EVOLUTION & INFLUENCE OF THE SPANISH LANGUAGE IN US LANGUAGE (2)

EVOLUTION AND INFLUENCE OF THE SPANISH LANGUAGE IN US LANGUAGE Section 2: The influence of the Spanish language in the US English 2.1 Overview 2.2 Spanish Loanwords 2.3 Benefits The influence of the Spanish in the US English: OVERVIEW The influence of the Spanish language in the U.S. English is based on the historical fact that there has been a continuous interaction between the two languages in North America since the Columbus times. This influence is so pervasive that even States like Colorado (“Coloured”) and Metropolis like Los Angeles (“The Angels”) have Spanish names. Indeed, two little areas of the American Southwest never stopped to have Spanish speaking communities. In north New Mexico and south Colorado there is a mountainous area where is spoken (by more than 200000 people) an archaic and rustic Castilian dialect more similar to the Spanish of Guatemala than to the one of Mexico. And in the delta of the Mississippi a dialect originated in the Canary islands is still spoken by more than 5000 people (St. Bernard county, Louisiana). Even in our Florida some historians (Mormino & Pozzetta, 1987) pinpoint that in the Tampa area there has been a Spanish speaking community which has survived the retreat of the Spanish Empire from Florida after 1819. Ybor City, the city near Tampa founded in 1885 by Cubans in order to develop the “Cigar” industry in the USA, was initially populated with one thousand descendants of the Spanish mestizo fishermen living in the area when the USA bought Florida. Small numbers of Spanish speaking fishermen, farmers and miners (similarly surviving the “Anglicization” of the nineteenth century United States) are reported by scholars to be present continually in that century in the bordering States of California (S. Diego), Arizona (S.Ignacio de Tubac) and Texas (El Paso, S.Antonio). But they did not form communities, until the arrival of the first Mexican immigrants during the late 1800s. It is interesting an historical report done by the “Arizona Town Hall Research Committee” in 2002 about the relations between the Anglo and the Spanish speaking population of Arizona after the American takeover of 1848: “…..Few of the newcomers to Arizona before 1880 were Anglos…in Tucson, where by 1860 Anglos numbered 168 in a town population of 925, interethnic marriages and relations with the original Hispanic population grew….the small Anglo population did not threaten Mexicans’ traditional way of life….what most bound both groups together was the Apache……nowhere in the Southwest Anglos and Mexicans got along as well as in southern Arizona before 1880…but the advent of the Southern Pacific Railroad in 1880 signaled the end of an era in Arizona in many ways. Its impact on the Tucson based Mexican elite was disastrous…….and in the early 1890s a growing tide of anti-Mexican sentiment was sparked by an economic depression between the rising Anglo population…”. This report is very indicative of the situation of the Hispanics in the nineteenth century American Southwest (Jones, 1979). Anyway, even if most of the Spanish speaking population in the Southwest and Southeast have been fully assimilated in the last two centuries by the English speaking United States, they and their descendants have exercised a profound influence on the culture that has enveloped them (Fernandez Flores, 1965). Undeniably the commerce, industry, agriculture, trades, architecture, customs and even laws in the States bordering Mexico have continued to show the imprint of the Hispanic civilization long after their political integration into the Union (Menendez, 2003). Even the typical gastronomy of the Southwest is crammed with Mexican Spanish influences, like the poetry and the music. This influence has been growing after WWII with the influx of millions of Mexican and Latin American immigrants in our country, and it has partially reversed the process of full “anglicization” of the nineteenth century (Finegan, 1980). Indeed, according to the last Census of 2004, there are 40 million Latino American residents in the United States, surpassing for the first time in history the Blacks as the first American minority. Mexicans are 67% of them (Puerto Ricans 9 % and Cubans 4 %). The highest proportion of the State total population that is Hispanic is in New Mexico (43 %), followed by California (36 %) and Texas (35 %). New Mexico is the only State of the Union that is officially bilingual English–Spanish. More than one third of New Mexicans claim Hispanic origins, the vast majority of whom descends from the original Spanish colonists in the northern portion of the State. Most of the considerable less numerous Mexican immigration resides in the southern part of New Mexico. At least 35 % of New Mexicans are also fluent with a unique dialect of Spanish, the “New Mexican Spanish”, full of vocabulary often unknown to other Spanish speakers. This dialect, because of the historical isolation of the area, preserves some late medieval Castilian vocabulary considered archaic elsewhere, adopts many Indian words for local features and is full of English words for modern concepts (Washburn, 1975). Actually the United States is considered to have the fourth largest Spanish population in the world, after Mexico, Colombia and Spain (Menendez, 2003). Finally, according to statistical projections, 25 % of the US population