Latino (demonym)

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"Latino" and "Latina" redirect here. For other uses, see Latino (disambiguation) and Latina (disambiguation).
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The demonyms Latino and Latina (feminine), are defined in English language dictionaries as:

  • "a person of Latin-American or Spanish-speaking descent."[1]
  • "A Latin American."[2]
  • "A person of Hispanic, especially Latin-American, descent, often one living in the United States."[2]
  • "a native or inhabitant of Latin America"[3]
  • "a person of Latin-American origin living in the United States"[3]
  • "someone who lives in the US and who comes from or whose family comes from Latin America"[4]

The two words originate in American Spanish latino and latina (from Latin Latinus, Latina), either meaning "Latin", or possibly a clipped form of latinoamericano, "Latin American".[1][2][3]

In the United States, the term is in official use in the ethnonym Hispanic or Latino, defined as "a person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin regardless of race."[5][6]

Contents

[edit] Use in the United States

Main articles: Hispanics in the United States and History of Latinos and Hispanics in the United States

The term Latino was officially adopted in 1997 by the United States Government in the ethnonym Hispanic or Latino, which replaced the single term "Hispanic".[7] U.S. official use of the term "Hispanic" has its origins in the 1970 census. The Census Bureau attempted to identify all Hispanics by use of the following criteria in sampled sets:[8]

  • Spanish speakers and persons belonging to a household where Spanish was spoken
  • Persons with Spanish heritage by birth location
  • Persons who self-identify with Spanish ancestry or descent

Neither "Hispanic" nor "Latino" refers to a race, as a person of Latino or Hispanic ethnicity can be of any race.[9][6] Like non-Latinos, a Latino can be White/Caucasian, or Black/African American, or Asian or Native American or Pacific Islander. Again like non-Latinos, some may identify with more than one race, such as Mestizo (a bi-racial person of White/Caucasian and Native American descent), Mulatto (a person of White/Caucasian and Black/African American descent), Zambo (a person of Native American and Black/African American descent) or any other race or combination.

Although as officially defined in the United States, "Latino" does not include Brazilian Americans,[5][6] and specifically refers to "Spanish culture or origin",[5][6] some of the dictionary definitions may include them and/or Brazilians in general. Furthermore, Hispanic or Latino origin is, like race, a matter of self-identification in the US, and government and non-government questionnaires, including the census form,[10] usually contain a blank entry space wherein respondents can indicate a Spanish/Hispanic/Latino origin other than the few (Mexican, Puerto Rican, and Cuban) which are specified; presumably, Brazilian Americans can thus self-identify as being of Hispanic or Latino ethnicity — as can anyone with no Latin American background, however. Brazilian Americans are not included with Hispanics and Latinos in the government's population reports.[11][6]

Some authorities of American English maintain a distinction between the terms "Hispanic" and "Latino":

"Though often used interchangeably in American English, Hispanic and Latino are not identical terms, and in certain contexts the choice between them can be significant. Hispanic, from the Latin word for "Spain," has the broader reference, potentially encompassing all Spanish-speaking peoples in both hemispheres and emphasizing the common denominator of language among communities that sometimes have little else in common. Latino—which in Spanish means "Latin" but which as an English word is probably a shortening of the Spanish word latinoamericano—refers more exclusively to persons or communities of Latin American origin. Of the two, only Hispanic can be used in referring to Spain and its history and culture; a native of Spain residing in the United States is a Hispanic, not a Latino, and one cannot substitute Latino in the phrase the Hispanic influence on native Mexican cultures without garbling the meaning. In practice, however, this distinction is of little significance when referring to residents of the United States, most of whom are of Latin American origin and can theoretically be called by either word."[12]

[edit] Controversy

The term Latino is rejected by some, for various reasons. It is rejected by some indigenists who state that Native American 'Latinos' are disappropriated from their Native American origins and histories by the application of what they consider a racist, Eurocentric term[13][14] that improperly associates people of different races, i.e. associating both the Spanish colonizers and the indigenous inhabitants, especially the descendants of both groups, as the same ethnic group.[15][16]

[edit] Similar and related terms

In many instances "Latino" is used interchangeably with the terms "Latin" (e.g. "Latin jazz", "Latin Cuisine",[17] "Latin music", "Latin Grammy Awards") and "Latin American",[18] especially in popular speech, although Latino is also defined in the English language as a "Latin inhabitant of the United States".[19] As a demonym, though, "Latin" can have other meanings:[20][21]

  • "a native or inhabitant of Latium; an ancient Roman."
  • "a member of any of the Latin peoples, or those speaking chiefly Romance languages, esp. a native of or émigré from Latin America."
  • "a member of the Latin Church; a Roman Catholic, as distinguished from a member of the Greek Church."
  • "A Latino or Latina."

