Spanglish (a

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordscontact dialect, hybrid language,

pidgin A pidgin , or pidgin language, is a grammatically simplified means of communication that develops between two or more groups of people that do not have a language in common: typically, its vocabulary and grammar are limited and often drawn from s ...

, or

creole language A creole language, or simply creole, is a stable natural language that develops from the simplifying and mixing of different languages into a new one within a fairly brief period of time: often, a pidgin evolved into a full-fledged language. ...

) that results from conversationally combining

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

. The term is mostly used in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and refers to a blend of the

word A word is a basic element of language that carries an semantics, objective or pragmatics, practical semantics, meaning, can be used on its own, and is uninterruptible. Despite the fact that language speakers often have an intuitive grasp of w ...

s and

grammar In linguistics, the grammar of a natural language is its set of structure, structural constraints on speakers' or writers' composition of clause (linguistics), clauses, phrases, and words. The term can also refer to the study of such constraint ...

of the two languages. More narrowly, Spanglish can specifically mean a variety of Spanish with heavy use of English

loanword A loanword (also loan word or loan-word) is a word at least partly assimilated from one language (the donor language) into another language. This is in contrast to cognates, which are words in two or more languages that are similar because th ...

s. Since different Spanglish arises independently in different regions of varying degrees of bilingualism, it reflects the locally spoken varieties of English and Spanish. Different forms of Spanglish are not necessarily mutually intelligible. The term ''Spanglish'' is first recorded in 1933.Lambert, James. 2018. A multitude of ‘lishes’: The nomenclature of hybridity. ''English World-wide'', 39(1): 31. It corresponds to the Spanish terms Espanglish (from ''Español'' + ''English'', introduced by the Puerto Rican poet

Salvador Tió Salvador Tió y Montes de Oca (November 15, 1911 – September 17, 1989) was a Puerto Rican poet, writer, and promoter of Puerto Rican culture, best known for coining the term "Spanglish". Early life Salvador Tió y Montes de Oca, better known ...

in the late 1940s), ''Ingléspañol'' (from ''Inglés'' + ''Español''), and ''Inglañol'' (''Inglés'' + ''Español''). Other colloquial

portmanteau word A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of words In Mexican and Chicano Spanish the common term for "Spanglish" is "

Pocho ''Pocho'' (feminine: ''pocha'') is slang in Spanish used in Mexico to refer to Mexican Americans and Mexican emigrants. It is often used pejoratively to describe a Mexican expatriate or a person of Mexican ancestry who lacks fluency or the ab ...

Definitions

There is no single, universal definition of Spanglish. The term Spanglish has been used in reference to the following phenomena, all of which are distinct from each other: * The use of integrated English loanwords in Spanish * Nonassimilated Anglicisms (i.e., with English phonetics) in Spanish * Calques and loan translations from English * Code switching, particularly intra-sentential (i.e., within the same clause) switches * Grammar mistakes in Spanish found among transitional bilingual speakers * Second-language Spanish, including poor translations. *

Mock Spanish Mock Spanish is a loaded term used to describe a variety of Spanish-inspired phrases used by speakers of English. Spanish-inspired phrases are generally used in a humorous way, but at least one person has asserted that it could lead to unfavorabl ...

History and distribution

In the late 1940s, the Puerto Rican journalist, poet, and essayist

coined the terms ''Espanglish'' for Spanish spoken with some English terms, and the less commonly used ''Inglañol'' for English spoken with some Spanish terms. After Puerto Rico became a United States territory in 1898, Spanglish became progressively more common there as the United States Army and the early colonial administration tried to impose the English language on island residents. Between 1902 and 1948, the main language of instruction in public schools (used for all subjects except for Spanish class) was English. Currently Puerto Rico is nearly unique in having both English and Spanish as its official languages (see also

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

). Consequently, many American English words are now found in the vocabulary of Puerto Rican Spanish. ''Spanglish'' may also be known by different regional names. Spanglish does not have one unified dialect—specifically, the varieties of Spanglish spoken in New York, Florida, Texas, and California differ. Monolingual speakers of standard Spanish may have difficulty in understanding it. It is common in Panama, where the 96-year (1903–1999) U.S. control of the

Panama Canal The Panama Canal ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a conduit ...

influenced much of local society, especially among the former residents of the

Panama Canal Zone The Panama Canal Zone ( es, Zona del Canal de Panamá), also simply known as the Canal Zone, was an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the Isthmus of Panama, that existed from 1903 to 1979. It was located within the terr ...