in the year 2050 will be Spanish speaking, with probable political and socioeconomic consequences. The influence and evolution of the Spanish in the US English: SPANISH LOANWORDS The huge amount of Spanish loanwords in our American English is the biggest evidence of the influence of the Spanish language in our country. Some scholars believe that there are ten thousand Spanish loanwords in our US English, and their number is increasing with the millions of Latino Americans entering - legally or illegally - to live in the USA (Newman, 1974). These loanwords are most evident in southern and western toponimy: Nevada, Arizona, Florida, Colorado, Los Angeles, El Paso, Rio Grande, Rio Amarillo are some of the many Spanish names we consider “All-American”. But we have Spanish loanwords even in the terminology relating to the cattle industry, mining and farming, like “rancho” (ranch), and in the designations of American flora and fauna or of southwestern gastronomy. English has gone through many historical periods in which large numbers of words from a particular language were borrowed. These periods coincide with times of major cultural contact between English speakers and those speaking other languages. For example, the French language influenced profoundly the English after the Norman conquest of England by the French speaking William the Conqueror: even the English word “renaissance” is loan worded from the French of those years (Marckwardt, 1980). Indeed, it is part of the cultural history of English speakers that they have adopted loanwords from the languages of whatever cultures they have come in contact with. There have been few periods when borrowings became unfashionable, and there has never been a national academy in Britain or in the USA to attempt to restrict new foreign loanwords, as there has been in many European countries (Germany, Italy, France, etc..) U.S. English words borrowed (“loanworded”) from the Spanish language The following are the most important words of Spanish origin present in our American language, with a simple explanation of their meaning and/or derivation: Adios (good bye) Adobe (brick) Aficionado (fan) Albino (albino) Alcove (from Spanish “alcoba”, originally from the Arab word “al-qubba”) Alligator (from Spanish “el lagarto”) Amarillo (yellow) Armadillo (from Spanish meaning little “armadura”) Anchovy (from Spanish “anchoa”) Armada (fleet) Arroyo (creek) Avocado (Spanish word originally from the Aztec “ahuacatl”) Banana (banana) Barracuda (barracuda) Barbecue (Spanish word originally from the Caribbean “barbacoa”) Bizarre (Spanish word originally from the Italian “bizzarro”) Booby (from Spanish “bobo”) Bronco (wild) Burro (donkey) Cafeteria (cafeteria) Canary (from Spanish “canario”) Canasta (basket) Cannibal (Spanish word originally from the Caribbean “canibal”) Canoe (from Spanish “canoa”) Canyon (from Spanish “canon”) Cargo (from Spanish “cargar”) Chihuahua (dog breed named after Mexican city and State) Chocolate (Spanish world originally fron the Aztec “xocolatl”) Cigar,Cigarette (from Spanish “cigarro”) Cocaine (Spanish word originally from the Inca “koka”) Coco (Spanish word originally from the Caribbean “Ikakuo”) Comrade (from Spanish “camarada”) Conquistador (conqueror) Corral (corral) Coyote (Spanish word from the Aztec “coyotl”) Creole (from Spanish “criollo”) Dago (offensive term from the Spanish name “Diego”) Desperado (desperado) Dorado (golden) Embargo (embargo) Fiesta (fiesta) Filibuster (from Spanish “filibustero”) Guerrilla (guerrilla) Guitar (guitar) Hammock (from Spanish “jamaca”) Hacienda (hacienda) Hurricane (Spanish word originally from the Caribbean “huracan”) Jaguar (jaguar, originally from the Maya) Key (from Spanish word “cayo”) Llama (llama, originally from the Inca) Macho (male) Machete (machete) Margarita (margarita) Marihuana (from Spanish “marijuana”) Mesa (altiplane) Mestize (from Spanish “mestizo”, mixed race white-indian) Mosquito (mosquito) Mulatto (Spanish word “mulato”, originally from Italian “mulatto”) Negro (black) Patio (courtyard) Picaresque (from Spanish “picaresco”) Plaintain (from Spanish “platano”) Plaza (square) Potato (from Spanish “patata”, originally from Inca “papa”) Pronto (immediately) Ranch (from Spanish “rancho”) Renegade (from Spanish “renegade”) Rodeo (rodeo) Salsa (salsa) Savanna (from Spanish “savana”) Savvy (from Spanish “sabio”) Siesta (nap) Sombrero (hat) Stampede (from Spanish “estampida”) Tobacco (from Spanish “tabaco”, originally from the Maya) Tomato (tomato, originally from the Aztec “tomatl”) Tornado (tornado) Tuna (from Spanish “atun”) Vanilla (from Spanish “vainilla”) Vigilante (vigilante) Geographical and place names in U.S. English can mainly be found in the Southwest and in Florida. About a fifth of those in California are somehow connected wit Saints’ names (San Francisco, San Diego, Santa Monica, Santa Barbara, etc.) and with Angels (Los Angeles). There are even many cases in which the original Spanish names have been translated - either partially or totally - into English, like “Rio de los Reyes” into Kings River or Playa Hermosa into Hermosa Beach (Reed, 1977). Furthermore, the following State names are clearly from Spanish: Arizona, California, Texas, Colorado, Florida and Nevada. Some experts believe that even Montana, Georgia, Virginia and Carolina are Spanish (Menendez, 2003). The Bahamas name comes from the Spanish “Baja mar” (shallow