Thanks to its diverse history, Latin American culture and language is a mix of many influences from nearly everywhere in the world. One element in this mix is especially important in Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and Cuba; African culture. Because so many slaves were brought to the Caribbean to work on sugar plantations, African culture became a part of Caribbean language and culture that exists to this day. In some areas, African languages even mixed with Spanish, French and Portuguese to form “creoles,” or languages that are a mix of two or more original languages (for example, Haitian creole, which is a mix of African influences and French).
Source: searchdominica.com
African culture is still visible in the Caribbean today. Santería, for example, is a religion that formed from a combination of catholicism and African religions. Slaves re-named their gods with the names of Christian saints so they could continue to worship, even in slavery, and combined their religious practices from home with the Catholic rituals of the Spanish. African drumming also influenced music in the islands, and many styles of Latin music have African names. And lastly, African food impacted Caribbean cuisine, especially dishes with African staple foods such as plantains and yams.
Below is a list of some words in Spanish that come from African languages, all of which are still used in Latin American Spanish (and even in U.S. English!) today:
Música:
- bachata, conga, mambo, rumba (all styles of music and dance)
- bongo (a type of drum)
- marimba (an instrument similar to a xylophone)
Comida/Food:
- fufú (a dish typical of Western Africa, made from boiled and mashed plantains)
- guarapo (sweet sugar cane juice)
- mofongo (fried plantain)
- mangú (a Dominican dish similar to fufú)
- mondongo (tripe soup typical of la República Dominicana)
- mabí (a tree-bark drink; a soda of a similar name also exists: Mauby Fizzz)
- ñame (yam)
- banana
For more information about dominican cooking, as well as some recipes, click here