, the

Zonian Zonians (Spanish: ''Zoneítas'', singular: ''zoneíta'', ''zoniano'') are people associated with the Panama Canal Zone, a political entity which existed between 1903 and the absorption of the Canal Zone into the Republic of Panama between 1979 and ...

s. Many Puerto Ricans living on the island of

St. Croix Saint Croix; nl, Sint-Kruis; french: link=no, Sainte-Croix; Danish and no, Sankt Croix, Taino: ''Ay Ay'' ( ) is an island in the Caribbean Sea, and a county and constituent district of the United States Virgin Islands (USVI), an unincor ...

speak in informal situations a unique Spanglish-like combination of

Puerto Rican Spanish Puerto Rican Spanish (''español puertorriqueño'' ) is the variety (linguistics), variety of the Spanish language as characteristically spoken in Puerto Rico and by millions of people of Puerto Rican people, Puerto Rican descent living in the ...

and the local Crucian dialect of Virgin Islands Creole English, which is very different from the Spanglish spoken elsewhere. A similar situation exists in the large Puerto Rican-descended populations of New York City and Boston. Spanglish is spoken commonly in the modern United States, reflecting the growth of the Hispanic-American population due to immigration. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the population of Hispanics grew from 35.3 million to 53 million between 2000 and 2012.Guzman, B. 2000 & US Census 2012 Hispanics have become the largest minority ethnic group in the US. More than 60% are of Mexican descent. Mexican Americans form one of the fastest-growing groups, increasing from 20.6 million to 34.5 million between 2000 and 2012. Around 58% of this community chose California, especially Southern California, as their new home. Spanglish is widely used throughout the heavily Mexican-American and other Hispanic communities of Southern California.Rothman, Jason & Rell, Amy Beth, pg. 1 The use of Spanglish has become important to Hispanic communities throughout the United States in areas such as Miami, New York City, Texas, and California. In Miami, the

Afro-Cuban Afro-Cubans or Black Cubans are Cubans of West African ancestry. The term ''Afro-Cuban'' can also refer to historical or cultural elements in Cuba thought to emanate from this community and the combining of native African and other cultural ele ...

community makes use of a Spanglish familiarly known as "

Cubonics The Miami accent is an evolving American English accent or sociolect spoken in South Florida, particularly in Miami-Dade county, originating from central Miami. The Miami accent is most prevalent in American-born Hispanic youth who live in the Gre ...

," a portmanteau of the words ''Cuban'' and ''Ebonics'', a slang term for

African American Vernacular English African-American Vernacular English (AAVE, ), also referred to as Black (Vernacular) English, Black English Vernacular, or occasionally Ebonics (a colloquial, controversial term), is the variety of English natively spoken, particularly in urban ...

that is itself a portmanteau of ''Ebony'' and ''phonics''." Spanglish is known as bilingualism/''semi-lingualism.'' The acquisition of the first language is interrupted or unstructured language input follows from the second language. This can also happen in reverse. Many Mexican-Americans (''Chicanos''), immigrants and bilinguals express themselves in various forms of Spanglish. For many, Spanglish serves as a basis for self-identity, but others believe that it should not exist. Spanglish is difficult, because if the speaker learned the two languages in separate contexts, they use the ''conditioned system'', in which the referential meanings in the two languages differ considerably. Those who were literate in their first language before learning the other, and who have support to maintain that literacy, are sometimes those least able to master their second language. Spanglish is part of ''receptive bilingualism.'' Receptive bilinguals are those who understand a second language but don't speak it. That is when they use Spanglish. Receptive bilinguals are also known as ''productively bilingual'', since, to give an answer, the speaker exerts much more mental effort to answer in English, Spanish, or Spanglish. Without first understanding the culture and history of the region where Spanglish evolved as a practical matter an in depth familiarizing with multiple cultures. This knowledge, indeed the mere fact of one's having that knowledge, often forms an important part of both what one considers one's personal identity and what others consider one's identity. Other places where similar mixed codes are spoken are Gibraltar (''

Llanito ''Llanito'' or ''Yanito'' () is a form of Andalusian Spanish heavily laced with words from English and other languages, such as Ligurian; it is spoken in the British overseas territory of Gibraltar. It is commonly marked by a great deal o ...

''),

Belize Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wate ...

(''Kitchen Spanish''),

Aruba Aruba ( , , ), officially the Country of Aruba ( nl, Land Aruba; pap, Pais Aruba) is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands physically located in the mid-south of the Caribbean Sea, about north of the Venezuela peninsula of ...

Bonaire Bonaire (; , ; pap, Boneiru, , almost pronounced ) is a Dutch island in the Leeward Antilles in the Caribbean Sea. Its capital is the port of Kralendijk, on the west ( leeward) coast of the island. Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao form the ABC i ...

, and

Curaçao Curaçao ( ; ; pap, Kòrsou, ), officially the Country of Curaçao ( nl, Land Curaçao; pap, Pais Kòrsou), is a Lesser Antilles island country in the southern Caribbean Sea and the Dutch Caribbean region, about north of the Venezuela coast ...

