Pronunciation – General Travel Questions Dominican Republic – Debbie's Carribean Reviews Forums

I guess if we are goint to Punta Cana I should know the correct pronunciation of Cana. Is it pronounced like Can or Con? ;D :-[

OK, so you people looking at this don’t know either or you just want me to feel stupid.

Thank you. I was asking because I say it like can and my TA pronounces it as con.

In Spanish, it is pronounced Pun – ta Con – a.

Punta Cana is not pronounced with a short english ‘a’ sound as in ‘can’ or ‘Canada’. The correct pronunciation is like an ‘ah’ sound in english, somewhat similar to the ‘o’ in ‘con’. This is the typical spanish ‘a’ sound.

Kind of like

Poonta Cahna

Gregg

… Is it pronounced like Can or Con? ;D :-[

Neither.
The first ‘a’ in ‘cana’ is a looooong ‘a’, similar to the ‘a’ in ‘car’.

As long as you don’t call the country ‘the Dominican’ I am easy…

m’frog

The a in the Spanish language is a long vowel sound. I’m Hispanic, I speak Spanish. The “can” in punta cana is closer to con. It’s like the last name of actor James Caan, or like historical figure Kublai Khan. And don’t pronounce the Punta like punt (kicking a ball in American football) it’s like poonta.

Ok, just to continue with the Spanish lesson, how does one pronounce mammajuana?

After reading so many entertaining stories about its effects, I’m thinking it must be pronounced “Mamma, Ya Wanna?”

Take the ‘Ya’ out, and you’ve got it …

And your Mamma will wanna!! grin

Thank you everyone for the correct pronunciation of Punta Cana. This has been fun. I also wanted to know about mammajuana. I have another, what about Soana ?? Is it So-Ana like Ann?? Not that I am going there, just would like to know. Can anyone think of another words?

mama wanna

To pronounce it properly you have to first spell it properly

Saona – sa ohna (long o, like Oh Canada) – assuming you mean the island off the southeast coast.

Gregg

And your Mamma will wanna!! grin

and poppa canta … 😮

Sorry about that spelling, I was fixing supper and relized that I did post that wrong.

… how does one pronounce mammajuana?

‘mamajuana’ = [mama] [xuana]

x stands for the similar pronounced ch as in the Scottish word ‘loch’
e.g.: ‘jugar’ (to play) = chugar

Well, mas ó menos …

m’frog

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