Caribbean Spanish (, ) is the general name of the Spanish dialects spoken in the Caribbean region. The Spanish language was introduced to the Caribbean in 1492 with the voyages of Christopher Columbus. It resembles the Spanish spoken in the Canary Islands, and, more distantly, the Spanish of western Andalusia. More precisely, the term in its strictest sense however refers to the Spanish language as it is spoken on the Caribbean island nations of Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico. In a much looser sense, it can also include the Caribbean coasts of Panama, Colombia, and Venezuela, and on the widest application of the phrase, it includes the Caribbean coastal regions of Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. Phonology Seseo, where and merge to , as in the rest of the Americas, in the Canary Islands and in southern Spain. Yeísmo, where and merge to , as in many other Spanish dialects. is debuccalized to at the end of syllables, as is common in the southern half of Spain, the Canaries and much of Spanish America: los amigos ('the friends'), dos ('two'). It may also be elided entirely. Syllable-final is always or mostly pronounced in formal speech, like TV broadcasts. Syllable-initial is also sporadically debuccalized, although this process is documented only in certain areas, such as parts of Puerto Rico: cinco centavos , la semana pasada . As a reaction to the stigmatization of s-debuccalization and elision, hypercorrections are frequent. For example, speakers may say for '14 years'. These hypercorrections are called 'speaking finely', with an extra, hypercorrect 's'. pronounced , as is common in Andalusia, the Canary islands and various parts of South America. lenition of to mucho→, as in part of Andalusia or in Chile. Word-final is realized as a velar nasal (velarization). It can be elided, with backwards nasalization of the preceding vowel: →; as in part of Andalusia. Deletion of intervocalic and word final , as in many Spanish dialects: cansado ('tired'), nada → ('nothing'), and perdido ('lost'), mitad → Syllable final 'r' has a variety of realisations: lambdacism → porque → deletion of hablar → assimilation to following consonant, causing gemination. carne →, →. Most notable of Spanish spoken in and around Havana. is a common realization in the middle and upper classes in Puerto Rico under the influence of English. vocalization of to hacer → in the Cibao region of the