Spanglish – A Fluid Use Of Spanish And English In The Same Sentence

Often, when we think of traditions, days like Thanksgiving and Super Bowl Sunday come to mind. Some are old, some are new, and they happen at certain times of the year. But other traditions occur every day. Ketchup on French fries is an American tradition, and salsa on a burrito a Mexican one. The same goes for language. Ever since the early days of contact between English and Spanish in this country, in bilingual communities, there has been a tradition of using both languages in a conversation. So in Los Angeles, Miami, or Chicago you might hear something like “el otro día fui al mall and there were some Adidas on sale bien baratos, so los compré de volada” (the other day I went to the mall and there were some Adidas on sale real cheap, so I bought them on the spot). This fluid use of Spanish and English in the same sentence, or language switching (another way of saying Spanglish), is common in all Spanish/English bilingual communities in the United States. For some people, Spanglish means a broken mishmash of two languages, used only by poorly educated individuals who cannot speak either English or Spanish. This is a common myth, but completely untrue. It is the use of the two languages in the same conversation, but the Spanish parts are grammatically correct Spanish, and the English parts grammatically correct English. Those who are the best speakers of Spanglish are those who are the most bilingual, those who grew up speaking both languages from an early age. 

A Spanglish speaker who switches languages fluently can also speak only Spanish with someone from Spain, and only English with someone from Ohio. And like all traditions, there are certain rules that you normally follow. These rules are not written in stone. If you don’t have turkey on Thanksgiving or a fancy selection of snacks while watching the Super Bowl, that is okay, but still, a lot of people observe those rules. It is the same for language switching. Like Spanish and English, Spanglish has its own grammar rules. Here we need to make it clear that the word “rule” doesn’t mean something you look up in a grammar book. A rule is something you learn at an early age by listening to your parents, relatives, friends, the television or radio, anywhere that language is used. Little kids are like sponges in the sense that they can effortlessly soak up those rules without even trying. It lets them know when to use “a” or “an” (it’s an apple but a banana) or to say me habLO ayer (she spoke to me yesterday) versus HAblo español (I speak Spanish). These rules are not like the ones that say, Never end a sentence with a preposition. Or Two negatives make a positive. “Ain’t” ain’t a word. In reality, “ain’t” is in any good dictionary. If someone says “there ain’t no way that’s gonna happen,” we know that it is not going to happen. These kinds of rules are ones that most people do not pay attention to. So, using the Spanglish rules, many bilinguals will generally agree that Los niños están jumping en la cama (the kids are jumping on the bed) is grammatically okay, but ya hemos eaten la cena (we have already eaten dinner)is much less so. Or, switches can only happen at certain places, like after the verb hacer (to do or to make): Mi tío ya se hizo retire. (My uncle finally retired.) Mi prima se hizo policewoman. (My cousin became a policewoman.) Another rule is that, when talking about something that happened, you use the language you heard it in. Sabes qué, el otro día me topé con el Chuy, y me dice, “Guess what, I’m getting married!” (You know what, the other day I ran into Chuy, and he tells me, “Guess what, I’m getting married!”) Or, I pulled into the parking lot the other day in my ’54 Chevy, and this guy says, “Oye, ¿qué trae bajo la trompa?” (I pulled into the parking lot the other day in my ’54 Chevy, and this guy says, “Hey, what’s it got under the hood?”) One more rule is that language switching is reserved for talking to other people who are bilingual too, so among friends, at parties, with brothers, sisters, and cousins, at picnics or a ball game, language switching or Spanglish will be common. It’s normally not done with people who are not bilingual. 

So if older family members are not fluent in English, then a bilingual only speak Spanish with them. If a bilingual goes shopping and the clerk only speaks English, she only speaks English with him. These rules, even though most of them have yet to be written down in a grammar book, are as real as the rules for English or Spanish. And it is generally only the people who have grown up with two languages who learn these rules. People who learn Spanish or English as adults generally don’t go on to learn the rules for Spanglish. So again, no matter where you live and where your family came from if you’re a bilingual, language switching, or Spanglish, is an American tradition, sort of like putting spicy jalapeño salsa on your hot dog.