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Scholars fighting to squelch Spanglish in South Florida

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Nelida Kreer
Nelida Kreer  Identity Verified
Local time: 09:00
English to Spanish
+ ...
Spanglish and lexicalization are not to be confused Mar 15, 2011

One has to be careful before throwing out any term as Spanglish, because it just might be a lexicalized term, i.e., incorporated into the language in such a way that it follows the grammar rules of Spanish. A case in point: "tuitear" is deprecatingly tagged by the author of this article as a word that does not exist in Spanish. I would suggest that the author searches among Fundéu's "recomendaciones del día" where they expressly and forcefully recommended the spelling "tuitear" for tweeting. [... See more
One has to be careful before throwing out any term as Spanglish, because it just might be a lexicalized term, i.e., incorporated into the language in such a way that it follows the grammar rules of Spanish. A case in point: "tuitear" is deprecatingly tagged by the author of this article as a word that does not exist in Spanish. I would suggest that the author searches among Fundéu's "recomendaciones del día" where they expressly and forcefully recommended the spelling "tuitear" for tweeting. [Fundéu: BBVA's Fundación del Español Urgente, endorsed by the Spanish Royal Academy RAE]. ▲ Collapse
 
Giuseppina Gatta, MA (Hons)
Giuseppina Gatta, MA (Hons)
English to Italian
+ ...
It doesn't make any sense Mar 16, 2011

Spanglish is the product of a specific culture and situation, and as such is not bad or good, it is just another way of expression and communicaton.

What about Hawai'i and their pidgin then? Is anybody trying to squelch that too?
 
Robert Forstag
Robert Forstag  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 09:00
Spanish to English
+ ...
This does seem to be a problem to me Mar 16, 2011

I remember hearing a story on NPR some years ago that made the same point: that the Spanish spoken in South Florida doesn't really conform to any standard version of the language. It was therefore (surprisingly) difficult to find qualified Spanish-English interpreters in that region.

Given the pervasive poverty, poor education, and high dropout rates of much of the Hispanic population in the US, I see the problem addressed in the news item here as existing not only in South Florida... See more
I remember hearing a story on NPR some years ago that made the same point: that the Spanish spoken in South Florida doesn't really conform to any standard version of the language. It was therefore (surprisingly) difficult to find qualified Spanish-English interpreters in that region.

Given the pervasive poverty, poor education, and high dropout rates of much of the Hispanic population in the US, I see the problem addressed in the news item here as existing not only in South Florida, but in other areas of the country. What is emerging is a large sector of the US Hispanic population that is "bilingual" but to a limited degree (i.e., consisting of people who speak bastardized versions of both Spanish and English, and perhaps creating their own local pidgin mixing elements of both).

It should be obvious that people with such a level of bilingualism are not well served when it comes to securing gainful employment and pursuing careers.

I am well aware that this is not a universal phenomenon among Latinos in the US, but it most certainly does exist. ▲ Collapse
 
neilmac
neilmac
Spain
Local time: 15:00
Spanish to English
+ ...
Baby and bathwater Mar 17, 2011

I sort of agree with Nelida and Guiseppina to a great extent, and in fact would take more issue with the author's use of "squelch" as a verb.
Robert's more weighty observation bears more careful scrutiny.
 


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Scholars fighting to squelch Spanglish in South Florida







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