4/28/08
Spanglish
Spanglish has become popular in Hispanic communities, especially Chicano cutlure. Because we're exposed to two different yet similar languages on a daily basis, it becomes habit to interchange words when we see fit. How many times have you been trying to describe something while speaking in English and can't think of the word, but it pops into your head in Spanish? It doesn't even have to be something that escapes your mind, a lot of people switch back and forth between languages in the middle of sentences:
Hey buey, bring me that chingadera cuz I need it para quitar esto so it works better.
If you really think about it, some things are easier and shorter to say in a certain language so you subconsciously switch off to take advantage. How much easier and quicker is it to say 'chingadera' than to think of the name of an item or describe it as "long square thing"? This is just a simple example, and there are other reasons Spanglish is used often.
The biggest form of Spanglish - in my opinion - is the use of of 'modified' English words as Spanish. You hear them every day, and probably don't even realize they're not really Spanish words:
- lonche - Lunch - Spanish is almuerzo
- carpeta - Carpet - Spanish is alfombra
- carro - Car - Spanish is coche
- parquear - to park - Spanish is estaceonar
- rentar - to rent - Spanish is alquilar
- yonque - Junk - Spanish is desguace
- chequear - to check - Spanish is comprobar
- computadora - Computer - Spanish is ordenadora
- troca - truck - Spanish is camion
I did some research on this, and I was surprised that "computadora originally wasn't a Spanish word. It was 'officially" accepted as standard Spanish. "Chequear" is straight up Spanglish, but I read that it has also been officially accepted as standard Spanish.
I've seen 'experts' on Language and other bullshitters on TV denoting Spanglish and how it should be 'stopped'. How the hell do you stop it, and what is it to you? Language is just a form of expression between two or more people, why should I say "almuerzo" instead of "lonche" if the other person knows what the hell I'm talking about? I see their point, that there's people that are not fluent in either language and end up butchering both. But to say it should be completely stopped is pretty stupid.
Especially with technology, the English terms become popular first and Spanish equivalents have to follow. E-mail, plasma TV, HD, internet, internet cafe... I know the Spanish terms for these things but why bother when the 'name' has already been established? More people are going to know what the heck you're talking about if you say "i-meil" instead of "correo electronico". What kind of square-ass uses "correo electronico" anyway?
Well the point is that Spanglish should be recognized for what it is, and it's actually pretty interesting. Even Jorge Ramos from Univision dedicated a chapter to Spanglish in The Other Face of America, where he said it's a testament of the fusion of two cultures. Some people say it's the new ebonics, but I feel there's reason behind Spanglish instead of it just being trendy. | Post a Comment