New York, July 24, 1998 -- A newly-arrived Puerto Rican in New York might be somewhat confused by a friend who invites him to lunchar, pays for his parqueo and later suggests that they bipear a friend to join them. <BR>
Welcome to Spanglish, a melange of Spanish-based parlance infused with numerous English borrowings. <BR>
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The experience illustrates how two vital languages, English and Spanish, coexist in New York and other U.S. cities, influencing each other and refashioning communication. <BR>
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"All languages change, that is part of their evolution, and Spanish has changed - in Spain and other countries - as a result of coming into contact with other languages," Ana Celia Zentella, author of "Growing Up Bilingual" ($26.95 from Amazon.com) and professor at Hunter College and the Center for Graduate Studies at New York University told EFE. <BR>
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The use of English, Spanish and Spanglish - a sometimes derogatory term - depends in great measure on the length of time the speaker has lived in the United States, not on the speaker's native country. <BR>
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Choice of language is also directly related to such factors as quality of life, family dynamics, life experience and education.<BR>
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"Those who have lived in New York for a longer time tend to use English more than Spanish, which is primarily used at home or among friends; those who have recently arrived tend to be monolingual in Spanish, and then there's an intermediate group that tends to mix both languages," Pedro Pedraza, research director at the Center for Puerto Rican Political Studies, told EFE. <BR>
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Experts cite recent studies showing 90 percent of Hispanics advocate speaking Spanish and would like their children to learn it. However, when asked to rank the importance of Spanish in relation to issues such as employment, health, education or housing, Hispanics' concern with language significantly dropped.<BR>
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"Problems facing Hispanics in the United States need to be dealt with in English. Hispanics know that English is the key that will open doors for them, while Spanish does not carry the same weight," Prof. Zentella said. <BR>
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Although Spanish slowly loses ground among long-term Hispanic residents of the United States, the language is continuously injected with fresh vigor by successive waves of Latin American immigrants. <BR>
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The constant flux of people and languages in some neighborhoods, combined with the ever-constant presence of English, could give rise to a new Spanish dialect indigenous to New York, said Zentella, who is currently studying the evolution of New York Spanish. <BR>
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Many linguists are no longer shocked by the transliteration of English words into "Spanish," or the incorporation of English syntax into Spanish phrases. <BR>
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So, hey, how about we spend some time this afternoon surfeando la Net? <BR>
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