"Latin American" may also not mean the same as "Latino," depending on which definition of the latter is used.[1][2][3][4] The term Latin American is nevertheless preferred by some individuals and organizations in the United States.[22][23][24] "Latin American" is defined as:

  • "A native or inhabitant of Latin America."[25]
  • "A person of Latin-American descent."[25]
Latin Europeans Latin Americans
The countries of
Latin Europe and Latin America


[edit] Definitions in other languages

Further information: Latins

Latino (feminine latina) in the Romance languages, such as Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish, literally translates as "Latin". Portuguese dictionaries define the demonym latino to refer to natives of Romance-speaking nations influenced by Roman civilization, and to the natives or inhabitants of ancient Latium (modern Lazio).[26][27] Italian dictionaries define the demonym latino as: the ancient Latins and Romans, and their language, Latin, as well as the neo-Latin nations.[28][29] The dictionary of the Real Academia Española defines ten meanings for latino, including the ancient peoples of Latium and the modern Romance-speaking European and American nations.[30] In these languages, latino, just like any other demonym, is by convention not capitalized.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c Latino - Definitions from Dictionary.com. Lexico Publishing Group, LLC. Retrieved on 2008-03-03. Definition source: Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
  2. ^ a b c d Latino - Definitions from Dictionary.com. Lexico Publishing Group, LLC. Retrieved on 2008-03-03. Definition source: The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
  3. ^ a b c d Latino - Definition from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. Merriam Webster, Incorporated. Retrieved on 2008-03-03.
  4. ^ a b Cambridge Dictionaries Online - Cambridge University Press. Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary. Cambridge University Press 2008. Retrieved on 2008-03-03.
  5. ^ a b c Office of Management and Budget. Revisions to the Standards for the Classification of Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity. Federal Register Notice October 30, 1997. Retrieved on 2008-01-11.
  6. ^ a b c d e United States Census Bureau (March 2001). Overview of Race and Hispanic Origin (PDF). United States Census Bureau. Retrieved on 2007-07-15.
  7. ^ Office of Management and Budget. Revisions to the Standards for the Classification of Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity. Federal Register Notice October 30, 1997. Retrieved on 2008-01-11. “Terminology for Hispanics.--OMB does not accept the recommendation to retain the single term "Hispanic." Instead, OMB has decided that the term should be "Hispanic or Latino." Because regional usage of the terms differs -- Hispanic is commonly used in the eastern portion of the United States, whereas Latino is commonly used in the western portion -- this change may contribute to improved response rates.” (Bolding in the original)
  8. ^ Gibson, Campbell (09 2002). Historical Census Statistics on Population Totals By Race, 1790 to 1990, and By Hispanic Origin, 1970 to 1990, For The United States, Regions, Divisions, and States. Working Paper Series No. 56. Retrieved on 2006-12-07.
  9. ^ U.S. Census Bureau. U.S. Census Bureau Guidance on the Presentation and Comparison of Race and Hispanic Origin Data. Retrieved on 2007-03-18. “Race and Hispanic origin are two separate concepts in the federal statistical system. People who are Hispanic may be of any race. People in each race group may be either Hispanic or Not Hispanic. Each person has two attributes, their race (or races) and whether or not they are Hispanic.”
  10. ^ U.S. Census form U.S. Census Bureau. See question 7
  11. ^ B03001. Hispanic or Latino Origin by Spedific Origin. 2006 American Community Survey. U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved on 2008-01-20.
  12. ^ American Heritage Dictionary. Retrieved on 2007-03-18.
  13. ^ Indigenous Peoples Literature
  14. ^ Mexica Movement. Mexica Movement. Retrieved on 2007-07-15.
  15. ^ Tezcatlipoca, Olin (2003-08-13). The Crimes of Hispanic and Latino Racist Labels: Everything You Need To Know About The Racism Of Hispanic And Latino Labels as Applied to People of Mexican and “Central American” Descent. Retrieved on 2007-03-18.
  16. ^ The Taino People: A Jatibonicu' Taino History in Puerto Rico & New Jersey. indigenouspeople.net (June 8, 2004). Retrieved on 2007-07-15.
  17. ^ McCormick Latin Cuisine Recipe Collection
  18. ^ Oboler, Suzanne. Ethnic Labels, Latino Lives: Identity and the Politics of (Re) Presentation (in English). 
  19. ^ Douglas Harper. Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved on 2008-06-08.
  20. ^ Latin - Definitions from Dictionary.com. Retrieved on 2008-01-28.
  21. ^ Latin - Definition from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary; Latin[2,noun]. Retrieved on 2008-01-28.
  22. ^ LULAC-League of United Latin American Citizens. Retrieved on 2008-03-05.
  23. ^ Latin American Association. Retrieved on 2008-03-05.
  24. ^ Latin American Youth Center. Retrieved on 2008-03-05.
  25. ^ a b Latin American - Definitions from Dictionary.com. Lexico Publishing Group, LLC. Retrieved on 2008-03-03.. Definition source: Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
  26. ^ Dicionário de Língua Portuguesa da Porto Editora. Porto Editora. Retrieved on 2008-05-01.
  27. ^ UOL - Michaelis - Moderno Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa. Editora Melhoramentos Ltda. Retrieved on 2008-05-01.
  28. ^ De Mauro - latino. PARAVIA. Retrieved on 2008-05-01.
  29. ^ Sapere.it - Dizionari. De Agostini Scuola. Retrieved on 2008-05-01.
  30. ^ Real Academia Española. Diccionario Usual. Real Academia Española. Retrieved on 2008-05-01.

[edit] Bibliography

  • The Oxford Encyclopedia of Latinos and Latinas in the United States, 4 vls, Oxford University Press 2006, ISBN 0195156005

[edit] External links