# Spanglish



## lamariposita88

Living in Miami, Florida, and being a boricua-american, I hear a lot of spanglish (the mix of spanish and english, predominantly used in the united states). 

Do you believe that the use of spanglish is killing the spanish heritage, or do you believe that it is a good thing, bringing the melting of cultures a little farther?

HAHA. On a lighter note, I believe that Spanglish will be the new governmental language of the country of Southern Florida and that we will break of from America altogether someday...

I'm only just joking, but it could happen...


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## crises

I have opposite feelings with Spanglish. It is not a different language _per se_ neither a pidgin and some speakers talk in Spanglish pretty aware of what they are doing. 

I don't really care if people talk in Spanish or English, but one should not forget that communication is much better with a well-coded language. So, if Spanglish is partially based on trends, it is very difficult to establish a standard language. And no language can survive neither be useful in modern countries without setting a proper standard form that any speaker might use despite their own dialects.

I'm talking in "official language" terms.Then, of course, one might talk however he/she wants as languague is possibly our main cultural feature.


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## Tatzingo

lamariposita88 said:
			
		

> Living in Miami, Florida, and being a boricua-american, I hear a lot of spanglish (the mix of spanish and english, predominantly used in the united states).
> 
> Do you believe that the use of spanglish is killing the spanish heritage, or do you believe that it is a good thing, bringing the melting of cultures a little farther?
> 
> HAHA. On a lighter note, I believe that Spanglish will be the new governmental language of the country of Southern Florida and that we will break of from America altogether someday...
> 
> I'm only just joking, but it could happen...



Hi,

On the bright side, it could be an easier "language" for native english speakers to learn compared with Spanish... ;-)

Tatz.


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## cuchuflete

Hola Mariposita, 





			
				lamariposita88 said:
			
		

> Living in Miami, Florida, and being a boricua-american, I hear a lot of spanglish (the mix of spanish and english, predominantly used in the united states). For those unaware of Spanglish, it might be worth noting that it mostly uses Spanish grammatical constructions, with a lot of English words mixed in.
> 
> Do you believe that the use of spanglish is killing the spanish heritage (Which one?!), or do you believe that it is a good thing, bringing the melting of cultures a little farther?
> 
> HAHA. On a lighter note, I believe that Spanglish will be the new governmental language of the country of Southern Florida and that we will break of from America altogether someday...(just promise to take jeb with you, please!!)
> 
> I'm only just joking, but it could happen...


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## Bastoune

Spanglish is a natural reaction of a linguistic group adapting to the surrounding language. In the same way, the American dialect has been influenced heavily by the French (“c’est la vie!”), the German (“Gesundheit!”), the Spanish (“no problemo” is not really Spanish but…), Italian (“capeesh?”) and other tongues of people who have settled here. It can’t really do much damage to people who generally have a very poor command of the Spanish language to begin with. Listening to how Spanish is butchered by Hispanics in the U.S. is really embarrassing for them.


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## GenJen54

Bastoune said:
			
		

> Spanglish is a natural reaction of a linguistic group adapting to the surrounding language.


 I agree. It's probably not that much different than the "Frenglish" my American friends and I spoke when we first moved to France. Forget a word in one language, insert same word from the other language. Simple concept understood by everyone involved.


> In the same way, the American dialect has been influenced heavily by the French (“c’est la vie!”), the German (“Gesundheit!”),





> the Spanish (“no problemo” is not really Spanish but…), Italian (“capeesh?”) and other tongues of people who have settled here.


 I agree, and disagree. You are correct that several phrases from other languages have crept into our language. These phrases tend to be more situational, so it is not like we're saying "Hey, I'm going to the biblioteca to get some libros." Other words have naturally been absorbed into English, so reallly it's a "melting pot" language to begin with.


> It can’t really do much damage to people who generally have a very poor command of the Spanish language to begin with. Listening to how Spanish is butchered by Hispanics in the U.S. is really embarrassing for them.


 HUH? *So by this you mean to say that butchery of language is only endemic among Spanish speakers??!!!* That's a bit presumptuous and arrogant, don't you think? Perhaps you should spend more time in other parts of the U.S. - or even Canada and see how many "natives" butcher the languages there. Good grief, even "edumacated folk" are guilty of misspellings and poor grammar.


