Spanglish: The language para today y el futuro

Growth Strategies, May 2002

Spanglish is a hybrid of English and Spanish used by a growing number of Hispanic Ameicans. "Hasta soon." "Tiempo is money." It's way beyond slang. It's now legitimate, gente.

Spanglish is being legitimized by contemporary writers, radio personalities, musicians, even politicians (well, at least, relatives of politicians like George P. Bush, the President's nephew). Spanglish has few rules and many variations, but at its most vivid and exuberant, writes Lizette Alvarez in the New York Times, it is an effortless dance between the two languages. Phrases and sentences veer back and forth almost unconsciously as the speaker's intuition grabs the best expression from either language to sum up a thought. Sometimes entirely new words or phrases are coined.

Linguists call this mix of two languages "code-switching." Generally, there are two basic approaches to Spanglish, with countless variations: switching and borrowing.

Borrowing words from English and Spanishizing them is usually done for efficiency, since Spanish is famously multi-syllabic. Instead of saying estacionamiento for "parking," Spanglish speakers opt for parquir. Instead of escribir a maquina (to type), they say taipear. Another such word is los winshi-waiper for "windshield wipers" (in Spanish las limiaparafrisas).

Switching is for Spanish words that simply cannot be translated in a way that conveys their full cultural meaning, such as alma (more than "soul," it's passion, and spirit); respeto (not just "respect" but reverence, and devotion); and madre (not just "mom" but something higher, even spiritual).

The millions of Hispanics using the Internet, meanwhile, are a potent driving force behind the spread of Cyber-Spanglish: Web surfers use "el maus" to "Clickear" on icons; "chatear" with friends online; and "forwardear" interesting "imail." When they save a file, they make "el backup." And when their computer crashes, it's time to "resetear."

In his recent book, Living in Spanglish: The Search for Latino Identity in America, author Ed Morales broadens the term Spanglish beyond language to encompass a multicultural, multiethnic identity. Latino culture, Morales writes, foreshadows what the United States is becoming: a hybrid society in which it will become increasingly difficult to put people in simple categories.

Spanglish in Media and Advertising

To again quote from Lizette Alvarez, writing in the New York Times:

Latina magazine, a bilingual glossy in New York for young Hispanic women, peppers its stories and headlines with Spanglish. "When He Says Me Voy ... What Does He Really Mean?" one headline reads. ("Me voy" is "I'm leaving.") "Mi padre's infidelity. Are cuernos genetic?" another reads. ("Cuernos" are horns.)

In Miami, Generation N, another bilingual magazine, found an audience in part because of a regular humor column by Bill Cruz called Cubanamericanisms. Nothing more than a list of Webster-style definitions of Spanglish words, now dubbed Cubonics in Miami, it had Miami's Cuban community guffawing'over their own expressions.

The magazine printed 4,000 novelty books featuring excerpts from the column, and they sold faster than a maicroguey (microwave) can cook up a Weiguache (Weight Watchers) meal.

As for use of Spanglish in advertising, look no further than the US Army's recruitment campaign aimed at young Hispanics. The Army is spending $11.3 million on Spanish-language advertising (out of a total budget of $150 million), but simply speaking en espanol isn't enough. The Spanish-language slogan, Yo Soy el Army ("I Am the Army") eschews ejercito, the Spanish word for "army." Advertisers realize that's the way the majority of their target market speaks.

Consider some of these other uses, cited on About.com:

Dolores dice: Need advice? Escribeme. (On home page of Latina magazine)

Haz clic aqui. (Commonly seen on Spanishlanguage Web sites)

Llamenos para delivery. (Seen on advertising signs in Peru)

Se venden bloques. (Signs in Guatemala)

Tips para marketing. (Advertisement in Mexico)

The Future of Spanglish

As millions of first-, second-, and third-- generation Hispanic Americans take on more prominent roles in business, media and the arts, Spanglish will become more prominent, accepted and legitimate. According to Ilan Stavans, writing in The Chronicle of Higher Education, Spanglish isn't going away. Instead, as time goes by, it will solidify its status, becoming at least as accepted in the American English vernacular as Yiddish. The question is no longer, what is Spanglish, but where is it going?

We will answer that question by concluding with an excerpt from Jose Armas, writing in the Albuquerque Journal:

English here has continually appropriated Spanish words into its lexicon for almost 200 years. Some of the most common words include the idiom of the cowboy/vaquero. So ingrained are these Spanish words some Anglos would argue these are not Spanish words at all; words such as rodeo, hombre, coyote, corral, lasso.

The mestizaje of the language has also been occurring in Mexico for years; "OK, gracias" is a common refrain by Mexican clerks and waiters. Certain words are mangled versions of their original on both sides of the border. Avid Mexican baseball fans talk enthusiastically about the honron that won the beisbol game. Over here, the word car becomes carro and brakes become brekas. It's gone way beyond right or wrong. It's become reality.