Spanglish: A Reason for Derailing the Preservation of Hispanic Cultural Heritage

In the United States there are several cities and states where large Hispanic communities exist and while many have to learn English, they still use Spanish in their homes and within their community and they are very keen to preserve their Hispanic cultural heritage. However, some people believe that it is being derailed by the widespread use of Spanglish, which is a combination of Spanish and English.

In the United States English is the main language, but the country has large communities of people with diverse origins. People from Latin America remain the most dominant. While they have to learn English for obvious reasons, they still speak Spanish among themselves. While there is a move to preserve their cultural heritage among the older generation, it is another scenario among the younger Hispanic-Americans. They were born in the United States, go to American schools and are taught English at an early age. Some might have been taught to use Spanish at home that it became natural for them to intermix English and Spanish words when they speak.

Spanglish

Spanglish occurs when parts of English words are mixed with parts of words in Spanish, which creates grammar variations that do not have specific rules and specific structures. It is informally used but it is getting quite common in the United States and among the country’s Hispanic-Americans. It is a sub-language that somewhat portrays Hispanic culture on the surface but actually accommodates and assimilates American culture.

Many think that this corrupts the Spanish language and inadvertently it destroys both languages. A Spanish language instructor at the University of Texas at El Paso recently said that Spanglish conveys one language into another incorrectly. It had broken the rules of the language that took many years to fully develop. At the same time, the instructor claimed, Spanglish sets the tone for the misuse of the Spanish language in the future. She added that it only creates a subculture, one that allows Hispanics to link up their culture with the American culture, although the new language does not fit into either of these cultures. El Paso is a county in Texas where 82 percent of the population is Hispanic and the use of Spanglish is rampant.

Another way to look at Spanglish

The sentiments against the use of Spanglish is not universal among Hispanics, because some believe that it has benefits as well. According to a linguistics professor, Jon Amastae, who is also from the University of Texas at El Paso, Spanglish is an alternative. Its use is valid since it contains an order that does not come in between the rules of English and Spanish. It is a variation that could be taken as one of the ways for better communication. From a linguistic point of view, there is no pure or real language because almost all of the dominant languages spoken today have evolved through the passage of time.

Even non-Spanish speakers have opposing views on Spanglish, and some say that it is difficult to understand and that it somehow interferes with communication although the media has taken it up.

Media is now using Spanglish to target the Hispanic market, and the use of Spanglish is now almost a norm, which means that despite protests from some camps that want to preserve their Hispanic heritage, Spanglish is foreseen to be used more frequently.

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