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## Bastoune

[ *So by this you mean to say that butchery of language is only endemic among Spanish speakers??!!!* That's a bit presumptuous and arrogant, don't you think? Perhaps you should spend more time in other parts of the U.S. - or even Canada and see how many "natives" butcher the languages there. Good grief, even "edumacated folk" are guilty of misspellings and poor grammar.[/quote]

Bingo.  No disagreement with you there.

Before you jump on my back, maybe you should actually read what I wrote rather than presume anything other than what it says.

From now on, if I happen to mention a certain group who butchers their mother tongue, I will cite examples of every nationality, race, creed, colour and blood type who does the same.


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## GenJen54

*MOD NOTE:  Let's get everybody - myself included - BACK ON TRACK HERE.  Here is the original thread question:*



> Do you believe that the use of spanglish is killing the spanish *heritage*, or do you believe that it is a good thing, bringing the melting of cultures a little farther?


 
*Judgment about the quality of Spanish, Spanglish, or English is NOT the topic of this thread. *

*GenJen54*
*Moderator


*


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## maxiogee

Language of any sort, pure or bastardised, is a growing entity. No language which is used ever stops changing. This is neither a good thing nor a bad thing.
The loss of a language is seen to be bad thing, but alanguage really only dies because not enough people speak it. 
This happens because the natural base of speakers finds, or develops, a (better) language - which does more for them and better meets their needs. (I'm assuming that there is no coercion in the loss of a language.)

Asking if Spanglish is a good or bad thing is like asking if the new plant which suddenly appears in your garden is a good or bad thing. It's good if you find you like it. Spanglish will be good if enough people take to it, and use it - otherwise it will turn into a slang, or jargon which will age and grow stale.


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## Outsider

I've discovered recently that there is a mixed languaged called Portuñol, spoken in the border between Brazil and Uruguay. There used to be skirmishes between the two colonial powers back in the day, and the poor people who lived there were caught in the middle of the fight. So they developed a culture of their own, and a language of their own, and kind of turned their backs on the rude neighbours to each side of the border.

As far as I can tell, Portuñol is alive and well. But it seems that it's strongly associated with a very particular kind of cultural context. Could something like this happen in the U.S.? At first glance, the circumstances seem quite different...


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## GenJen54

I'm personally curious if "Spanglish" has its own regional variants. For example, is the Spanglish spoken in Miami different than that in New York, or even Los Angeles and other areas with high hispanic populations?

Is there a *standard* Spanglish, or do hispanic groups adapt Spanglish to fit the needs of the general geographic area in which they live? 

For that matter, is the Spanglish as adopted by Mexican Spanish speakers different from that adopted by speakers from Nicaragua, Colombia, Ecuador, etc.



			
				outsider said:
			
		

> So they developed a culture of their own, and a language of their own, and kind of turned their backs on the rude neighbours to each side of the border.


Now that's what I call "global cooperation."  Finding a new-solution to an age-old problem.


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## Bastoune

cuchuflete said:
			
		

> Seeing how some people butcher fact and logic is  ought to be a severe embarassment to them, but they are too ignorant of their own ignorance and pomposity to notice what fools they make of themselves with sweeping generalizations. I've heard some native AE speakers do some terrible things to English, but I wouldn't extrapolate from that to the entire population. I must be lacking in the prejudice and irrationalilty departments.


 
Quite a few AE speakers... and let's not forget the "joual" of Quebeckers!

*Mod Edit:  *Personal comment about other poster deleted.


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## Philippa

GenJen54 said:
			
		

> I'm personally curious if "Spanglish" has its own regional variants. For example, is the Spanglish spoken in Miami different than that in New York, or even Los Angeles and other areas with high hispanic populations?


Hi GJ
From what I've read about it in the book by Stavans there are regional differences, but he once got together a group of Spanglish speakers from different areas and after a little bit of defining terms, they could communicate really well in Spanglish (in his opinion, and I guess he wanted his 'experiment' to be a success).
Philippa


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## Everness

lamariposita88 said:
			
		

> Living in Miami, Florida, and being a boricua-american, I hear a lot of spanglish (the mix of spanish and english, predominantly used in the united states).
> 
> Do you believe that the use of spanglish is killing the spanish heritage, or do you believe that it is a good thing, bringing the melting of cultures a little farther?
> 
> HAHA. On a lighter note, I believe that Spanglish will be the new governmental language of the country of Southern Florida and that we will break of from America altogether someday...
> 
> I'm only just joking, but it could happen...



