Spanglish
Spanglish (a portmanteau of the words "Spanish" and "English") is any language variety (such as a contact dialect, hybrid language, pidgin, or creole language) that results from conversationally combining Spanish and English. The term is mostly used in the United States and refers to a blend of the words and grammar of the two languages. More narrowly, Spanglish can specifically mean a variety of Spanish with heavy use of English loanwords.[2]
For other uses, see Spanglish (disambiguation).
Since different Spanglish arises independently in different regions of varying degrees of bilingualism, it reflects the locally spoken varieties of English and Spanish. Different forms of Spanglish are not necessarily mutually intelligible.
The term Spanglish was first recorded in 1933.[3] It corresponds to the Spanish terms Espanglish (from Español + English, introduced by the Puerto Rican poet Salvador Tió in the late 1940s), Ingléspañol (from Inglés + Español), and Inglañol (Inglés + Español).[4]
There is no single, universal definition of Spanglish. The term Spanglish has been used in reference to the following phenomena, all of which are distinct from each other:[5]
History and distribution[edit]
In the late 1940s, the Puerto Rican journalist, poet, and essayist Salvador Tió coined the terms Espanglish for Spanish spoken with some English terms, and the less commonly used Inglañol for English spoken with some Spanish terms.
After Puerto Rico became a United States territory in 1898, Spanglish became progressively more common there as the United States Army and the early colonial administration tried to impose the English language on island residents. Between 1902 and 1948, the main language of instruction in public schools (used for all subjects except for Spanish class) was English. Currently Puerto Rico is nearly unique in having both English and Spanish as its official languages[6] (see also New Mexico). Consequently, many American English words are now found in the vocabulary of Puerto Rican Spanish. Spanglish may also be known by different regional names.
Spanglish does not have one unified dialect—specifically, the varieties of Spanglish spoken in New York, Florida, Texas, and California differ. Monolingual speakers of standard Spanish may have difficulty in understanding it.[7]
It is common in Panama, where the 96-year (1903–1999) U.S. control of the Panama Canal influenced much of local society, especially among the former residents of the Panama Canal Zone, the Zonians.
Many Puerto Ricans living on the island of St. Croix speak in informal situations a unique Spanglish-like combination of Puerto Rican Spanish and the local Crucian dialect of Virgin Islands Creole English, which is very different from the Spanglish spoken elsewhere. A similar situation exists in the large Puerto Rican-descended populations of New York City and Boston.
Spanglish is spoken commonly in the modern United States, reflecting the growth of the Hispanic-American population due to immigration. According to the Pew Research Center, the population of Hispanics grew from 35.3 million to 62.1 million between 2000 and 2020.[8] Hispanics have become the largest minority ethnic group in the US. More than 60% are of Mexican descent. Mexican Americans form one of the fastest-growing groups, increasing from 20.9 million to 37.2 million between 2000 and 2021.[9] Around 58% of this community chose California, especially Southern California, as their new home. Spanglish is widely used throughout the heavily Mexican-American and other Hispanic communities of Southern California.[10]
The use of Spanglish has become important to Hispanic communities throughout the United States in areas such as Miami, New York City, Texas, and California. In Miami, the Afro-Cuban community makes use of a Spanglish familiarly known as "Cubonics," a portmanteau of the words Cuban and Ebonics, a slang term for African American Vernacular English that is itself a portmanteau of Ebony and phonics."[10]
Many Mexican-Americans (Chicanos), immigrants and bilinguals express themselves in various forms of Spanglish. For many, Spanglish serves as a basis for self-identity, but others believe that it should not exist.[11]
Spanglish is difficult, because if the speaker learned the two languages in separate contexts, they use the conditioned system, in which the referential meanings in the two languages differ considerably. Those who were literate in their first language before learning the other, and who have support to maintain that literacy, are sometimes those least able to master their second language. Spanglish is part of receptive bilingualism. Receptive bilinguals are those who understand a second language but don't speak it. That is when they use Spanglish. Receptive bilinguals are also known as productively bilingual, since, to give an answer, the speaker exerts much more mental effort to answer in English, Spanish, or Spanglish.[12] Without first understanding the culture and history of the region where Spanglish evolved as a practical matter an in depth familiarizing with multiple cultures. This knowledge, indeed the mere fact of one's having that knowledge, often forms an important part of both what one considers one's personal identity and what others consider one's identity.[13]
Other places where similar mixed codes are spoken are Gibraltar (Llanito), Belize (Kitchen Spanish), Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao (along with Dutch and Papiamento).
