Spanglish: is it Spanish + English? Posted by Magda on Sep 12, 2013 in Learning, Spanish Culture, Spanish Vocabulary
The Spanglish or Espanglish is a linguistic phenomenon similar to the “Llanito” in Gibraltar. According to the DRAE, Spanish is a modality of the speech of some Hispanic groups of the United States in which they mix, and deform, lexical and grammatical elements from Spanish and English. It is not a language, it can hardly be considered a pidgin, but its influence is increasing. This code-switching is pervading not only colloquial oral conversations, but also music, TV and cinema, and its use goes beyond the United States to Spain, Great Britain or Australia. Even some authors write in Spanglish their literary works nowadays.
When talking about Spanglish, we can find Spanish sentences that include some English terms and the other way round, or words with English origin and Spanish form and pronunciation. Let’s see some examples.
Aseguranza/seguro/insurance
“Mi hermano tiene que buscar una aseguranza de coche”
English: My brother has to look for car insurance.
Spanish: Mi hermano tiene que buscar un seguro de coche.
babysit/cuidar niños/babysit
“Maria tiene que babysit a su vecina esta noche.”
English; María has to babysit her neighbour tonight.
Spanish: María tiene que cuidar a su vecina esta noche.
break/descanso/break
“Estoy cansada, tomemos un break.”
English: I’m tired, let’s have a break.
Spanish: Estoy cansada, tomemos un descanso.
brekas/frenos/brakes
“Jose tiene que arreglar las brekas de su carro.”
English: Jose has to mend his car’s brakes.
Spanish: Jose tiene que arreglar los frenos de su coche.
carpeta/alfombra/carpet
“La carpeta se ha manchado de vino.”
English: The carpet is stained with wine.
Spanish: La alfombra se ha manchado de vino.
chequear/comprobar/check
“Déjame chequear mi mail.”
English: Let me check my mail.
Spanish: Déjame comprobar mi correo.
groceria/alimentos/grocery
“Necesito ir a comprar algunas grocerias.”
English: I need to go shopping some grocery.
Spanish: Necesito ir a comprar algunos alimentos.
parkear/aparcar/park
Es muy dificil parkear en mi calle.
English: It´s very difficult to park in my street.
Spanish: Es muy dificil aparcar en mi calle.
washateria/lavanderia/laundry
“Voy a la washateria a lavar mi ropa”
English: I´m going to the laundry to wash my clothes.
Spanish: Voy a la lavandería a lavar mi ropa.
What do you think… Would Spanglish be the future?
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About the Author: Magda
Hi all! I’m Magda, a Spanish native speaker writing the culture posts in the Transparent Language Spanish blog. I have a Bachelor’s in English Philology and a Master’s in Linguistics and Literature from the University of Granada, in Spain. I have also completed a Postgraduate Certificate in Education, and then worked as an English teacher in several schools and academies for several years. Last year was my first at university level. In addition, I work as a private tutor, teaching English and Spanish as a foreign language to students and adults. In my free time, I’m an avid reader and writer, editing and collaborating in several literary blogs. I have published my first poetry book recently. And last but not least, I love photography!
Comments:
Noor-e-Hira:
Hello, thank you for this insightful article. This phenomenon is used not only in Spanish-English but also in English-Urdu. The languages are evolving in unspeakably terrible ways and losing their spirit and distinctiveness. And the future of languages is hopeless, in my opinion.
I am an aspiring learner of Spanish language and want to leatn it properly to boost my linguistic abilities.
Thank you!
Magda:
@Noor-e-Hira Hello Noor-e-Hira, I don´t think it´s hopeless, but we should be careful… Is there a similar name for the English-Urdu phenomenom? Why did it appear?
I´m sure you´ll master Spanish if you keep on working. Thanks!