Mariposita, 
Did you know that Amherst College is offering the first university-level course in Spanglish? It's taught by Ilan Stavans, perhaps the ultimate authority on this topic.  Here's a short interview with Ilan, who I happen to know and is a cool guy. He wrote a great book that was published in 2003 entitled "Spanglish." Vale la pena comprarlo.

http://www.barcelonareview.com/40/e_is_int.htm


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## diegodbs

A quotation from the interview you mentioned:



> It’s true that in Spain the wound of this defeat has yet to heal. The loss of satellite colonies like Puerto Rico and the Philippines, not to mention the territorial extension we know today as Hispano America, still smarts


 
Does Ilan Stavans know what he's really talking about?

Wounds that need to be healed in Spain because of the Armada, Puerto Rico or the Philippines?

I've never heard such an extravagant theory in all my life.


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## Bastoune

"Chiac" is a dialect (mix of French and English) spoken in New Brunswick (by anglos and francos alike, in fact) which is similar to even some ways some people speak in Northern Ontario.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiac_Language

And my being able to speak in a "chiac-like" manner as a kid in my house under my roof never kept me from excelling in my French and English classes or in society in general.

It all boils down to education.


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## lamariposita88

I never said that Spanglish itself was a bad thing, I just believe that people, such as my family, should not use Spanglish if they know proper Spanish, because it will make the children ( such as myself, in my situation, trying to "re-learn" proper spanish now ) not fully aware of how to speak proper spanish. Therefore, it is smothering the true heritage of their family because even traditions are being crossed...My real question is this:

        Is it better for our heritage as hispanics (not matter what country) to merge with American culture, or is it better for us to just have both, but never mixing them?

By this I mean, we eat hamburgers and platanos maduros at the same sitting. A mix between american and puerto rican culture. 
We sing "Feliz Birthday" to each other. 
I ask "Quiero go out con mis amigas de dance esta noche."

Are all of these things okay, or am I missing something?

Should I have "american time" and "puerto rican time" ?

At the end of the day, this is all just opinions. I just would like to know what everyone thinks...


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## wsitiplaju

I think it stands clarification that Spanglish is not a dialect or a language, because you need both English and Spanish to use it.  The term refers to practices of code-switching.  There are loads of cases of code-switching from around the world, and loads of stuff has been written about them.  How code-switching practices work in different cases has everything to do with the social value attached to the languages involved.  That is, it's a matter of the politics of language--as maxiogee said, whether it's good or bad is a question of whether you like it or not.  I don't think you can show that code-switching in itself impedes the ability to speak either of the languages involved properly, simply because there are so many examples to the contrary (like Bastoune).  Of course, if you want to learn the standard language form and you don't have any other context to learn it in, it would be nice to have some help from your parents.  I suspect the difference here is that Bastoune had the opportunity to master the standard forms in school.


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## oxazol

I don't know very well the spanglish, but for me it is not a good thing. It is not good because there are no rules to manage this "language", so it is ambigous. I think that in the way that it is speaking, you have to know quite well both languages, and the other interspeaker also, so they could speak in english or in spanish properly. When you forget some word in one language you can switch to the other and not using spanglish all the time as an alternative to both languages. Know, I'm living in Paris, and sometimes we use español-francés in the same way with the spanish friends, but I don't like this very much. Un example that we use all the time is: to say "polaco" (polish) we say "polonés" from frech: polonais. 

I think this is bad for the comunication. There are no rules


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## Outsider

lamariposita88 said:
			
		

> I never said that Spanglish itself was a bad thing, I just believe that people, such as my family, should not use Spanglish if they know proper Spanish, because it will make the children ( such as myself, in my situation, trying to "re-learn" proper spanish now ) not fully aware of how to speak proper spanish. Therefore, it is smothering the true heritage of their family because even traditions are being crossed...My real question is this:
> 
> Is it better for our heritage as hispanics (not matter what country) to merge with American culture, or is it better for us to just have both, but never mixing them?


I think you should just try to learn and speak whichever languages _you_ find more interesting or useful. Your heritage can take care of itself. Its fate will be decided long after you have left this world, and irrespectively of how you feel about it.

Historically, immigrant communities in the U.S. have switched to English after a couple of generations, so the question "Spanish or Spanglish?" may be of little consequence. And it's just occurred to me that decades ago there were probably Italianglish, Yiddinglish or Germanlish communities in the U.S., too. The difference is that they weren't being studied by armies of linguists.