(along with

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

and

Papiamento Papiamento () or Papiamentu (; nl, Papiaments) is a Portuguese-based creole language spoken in the Dutch Caribbean. It is the most widely spoken language on the Caribbean ABC islands (Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao), with official status in Arub ...

). Spanglish is also spoken among the Spanish-speaking community in Australia. It is common to hear expressions among Spanish-speaking minorities in cities like Sydney and Melbourne, like: ''vivo en un'' flat ''pequeño''; ''voy a correr con mis'' runners; ''la librería de la'' city ''es grande'', or words such as el rubbish bin, la vacuum cleaner, el tram, el toilet or el mobile. The same situation happens within the Spanish-speaking community of New Zealand.

Usage

Spanglish patterns

Spanglish is informal, although speakers can consistently judge the grammaticality of a phrase or sentence. From a linguistic point of view, Spanglish often is mistakenly labeled many things. Spanglish is not a creole or

dialect The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of Linguistics, linguistic phenomena: One usage refers to a variety (linguisti ...

of Spanish because, though people claim they are native Spanglish speakers, Spanglish itself is not a language on its own, but speakers speak English or Spanish with a heavy influence from the other language. The definition of Spanglish has been unclearly explained by scholars and linguists despite being noted so often. Spanglish is the fluid exchange of language between English and Spanish, present in the heavy influence in the words and phrases used by the speaker. Spanglish is currently considered a hybrid language practice by linguists–many actually refer to Spanglish as "Spanish-English

code-switching In linguistics, code-switching or language alternation occurs when a speaker alternates between two or more languages, or language varieties, in the context of a single conversation or situation. Code-switching is different from plurilingualism ...

", though there is some influence of borrowing, and lexical and grammatical shifts as well. The inception of Spanglish is due to the influx of native Spanish speaking

Latin American Latin Americans ( es, Latinoamericanos; pt, Latino-americanos; ) are the citizens of Latin American countries (or people with cultural, ancestral or national origins in Latin America). Latin American countries and their diasporas are multi-eth ...

people into North America, specifically the United States of America. As mentioned previously, the phenomenon of Spanglish can be separated into two different categories:

code switching In linguistics, code-switching or language alternation occurs when a speaker alternates between two or more languages, or language varieties, in the context of a single conversation or situation. Code-switching is different from plurilingualism ...

, and borrowing, lexical and grammatical shifts. Codeswitching has sparked controversy because it is seen "as a corruption of Spanish and English, a 'linguistic pollution' or 'the language of a "raced", underclass people'". For example, a fluent bilingual speaker addressing another bilingual speaker might engage in code switching with the sentence, "I'm sorry I cannot attend next week's meeting ''porque tengo una obligación de negocios en Boston, pero espero que'' I'll be back for the meeting the week after"—which means, "I'm sorry I cannot attend next week's meeting because I have a business obligation in Boston, but I hope to be back for the meeting the week after".

Calques

Calques In linguistics, a calque () or loan translation is a word or phrase borrowed from another language by literal word-for-word or root-for-root translation. When used as a verb, "to calque" means to borrow a word or phrase from another language whi ...

are translations of entire words or phrases from one language into another. They represent the simplest forms of Spanglish, as they undergo no lexical or grammatical structural change. The use of calques is common throughout most languages, evident in the calques of Arabic exclamations used in Spanish. Examples: * "to call back" → (llamar pa' atrás, llamar para atrás) () * "It's up to you." → (Está pa' arriba de ti, Está para arriba de ti) ( (You decide)) * "to be up to ..." → (estar pa' arriba de ..., estar para arriba de ...) (depender de ... or X decida (X decides)) * "to run for governor" → ()

A well-known calque is or in expressions such as 'to call back'. Here, reflects the particle ''back'' in various English phrasal verbs. Expressions with are found in every stable English-Spanish contact situation: the United States, including among the isolated Isleño and Sabine River communities,

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

, and sporadically in

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

and along the Caribbean coast of Central America where the local English varieties are heavily creolized. Meanwhile, they're unattested in non-contact varieties of Spanish. expressions are unique as a calque of an English verbal particle, since other phrasal verbs and particles are almost never calqued into Spanish. Because of this, and because they're consistent with existing Spanish grammar, argues they are likely a result of a conceptual, not linguistic loan. That is, the notion of "backness" has been expanded in these contact varieties.

Semantic extensions

Semantic extension or reassignment refers to a phenomenon where speakers use a word of language A (typically Spanish in this case) with the meaning of its cognate in language B (typically English), rather than its standard meaning in language A. In Spanglish this usually occurs in the case of "

false friends In linguistics, a false friend is either of two words in different languages that look or sound similar, but differ significantly in meaning. Examples include English ''embarrassed'' and Spanish ''embarazada'' 'pregnant'; English ''parents'' ...