sea), because these islands were part of Florida until the eighteenth century. Finally, some big American rivers (like Rio Grande, Rio Colorado, etc.) and even mountainous areas (like the many “Mesa”) have Spanish names. South of the continental United States there is the island of Puerto Rico, that since 1898 was entered into the English speaking world and that until our days has stubbornly refused to become a US State (Navarro, 1966). Puerto Ricans speak an Andalusian Spanish heavily influenced by US loanwords, and they consider themselves only Spanish speaking (even if the majority of them are bilingual Spanish-English). Besides, the 2 millions of Puerto Ricans living in our country (mainly in the New York area) have given some famous Spanish words to our music (like “salsa”). As a final point, something similar is happening with the millions of Mexicans living in our country. Many of them speak a variety of Spanish that is heavily influenced by the English. So, in the last decades in California has sprouted the so called “Chicano” or “Tex-Mex” dialect (a hybrid Spanish-English, or “Spanglish”, characterized by Spanish morphology and syntax with English-derived vocabulary full of loanwords). Some linguists even believe that the “Spanglish” can be considered as a growing new language, and this is creating huge problems with the Americans defending the English-only policy toward immigrants (Stavans, 2003). The influence of the Spanish in the US English: BENEFITS The benefits of the Spanish influence in our language are mainly two: 1) A growing and healthy language needs continuous new words to adapt to the changing history and to the socioeconomic challenges. For example, some philologists find that the societes without technological terms usually remain stacked at primitive agricultural levels. Indeed, the benefits of Spanish loanwords, received from the rancho/hacienda society of the seventeenth and eighteenth century, have proved to be helpful to the development of the English speaking society in the young United States colonizing the “Far West”. 2) The millions of Spanish speaking immigrants constitute a serious problem of integration for our Nation. Many political organizations in our country complain about this “invasion” and promote the forced assimilation of these immigrants trough the English-only policy in every area of the American society. This is creating divergences with the political organizations defending the right of the immigrants to maintain their languages, using the bilingualism in our society. In my opinion the solution to this integration problem can be centered on an English language that can be fully loanworded with Spanish words and easily understandable by the growing Hispanic community. This is the main benefit the Spanish language can give to the USA: a “pacification” of the integration problem between the “Anglo” and the “Latino” communities. Actually some famous scholars even predict that after 2050 nearly 2/3 (or 66 %) of the American English words will possibly came from the Latin, mainly through the Spanish Language (Trifone, 2003). This is going to be an astonishing fact, with deep repercussions in our society when considered together with the possibility of a Catholic and “Latino” majority in the future US population (Newman, 1974). It is believed that the Catholic and “Latino” will only be the biggest groups (but not the majority) in the USA , so it is imperative for our society to be prepared to this likelihood, in order to reduce the foreseeable problems. That is why must be supported the acceptance of an American English language that can be fully influenced by Spanish “loanwords”. In the long run it will prove to be a mitigatory factor that will facilitate the integration between the “Anglo” and the “Latino” parts of the US society (Achard & Kemmer, 2004). Indeed, the “Spanglish” mixture (of English and Spanish) can only exacerbate the zealots of “English only” political positions. Even the bilingual solution (waiting for the minority assimilation) has proved to be a temporary solution in Europe. Experts agree that the third generation of immigrants usually forgets the original language of their grandparents, as has happened with the immigrants from Europe, Asia and Africa (Ferguson & Shirley, 1982). But in the case of the “Latino” immigrants, who are mostly from Mexico, this is not going to happen for many reasons (mainly cultural, historical, geographical and social), due to proximity of the Rio Grande frontier (Finegan, 1980). However, they can identify themselves in an American English gradually differentiated from the original British English and full of Spanish “loanwords”. In the long run they can substitute their original Spanish/Mexican for this “familiar” American English, helping in this way their integration process in the American “melting pot”. This is the percentage of Hispanics in some States of the Union, according to the 2004 and 2000 census: State ...................2004........ 2000.......... Status of Spanish New Mexico....... 46.9 %..... 42.1 %........ Officially Bilingual California............ 36.3 %..... 32.4 %........ Bilingualism proposed Texas.................. 35.9 %..... 32.0 %........ Bilingualism proposed Arizona............... 29.8 %..... 25.3 %........ Bilingualism proposed Nevada............... 23.4 %..... 19.7 % Colorado............. 18.9 %..... 17.1 % Florida................ 