Spanglish: The Making of a New American Language

by Ilan Stavans

In exploring the formation of Spanglish, award-winning essayist Ilan Stavans reflects on, andalso codifies, the most transforming linguisticphenomena in America in the last one hundredyears -- one that may predict our future as a nation and that of our entire hemisphere. No tool is more useful in understanding the changes inculture than language. In today's America, communicationis built around inclusion and efficiency, and this is no more apparent than in the blending of the two most spoken languages in the United English and Spanish. Spanish, the nation's unofficial second language, isimmediately obvious and audible on airwaves and mediascreens, streets and classrooms, from one coast to the other. But el español has not spread on this side of the Atlantic in its unadulterated Iberian form. Instead it is metastasizing into something altogether an astonishingly creative code of communication known as Spanglish, which in large part is the result of sweeping demographic changes, globalization, and the newly emergent "Latin Fever" that is sweeping the country. It is used predominantly by people of Hispanic descent but is also embraced by others in the United States, the Americas as a whole, and even Spain. Naturally controversial, Spanglish outrages English-language-only proponents, who seek to ban all languages other than English north of the Rio Grande. Equal in their outrage are Spanish-language purists and the supporters of the Royal Academy of the Spanish Language in Madrid, as they deem Spanglish a cancer to their precious and centuries-old tongue. With elegance and erudition, Ilan Stavans reflects on the verbal rift that has given birth to Spanglish. He fascinatingly shows the historical tensions between the British and Spanish Empires, and how in 1588, with the sinking of the grand Spanish Armada, the rivalry between the two empires was solidified, and to this day, the differences in religion and culture continue their fight linguistically. He ponders major historical events, such as the Guadalupe Hidalgo Treaty of 1848 and the Spanish-American War fifty years later, as agents of radical linguistic change, although, as he rightly states, it is in the second half of the twentieth century that Spanglish sped into our daily reality. Stavans also points out the similarities and differencesSpanglish has with Yiddish, so thoroughly blending intothe American vocabulary, and the much-debated Ebonics, which made headlines in the early 1990s as a uniquelyAfrican American blend of proper English and urban slang.Ultimately, Stavans deftly proves that the manner in whicha language stays alive is through mutation and that itssurvival doesn't depend on academies but on the averageperson's need for expression. This explains why it is increasingly used not only in kitchens and school but in music, TV, film, and literature, all expressions of the American collective soul. Coupled with Stavans's insights is a substantial lexicon that shows the breadth and ingenuity of this growing vocabulary -- at times, semantically obvious, then also surprisingly inventive. An ingenious translation into Spanglish of the first chapter of Don Quixote de La Mancha comes as a bonus. The added impact proves that Spanglish is more than a language -- it is the perfect metaphor for an America that is a hybrid, a sum of parts.

Genres: Language, Nonfiction, Linguistics, Spanish Literature, The United States Of America, History

288 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 1975

About the author

Ilan Stavans is the Lewis-Sebring Professor in Latin American and Latino Culture at Amherst College. An award-winning writer and public television host, his books include Growing Up Latino and Spanglish. A native of Mexico City, he lives in Amherst, Massachusetts.

Reviews

[Cynda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Many new ideas to ponder. Including: Many varieties of Spanish and Spanglish. I knew that there were differences. I have in the past read books about the different idioms used in various countires to describe the same idea. I am considering that awareness in reference to social experience, such as possibly micro cultures of Hispanic culture. I know of Spanglish as my family speaks it and I play with it, bringing the Spanish into the English. I give English pronunciations to Spanish words. Just another word game for me. But the social implications are what I am looking at now with the help Ilan Stavans.

[Lucas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fue muy chistoso leer este texto casi al mismo tiempo que el manual de Proceso, porque mientras el segundo se abanderaba en reglas y un orden político purista de lo hispano, el otro se concentra en la mutabilidad de uno o varios códigos en función del deliver del sentido.

Soy fans de Stavans for a while now (si, le estoy mamoneando con el spanglish de forma autorreferente), desde que supe que hacia experimentos con El Quijote cervantino, pero escribiendo en el spanglish.

