Spanish in the United States

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Spanish language spread in the United States.
Spanish language spread in the United States.

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Spanish is the second most common language in the United States after English. There are more Spanish speakers in the United States than there are speakers of French (another language inherited from European colonization), Hawaiian, and the various Native American languages taken all together. According to the 2000 United States Census, Spanish is spoken most frequently at home by about 28.1 million people aged 5 or over. Of these, 14.3 million reported that they also spoke English "very well" [1]. The United States is home to more than 40 million Hispanics, making it the fifth largest Spanish-speaking community in the world, after Mexico, Colombia, Spain and Argentina([2], [3]).

New Mexico is commonly thought to have Spanish as an official language alongside English, due to the widespread usage of Spanish in the state. In fact, although the original state constitution of 1912 provided for a temporarily bilingual government, New Mexico has no official language. Although Spanish is not the most spoken language in any one U.S. state, it is the second most spoken language in 43 states and in the District of Columbia. Throughout the history of the Southwest U.S., the controversial issues on language as part of cultural rights and bilingual representation in state government has caused friction between Anglo-American and Latino residents.

Speakers of Spanish in the United States
  1. New Mexico (823,352) 43.27%
  2. California (12,442,626) 34.72%
  3. Texas (7,781,211) 34.63%
  4. Arizona (1,608,698) 28.03%
  5. Nevada (531,929) 22.80%
  6. Colorado (878,803) 19.10%
  7. Florida (3,304,832) 19.01%
  8. New York (3,076,697) 15.96%
  9. New Jersey (1,294,422) 14.90%
  10. Illinois (1,774,551) 13.94%
  11. Connecticut (371,818) 10.63%
  12. Utah (253,073) 10.45%
  13. Rhode Island (111,823) 10.35%
  14. Oregon (343,278) 9.56%
  15. Idaho (123,900) 8.88%
  16. District of Columbia (47,258) 8.53%
  17. Washington (526,667) 8.48%
  18. Kansas (220,288) 8.06%

Spanish is the most widely taught non-English language in U.S. secondary schools and institutions of higher education ([4]), indicating its importance among non-Hispanic Americans. Perhaps as many as 100 million people in the United States have some basic knowledge of Spanish.

Contents

[edit] History

The Spanish language has been spoken in North America since the 16th century. Ponce de León is the first Spaniard known to have visited North America, in 1513. In 1565, the Spaniards founded St. Augustine, Florida, the oldest continuously occupied European settlement in the modern territory of the United States. The first reading grammar text was written in Spanish in Georgia in 1658.

In 1803, when Louisiana was sold to the United States, Spanish (and French) settlers in that region became citizens of a new country, but kept their language(s). Texas was part of the independent republic of Mexico from 1821 to the Anglo settlers' Texas revolution of 1836. In the 1850 US census, less than 16,000 Texans are of Mexican descent, and nearly all were Spanish-speaking people became outnumbered by Anglo-Americans six to one.[citation needed]

After the Mexican-American War (1846–1848), nearly half of Mexico was lost to the United States, including parts of the modern states of Texas, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, and Wyoming, and the whole of Alta California, Nevada, and Utah. Subsequently, hundreds of thousands of Mexicans became Americans literally overnight.[citation needed] The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848) made no explicit reference to language rights.
The two proposed territories over that land agreed with the US government on the rights of its' Spanish-speaking residents (populations varied from 7,500 to 20,000 in California, and 25,000 to 50,000 in New Mexico) became American citizens.

California's first constitution approved an important recognition of Spanish language rights: "All laws, decrees, regulations, and provisions emanating from any of the three supreme powers of this State, which from their nature require publication, shall be published in English and Spanish." By 1870, Anglo-Americans had become a majority in California. In 1879, California promulgated a new constitution under which all official proceedings were to be conducted only in English; this clause remained in effect until 1966. In 1986, California voters added a new constitutional clause by referendum stating that "English is the official language of the State of California." However, Spanish is still spoken widely throughout the state, and many government forms, documents, and services are available in both Spanish and English.

Although the state does not have an official language, laws in New Mexico are promulgated in Spanish as well as English, although English is the working language of the state government. Spanish has been spoken around northern New Mexico, southern Colorado and the U.S.-Mexico border since the 16th century. The range of Spanish rule in the late 18th and early 19th centuries encompassed much of the present-day US territory, including the French colony of Louisiana briefly under the Spanish from 1763 to 1800 and part of the US since 1803.

