The use of Spanglish

[Lesley D]

After browsing through the language section of a new and used bookstore this summer I came across a book titled Spanglish by Ilan Stavans which I recall seeing in other bookstores but at the time I was not interested in reading it. However, this time around at the sale price of $4.99 I felt I had nothing to lose if the content or material presented was not up to the standard of a good linguistic reference.

Spanglish and its continuous usage among Spanish speakers represent a linguistic phenomenon that continues to penetrate the Spanish language on three levels: lexicology (vocabulary), syntax (sentence structure) and grammar. The author discusses this linguistic tendency with much relevance and echoes many points about Spanglish that I have outlined in this thread and others. His observations and opinion are not only interesting but also succinct.

Ilan Stavans' focus is the usage of Spanglish spoken in various parts of the USA with a high Hispanic concentration with his first observations and interest in compiling data stemming from hearing Spanglish spoken by various ethno linguistic groups in NYC i.e. Dominicans, Puerto Ricans, Mexicans etc. He compiled a dictionary of Spanglish words which is included in this reference.

As the author details his observations and theories about Spanglish there's also a direct correlation to sociolinguistics, which analyzes the relationship between language and society. The author clearly identifies that Spanglish is typically common among a particular social group; usually immigrants of a lower income, a specific age group and limited education are the main characteristics of Spanglish speakers. However, other Spanish speakers with typically good vocabulary, higher education and of a different social class have adopted the usage of Spanglish too but for different reasons.

Spanglish as it is spoken currently mainly involves borrowed words from English i.e. verbs, nouns, and expressions that are hispanicized combined with code switching (as I explained in my post above using both languages in the same phrase). The author also observed that Spanglish is regional in the USA. Each ethno linguistic group has its own Spanglish and not easily understood by other Spanglish speakers from a different ethno linguistic group or regions of the country.

The author makes a good point that this phenomenon is not new. For example language mixing or 'el mestizaje como dice el autor' specific to Latin America really goes back to colonization when Spanish came into contact with other languages such Mayan, Quechua and Guaraní just to name a few. Out from the mixing of the above-mentioned languages americanismos were formed. In my opinion the difference and importance today lie in the languages that are being mixed and how widespread they are. One cannot compare the mixing of a Lingua Franca (English) to Spanish a language with 400 million+ speakers. Needless to say the impact is crucial.

Will Spanglish some day be an official language? The author's point of view IMO is not well established but Ilan makes a few good points that I do agree with: 'its origins respond to the needs of the population that uses it' (pg.38). The author also states that 'Spanglish is often an intra-ethnic vehicle of communication, though only en los Unaited Esteists' (pg. 39). The other aspects to keep in mind are the opinions of purists, governing bodies etc. on both sides of spectrum meaning the Iberian Peninsula vs. Latin America.

One influential factor that will ensure its survival IMO is music. From a sociolinguistic aspect one reason why Spanglish is so widespread is because its usage is promoted via music mostly Latin rap, hip-hop, and reggaeton. This is an area where its usage goes unchallenged thus influencing its large % of youth listeners.

In summary based on the author's comments in this reference Spanglish can be defined as a type of slang at best more so than a language, however, this form of speech is definitely used by a wide number of speakers predominantly in the USA and elsewhere where the two languages have come into contact with each other. Some are in favor of its usage, some are completely opposed to it and see it as nothing but the destruction of a rich language from a lexical and syntactic point view and there are those who don't have an opinion at all.

Therefore when you come across words like: janguear, parquear, atachear, atachamen, armi, banquiar, enter, moni and the list goes on just remember it's all part of the vocabulary of this so-called language defined as Spanglish, casteyanqui, español bastardo, inglañol, argot sajón or whatever term you see fit.


-LDG.