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## LaLeyenda

Hi everyone,

I've read all the coments that you have made and some interesting points are raised. In my opinion, as Spanish and English are two of the major languages in the world, the Spanglish idea is a natural evolution. Both of the languages have great assets which could be lent and borrowed, so it could be good progress. 

To the original point, I think Spanish/Hispanic culture is by now, here to stay. If Spanglish became an international language, I do not believe that Spanish itself would die, how could it? Established language would not fade away and would Spanglish would just be a facet of the two.

Of course I talk from not much practical experience of this, as my experence is limited e.g. dropping the odd Spanish word in my English for convenience to my native Spanish teacher, for the fact I know she will pick it up, and vice-versa in that in my Spanish speech, English words are sometimes more fitting, although I do correct myself after.

The only critiscism I would have which I abhor, is the use of Spanish (and indeed all non-English language) in American and British Television. That is the only destruction of the Spanish heritage. For example, in CSI Miami, when the hispanic criminal has to use the word 'puta' in his speech, I can only feel although situations like this may arise in real life, why do the American people need this connection, to help them understand a character as he is from a different background. I cannot understand it really, it seems that nobody would take Spanglish seriously. I do not know if you agree, it is just my opinion


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## Fanny Brice

Exactly. I don't feel responsible for the ultimate fate of the language whenever I choose to switch from one code to another. I do feel responsible however for the way I'm hurting my own linguistic abilities by allowing the English word to take the place of the Spanish word (or vice versa) just because I know I'll get my point across anyway.
I do feel that people who are in full possession of both codes at all times are in a better position to speak their minds.
If I could freely choose to say whatever I want to say in English, Spanish or Spanglish, there would really be no controversy, the thing is, and at least for me it works that way, Spanglish covers up the holes in both codes in such a way that it legalizes the lack of competence.


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## Residente Calle 13

LaLeyenda said:
			
		

> For example, in CSI Miami, when the hispanic criminal has to use the word 'puta' in his speech, I can only feel although situations like this may arise in real life, why do the American people need this connection, to help them understand a character as he is from a different background. I cannot understand it really, it seems that nobody would take Spanglish seriously. I do not know if you agree, it is just my opinion



The dialogue in many of those shows are contrived and unrealistic. I constantly hear Hispanic characters speaking on TV in ways that they never would in real life. But I also hear people speak on TV in ways they never would in real life period! 

CSI Miami is not a good source of real "Spanglish." It's written by people who don't understand it.


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## cuchuflete

Mariposita,
You do yourself a disservice by framing the question as one of loyalty to one or both of two cultures.  You have three to choose from.   All are valid.  You have your  good Puerto Rican roots, and you may preserve and honor these with good standard Puerto Rican Spanish.  You have AE  for the new home.  And.......you have Spanglish to share with those who are in transition between two cultures, and have a third, albeit temporary, linguistic means to express that transition state...which may last a generation or more.

If Spanglish is a facilitator to communication, and is used to fill in what's missing while one learns another language, it's no threat to anything.  It won't "smother" your heritage so long as you maintain your awareness of Spanish.  It won't conflict with your English--Spanglish and English are sufficiently distant that you can't possibly confuse one for the other.

If you are tri-lingual with SP, AE, and Spanglish.  Relax and enjoy the richness.  If, however, a family's use of Spanglish in place of Spanish denies children the ability to learn Spanish also, then one of the cultures is being hidden.  That's no crime, but a shame.  But it does no harm to Spanish-speaking culture, which continues a robust life for those who know the language. 






			
				lamariposita88 said:
			
		

> I never said that Spanglish itself was a bad thing, I just believe that people, such as my family, should not use Spanglish if they know proper Spanish, because it will make the children ( such as myself, in my situation, trying to "re-learn" proper spanish now ) not fully aware of how to speak proper spanish. Therefore, it is smothering the true heritage of their family because even traditions are being crossed...My real question is this:
> 
> Is it better for our heritage as hispanics (not matter what country) to merge with American culture, or is it better for us to just have both, but never mixing them?
> 
> By this I mean, we eat hamburgers and platanos maduros at the same sitting. A mix between american and puerto rican culture.
> We sing "Feliz Birthday" to each other.
> I ask "Quiero go out con mis amigas de dance esta noche."
> 
> Are all of these things okay, or am I missing something?
> 
> Should I have "american time" and "puerto rican time" ?
> 
> At the end of the day, this is all just opinions. I just would like to know what everyone thinks...


