|
Approximately 65 percent of the 35 million plus Hispanics, or Latinos, in the United States are of Mexican origin. Traditionally, it was thought that the Mexican influence on American English and culture was confined to the border region and the five southwestern states with large Mexican-origin populations: California, Arizona, Texas, New Mexico, and Colorado. (Northern New Mexico and Southern Colorado are distinguished by the rapidly diminishing presence of another group of Spanish ancestry, known as Hispanos, many of whom are descendants of people who lived in this area prior to annexation by the United States). Today, however, the Mexican presence is not limited to the traditional Southwest since significant Mexican-origin populations can be found in other western states and in large urban centers in the Midwest. Such regions have been labeled by the term Amexica and the resulting language contact variety has been termed Amexican.
Perhaps the most noteworthy feature of Amexican is the presence of numerous borrowings from Spanish, which can be divided into two distinct periods. The early period, prior to 1910, consists of terms related to cowboys and their work (e.g., chaps "leggings," taps "stirrup coverings," conchas "silver shell-shaped ornaments," hackamore "a bridle part fitting around a horse's head," and dally "a turn of the rope around the saddle horn when roping another animal"). Other words of this period relate to mining, e.g., placer "(gold) flakes or nuggets deposited by rivers or glaciers," bonanza "a vein of ore of considerable extension." Still others are common terms relating to Spanish/Mexican food and drink, e.g., enchilada and tequila, customs, institutions, and flora, e.g., mesquite.
The modern period, from 1910 to the present, is characterized by terms relating to a variety of Mexican foods and dishes, e.g., fajitas "strips of marinated steak," huevos rancheros "fried eggs smothered in salsa," and pan dulce "Mexican-style pastries," as well as some words having to do with commerce, e.g., maquiladora "an assembly plant in Mexico run by foreigners." Others of this period, mock, or so-called "junk," Spanish borrowings, are terms used in a derogatory or jocular fashion, e.g., mano a mano, literally "hand to hand," but sometimes used as "man to man," and macho "exaggerated masculinity or tough-guy image," as well as words relating to Mexican customs, e.g., luminaria "a small outdoor light made of a candle inside a weighted paper bag," and jalapeño "a small hot pepper."
|