" (similar to, but technically not the same as false cognates), where words of similar form in Spanish and English are thought to have like meanings based on their cognate relationship. Examples: An example of this lexical phenomenon in Spanglish is the emergence of new verbs when the

productive Productivity is the efficiency of production of goods or services expressed by some measure. Measurements of productivity are often expressed as a ratio of an aggregate output to a single input or an aggregate input used in a production proces ...

Spanish verb-making suffix ''-ear'' is attached to an English verb. For example, the Spanish verb for "to eat lunch" (''almorzar'' in standard Spanish) becomes ''lonchear'' (occasionally ''lunchear''). The same process produces ''watchear'', ''parquear'', ''emailear'', ''twittear'', etc.

Loan words

Loan words A loanword (also loan word or loan-word) is a word at least partly assimilated from one language (the donor language) into another language. This is in contrast to cognates, which are words in two or more languages that are similar because the ...

occur in any language due to the presence of items or ideas not present in the culture before, such as modern technology. The increasing rate of technological growth requires the use of loan words from the donor language due to the lack of its definition in the lexicon of the main language. This partially deals with the "prestige" of the donor language, which either forms a dissimilar or more similar word from the loan word. The growth of modern technology can be seen in the expressions: "hacer click" (to click), "mandar un e-mail" (to send an e-mail), "faxear" (to fax), "textear" (to text-message), or "hackear" (to hack). Some words borrowed from the donor languages are adapted to the language, while others remain unassimilated (e. g. "sandwich", "jeans" or "laptop"). The items most associated with Spanglish refer to words assimilated into the main morphology. Borrowing words from English and "Spanishizing" them has typically occurred through immigrants. This method makes new words by pronouncing an English word "Spanish style", thus dropping final consonants, softening others, and replacing certain consonants (e.g. V's with B's and M's with N's). Examples: *"Aseguranza" (insurance) *"Biles" (bills) *"Chorcha" (church) *"Ganga" (gang) *"Líder" (leader) – considered an established Anglicism *"Lonchear/Lonchar" (to have lunch) *"Marqueta" (market) *"Taipear/Tipear" (to type) *"Troca" (truck) – Widely used in most of northern Mexico as well *”Mitin” (meeting) – An outdoors gathering of people mostly for political purposes. *”Checar” (to check) *”Escanear” (to scan) – To digitalize (e.g. a document). *”Chatear” (to chat) *“Desorden” (disorder) – incorrectly used as “disease”. *”Condición” (condition) – incorrectly used as “sickness”.

''So''-insertion

Within the US, the English word ''so'' is often inserted into Spanish discourse. This use of ''so'' is found in conversations that otherwise take place entirely in Spanish. Its users run the gamut from Spanish-dominant immigrants to native, balanced bilinguals to English-dominant

semi-speaker Within the linguistic study of endangered languages, sociolinguists distinguish between different speaker types based on the type of competence they have acquired of the endangered language. Often when a community is gradually shifting away from ...

s and second-language speakers of Spanish, and even people who reject the use of Anglicisms have been found using ''so'' in Spanish. Whether ''so'' is a simple loanword, or part of some deeper form of language mixing, is disputed. Many consider ''so'' to simply be a loanword, although borrowing short function words is quite abnormal. In stressed positions, ''so'' is usually pronounced with English phonetics, and speakers typically identify it as an English word and not an established English loan such as . This is unusual, since code-switched or lexically inserted words typically aren't as common and recurring as ''so'' is. ''So'' is always used as a

coordinating conjunction In grammar, a conjunction (abbreviated or ) is a part of speech that connects words, phrases, or clauses that are called the conjuncts of the conjunctions. That definition may overlap with that of other parts of speech and so what constitutes a ...

in Spanish. It can be used phrase-internally, or at the beginning or end of a sentence. In Spanish discourse, ''so'' is never used to mean "in order that" as it often is in English. As a sociolinguistic phenomenon, speakers who subconsciously insert ''so'' into their Spanish usually spend most of their time speaking English. This and other facts suggest that the insertion of ''so'' and similar items such as ''you know'' and ''I mean'' are the result of a kind of "metalinguistic bracketing". That is, discourse in Spanish is circumscribed by English and by a small group of English functional words. These terms can act as punctuation for Spanish dialogue within an English-dominant environment.