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## ewhite

LaLeyenda said:
			
		

> The only critiscism I would have which I abhor, is the use of Spanish (and indeed all non-English language) in American and British Television. That is the only destruction of the Spanish heritage. For example, in CSI Miami, when the hispanic criminal has to use the word 'puta' in his speech, I can only feel although situations like this may arise in real life, why do the American people need this connection, to help them understand a character as he is from a different background.



To me, Spanglish is not dropping a Spanish word into an English sentence. _Puta_ isn't Spanglish, it's a purely Spanish "bad word". The "puta" isn't in there so Americans will know this person is from a different background. The writing isn't lazy, it's a reflection of the fact that people will curse in their native tongue. It's so much more satisfying that way. 

_El rufo_, _la marqueta_, _lonchear_--taking English words and tacking on Spanish-esque articles and conjugations--now that's Spanglish. And I tend to think that it is a natural process, for good or ill.

I am hard pressed to think of any Spanish-to-English Spanglish, with one exception. A friend of mine long assured me that "he's good people" meaning a person is to be trusted, came as a translation of "es buena gente". I don't know if it's true or not.


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## Residente Calle 13

ewhite said:
			
		

> I am hard pressed to think of any Spanish-to-English Spanglish, with one exception.


My sister said "the control remote" until she was in Junior High School and so did many of my cousins. I hear many Spanish to English transfers among my cousins whose main langauge is Spanish but now live in the United States.

You say this doesn't count but even my nephews who don't speak Spanish find that "living-room" is just way too many syllables so they ask if they can "watch TV in the _*sala*_."


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## danielfranco

"Oye, ayúdame a pushar mi troca pa'l parqueadero pa' que al rato venga la reca (wrecker) y la pulee (pull it) pa' la casa."
Which often makes me wonder: they knew well enough how to buy a truck and how to phone in a wrecking service (which is not cheap)... That is, they have the ability to function in this society. So, for the most part this are not people recently immigrated to this country, I would think. Maybe Spanglish is actually a cultural development of this country, and not really caused by the foreigners "visiting" here...


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## Residente Calle 13

Well, Daniel, it depends on what you call "Spanglish."

My mother does not speak much English and my grandmother less still and they both speak a bit of Spanglish (à el "te llamo pa'trá", "el lonche", "la factoría" and "el baisman.") And then you have to wonder whether or not "autocar" or "cambiar el chip" when found in a newspaper from Spain is "Spanglish."

But I hear "it", as I understand "it" from people who have been here forever, who just got here, who speak English, who speak no English, and from people who live in places where English is not spoken at all.

In Puerto Rico there is this big "debate" now. Take a look at how they talk about a sales tax to solve the fiscal crisis:

_*Todos  los  caminos parecen seguir llevando al mismo punto de encuentro: un sales tax de 5.9 por ciento.*_

http://www.primerahora.com/noticia.asp?guid=5714F852F1534C8382821685C299D544


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## maxiogee

oxazol said:
			
		

> I don't know very well the spanglish, but for me it is not a good thing. It is not good because there are no rules to manage this "language", so it is ambigous.



There are no rules… yet. Give it time. 
How quickly in any language did rules develop?
Rules are not laid down by some founding patriarch - they develop as a language grows, and they are democratic, rules which are too rigid or un-sensible will be ignored by speakers and will fall into disuse. Language is the most democratic thing I know of. It is there for anyone to use or to avoid if they want. They can get as involved as they wish, a little or a lot. Do not be in a hurry for others to impose rules, get involved and help establish them - one doesn't get a chance to do that often in life.


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## cuchuflete

oxazol said:
			
		

> When you forget some word in one language you can switch to the other and not using spanglish all the time as an alternative to both languages. Know, I'm living in Paris, and sometimes we use español-francés in the same way with the spanish friends, but I don't like this very much. Un example that we use all the time is: to say "polaco" (polish) we say "polonés" from frech: polonais.
> 
> I think this is bad for the comunication. There are no rules



Ten calma amigo, que la santa RAE te bendice



> *polonés**, sa**.*
> 
> 
> * 1.* adj. Natural de Polonia. U. t. c. s.
> * 2.* adj. Perteneciente o relativo a este país de Europa.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> _Real Academia Española © Todos los derechos reservados_


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## Bastoune

Residente Calle 13 said:
			
		

> In Puerto Rico there is this big "debate" now. Take a look at how they talk about a sales tax to solve the fiscal crisis:
> 
> _*Todos los caminos parecen seguir llevando al mismo punto de encuentro: un sales tax de 5.9 por ciento.*_
> 
> http://www.primerahora.com/noticia.asp?guid=5714F852F1534C8382821685C299D544


 
Tal vez dicen eso porque el _concepto_ de un "sales tax" es para _ellos_ "extranjero" -- y norteamericano?