No solo me parece interesante Stavans por su aproach a lo multi-o-trans-cultural, específicamente la bilingualidad de los chicanos y otros hablantes de códigos hispanglos, si no porque creo que su historia como judío mexicano, se le suma bien a esta particular línea especializada de análisis.

Creo que él sabe algo de movimiento, de mutación y de frontera. Spanglish es insuficiente como cualquier libro, pero es ambicioso y noble compendio de distintas ejecuciones de palabras, conceptos y tradiciones; justo en donde y como son valiosas y significan: en el uso.

[Jen · Rating 1 out of 5]

I would have liked a more specific delineation of the difference between Spanglish, Spanish words adopted into English (and vice versa), and English words said with a Spanish pronunciation. Are all these Spanglish? I don't feel like I know the answer after reading this book. But what really bothered me about this book was the shoddy editing, which made me question the credibility of the book. Examples:

p. 81 boquineta left plate.
What is a left palate? A Google search for boquineta gave me the definition CLEFT palate.

p. 94 checar (also chekiar and chequear) 1. to check 2. to make oneself present
To check in what sense? Stopping/restraining someone or something? Verifying that something is correct? Marking something with a checkmark? All of these? And I have no idea what that second definition is supposed to be.

p. 95 chequeo n., the act of checking out. "Nos chequeamos later on."
OK, the example is a verb, not a noun.

p. 97 choque 1. classroom chock
I'm assuming he meant chalk?

p. 110 dopear to dupe up
What is duping up? Doping up?

p. 111 dumper dumper "Echa la basura en el dumper."
I'm assuming he meant dumpster for the definition?

p. 171 mascara makeup
I suspect a more accurate definition would be "makeup that is put on eyelashes." I don't think mascara is used as a Spanglish word for blush or foundation.

p. 172 mayor major In Sp. alcalde means major.
No, in Spanish, alcalde means mayor, and I suspect mayor means mayor too.

After that I got tired of marking typos and vague definitions. It was very frustrating to read.

[Nancy Lewis · Rating 3 out of 5]

The introduction, which lasts for 54 pages, is a very interesting discussion of Spanglish: its origins, its relationship to languages like Ebonics & Yiddish, its social stigma, etc. The rest of the 258 pages is a dictionary of Spanglish terms.

Although I enjoyed browsing the dictionary section, I was more interested in the discussion of what Spanglish is, how it is developing, the impact it has on society & vice versa. With only 54 pages to work with, the author couldn't go into much depth. It left me wanting.

[Xan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think I read this way back when it first came out. I was living in NYC where Spanglish was definitely spoken!

[Wendi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great intro for those seeking to understand origins of Spanglish and some of its nuances. Comparisons to Ebonics and Yiddish are insightful and will be interesting to anyone who likes languages. Some reviewers weren't crazy about the bulk of this book being devoted to a Spanglish dictionary, but if you take the time to go through and look at some of the words, it's very intriguing. I especially like how he notes for each word, whether it's a Spanish word now used/ tweaked in English, or vice versa. I also find it fascinating to be in the midst of so much language change without fully appreciating the whys and the whats of different facets.

[Stefani · Rating 3 out of 5]

A brief history and dictionary of Spanglish and its factors written by who is considered the foremost scholar of Spanglish in the world. Perhaps a little optimistic in his view of the future of the language, but still informative and lending empathy.

[CJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

the "translation" of the first chapter of El Quijote into Spanglish was strained, at best. however, Stavans prose reads almost like poetry in his introduction, and is certainly a wonderful explanation and appreciation of Spanglish as a language. the lexicon is certainly a helpful reference.

[Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

The concept behind this book is good and I enjoyed reading about the author's experience with Spanglish. I didn't realize that the majority of the book was basically a glossary of Spanglish terms.

[Travelling Cari · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just received off BookMooch.

I wasn't as impressed with this book as I expected to be. Far more of it was devoted to the dictionary rather than the language itself.

[Kristine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Smart, important, very complete exploration of a too-often ignored or stigmatized language form, but I deeply wish this had had a careful editing before it met the world.