Fromlostiano

Fromlostiano is a type of artificial and humorous

wordplay Word play or wordplay (also: play-on-words) is a literary technique and a form of wit in which words used become the main subject of the work, primarily for the purpose of intended effect or amusement. Examples of word play include puns, phone ...

that translates Spanish

idiom An idiom is a phrase or expression that typically presents a figurative, non-literal meaning attached to the phrase; but some phrases become figurative idioms while retaining the literal meaning of the phrase. Categorized as formulaic language, ...

s word-for-word into English. The name ''fromlostiano'' comes from the expression ''From Lost to the River'', which is a word-for-word translation of ''de perdidos al río''; an idiom that means that one is prone to choose a particularly risky action in a desperate situation (this is somewhat comparable to the English idiom ''in for a penny, in for a pound''). The humor comes from the fact that while the expression is completely grammatical in English, it makes no sense to a native English speaker. Hence it is necessary to understand both languages to appreciate the humor. This phenomenon was first noted in the book ''From Lost to the River'' in 1995. The book describes six types of ''fromlostiano'': # Translations of Spanish idioms into English: ''With you bread and onion'' (''Contigo pan y cebolla''), ''Nobody gave you a candle in this burial'' (''Nadie te ha dado vela en este entierro''), ''To good hours, green sleeves'' (''A buenas horas mangas verdes''). # Translations of American and British celebrities' names into Spanish: ''Vanesa Tumbarroja'' (''

Vanessa Redgrave Dame Vanessa Redgrave (born 30 January 1937) is an English actress and activist. Throughout her career spanning over seven decades, Redgrave has garnered numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Television Award, two ...

''). # Translations of American and British street names into Spanish: ''Calle del Panadero'' (''Baker Street''). # Translations of Spanish street names into English: ''Shell Thorn Street'' (''Calle de Concha Espina''). # Translations of multinational corporations' names into Spanish: ''Ordenadores Manzana'' (''Apple Computers''). # Translations of Spanish

minced oath A minced oath is a euphemistic expression formed by deliberately misspelling, mispronouncing, or replacing a part of a profane, blasphemous, or taboo word or phrase to reduce the original term's objectionable characteristics. An example is "gosh" ...

s into English: ''Tu-tut that I saw you'' (''Tararí que te vi''). The use of Spanglish has evolved over time. It has emerged as a way of conceptualizing one's thoughts whether it be in speech or on paper.

Identity

The use of Spanglish is often associated with the speaker's expression of identity (in terms of language learning) and reflects how many minority-American cultures feel toward their heritage. Commonly in ethnic communities within the United States, the knowledge of one's

heritage language A heritage language is a minority language (either immigrant or indigenous) learned by its speakers at home as children, and difficult to be fully developed because of insufficient input from the social environment. The speakers grow up with a d ...

tends to assumably signify if one is truly of a member of their culture. Just as Spanish helps individuals identify with their Spanish identity, Individuals of Hispanic descent living in America face living in two very different worlds and "This synergy of cultures and struggle with identity is reflected in language use and results in the mixing of Spanish and English." Spanglish is used to facilitate communication with others in both worlds. While some individuals believe that Spanglish should not be considered a language, it is a language that has evolved and is continuing to grow and affect the way new generations are educated, culture change, and the production of media. Living within the United States creates a synergy of culture and struggles for many Mexican-Americans. The hope to retain their cultural heritage/language and their dual-identity in American society is one of the major factors that lead to the creation of Spanglish.

Arts and culture

Literature

There is a vast body of

Latino literature Latino literature is literature written by people of Latin American ancestry, often but not always in English, most notably by Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans, Cuban Americans, and Dominican Americans, many of whom were born in the United State ...

in the United States that features dialogue and descriptions in Spanglish, especially in

Chicano Chicano or Chicana is a chosen identity for many Mexican Americans in the United States. The label ''Chicano'' is sometimes used interchangeably with ''Mexican American'', although the terms have different meanings. While Mexican-American ident ...

Nuyorican Nuyorican is a portmanteau of the terms "New York" and "Puerto Rican" and refers to the members or culture of the Puerto Ricans located in or around New York City, or of their descendants (especially those raised or currently living in the N ...

, and

Puerto Rican literature Puerto Rican literature is the body of literature produced by writers of Puerto Rican descent. It evolved from the art of Oral literature, oral storytelling. Written works by the indigenous inhabitants of Puerto Rico were originally prohibited an ...

. Books that feature Spanglish in a significant way include the following. *

Giannina Braschi Giannina Braschi (born February 5, 1953) is a Puerto Rican poet, novelist, dramatist, and scholar. Her notable works include ''Empire of Dreams'' (1988), ''Yo-Yo Boing!'' (1998) ''and United States of Banana'' (2011). Braschi writes cross-genr ...

's ''

Yo-Yo Boing! ''Yo-Yo Boing!'' (1998) is a postmodern novel in English, Spanish, and Spanglish by Puerto Rican author Giannina Braschi. The cross-genre work is a structural hybrid of poetry, political philosophy, musical, manifesto, treatise, memoir, and dra ...