In Texas, English is conventionally used in government, but the state has no official language. Texas inherited a large Tejano population after the Mexican-American War. In addition, a steady influx of Spanish-speaking immigrants increased the import of Spanish in Texas. Even in the 21st century, southernmost counties of Texas in the Rio Grande Valley are overwhelmingly Latino, and Spanish is a common language among the region's multi-generational Mexican-Americans, but are more English-proficient than their southern neighbors.

Throughout history in the Southwest U.S., the controversial issues on language as part of cultural rights and bilingual representation in state government has caused friction between Latino residents and their English-speaking counterparts, who consider it "un-American" for immigrants and their families to use the Spanish language not only in addition to but frequently to the exclusion of English.[citation needed]

Some small influence of Spanish was felt in the U.S. during and following the Spanish-American War, which brought the first group of Cubans to the United States as visitors. These visitors would travel between the two countries for decades until the Cuban Revolution in 1959 made their exile permanent. With the downfall of Fulgencio Batista's dictatorship and the rise of Fidel Castro's communist government, almost one million Cubans emigrated to the United States, most settling in southern and central Florida. Other Cuban Americans living in the Northeast U.S. are fluent in Spanish.

Spanish is the first language of Puerto Rico, whose citizens hold statutory U.S. citizenship. Many Puerto Ricans have migrated to New York City, New York, adding to the Spanish-speaking population there. However, millions of Puerto Rican Americans live across the mainland U.S., also have fluency in the Spanish language. In Hawaii, where Puerto Rican farm laborers and Mexican ranchers settled since the late 1800's, 7 percent of the islands' people are Hispanic and also are Spanish-speakers.[citation needed]

The influx of large numbers of Spanish-speaking immigrants to the United States has elevated the number of Spanish-speakers throughout the country, making them majorities or large minorities in many districts. This increase has been especially marked in California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, states bordering Mexico. Some critics have referred to the survival of the Spanish language in the USA, especially in the southern areas bordering Mexico, as the "El Norte de Mexico", the "Amexica" or "Amerexico" effect. It's well possible that the United States will become bilingual, if not multilingual, society in the mid 21st century.

Starting in the 1990s many stores such as this Best Buy began to put in bilingual signs in areas with notable latino populations.
Starting in the 1990s many stores such as this Best Buy began to put in bilingual signs in areas with notable latino populations.

[citation needed]

[edit] Spanish place names

As a consequence of former Spanish and, later, Mexican sovereignty over lands that are now part of the United States, there are many places in the country, especially in the southwest, with Spanish names:

  • States: Colorado ("Colored Red"), Nevada ("Snowcapped [sierra]"), New Mexico (Calqued from Nuevo México), Montana (from Montaña: "Mountain"), and California (from the name of an imaginary island in "Las Sergas de Esplandián", a popular Spanish chivalry novel of the time/Cali from Caliente [meaning hot], Forn from Forno [meaning stove in medieval Spanish], ia giving the land a female name); Marianas (named for the Spanish Queen Regent Mariana de Austria, the mother of Charles II), Florida (flowered); Puerto Rico (means "Rich Port" in Spanish, reflecting the colonial mindset focused on gold and seafaring).
  • Islands: Alcatraz (from: Alcatraz "Gannet"), Farallon Islands (from: Farallones "High Cliffs"), Alameda ("Poplar Grove"), Key West (Anglicized from Cayo Hueso: "Bone Cay"), Key Largo (from Hollywood: the present place name was never given by the Spanish but adopted after the Bogart film, Key largo; "Long Key" is a separate islet in the chain, however Matecumbe and Isla Morada are original Spanish place names in the "Keys" or 'Cayos').
  • Streets and Roads: El Camino Real ("The Royal Road" or "The King's Highway"), Santa Monica Boulevard (from Santa Mónica: "Saint Mónica"), San Pablo Avenue ("St. Paul"), Avenida de las Pulgas ("Avenue of the Fleas"), Camino Pablo ("Path of [Saint] Paul"), etc.

[edit] Variation

The influence of English on American Spanish is very important. In many Latino youth subcultures, it is fashionable to mix Spanish and English in various ways, resulting in what is known as "Spanglish". Spanglish is the name for the combination of using Spanish and English together to effectively communicate something.

The new generation of American Latinos want to preserve Spanish as equally to learn and use the English language. The small Academia Norteamericana de la Lengua Española (North American Academy of the Spanish Language) watches the developments of US Spanish and the influence of English.

