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Cuban Spanglish
Recent posts at Babalu and Cuban-American Pundits have talked about the interesting way in which many Cubans pronounce and spell English words, i.e. Cubanisms.
I'd like to throw in my two centavos worth.
I don't see a problem with the mispronunciations and misspellings, it's a natural evolution of immigrants' language skills. Any language should be learned properly, of course, but it has to start somewhere. It's preferable that they butcher the English language than not attempt to speak or absorb any of it whatsoever.
Besides, what would Miami be like if you didn't hear phrases such as:
"tengo que ir a Pobli a comprar esprái porque ya no queda en el frigidaire".
Translation: I have to go to Publix (Florida supermarket chain) to buy some Sprite because there's no more in the refrigerator.
If you're not familiar with Cubanisms, I highly recommend The Official Spanglish Dictionary, authored by Bill Cruz and Bill Teck, published back in 1998. The book was quite popular in the late 90s during the height of the Generation Ñ days. It has over 300 words and phrases, most of which will have you ROTFL, guaranteed or your money back.
As an added bonus, the authors acknowledge none other than Babalu's Val Prieto!
I'd like to throw in my two centavos worth.
I don't see a problem with the mispronunciations and misspellings, it's a natural evolution of immigrants' language skills. Any language should be learned properly, of course, but it has to start somewhere. It's preferable that they butcher the English language than not attempt to speak or absorb any of it whatsoever.
Besides, what would Miami be like if you didn't hear phrases such as:
"tengo que ir a Pobli a comprar esprái porque ya no queda en el frigidaire".
Translation: I have to go to Publix (Florida supermarket chain) to buy some Sprite because there's no more in the refrigerator.
If you're not familiar with Cubanisms, I highly recommend The Official Spanglish Dictionary, authored by Bill Cruz and Bill Teck, published back in 1998. The book was quite popular in the late 90s during the height of the Generation Ñ days. It has over 300 words and phrases, most of which will have you ROTFL, guaranteed or your money back.
As an added bonus, the authors acknowledge none other than Babalu's Val Prieto!
posted by Robert at 10:45 PM
3 Comments:
I used to write for Generation Ñ back then. They were the first to ever publish any of my work.
Unfortunately, I wasn't too familiar with the magazine, although I remember watching the TV show on WAMI Channel 69!
You know, thinking about it. The internet is a much better vehicle for something like Generation ñ. Magazine publishing is so damned expensive. Hey get Bill Teck on the phone!
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