'' (1998) is the first Spanglish novel. *

Guillermo Gómez-Peña Guillermo Gómez-Peña is a Mexican/Chicano performance artist, writer, activist, and educator. Gómez-Peña has created work in multiple media, including performance art, experimental radio, video, photography and installation art. His fifteen b ...

uses Spanglish in his performances. *

Matt de la Peña Matthew de la Peña is an American writer of children's books who specializes in novels for young adults. He won the Newbery Medal in 2016 for his book ''Last Stop on Market Street''. Biography A San Diego, California, native, Matt de la Peña re ...

's novel ''

Mexican WhiteBoy ''Mexican WhiteBoy'' is a 2008 novel by Matt de la Peña, published by Delacorte Press. De la Peña drew on his own adolescent passion for sports in developing his main character Danny, a baseball enthusiast. The novel, which is set in National Ci ...

'' (2008) features flourishes of Spanglish. *

Junot Díaz Junot Díaz (; born December 31, 1968) is a Dominican-American writer, creative writing professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and was fiction editor at ''Boston Review''. He also serves on the board of advisers for Freedo ...

's ''

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao ''The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao'' is a 2007 novel written by Dominican American author Junot Díaz. Although a work of fiction, the novel is set in New Jersey in the United States, where Díaz was raised, and it deals with the Dominican R ...

'' also uses Spanglish words and phrases. *

Pedro Pietri Pedro Pietri (March 21, 1944 – March 3, 2004) was a Nuyorican poet and playwright and one of the co-founders of the Nuyorican Movement. He was considered by some as the poet laureate of the Nuyorican Movement. Early years Pietri was born in ...

wrote the poem ''El Spanglish National Anthem.'' (1993) *

Ilan Stavans Ilan Stavans (born Ilan Stavchansky on April 7, 1961) is a Mexican-American author and academic. He writes and speaks on American, Hispanic, and Jewish cultures. He is the author of ''Quixote'' (2015) and a contributor to the ''Norton Anthology ...

''Spanglish: The Making of a New American Language.'' (2004) *

Piri Thomas Piri Thomas (born Juan Pedro Tomas; September 30, 1928 – October 17, 2011) was a Puerto Rican- Cuban writer and poet whose memoir ''Down These Mean Streets'' became a best-seller. Early years Thomas was born to a Puerto Rican mother and Cuba ...

wrote the autobiography ''

Down These Mean Streets ''Down These Mean Streets'' is a memoir by Piri Thomas, a Latino of Puerto Rican and Cuban descent who grew up in Spanish Harlem,Berger a section of Harlem with a large Puerto Rican population. The book follows Piri through the first few decade ...

'' (1967) using Spanglish phrases. *Yoss' science fiction novel ''Super Extra Grande'' (2009) is set in a future where Latin Americans have colonized the galaxy and Spanglish is the

lingua franca A lingua franca (; ; for plurals see ), also known as a bridge language, common language, trade language, auxiliary language, vehicular language, or link language, is a language systematically used to make communication possible between groups ...

among the galaxy's sentient species. *

H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells"Wells, H. G."
Revised 18 May 2015. ''

future history A future history is a postulated history of the future and is used by authors of science fiction and other speculative fiction to construct a common background for fiction. Sometimes the author publishes a timeline of events in the history, whi ...

The Shape of Things to Come ''The Shape of Things to Come'' is a work of science fiction by British writer H. G. Wells, published in 1933. It takes the form of a future history which ends in 2106. Synopsis A long economic slump causes a major war that leaves Europe dev ...

'' (1933) predicted that in the 21st century English and Spanish would "become interchangeable languages". *

Germán Valdés Germán Genaro Cipriano Gómez Valdés y Castillo (19 September 1915 – 29 June 1973), known professionally as Tin-Tan, was a Mexican actor, singer and comedian who was born in Mexico City but was raised and began his career in Ciudad Juarez, ...

, a Mexican comedian, (known as Tin Tan) made heavy use of Spanglish. He dressed as a

pachuco Pachucos are male members of a counterculture associated with zoot suit fashion, jazz and swing music, a distinct dialect known as '' caló'', and self-empowerment in rejecting assimilation into Anglo-American society that emerged in El Paso ...

Music

Overview

The use of Spanglish by incorporating English and Spanish lyrics into music has risen in the United States over time. In the 1980s 1.2% of songs in the

Billboard Top 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming i ...

contained Spanglish lyrics, eventually growing to 6.2% in the 2000s. The lyrical emergence of Spanglish by way of Latin American musicians has grown tremendously, reflective of the growing Hispanic population within the United States. *

Mexican rock Mexican rock music, often referred to in Mexico as ''rock nacional'' ("national rock"), originated in the 1950s. Standards by The Beatles, Elvis Presley, The Everly Brothers, Nancy Sinatra, and Chuck Berry were soon covered by bands such as Los Ap ...

band Molotov, whose members use Spanglish in their lyrics. * American

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

band

The Mars Volta The Mars Volta is an American progressive rock band from El Paso, Texas, formed in 2001. The band's only constant members are Omar Rodríguez-López (guitar, producer, direction) and Cedric Bixler-Zavala (vocals, lyrics), whose partnership forms ...

