Spanglish facts for kids

A sign offering free help from a mechanic in Miami, Florida.

Spanglish is a mix of Spanish and English. It's like a special way of talking that combines words and grammar from both languages. People mostly use this term in the United States. It can mean using English words when speaking Spanish, or even mixing parts of sentences from both languages.

Spanglish is different in different places. This is because it depends on the local Spanish and English spoken there. So, Spanglish spoken in one area might be hard to understand for someone who speaks Spanglish from another area.

The word Spanglish was first used in 1933. Other similar words are Espanglish (from Spanish and English), Ingléspañol, and Inglañol.

What is Spanglish?

There isn't just one way to define Spanglish. It can mean different things, like:

• Using English words that have become part of Spanish.
• Using English words in Spanish, but still saying them with an English sound.
• Directly translating English phrases into Spanish.
• Switching between Spanish and English in the same sentence.
• Making grammar mistakes in Spanish if you are still learning both languages.
• Speaking Spanish as a second language, or making poor translations.

Where is Spanglish Spoken?

In the late 1940s, a writer named Salvador Tió from Puerto Rico created the word Espanglish. He used it for Spanish that included some English words.

After Puerto Rico became part of the United States in 1898, Spanglish became more common there. This happened because the U.S. Army tried to make English the main language. From 1902 to 1948, English was used to teach most subjects in public schools. Today, both English and Spanish are official languages in Puerto Rico. Because of this, many American English words are now part of Puerto Rican Spanish.

Spanglish is not the same everywhere. For example, the Spanglish spoken in New York is different from the Spanglish in California. People who only speak standard Spanish might find it hard to understand Spanglish.

It is also common in Panama. The U.S. controlled the Panama Canal for a long time (1903–1999). This influenced the local way of speaking, especially for people who lived near the Canal Zone.

Many Puerto Ricans on the island of St. Croix also speak a unique mix. It combines Puerto Rican Spanish with the local Crucian dialect of Virgin Islands Creole English. This is very different from Spanglish found elsewhere. Similar mixes are heard in New York City and Boston.

Spanglish is widely spoken in the United States today. This is because more and more Hispanic-American people live there. The number of Hispanic people in the U.S. grew a lot between 2000 and 2012. They are now the largest minority group in the country. Many of them are of Mexican descent. Spanglish is very common in areas with large Mexican-American communities, like Southern California, Miami, New York City, and Texas. In Miami, some people call their Spanglish "Cubonics". This word mixes "Cuban" and "Ebonics" (a slang term for African American Vernacular English).

Many Mexican-Americans, also called Chicanos, use different forms of Spanglish. For some, Spanglish helps them feel connected to their identity. Others believe it should not exist.

Spanglish can be tricky. If someone learned Spanish and English in different places, they might mix them up. It's part of "receptive bilingualism." This means you understand a second language but don't speak it well. That's when Spanglish can be used to help communicate.

Similar mixed languages are spoken in other places too. These include Gibraltar (called Llanito), Belize (Kitchen Spanish), and the islands of Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao.

Spanglish is also spoken by Spanish-speaking people in Australia. You might hear phrases like: vivo en un flat pequeño (I live in a small flat). Or voy a correr con mis runners (I'm going to run with my runners). And la librería de la city es grande (the library in the city is big). Words like el rubbish bin, la vacuum cleaner, el tram, el toilet, or el mobile are also common. The same happens in New Zealand.

How Spanglish is Used

Spanglish Mixing Patterns

Spanglish is usually informal. It's not a formal language like Spanish or English. Some people think it's a new language, but it's more like speaking English or Spanish with a strong influence from the other language. Linguists often call Spanglish "Spanish-English code-switching". This means speakers switch between languages. They also borrow words and change grammar a bit.

Spanglish started because many Spanish-speaking people moved to North America, especially the United States. One way Spanglish is used is through code-switching. This means a person might start a sentence in English and finish it in Spanish. For example: "I'm sorry I cannot attend next week's meeting porque tengo una obligación de negocios en Boston, pero espero que I'll be back for the meeting the week after." This means: "I'm sorry I cannot attend next week's meeting because I have a business obligation in Boston, but I hope to be back for the meeting the week after."

Calques: Translated Phrases

Calques are phrases that are translated word-for-word from one language to another. They are a simple form of Spanglish. Here are some examples:

• "to call back" becomes llamar pa'trás (which literally means "call for back"). The correct Spanish is volver a llamar.
• "It's up to you." becomes Está pa'rriba de ti. (literally "It's for above of you"). The correct Spanish is Depende de ti.
• "to run for governor" becomes correr para gobernador (literally "to run for governor"). The correct Spanish is presentarse para gobernador.

A common calque is pa'trás or para atrás. This is used in phrases like llamar pa'trás ('to call back'). This shows how the English word "back" influences Spanish. These phrases are found where English and Spanish meet, like in the United States and Gibraltar.

Semantic Extensions: New Meanings

Sometimes, a Spanish word gets a new meaning because it sounds like an English word. This often happens with "false friends" – words that look or sound similar but have different meanings.

Here are some examples:

New verbs can also be made by adding the Spanish ending -ear to an English verb. For example, "to eat lunch" (almorzar in standard Spanish) becomes lonchear. Other examples include watchear (to watch), emailear (to email), and twittear (to tweet).

