Historia y Hablantes

Spanglish, a hybrid form of Spanish and English, is a primarily spoken language found not only across the United States, but even in predominantly Spanish-speaking countries such as Mexico, Argentina, and Cuba. This phenomenon may be attributed to the spread of English across the globe, but anglophiles must not forget the equally important contributions of Spanish. According to Ed Morales, a Spanglish-speaking anthropologist, Spanglish has origins as far back as 1848 (33). While Spanglish evolves today primarily by way of Spanish speakers adopting English words and structures, in 1848 the process was much the opposite. Morales cites the U.S. acquisition of Texas, California, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico as an introduction of Spanish into the English language, bringing “Western” words such as “bronco, buckaroo, burro, mesa, canyon, rodeo, corral and lariat.” According to Morales, “every John Wayne movie you’ve ever seen is in Spanglish” (34).

            Spanglish, like any language, has evolved greatly since its origins. The flow of Latino immigrants into the U.S. in conjunction with the spread of English into Latin America has created one great mezcla – a mix. Who speaks Spanglish today? Lourdes Torres, a Spanglish scholar, claims that Spanglish is only accessible to bilinguals (333). A speaker who is not fully bilingual may employ some elements of the language, but his or her speech will lack the grammatical features of “true” Spanglish.

            Latino youth in the United States form a major Spanglish-speaking population. Many have grown up speaking Spanish in their homes and English in schools, and thus have full access both languages. In an NPR interview conducted by Malaika Gordon in 2002, Spanglish-speaking teenagers use the language as a “practical, functional and expressive way to make a point.”  “I guess it’s some reflex…it’s something that is done subconsciously,” says a 17-year-old Latino interviewed in the report. Gordon also interviews Spanglish scholar Ilan Stavans, who theorizes that like all languages, Spanglish is “born out of necessity” and emerges from the need to “combine two worlds.” 

 Listen to Spanglish samples in Malaika Gordon’s interview: http://www.npr.org/about/nextgen/prc02/participants.html (click the first link on the right which says “Listen”)

           Thus, Spanglish appears to have evolved to fill a need for bilingual Latinos. While some, such as the teenagers interviewed by Gordon, use Spanglish unconsciously, others employ the language as a method of affirming their identity (Latinidad, according to author Susana Chávez-Silverman). While Spanglish may affirm a shared notion of identity, it does not exist in one standard form. In the next post I’ll discuss some of the varieties of Spanglish found in the U.S. 

Chávez-Silverman, Susana. Killer Crónicas. University of Wisconon Press, 2002.

 Gordon, Malaika. Fresh Air. NPR. Washington, D.C. 12 May 2008.

 Morales, Ed. Living in Spanglish: The Search for Latino Identity in America. New York: St Martin's Press, 2002. 

 Torres, Lourdes.  "Don Quixote in Spanglish: Traducttore, traditore?". Romance Quarterly: 52.4 ( 2005 Fall), pp. 328-34.