18.8 %..... 16.8 % New York........... 16.8 %..... 15.1 % New Jersey........ 14.9 %..... 13.3 % Illinois................. 13.7 %..... 12.3 % Utah.................... 10.6 %...... 9.6 % Connecticut........ 10.5 %...... 9.4 % We have to consider that there are more than seven millions of Latino Americans living in our country illegally, so these percentages should be increased accordingly. Consequently, the Hispanic population is booming in the United States and nothing seems to indicate a reduction of this demographic process. Only the use of radical solutions, as some political extremists promote, can reverse this process. Other political representatives, more moderate, want more emphasis on the English-only policy, at least in the public schools of the States with more Hispanic presence (Hornby, 1977). The zealots of the influential WASP (White Anglo Saxon Protestants) pinpoint that the linguistic assimilation process that has happened with other communities (like German, Italian or Russian, where in two/three generations the “Anglicization” of the American melting pot has worked perfectly), in the case of the Latino Americans is not successful. The reasons, mainly for the Mexicans: the proximity to their motherland Mexico and the historical remembrance of the centuries of the Spanish Empire in the American “Far West” (Jones, 1979). Furthermore, these critics of the Hispanic “invasion” always remember what has happened between France and Germany (and other European countries) when a big linguistic minority lives in a bordering region belonging to a country speaking a different language. World War I (and WWII) started in Alsace, a French region with a huge German speaking community bordering Germany. These zealots fear that the Rio Grande can have a history of war similar to the Rhine (Newman, 1974). Of course, this scenario cannot ever happen, because the American and European mentalities are different. Anyway, the melting pot can happen even linguistically with the “Latinization” of the actual American English full of Hispanic loanwords. In order to sustain this hope there it is a very interesting research made in 2003 by the Italian Professor of Lexicology M. Trifone, Director of the Linguistic Center at the Siena University. He studied how many times the English words “heaven” and “paradise” appeared in the “New York Times” newspaper of the year 1902 and 2002. Both words have the same meaning, but the first comes from the German and the second from the Latin (through the Italian Language). He discovered that in 1902 “heaven” was used 70 % of the times and “paradise” only 30 %, but in 2002 the German “heaven” was used only 36 % and the Latin “paradise” an astonishing 64 % of the times. He then researched many other words (like “hell” and “inferno”, “end” and “finish”, “big” and great”, etc.) and found the same similar results. In one century there had been a complete reversal, showing the increasing influence of “loanwords” from the Latin in the American English. Trifone explained this fact with the massive immigration in our country from Italy in the first decades of the 1900s, and with the recent arrival in the USA of millions of Latino Americans (in the example, the Spanish “paraiso” is similar to the Italian “paradiso”). He emphasized that these two big communities with their neo-Latin languages influenced and are influencing the “Latinization” of the American English in the last century. This and other remarkable researches explain why professor Trifone, considered the main Italian Scholar in Linguistic, believes that in the second half of our century the American English may have 2/3 of its words originated from the Latin Language. As a result, he even believes that only the grammar and syntax (fully German) will disallow the classification of the American English as a neo-Latin language, similar to the French Language (which has nearly 3/4 of its words from Latin). In conclusion, if our American English will experience a “Latinization” so huge, thanks mainly to the influence of the Spanish spoken by millions of Latino Americans, our language will be easily understandable by them. This will facilitate their integration in our linguistic melting pot as has happened with other big communities (like Germans or Italians), and so the Hispanics will reject hybrid solutions like the Spanglish or the Chicano dialect. This fact in turn will reduce (and may be even finish) the tensions between the “Anglo” and the “Latino” in our country (Stavans, 2003) . Too good to be true? “Ai posteri l’ardua sentenza” (the future will tell), as the Italian poet Dante said. Anyway, the main benefit our language (and society) is receiving from the Spanish language is the facilitation of the integration process of the growing “Latino” and the shrinking “Anglo” communities in the USA, thanks to the acceptance of an American English fully loaded with Spanish loanwords. BIBLIOGRAPHY Achard, M. & Kemmer S. (2004). Language, Culture and Mind. Stanford: C.S.L.I. Publications Arizona Town Hall Research (2002). Historical report. Retrieved November 12, 2005, from http://courses.ed.asu.edu/gonzalez/Efiles&folders/Townhall.txt Crystal, D. (1990). The English Language. London: Penguin Books Duran, R. (1981). Latino language and communicative behavior. Norwood, N. J.: Ablex Ferguson, C. & Shirley, B. (1982). 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