, whose song lyrics frequently switch back and forth between English and Spanish. *

Ska punk Ska punk (also spelled ska-punk) is a fusion genre that mixes ska music and punk rock music together. (sometimes spelled skacore) is a subgenre of ska punk that mixes ska with hardcore punk. Early ska punk mixed both 2 tone and ska with hardc ...

pioneers Sublime, whose singer Bradley Nowell grew up in a Spanish-speaking community, released several songs in Spanglish. * American

nu metal Nu metal (sometimes stylized as nü-metal, sometimes called aggro-metal) is a subgenre of that combines elements of heavy metal music with elements of other music genres such as hip hop, alternative rock, funk, industrial, and grunge. Nu met ...

band

Ill Niño Ill Niño (stylized as ill niño) is an American metal band formed in Union City, New Jersey, in 1998 by drummer and percussionist Dave Chavarri. They have released seven studio albums, two EPs and one compilation album, totaling in over 1.3 mi ...

frequently mix Spanish and English lyrics in their songs. *

Shakira Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll ( , ; born 2 February 1977), professionally known by the mononym Shakira, is a Colombian singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Barranquilla, she has been referred to as the " Queen of Latin Music" and is ...

(born Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll), a Colombian singer-songwriter, musician and model. *

Sean Paul Sean Paul Ryan Francis Henriques OD (born 9 January 1973) is a Jamaican rapper and singer who is regarded as one of dancehall's most prolific artists. Paul's singles "Get Busy" and "Temperature" topped the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart in the ...

(born Sean Paul Ryan Francis Henriques), a Jamaican singer and songwriter. *

Ricky Martin Enrique Martín Morales (born December 24, 1971), known professionally as Ricky Martin, is a Puerto Rican singer, songwriter, and actor. He is known for his musical versatility, with his Ricky Martin albums discography, discography spanning ...

(born Enrique Martín Morales), a Puerto Rican pop musician, actor and author. *

Pitbull Pit bull is a term used in the United States for a type of dog descended from bulldogs and terriers, while in other countries such as the United Kingdom the term is used as an abbreviation of the American Pit Bull Terrier breed. The term was f ...

(born Armando Christian Pérez), a successful

Cuban-American Cuban Americans ( es, cubanoestadounidenses or ''cubanoamericanos'') are Americans who trace their cultural heritage to Cuba regardless of phenotype or ethnic origin. The word may refer to someone born in the United States of Cubans, Cuban desc ...

rapper, producer and

Latin Grammy Award The Latin Grammy Awards are an award by The Latin Recording Academy to recognize outstanding achievement in the Latin music industry. The Latin Grammy honors works recorded in Spanish or Portuguese from anywhere around the world that has been r ...

-winning artist from Miami, Florida that has brought Spanglish into mainstream music through his multiple hit songs. *

Enrique Iglesias Enrique Miguel Iglesias Preysler (; (born 8 May 1975) is a Spanish singer and songwriter. He started his recording career in the mid-1990s on the Mexican indie label Fonovisa and became the bestselling Spanish-language act of the decade. By the ...

, a Spanish singer-songwriter with songs in English, Spanish and Spanglish; Spanglish songs include

Bailamos "Bailamos" ( en, "We Dance") is a single by Spanish singer Enrique Iglesias sung in Spanglish. The song was released in 1999 as part of the soundtrack to the film ''Wild Wild West'' (1999) and later as the lead single from Iglesias's fourth and ...

and Bailando. * Rapper Silento, famous for his song "

Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae) "Watch Me" (also known as Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)) is the debut single by American rapper Silentó. In March 2015, he was signed to Capitol Records, which released the track as a single with an accompanying music video. The song peaked at number ...