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## castellano

I'll just give an opinion about the so-called "Spanglish", from far away and with some knowledge of it.
I've read some things in Spanglish and I also once met some Costa Rica boys who spoke Spanglish, and it gives me the impression that those who mix up Castellano and English have really NO linguistic awareness neither in Spanish nor in English,and make use of their "poor" linguistic resources -a bit from here and another bit from there-, giving birth to a tacky linguistic mix (that sounds badly and strange to my Castilian ear).

It all boils down to the lack of linguistic instruction and awareness.
As was already said, it's just an opinion from far away.

¡Saludetes!


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## Residente Calle 13

castellano said:
			
		

> I'll just give an opinion about the so-called "Spanglish", from far away and with some knowledge of it.
> I've read some things in Spanglish and I also once met some Costa Rica boys who spoke Spanglish, and it gives me the impression that those who mix up Castellano and English have really NO linguistic awareness neither in Spanish nor in English,and make use of their "poor" linguistic resources -a bit from here and another bit from there-, giving birth to a tacky linguistic mix (that sounds badly and strange to my Castilian ear).
> 
> It all boils down to the lack of linguistic instruction and awareness.
> As was already said, it's just an opinion from far away.
> 
> ¡Saludetes!



But people with very good knowledge of _*both *_languages do it.


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## cuchuflete

Residente Calle 13 said:
			
		

> Well, <<Residente>>, it depends on what you call "Spanglish."
> And then you have to wonder whether or not "autocar" or "cambiar el chip" when found in a newspaper from Spain is "Spanglish."
> 
> In Puerto Rico ---
> _*Todos  los  caminos parecen seguir llevando al mismo punto de encuentro: un sales tax de 5.9 por ciento.*_
> 
> http://www.primerahora.com/noticia.asp?guid=5714F852F1534C8382821685C299D544



This is thought provoking.  When is the line crossed?  When is it standard SP, with the odd foreign word or phrase interjected, as is done with some frequency in most languages, and when has the quantity or style of substitutions of foreign words reached a point at which we should call the language Spanglish, or Portuñol, or Mandarino-català?
Do we have one or more concise or useful definitions of Spanglish?  Or is it just one of those "I know it when I hear it." things?


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## Residente Calle 13

cuchuflete said:
			
		

> This is thought provoking.  When is the line crossed?  When is it standard SP, with the odd foreign word or phrase interjected, as is done with some frequency in most languages, and when has the quantity or style of substitutions of foreign words reached a point at which we should call the language Spanglish, or Portuñol, or Mandarino-català?
> Do we have one or more concise or useful definitions of Spanglish?  Or is it just one of those "I know it when I hear it." things?



I don't think so since not even definitions of "English" or "Spanish" are that clearcut. Is Jamaican Patois a form of English? Is Palenquero a form a Spanish? How about Extremeñu? Media Lengua? Papiamento?  Fronterizo? Lunfardo? Cocoliche? When exactly did Spanish stop being Latin? Is Spanish just a dialect of Latin? Languages don't like lines; there is always seems to be a continium. Just when it's "too much" depends on the person doing the listening, I think.

Then we get into the whole "necessary v. unnecessary borrowing" thing that I would much rather stay out of.


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## cuchuflete

Thanks Residente....

Here are a few not very useful attempts at definition. What they have in common is a lack of definition--focusing mostly on context:

Spanglish también Espanglis, término coloquial casi equivalente a anglicismo. 
es.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpanglishFusión linguística del español y el inglés usada como una forma de defensa cultural por parte de los latinos que viven en Estados Unidos
www.geocities.com/salsajazz.geo/text/diccio.htmSpanglish, a portmanteau of the words Spanish and English, is a name used to refer to a range of language-contact phenomena, primarily in the speech of the Hispanic population of the USA, which is exposed to both Spanish and English. These phenomena are a product of close border contacts or large bilingual communities, such as along the United States–Mexico border, in Florida, especially Miami, and in New York City. ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanglish


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