by Daniel Cubias
One of the best movies of last year was the Coen Brothers remake of True Grit. Among the film’s many charms is the archaic, bizarrely formal speech of the characters. I have no idea if real people of the era said things like, “You give out very little sugar with your pronouncements” and “I do not entertain hypotheticals.” But it’s cool to imagine that they did.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUiCu-zuAgM]
Of course, Americans don’t speak like that anymore. A century later, in fact, we’re considered articulate if we keep it down to three uses of “you know” and a pair of double negatives per conversation.
It’s no wonder that the characters in True Grit sound almost foreign to us. After all, English is a constantly evolving beast, and each passing year twists and shifts the language in surprising new ways.
Nowhere is this more evident than in the rise of Spanglish. The intermingling of English and Spanish has been going on for decades, but it has accelerated as the Latino population has grown.
I first became aware of Spanglish as a kid, when my mother (who is fluent in both languages) expressed her frustration at running late by exclaiming, “No tengo mi car keys!”
No doubt you’ve heard similar half-and-half constructions, like “Compramos en el shopping mall” or “I have to pick up mis hijos.”
But such mixed phrases are only part of Spanglish’s ascension. Where the hybrid really shows its strength is in the formation of new words.
In some places, “signear” has replaced “firmar” for the verb “to sign.” “Marketa” is used for “market,” rather than the Spanish “mercado.” And I recently heard someone here in Los Angeles refer to going out for “lonche,” a new term for the midday meal.
Similarly, we see the Spanish suffix “ando” taking over for “ing” in some English participle forms. That’s how we get “smokiando” and “partyando” and “Facebookando” (you can thank the Being Latino team for that last one).
Some will say that this trend is exaggerated, and that there is no metamorphosis taking place. Well, keep in mind that the novelist H.G. Wells, who was uncanny in his ability to foresee the future, predicted that sometime in the twenty-first century, English and Spanish would “become interchangeable languages.”
English will change, regardless of our standards, preferences, or actual speech patterns. If we are fated to sound like weirdoes to future generations (and that is an inevitability), then we could do a lot worse than have Spanglish be a strong factor in that evolution.
Yes, one has to wonder if True Grit’s Rooster Cogburn would be perplexed at this latest development in American culture. Perhaps the grizzled sheriff would quote himself: “Not only do you continue to talk, but you spill the banks of English.”
Whatever that means.
To learn more about Daniel, visit Hispanic Fanatic.
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Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those
of the author and should not be understood to be shared by Being Latino, Inc.
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About Daniel Cubias
I also think it’s funny how even in Latin America, English words have become slang. For example, ‘mi pana’ came from the English word ‘partner’ or you often hear ‘brode’ (Brother). I was watching a soccer match in Spanish the other day and the commentator said something like “y le dio una patada con el timing perfecto.” LOL
It is important to note the difference between Code Switching (the half and half construction) which is responsible for phrases such as “me gusta tu look hoy” and “Good evening a todos” which show more a command of both languages in the spectrum of bilingual fluency and true spanglish such as “vivaporu, poloche, gabiche, knokqiao, etc (Vix Vapor Rub, Polo Shirt (any collard shirt), Garbage, and Knocked out (sleeping). The latter is much more prevalent where people do not have a command of both languages but rather in essence believe it to be a regular acceptable word. This has been happening on the Engliish side for ages with many languages not just Spanish. (one just has to conduct a Google search for Spanish loan words and will be returned with some favorites such as Alligator (from el lagarto), barbecue (barbacoa), and Savvy (sabe). Great article.
I think keeping both languages separate is great; especially when in a business setting. But it also depends on what kind of business you run. Adding “kiando” to Spanish words because you don’t know the real translation can make you look less intelligent. The mix of languages is something people are studying and who knows what’s going to happen in 20 years. I say if we can all make sense of it then why not
Super fantástico!
The times they-are-a-changing! The study of how language evolves is quite interesting; I’d love to see studies on this, and how it reflects on societal changes.
I think it is important to embrace both languages; and I think more people need to make an attempt to learn one as a second language. Hispanics and other immigrants are certainly changing the landscape, and I think more white people (I’m a gringa) need to embrace this fact, in an effort to take advantage of the powerful contributions they give to society.