", recorded a version in Spanglish

History

The rise of Spanglish in music within the United States also creates new classifications of Latin(o) music, as well as the wider Latin(o) music genre. In some growing music scenes, it is noted that for artists go beyond music and bring in political inclinations as a way to make wider commentary. Although Los Angeles Chicano bands from the 1960s and 1970s are often remembered as part of the Chicano-movement as agents for social chance, Latin(o) music has long been a way for artists to exercise political agency, including the post-World War II jazz scene, the New York City salsa of the 1970s, and the hip-hop movement of the 80s. Some of the topics addressed in these movements include: redlining and housing policies; immigration; discrimination; and transnationalism.Cepeda, M. E. (2017). Music. In D. R. Vargas, L. La Fountain-Stokes, & N. R. Mirabal, ''Keywords for latina/o studies''. New York University Press. Credo Reference: http://proxy.uchicago.edu/login url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/nyupresskls/music/0?institutionId=170

Commercialization

Over time, however, this more explicit show of political nature might have been lessened due to the desire to compete in the music business of the English speaking world. This however, did not stop the a change in U.S. music, where English-speaking musicians have moved towards collaborative music, and bilingual duets are growing in popularity, indicating an audience demand for multi-language entertainment, as well as a space for traditional Latino artists to enter the mainstream and find chart success beyond the Spanish-speaking world. This is despite the slower-growing opportunities for Latino musicians to occupy higher-up positions such as promoters, business owners, and producers.Cepeda, M. E. (2017). Music. In D. R. Vargas, L. La Fountain-Stokes, & N. R. Mirabal, ''Keywords for latina/o studies''. New York University Press. Credo Reference: http://proxy.uchicago.edu/login url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/nyupresskls/music/0?institutionId=170

Present-day

With this growing demand for Spanglish duets, there has also been a rise in indie Latino artists who incorporate Spanglish lyrics in their music. One such artist is

Omar Apollo Omar Apolonio Velasco (born May 20, 1997), known professionally as Omar Apollo, is an American singer and songwriter. After signing a record deal with Warner Records, his debut album, ''Ivory'', was released in 2022 to positive reviews for his ...

, who combines Spanglish lyrics with music influenced by traditional corridos. Other up and coming Latino artists, such as

Kali Uchis Karly-Marina Loaiza (born July 17, 1994), known professionally as Kali Uchis ( ), is an American singer. She released her debut mixtape, ''Drunken Babble'', in 2012, which was followed by her debut EP, ''Por Vida'', released in 2015. In 2018, Uc ...

Empress Of Lorely Rodriguez (born October 19, 1989), known professionally as Empress Of, is a Honduran-American singer, songwriter, musician and record producer based in Los Angeles, California. To date, she has released three studio albums via XL Recor ...

, and Ambar Lucid, have also led to a greater prominence of Hispanic performers and lyricism in the contemporary top charts. These types of artists, also being second-generation Spanish speakers, suggest that there is less fear or feelings of intimidation of using Spanish in public spaces. Moreover, this lack of negative connotation with public use of Spanglish and heritage-language language tools point to a subconscious desire to challenge negative rhetoric, as well as the racism that may go along with it.Sánchez-Muñoz, A., & Amezcua, A. (2019). Spanish as a Tool of Latinx Resistance against Repression in a Hostile Political Climate. ''Chiricú Journal: Latina/o Literatures, Arts, and Cultures'' ''3''(2), 59–76. Given the fact that Spanglish has been the language of communication for a growing Hispanic-American population in the United States, its growing presence in Latino music is considered, by some scholars, a persistent and easily identifiable marker of an increasingly intersectional Latino identity.Cepeda, M. E. (2017). Music. In D. R. Vargas, L. La Fountain-Stokes, & N. R. Mirabal, ''Keywords for latina/o studies''. New York University Press. Credo Reference: http://proxy.uchicago.edu/login url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/nyupresskls/music/0?institutionId=170

Notes

References

* Aldama, Frederick Luis (2020), ''Poets, Philosophers, Lovers: On the Writings of Giannina Braschi''. U Pittsburgh, 2020. *Betti, Silvia. "La imagen de los hispanos en la publicidad de los Estados Unidos", ''Informes del Observatorio'', 2015. 009-03/2015SP *Silvia Betti y Daniel Jorques, eds. ''Visiones europeas del spanglish'', Valencia, Uno y Cero, 2015. *Silvia Betti: "La definición del Spanglish en la última edición del Diccionario de la Real Academia (2014)", Revista ''GLOSAS'' (de la ANLE), 2015. *Betti, Silvia y Enric Serra Alegre, eds. ''Una investigación polifónica. Nuevas voces sobre el spanglish'', New York, Valencia, Academia Norteamericana de la Lengua Española (ANLE) y Universitat de València-Estudi General (UVEG), 2016. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Guzman, B. "The Hispanic Population." US Census 22.2 (2000): 1. US Census Bureau. Web. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * United States Census Bureau. Hispanic Origin. US Census Bureau, n.d. Web. August 11, 2014. * *

External links

* Current TV vide
"Nuyorican Power
" on Spanglish as the Nuyorican language; featuring Daddy Yankee, Giannina Braschi, Rita Moreno, and other Nuyorican icons.
Spanglish – the Language of Chicanos
, University of California

Texas State University {{Languages of the United States Macaronic forms of English Spanish language in the United States 1940s neologisms Code-switching