New Mexican Spanish facts for kids
Quick facts for kids New Mexican Spanish |
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|---|---|
| español neomexicano, novomexicano | |
| Native speakers | (unknown) |
| Language family | |
| Early forms: |
Old Latin
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| Writing system | Latin (Spanish alphabet) |
Spanish language distribution in New Mexico by county
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New Mexican Spanish (Spanish: español neomexicano, novomexicano) is a special kind of Spanish spoken in New Mexico and southern Colorado. It has two main types:
- The Traditional dialect is spoken by the Hispanos of New Mexico. These are people whose families came to New Mexico long ago, before it became part of the United States. This dialect is found in northern New Mexico and southern Colorado.
- The Border dialect is spoken in southern New Mexico.
New Mexican Spanish is unique because New Mexico was very isolated for a long time after joining the U.S. This means it kept many old Spanish words and ways of speaking that are not used in other parts of Hispanic America anymore. It also borrowed words from Puebloan languages and created some new words. Of course, it has also borrowed many words from English, especially for new technology.
In recent years, the Traditional dialect has started to sound more like Mexican Spanish. This is because of Spanish TV and radio, and because more people from Mexico are moving to the area. This mix has created a newer dialect called Renovador.
Contents
How New Mexican Spanish Started
Spanish first came to New Mexico in 1598 with Juan de Oñate and his group of settlers. Many of these early settlers were from Spain or Mexico. After the Pueblo Revolt in 1680, New Mexico was settled again starting in 1692. Most new settlers came from northern Mexico.
New Mexico was very isolated back then. People didn't have much contact with other Spanish-speaking areas. This isolation helped New Mexican Spanish keep its old words and develop its own unique style. It also meant that most people didn't learn "standard" Spanish.
Over time, New Mexican Spanish changed. For example, people used to pronounce the "ll" and "y" sounds differently. But after the Pueblo Revolt, many new settlers came who pronounced them the same way. So, over time, most New Mexicans started saying them the same way too.
In 1848, New Mexico became part of the United States. This meant more contact with English. However, newspapers and books in Spanish helped the language stay strong for many years. At first, some people tried to connect New Mexican Spanish more to Spain than to Mexico. They even tried to use the Spanish word vosotros (meaning "you all," used in Spain), even though it wasn't natural to New Mexican Spanish.
After 1917, using Spanish in public became harder. It was even banned in schools, and students were sometimes punished for speaking it. Spanish newspapers either changed to English or closed down. Spanish then became mostly a language used at home and in the community. English TV and radio made the decline of Spanish even faster.
Today, New Mexican Spanish is changing. Younger people often use more English words and words from Mexican or standard Spanish. This is partly because they hear less Spanish at home.
Where New Mexican Spanish is Spoken
New Mexican Spanish is spoken all over New Mexico and in the southern part of Colorado. Southern Colorado is included because it used to be part of New Mexico until 1876. Many Spanish speakers from New Mexico settled there.
Different Types of New Mexican Spanish
There are two main types, or dialects, of Spanish in New Mexico and southern Colorado:
- Traditional New Mexican Spanish (TNMS): This is spoken in the northern and central parts of the region. It's used by families who have been there since the early colonial times.
- Border Spanish: This is found in the southern part of New Mexico and some areas of southeastern Colorado. It's mostly influenced by people who moved from Mexico in the 1900s.
The Traditional area has more differences between communities. This is because of its long history of being isolated and the recent shift towards English.
One big difference within Traditional New Mexican Spanish is between the Río Arriba (upper river) dialect and the Río Abajo (lower river) dialect. The Río Arriba dialect is found north of Santa Fe.
The Spanish spoken in Albuquerque and Santa Fe has been greatly influenced by Mexican Spanish, especially among younger people. Some people even think it's becoming a third dialect.
How New Mexican Spanish Works
New Mexican Spanish has some unique grammar rules and word forms. While many speakers know and prefer standard Mexican Spanish, they often use different forms in daily talk. The most unique features are usually found among older speakers.
Here are some interesting things about how New Mexican Spanish works:
- Old Verb Endings: Sometimes, the past tense ending for "you" can be -astes or -istes instead of the standard -aste or -iste.
- Older Forms of "Saw": People often say vide or vido instead of the standard vi or vio (meaning "I saw" or "he/she saw").
- "Haiga" instead of "Haya": For the verb "haber" (to have/to be), the form haiga is often used instead of haya. This is common in many non-standard Spanish dialects.
- "Hamos" instead of "Hemos": For "we have eaten," some speakers might say "[nosotros hamos comido] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)" instead of "[nosotros hemos comido] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)." This is more common with younger speakers.
- Plurals with "-ses": For words ending in a stressed vowel, like papá (dad) or café (coffee), the plural is sometimes made with -ses instead of -s. So, papáses instead of papás.
- "Decía" sounds like "Dejía": The word decía (he/she/it/they said) is often pronounced like dejía or dijía.
Special Verb Forms
Some verb forms in Traditional New Mexican Spanish are very unique. They are also found in some rural areas of Mexico and even in a Spanish dialect in southern Chile.
- "-iba" endings: For verbs ending in "-er" and "-ir" in the past, like "fall" or "bring," the ending might be -iba where standard Spanish uses -ía. For example, caiban instead of caían (they were falling).
