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Spanish Much of English is made up of words from other languages, and Spanish is a very important contributor in this respect, especially in U.S. English. U.S. English has naturalized and adapted not only Spanish words per se, but also words from varieties of Spanish such as American Spanish and Mexican Spanish, and words originating in the languages of Central and South America.
Some well-known and easily recognizable Spanish émigrés to English are direct borrowings: corral (late 16th century), matador (late 17th), pompano (late 18th), piñata (late 19th), and mano a mano (late 20th). Other émigrés are less recognizable as Spanish because of alterations that have occurred over time. A prime example is mandarin (a high-ranking official). It arrived in English in the late 16th century via Spanish mandarin from Sanskrit mantrin- "counselor." The mandarin orange took a further detour through French. Other English words whose Spanish ancestry has been somewhat obscured in this manner include parade (mid-17th century via French from Spanish parada "stopping (a horse)"), launch (the boat, late 17th from Spanish lancha "pinnace"), and the informal savvy (late 18th from Spanish sabe (usted)? "you know?").
Spanish has been a transport language for many other words now naturalized into English and coming from other ancestral languages. For instance, armadillo, bonanza, fronton, and salsa go back via Spanish to Latin; barrio and acequia go back via Spanish to Arabic; and guitar goes back via Spanish to Greek. And contraband, which arrived in English in the late 16th century via Spanish contrabanda from Italian contrabbando, literally "against proclamation," has its ancestral roots in Germanic. A number of English words migrating from Spanish have ultimate roots in the native languages of Central and South America. For example, caiman came into English from Carib, a language spoken in Venezuela and neighboring countries. Spanish gave us alpaca, which it got from Aymara, a Native South American language of Bolivia and Peru. From Nahuatl, a Native Central American language spoken by a people living in southern Mexico and in Central America, Spanish gave us chili. And from Quechua, a Native South American language used by people from the Andes such as the Incas, Spanish borrowed and passed on condor and pampas.
Moving from international geographic distribution to more locally regional areas, American Spanish-a variety of Spanish spoken in the western hemisphere- gave us ranch. It arrived in English in the early 19th century as an adaptation of American Spanish rancho "group of people who eat together," from French ranger "to arrange in position." Other such contributions are burrito (mid-20th century, from an American Spanish word meaning "small burro," from Spanish burro) and taco (mid-20th, via American Spanish from a Spanish word meaning "wad"). Mexican Spanish - a variety of Spanish spoken in Mexico, the western and southwestern United States, and in many Hispanic communities elsewhere in the nation - has given English stampede (early 19th century from Mexican Spanish estampida, from a Spanish word meaning "uproar"), luminaria (mid-20th from Mexican Spanish, ultimately from Latin luminaria, the plural of luminarium "light"), and macho (early 20th from a Mexican Spanish adjective meaning "masculine," itself via Spanish from Latin masculus).
In terms of U.S. dialect distribution, many English words of Spanish origin are still used chiefly in the western and southwestern United States. Some are arroyo, mesa, olla, and ranchero. Others, for example, quinceañera, an elaborate formal party given for a 15-year-old-girl, are used chiefly in Hispanic communities throughout the nation. In the manner of some other languages, Spanish readily combined with English to yield compound words like bongo drums, cargo pants, pampas grass, broncobuster, big enchilada, ranch house, ranch dressing, and tequila sunrise.
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