this pattern can be heard in the Puerto Rican pronunciation for the wide-spread use of the English word man which sound like "meyng". Shortening of words Puerto Ricans also often shorten words by eliminating whole syllables. Examples are the words para, madre, and padre ("for", "mother", and "father"): Puerto Ricans may pronounce para as , madre as , and padre as . You will also hear the words comadre and compadre (female and male friend, respectively) pronounced and spelled as comay and compay. Another extremely commonly spoken, sung and written expression is pa' tí for para tí, meaning "for you" in familiar or intimate speech. Effects of Spanish-English contact and bilingualism During the Spanish–American War and the early colonial period, English was imposed on island residents. English is currently an official governmental language on the island, but rates of bilingualism in Puerto Rico (with varying degrees of proficiency in English) are modest. Given the sustained contact between Spanish and English in Puerto Rico and on the mainland, bilingual Puerto Ricans may exhibit contact phenomena (code-switching, borrowing, etc.) in both their Spanish and English. Puerto Ricans descended from the large number of migrants who left the island throughout the 20th century can be found in numerous communities along the Eastern coast of the United States. In addition to major metropolitan areas such as New York, many Puerto Ricans also went to areas such as Connecticut, Chicago, Delaware, New Jersey, Florida, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, California, and Hawaii. Because of their high-rates of military enlistment, Puerto Rican communities are also found in other areas across the U.S. near military installations. The accent of Spanish-speaking Puerto Ricans living in mainland U.S. may be influenced by their predominantly English-speaking surroundings. Speakers maintain features of Puerto Rican Spanish, and their accents can also show influences of the area of the United States where they grew up. As "native bilinguals", their Spanish may include phonological features of the variety of American English that they speak (see discussion of /r/ above). See also Spanish dialects and varieties List of Puerto Rican slang words and phrases References Further reading General Etymology The Spanish of the Canary Islands. In, "Readings for Spanish 514." John Lipski, Ph.D. Department of Spanish, Italian and Portuguese. The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, United States. Accessed 15 November 2018. Phonology and Phonetics External links Academia Puertorriqueña de la Lengua Española Tesoro lexicográfico del