- "-nos" instead of "-mos": In some "we" forms, like "we were bathing," the ending might change from -mos to -nos. So, nos bañábanos instead of nos bañábamos.
- "-emos" for "-ir" verbs: For verbs ending in "-ir," the "we" form in the present tense might use -emos instead of -imos. For example, salemos instead of salimos (we leave).
These unique forms show how isolated New Mexican Spanish was for a long time. They also show how languages can change and keep old features when they are not in constant contact with the "standard" version.
English Influence
Because New Mexico has been part of the U.S. for so long, English has had a big impact on New Mexican Spanish.
- Borrowed Phrases: People often use Spanish words in ways that copy English phrases. For example, llamar para atrás (to call back) is a direct copy of the English phrase.
- Loanwords: Many English words are borrowed directly into New Mexican Spanish, especially for new inventions or ideas.
- Language Shift: Over time, many Hispanos have started speaking more English and less Spanish.
How New Mexican Spanish Sounds
New Mexican Spanish has some special ways of pronouncing words:
- "Seseo": Like most Spanish in the Americas, New Mexican Spanish pronounces the "c" before "e" or "i" and the "z" sound like an "s." So, casa (house) and caza (hunt) sound the same.
- "Yeísmo": The "ll" sound (like in "tortilla") and the "y" sound (like in "yes") are pronounced the same way. Long ago, they were different, but now they've merged.
- "J" and "G" sounds: The "j" sound (like in "jalapeño") and the "g" sound before "i" or "e" (like in "gente") are often pronounced like the "ch" in "loch" or even like an "h" sound.
Other common pronunciation habits in Traditional New Mexican Spanish include:
- Adding an "e" or "i" sound at the end of some phrases.
- Sometimes dropping the "y" sound between vowels, like in ella (she) which might sound like [ˈe.a].
- Sometimes changing the "ch" sound to a "sh" sound, like muchachos (boys) sounding like [muˈʃa.ʃos].
- Often dropping the "d" sound between vowels, like in ocupado (busy) sounding like [o.kuˈpa.o].
- Sometimes dropping "b" or "g" sounds between vowels, or "b" at the start of a word.
- The "s" sound at the beginning or end of a syllable can sometimes sound like an "h" or even disappear.
- The "r" sound can sometimes be softer, like the "tt" in "butter" in American English.
- The "e" sound at the end of a word can sometimes sound like an "i."
Words in New Mexican Spanish
The words used in Traditional New Mexican Spanish are one of its most interesting features. It has kept many old words or old meanings of words that are no longer common in other Spanish dialects. This is why it's sometimes called "archaic." It has also made up new words and borrowed words from Native American languages and English.
- Old Words: Many common words are older versions. For example, asina instead of así (like this), cuasi instead of casi (almost), and muncho instead of mucho (a lot).
- "Ánsara" for Goose: New Mexican Spanish still uses ánsara for 'goose'. In most other Spanish places, ganso is used.
- New Words: New Mexican Spanish also created its own words. For example, ratón volador (flying mouse) means 'bat'.
- Switched Letters: Some words have letters that have switched places, like pader instead of pared (wall) or probe instead of pobre (poor).
- "Trucha" for All Fish: In northern New Mexico and southern Colorado, trucha (trout) is often used to mean 'fish' in general, not just trout. So, people might say truchear to mean 'to fish'.
- Changing Word Gender: Some words that are usually masculine in Spanish, like idioma (language) and sistema (system), are sometimes treated as feminine in New Mexican Spanish.
- Car and Driving Words: Like in many parts of Latin America, the word carro (cart) is used for 'car'. Also, the word arrear (to drive animals) is sometimes used to mean 'to drive a car'.
- "Telefón": The word telefón is used for 'telephone' across New Mexico and Colorado.
Language Contact
New Mexican Spanish has been in contact with several Native American languages, especially those of the Pueblo and Navajo peoples.
- Navajo and Apache: Because relations were often difficult, New Mexican Spanish borrowed very few words from Navajo or Apache languages. However, Navajo did borrow some words from Spanish, like béeso for "money" (from peso) and bilagáana for "Anglo" (from americano).
- Pueblo Languages: Hispanics and Puebloans had closer contact. Pueblo languages borrowed many words from Spanish, but New Mexican Spanish borrowed fewer words from Pueblo languages. Most Puebloan words in New Mexican Spanish are about people, places, food, plants, and cultural items. For example, cunque (coffee grounds) comes from a Zuni or Tewa word for corn bits.
- French: In the 1700s, New Mexico had some contact with French fur trappers and traders. Some family names in New Mexico, like Archibeque, Gurulé, and Tixier, come from French. A few words, like puela (skillet) and chamuz (slipper), also came from French.
- English: Contact with American English started even before New Mexico became part of the U.S. This led to Spanish words taking on English meanings (like realizar meaning "to realize" instead of "to accomplish"). It also led to many English words being borrowed and, over time, many people shifting from speaking Spanish to speaking English.
Legal Status
New Mexico law allows the use of Spanish. For example, changes to the state's constitution must be voted on by the public, and they have to be printed on the ballot in both English and Spanish. Some legal announcements also need to be published in both languages.
Some people say New Mexico is officially bilingual (meaning two languages are official). Others disagree, saying the laws were made to help people switch from Spanish to English, not to protect Spanish or make it an official language forever. Spanish was not used officially in the state legislature after 1935.
See also
In Spanish: Español neomexicano para niños