The experts distinguish the following varieties in the Spanish in the United States:[citation needed]

On the other hand, some words have entered standard American English from Spanish. For a detailed list of borrowed words, see American English.

[edit] Future of Spanish in the United States

There are many factors that indicate that Spanish in the U.S. is in a healthy state. Living an exclusively Spanish-speaking life can be viable in some areas due to the constant influx of immigrants and the prevalence of Spanish-language mass media, such as Univisión, Telemundo USA, and Azteca América. Because Hispanic immigration is still the largest source of immigrants, and due to closeness to Spanish-speaking areas, it is possible that the language in the Southern states of the USA like California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and Florida will see an ever-growing use of Spanish in everyday life. In addition it should be noted that no large immigrant group spoke a language which was also the native language of nearby states such as Mexico and Cuba.

Also, because of the North American Free Trade Agreement, it is now common for many American manufacturers to use trilingual product labeling in which the same text is repeated in English, French, and Spanish. Apart from the businesses that have always catered to Spanish-speaking immigrants, a small but increasing number of mainstream American retailers are beginning to provide dual-language advertising in Spanish speaking areas and offering customer service in Spanish.

The State of the Union Addresses and other U.S. Presidential speeches have been translated into Spanish following the precedent set by the Bill Clinton administration. Official Spanish translations are available at Whitehouse.gov. In addition to this, some non-Hispanic politicians who are fluent in the Spanish language have often delivered speeches in Spanish to Hispanic majority constituencies.

Federal agencies like the United States Postal Service often post Spanish language signs in parts of the country where Spanish is commonly spoken.
Federal agencies like the United States Postal Service often post Spanish language signs in parts of the country where Spanish is commonly spoken.

Perhaps these factors can guarantee the survival of the Spanish in the United States, but it is necessary to remember that historically the original languages of immigrants tend to disappear or become greatly reduced through assimilation and generational change. The Spanish language has disappeared in several countries and territories during the 20th century, notably in the Pacific Island nations of Guam, Micronesia, Palau, Northern Marianas, and Marshall Islands. In the Philippines, it has now virtually died out (2,658 speakers, 1990 Census), although numerous Spanish loan words exist.

In addition, the English-Only movement seeks to establish English as the only official language of the United States. Generally speaking, there is growing public pressure on Spanish speaking immigrants to learn English and to speak the language in public. Also, since Universities, the business community and professions use English, there is great pressure to learn English for the purposes of upward mobility.

Generally, US Hispanics (13.4% of the population in 2002) are bilingual to some degree. A study by Simmons Market Research found that 19% of the Hispanic population speak only Spanish while 9% speak only English, 55% have limited English proficiency and 17% are fully English-Spanish bilingual.

Intergenerational transmission of Spanish is a better indicator of the future of Spanish in the United States than crude numbers of native Spanish-speaking immigrants in a given moment of time. Although Latin American immigrants have various levels of English proficiency, Hispanics who are second-generation American in the United States almost all speak English, but about 50 percent speak Spanish at home. 2/3rds of third-generation Mexican Americans speak only English at home.

The most complete study of the adoption of English by Spanish-speaking immigrants was undertaken by Calvin Veltman for the National Center for Education Statistics and later, for the Hispanic Policy Development Project. His studies on language shift document very high rates of bilingualism and the subsequent adoption of English as the preferred language of Hispanics, particularly by the young and by the native born. A complete set of demographic projections postulates the nearly complete assimilation of any given cohort of Spanish language immigrants within two generations. Although the study was based on a large 1976 sample developed by the Bureau of the Census which has not been repeated, data from the 1990 Census tend to confirm the massive anglicization of the Hispanic population in all cities and regions of the country. Like that of other groups before it, the future of the Spanish language in the United States depends on continuing immigration.

[edit] American literature in Spanish

Southwest Colonial literature

In 1610, Gaspar Pérez de Villagrá published his Historia de Nuevo México (History of New Mexico).

Nineteenth Century

In 1880, José Martí moved to New York City.

Eusebio Chacón published El hijo de la tempestad in 1892.

Twentieth century

Federico García Lorca wrote in America his collection of poems, Poeta en Nueva York, and the two plays Así que pasen cinco años and El público. José Vasconcelos and Juan Ramón Jiménez were exiled to the U.S.A.

Chicano period

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Chicano languages

Chicano Spanish · Nahuatl language · Spanish language · Chicano Caló words and expressions · Chicano English · New Mexican Spanish · Spanish in the United States · Ladino · Spanish profanity · Spanglish
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