political groups: those who want total independence from the United States, those who want an association but a legal association not as a territory so by way of treaties with the United States, and those who want annexation as a state of [unclear], but we are divided. And, of course, in that debate the question of language is very important because many of us claim that under statehood we’re going to lose our vernacular.  As we most Puerto Ricans try to pronounce, uh, instead of the R, L, and say “Puerto Rico,” but that’s nothing bad.

TRANSCRIBED BY: Matthew Evanoff (under supervision of David Nevell)

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): 21/01/2011

PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION OF UNSCRIPTED SPEECH: 

weɭ d̪iˑ pɻɔɭem ħiɹ | fɹɔn d̪iˑ kɒʊʃəɹʌɭ pɔin tɔbju | is ð̪iˑ fækð̪at̚ pʷɔtoɹiko is ʌ neːʃn | is ʌ neːʃn d̪a wɔsiŋbeˑdəd ba̜i ð̪iˑ juna̜itəʔ steːt fɔɹses | miɭitaɹiˑ fɔɹses in ɛitiːnaindiː eːt̚ | an sins ð̪aʔ mõmenʔ wi ɑɹ ʌ kolɔnɒð̪i juna̜iθ̪əʔsteːt̚ ‖ ð̪iˑ juna̜iteʔ steː taboid̥ s ð̪i wɔɹd̥ kɔlɔn | ð̪e: koɭiʔ teɹiˑtoɹiː | bɒteː asa̜ i tɔɭ wans tu pɹesidẽnʔ kɭintɒ̃n | if ju lʊkabɑʊ ð̪aʔ wɔɹd teɹitoɹiː juɭ faind it in ð̪i kõntituʃɔn ɔv ð̪i juna̜ itəd steːt ɹitən in ð̪i eːtin senʃəɹi | anð̪eɹiʔses ð̪a kɒ̃ŋəgɹes kʊd̥ dispʰoz̥ ɔbð̪i teɹito̪ɹi siŋuɭaɹ | bikɔz̥ að̪a ta̜im ð̪eɹ was ãn indian teɹitɔɹiʲin ð̪i juna̜ itəd̥ steˑts ‖ ð̪as wa̜i ð̪iʲaiɭan is d̪iba̜ idəʔ din θ̪ɹi poɭitikaɭ gɹups | ð̪oz̥ ħu wãns totaɭindiːpẽndent̚ fɹam ð̪juna̜ited̥ steːts | ð̪oz̥ ħu wans anʌsosiʲeːʃɒ̃n bɒd̥e ɭiːgaɭ ʌsosiʲeːʃənɔ taz̥ ʌ teɻiˑtoɹiˑ so ba̜i weˑ tɾiˑtiˑs wið̪i juna̜ itədsteːt | and̪oz̥ eː ħu wanʔ anekˈseːʃɒ̃n as a steːt ɔvð̪ijuˑnjən | d̪as wɔʔ wiˑ ɑɻ d̪iba̜id̪ed ‖ ãn ɔkoɹs in ð̪ad̪ibeːt̪ʰ ð̪i kweʃɒ̃n ɒb lãŋwid̥͡ʒ̥ is v̥eɹiʲimpɔɹtãnʔ bikɔs meni ɔv̥ɒs kɭeˑmð̪atɒ̃ndɚ steˑthʊd̪ wi ɑɹ goʷiŋ tu luˑs ɑʊ benækjuɭaɹ ‖ as wi mos pʷɔtoɾikãns tɹa̜ i tu pɹənans eʲinstetɒb̥ ð̪i ɑɹ | eɭ | anseː pʷɔiɭtoɹiko | bɒʔ ð̪as nɒsĩŋ b̥ad̪ ̚ ‖

TRANSCRIBED BY: Linda Nicholls-Gidley

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): 19/04/2015

SCHOLARLY COMMENTARY: N/A

COMMENTARY BY: N/A

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

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