“Spanish is a matter
Of rolling rrrrrs,
Clicking the tongue,
Spanish is a matter
Of “Ay Dios”
When the beans burn
or “Chihuahua!”
When the weakest kid
Hits a home run.
Spanish is a matter
Of your abuelo
And his compa
Chuckling about their
younger days
While playing checkers
Under the grape arbor…”
from Gary
Soto’s “Canto Familiar”
Language is a feature that gives a culture its uniqueness. The Spanish language originated in Spain and was spread throughout Central and South America by way of colonization. The language varies between regions and from culture group to culture group. Even when the language is written the same, there are cultural variances between Mexico, Puerto Rico, Columbia, Venezuela, and the Dominican Republic.
The waves of 19th and 20th century migration from Mexico to the US have caused Mexican Spanish to become the most widely spoken variety of Spanish throughout the USA. Some characteristics of Mexican Spanish are as follows:
· In most of the interior of Mexico, syllable-final /s/ is rarely weakened
· The articulation in inland Mexico of the /x/ sounds like an English /h/
· The conventionalized use of hasta to mean “no”
· The common use of “que” in conjuction with “tan(to)
· The use of “mucho muy” instead of the suffix –isimo at the end of an adjective
· Adverbs end in –mente (felizmente=happily, rapidamente=rapidly etc.)
For more of an in-depth analysis of Mexican Spanish go to:
http://www.staff.ncl.ac.uk/i.e.mackenzie/mexican/htm
Other structural highlights of the Spanish language in general are as follows:
· The adjective follows the noun ie. El carro rojo (The red car)
· There are two articles: el (masculine) and la (feminine)
· All nouns are either masculine of feminine. ie. la rosa, el coche, la sofa, el perro
· The article must correspond with the noun. For example if there is more than one flower, it is written las flores.
· Most syllables in Spanish end in a vowel (buena, casa, hijo, roca)
· A combination of a strong vowel (a,e,o) and a weak vowel (I,u) or two weak vowels is called a dipthong. ie. ciu-dad (city), bue-no (good)
For more information on the structure of Spanish, consult a Spanish textbook or go to a Language School!!
Mande? What one says in requesting a repetition of something not understood
Andale ”Let’s go/OK/I agree”
bolillo ”American/foreigner”
ese? ”Why?”
hijole! ”Wow!”
mocharse To help out
orale ”OK/come on”
pinche ”cursed/damned”
naco cry baby/ in bad taste
Check out some of the fantastic literature below that incorporates these Mexicanisms in an English text.
Chato’s Kitchen Gary Soto (picture book)
Chato and the Party Animals Gary Soto (picture book)
Canto Familiar Gary Soto (A collection of poetry for young adults)
Daniel’s Ride Michael Perry (picture book
about a young boy’s ride in a lowrider)
Other links to common Mexican phrases, poetry, and proverbs:
www.oneproverb.com/bwfolder/mexicanbw