Spanglish is also spoken among the Spanish-speaking community in Australia. It is common to hear expressions among Spanish-speaking minorities in cities like Sydney and Melbourne, like: vivo en un flat pequeño; voy a correr con mis runners; la librería de la city es grande, or words such as el rubbish bin, la vacuum cleaner, el tram, el toilet or el mobile. The same situation happens within the Spanish-speaking community of New Zealand.[14][15]
Usage[edit]
Spanglish patterns[edit]
Spanglish is informal, although speakers can consistently judge the grammaticality of a phrase or sentence. From a linguistic point of view, Spanglish often is mistakenly labeled many things. Spanglish is not a creole or dialect of Spanish because, though people claim they are native Spanglish speakers, Spanglish itself is not a language on its own, but speakers speak English or Spanish with a heavy influence from the other language. The definition of Spanglish has been unclearly explained by scholars and linguists despite being noted so often. Spanglish is the fluid exchange of language between English and Spanish, present in the heavy influence in the words and phrases used by the speaker.[16]
Spanglish is currently considered a hybrid language practice by linguists–many actually refer to Spanglish as "Spanish-English code-switching", though there is some influence of borrowing, and lexical and grammatical shifts as well.[17]
The inception of Spanglish is due to the influx of native Spanish speaking Latin American people into North America, specifically the United States of America.[18] As mentioned previously, the phenomenon of Spanglish can be separated into two different categories: code-switching, and borrowing, lexical and grammatical shifts.[19] Code-switching has sparked controversy because it is seen "as a corruption of Spanish and English, a 'linguistic pollution' or 'the language of a "raced", underclass people'".[20] For example, a fluent bilingual speaker addressing another bilingual speaker might engage in code-switching with the sentence, "I'm sorry I cannot attend next week's meeting porque tengo una obligación de negocios en Boston, pero espero que I'll be back for the meeting the week after"—which means, "I'm sorry I cannot attend next week's meeting because I have a business obligation in Boston, but I hope to be back for the meeting the week after".
Calques[edit]
Calques are translations of entire words or phrases from one language into another. They represent the simplest forms of Spanglish, as they undergo no lexical or grammatical structural change.[21] The use of calques is common throughout most languages, evident in the calques of Arabic exclamations used in Spanish.[22]
Examples:
Pedagogical approaches to Spanglish[edit]
Colonial roots are present in English education and are manifested through hegemonic language practices that discourage and harm students of color. The promotion of Spanglish is suggested as a restorative pedagogy that acknowledges linguistic racism and promotes the use of code-switching. However, the U.S. education system has historically excluded and punished practices of code-switching between languages in English language arts (ELA), therefore, upholding white supremacy and notions of linguistic hierarchy.[2] Furthermore, the education system in the U.S. has sustained colonialist practices through the rhetoric of an ‘academic language’. The term ‘academic language’ frames and minoritizes the Spanglish-speaking, bilingual students of America. Through teaching in a monolinguistic manner, ELA is given precedence to and places native languages or the use of bilingualism as secondary to English. This allows English to be reinforced as an 'academic language,' granting white people an advantage in reaching academic success and disassociating bilingual speakers from whiteness and, therefore, 'academic language'.[4] A study done on Latin American middle schoolers in East Los Angeles highlights different ways in which bilingual students utilize Spanglish to advance academic literacy. Martinez’s list of skills students exhibited when using Spanglish in educational settings include:
(1) clarify and/or reiterate utterances
(2) quote and report speech
(3) joke and/or tease
(4) index solidarity and intimacy
(5) shift voices for different audiences
(6) communicate subtle nuances of meaning.
In turn, the skills used when speaking Spanglish can be applied as a method in academic settings as well. [6]
Identity[edit]
The use of Spanglish is often associated with the speaker's expression of identity (in terms of language learning) and reflects how many minority-American cultures feel toward their heritage. Commonly in ethnic communities within the United States, the knowledge of one's heritage language tends to assumably signify if one is truly of a member of their culture. Just as Spanish helps individuals identify with their Spanish identity, Spanglish is slowly becoming the realization of the Hispanic-American, especially Mexican-American, identity within the United States. Individuals of Hispanic descent living in America face living in two very different worlds and need a new sense of bi-cultural and bilingual identity of their own experience. Spanglish is used to facilitate communication with others in both worlds. While some individuals believe that Spanglish should not be considered a language, it is a language that has evolved and is continuing to grow and affect the way new generations are educated, culture change, and the production of media.[41] Living within the United States creates a synergy of culture and struggles for many Mexican-Americans. The hope to retain their cultural heritage/language and their dual-identity in American society is one of the major factors that lead to the creation of Spanglish.[42]
Intergenerational Spanglish[edit]
Immigrant youth in the United States have become prevalent social actors to sociologists because of their role as moderators and translators in their homes and the community. Orellana centers the ethnographic study around youth who have worked as translators in different spheres of societal issues for their communities. It showcases the division of labor passed onto members of the immigrant population and the navigational skills obtained by those obliged to utilize their bilingualism and Spanglish as a means of survival.[43] Intergenerational skills like Spanglish can then be used as a ‘Fund of Knowledge’ to promote literacy in the classroom. ‘Funds of Knowledge’ encourages the use of Spanglish an other languages between familial relations in the classroom to bridge the skills used at home and welcome them to a classroom. This allows the development of Spanglish skills passed between generations to be viewed as equally valuable at home and in academia. It dismantles the idea that specific languages need to be segregated from the educational realm of society. [44]