Is English the 'official language' of the U.S.?

[pedroh 21]

yea if it were more structured maybe I would respect spanglish a little more

but the form it has right now, as a silly code-shifting dialect with no structure.. nah

[Mononoke28 134]

I only do it when I'm stuck and can't find the word in Spanish; other than that, it's like nails on a chalkboard. It could be because I come from a Spanish speaking country and grew up in an English speaking one. So in my house it's either Spanish or English, none of the Spanglish stuff.

Well, the only one who gets away with it is my 3 year-old niece because she's learning both right now. She'll say "usted do it" or "Mommy gave me un abrazo".

Diana

[HAL 9000 96]

Spanglish is not a language. Thank God for that!

Diana

Languages evolve, they're created and they die off, all the time. One day, Spanglish may very well be a language in its own right. That wouldn't be a bad thing

Even though Spanish and English share about 50-60% homology... they are separate entities with enough evolution in between to make a current day hybrid like Spanglish a complete stupidity.

I don't argue though that that's where we may be headed with more and more additions from other languages as time goes by. Lots of time that is.

Actually, I would differ a bit here. In my work -nerdy papers- I constantly use code-switching; not out of whim, but as influenced by Chicana theorist Gloria Anzaldua (RIP )

She talked about that place in between the borders, La Frontera, where her identities were fluid, and so was her lenguaje. A lot had to do with legitimizing a bilingual identity. Her work is fabulosamente unique.

De facto, Spanglish IS spoken by a high percentage of Chicanos, and other Latin American immigrant groups. I don't see any pejorative connotation for it from where I am seating. Sentada.

Most if not all immigrant or refugee groups create their own patois, their own mixture of linguistic norms and; like AJ said, languages evolve.

Paz, L.

Yeah I just think its an earsore...

I suppose that if that 'language' would be developed with grammar and proper rules to structure it, then it would be yet another option for people to communicate amongst themselves. To be honest I see it firmly as two halves that are lacking trying to come together to form a cohesive way of communicating... and the result (for the most part) are people that do not know sufficiency in either languages.

I mean, como se le occur a one person to tratar and hablar like they know dos languages when really they solo know like half de cada one?

They do hermano. Hell! You and I do it here tambien

But you do get my point, right?

Legitimizing one's language is part of an identity validation process. Me likey reading Anzaldua, mucho.

Of course hermana

Identity is much more than just straight arrow cultural aspects like music and food. As a matter of fact, LANGUAGE is the first aspect of one's identity that places him or her in a cultural, geographical (sometimes) context.

Hence... not having a firm grasp on one's native language (if one would exist) is a sure way of losing part of one's own cultural identity. That doesn't make it particularly wrong... people make choices depending on their circumstances.

[Chica Yeyé 41]

Of course hermana

Identity is much more than just straight arrow cultural aspects like music and food. As a matter of fact, LANGUAGE is the first aspect of one's identity that places him or her in a cultural, geographical (sometimes) context.

Hence... not having a firm grasp on one's native language (if one would exist) is a sure way of losing part of one's own cultural identity. That doesn't make it particularly wrong... people make choices depending on their circumstances.

I don't see it as losing, and that was Anzaldua's point. It is creating anew fluid identity; which say Chicanos have. Being caught in between Fronteras has given birth to a new identity. Not 2 incomplete half-dentities; but maybe a dual one.

Otherwise we would be ascribing to a muy nativist view of language. O eso creo yo, y soy chingona

[HAL 9000 96]

Which is why its most very likely relative to each particular identity although in the strictest sense of the word... one can't be two things at the same time... all you get from that is a confusing construct of reality that doesn't quite fit like a glove.

I'm sure that Fronteras may have that knack for Spanish... but most elsewhere I hear Spanglish I get nausea. You know what I mean... people that don't know how to properly communicate in either language. Most other patois dialects that I have come into first hand contact with are usually parallel to the originating languages- unless the patois is in itself a declared language with its own mechanisms and rules (which to this day, Spanglish is not) and these same patois dialects are equally proficient alongside the originating languages in the vocabulary of the speakers.