Loan Words: Borrowed Words

Loan words are words taken from another language. This happens when new things or ideas appear that don't have a word in the main language. For example, with new technology, we often use English words. Some borrowed words are changed to fit Spanish sounds, like "Aseguranza" (from "insurance"). Others stay the same, like "sandwich" or "jeans".

Here are some examples of loan words in Spanglish:

• "Aseguranza" (insurance)
• "Biles" (bills)
• "Chorcha" (church)
• "Lonchear" (to have lunch)
• "Marqueta" (market)
• "Troca" (truck) – very common in northern Mexico.
• "Mitin" (meeting) – often for political gatherings.
• "Checar" (to check)
• "Escanear" (to scan)
• "Chatear" (to chat)

So-Insertion: Adding "So"

In the U.S., the English word so is often used in Spanish conversations. This happens even if the rest of the conversation is entirely in Spanish. People who speak mostly English, or who are learning Spanish, might use so.

So is always used like a connecting word in Spanish. It can be at the beginning, middle, or end of a sentence. It's never used to mean "in order that" like it sometimes is in English. When people use so in their Spanish, it often means they spend most of their time speaking English. Words like so, you know, and I mean can act like punctuation in Spanish conversations when English is the main language around.

Fromlostiano: Humorous Wordplay

A Spanish street ad in Madrid humorously showing baidefeis instead of the Spanish gratis (free).
Baidefeis comes from the English "by the face".

Fromlostiano is a funny way of playing with words. It translates Spanish sayings word-for-word into English. The name fromlostiano comes from "From Lost to the River." This is a direct translation of the Spanish saying de perdidos al río, which means taking a big risk when you're desperate.

The humor comes from the fact that these translations sound grammatically correct in English, but they make no sense to a native English speaker. You need to know both languages to get the joke!

This idea was first written about in a book called From Lost to the River in 1995. The book describes different types of fromlostiano:

• Translating Spanish sayings into English: "With you bread and onion" (from Contigo pan y cebolla).
• Translating famous American and British names into Spanish: "Vanesa Tumbarroja" (for Vanessa Redgrave).
• Translating street names: "Calle del Panadero" (for Baker Street).
• Translating company names: "Ordenadores Manzana" (for Apple Computers).

Spanglish and Identity

Using Spanglish often shows how a speaker feels about their identity. For many minority cultures in the United States, knowing their heritage language is a big part of their cultural identity. Hispanic people living in America often feel like they live in two different worlds. Spanglish helps them connect these two cultures.

Some people believe Spanglish shouldn't be called a language. But it is a language that keeps growing and changing. It affects how new generations learn, how cultures change, and even how media is made. For many Mexican-Americans, Spanglish helps them keep their cultural heritage and their dual identity in American society.

Spanglish in Arts and Culture

Literature with Spanglish

Many books by Latino writers in the United States use Spanglish. This is especially true in Chicano and Puerto Rican literature. Some famous books that use Spanglish are:

• Giannina Braschi's Yo-Yo Boing! (1998) – considered the first Spanglish novel.
• Matt de la Peña's novel Mexican WhiteBoy (2008).
• Junot Díaz's The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao.
• Pedro Pietri's poem El Spanglish National Anthem. (1993).
• Piri Thomas's autobiography Down These Mean Streets (1967).

Music with Spanglish

More and more, artists are mixing English and Spanish lyrics in their music. In the 1980s, only a small number of songs on the Billboard Hot 100 used Spanglish. By the 2000s, this number grew a lot. This shows how the Hispanic population in the U.S. has grown.

Many artists use Spanglish in their songs:

• The Mexican rock band Molotov.
• The American band The Mars Volta, who often switch between English and Spanish.
• Ska punk band Sublime.
• Shakira, a Colombian singer.
• Sean Paul, a Jamaican singer.
• Ricky Martin, a Puerto Rican pop musician.
• Pitbull, a Cuban-American rapper from Miami, has made Spanglish popular in mainstream music.
• Enrique Iglesias, a Spanish singer, has songs in English, Spanish, and Spanglish.
• Rapper Silento recorded a Spanglish version of his song "Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)".

The Mexican pop rock band Reik even has a song called "Spanglish" on their album Secuencia.

Using Spanglish in music has also created new types of Latin music. In the past, Latino music often had political messages. Artists used their music to talk about issues like immigration and discrimination.

Over time, some artists might have used less direct political messages to compete in the English-speaking music world. However, there's a growing trend of English-speaking musicians working with Latino artists. Bilingual duets are becoming very popular. This shows that people want to hear music in more than one language. It also helps traditional Latino artists become more famous outside the Spanish-speaking world.

Today, many new indie Latino artists use Spanglish in their music. Artists like Omar Apollo, Kali Uchis, Empress Of, and Ambar Lucid are making Hispanic performers and lyrics more common on the music charts. These artists, who are often second-generation Spanish speakers, feel more comfortable using Spanish in public. This shows that people are challenging negative ideas about mixing languages. Spanglish in Latino music is becoming a strong sign of a growing Latino identity.

See also

In Spanish: Espanglish para niños

• American literature in Spanish
• Nuyorican
• Caló (Chicano) – a Mexican-American slang, similar to Spanglish
• Code-switching
• Franglais – a mix of French and English
• Languages in the United States
• List of English words of Spanish origin
• Llanito – a unique Spanish mix spoken in Gibraltar
• Portuñol – a mix of Portuguese and Spanish
• Spanglish (film)
• Spanish language in the United States