Spanglish as a dialect and as a cultural identity

Spanglish is a blend of Spanish and English in sentences, phrases, and grammar that has kept 

Hispanic cultures alive and well in the United States as speakers live with bicultural and bilingual influences. American culture has often expected people from other cultures to assimilate into their culture, but Hispanic people have rejected this transition. Spanglish was first started as an oral tradition, but as it became more widespread, this dialect became a written form through books, essays, movies, poems, etc. 

 

Spanglish can be both a uniting and dividing factor for those that speak it. Patricia Bazán-Figueras and Salvador J. Figueras discuss in their article that Spanglish is one of the main ways that Spanish speakers in the US have not had to let go of their cultural identity while living in among a different culture. At the same time, however, speakers have struggled to fit wholly into their Spanish and American cultures. The socio-cultural influences are a building block to creating a Spanglish identity, expanding Spanglish to also be a lifestyle. As Spanish gains more popular use in the US in fields like medicine, there is more of a demand to be bilingual. 

 

In the United States there is an expectation for immigrants to immediately immerse themselves into American culture, customs, and celebrations, and often classifies Spanish speakers under the assertion that they are uneducated. This is not the case in Spanglish speakers, as they are able to bend the rules of language and their societal expectations. Code-switching in Spanglish is using both Spanish and English vocabulary and grammar when speaking. Eugenia Casielles-Suárez talks about the idea of words changing meaning over time as two languages co-exist, and languages develop to adopt more meaning, called contact phenomenon. As more people speaking Spanglish experience several influences on their lives, and they find their own identities, their language reflects that. As there becomes an understanding of what could be some grammar rules for Spanglish, the understanding of Spanglish has become more standardized. 

 

Tato Laviera was an immigrant from Puerto Rico whose writing reflected the Spanglish dialect and culture as he experienced it. Stephanie Álvarez Martínez’s piece talks about Tato Lavera as an example a Spanglish writer, and how his explorations of cross-culturalism have brought an important voice to the Spanglish community. Laviera’s poem Spanglish narrates his experiences of breaking the bounds of his Puerto Rican culture by living in America, and breaking the bounds of his new American culture by speaking Spanish. In his bicultural experience, Laviera explains the difficulties of fitting into one identity, being labeled “immigrant” and his words as “mispronounced” and carrying the implications of those words. This personal experience helps readers to personify a Spanglish identity. 

Being bilingual and bicultural as a Spanish speaker in the US poses challenges and rewards. Spanglish speakers are able to develop their own understanding of Spanglish as a language, and as a lifestyle, fitting into more than one identity and expanding their minds. Spanglish is made up of two languages and two cultures, it consists of technical elements of language and elements of emotions that create an identity for Spanglish speakers.