The new way of speaking the language in South Florida

Human interest

By David Landsel

The fusion of Latin and Anglo-American cultures in South Florida in the second half of the 20th century created a new dialect, linguists say.

Known as Miami English, this increasingly popular language traces its roots to the 1950s, when Cubans began to settle in the region in mass.

One of the most bilingual cities in the country today – and beyond that, home to many different Spanish dialects – research has shown that Miamians are finding a new way to interact with English, much like immigrant groups in other parts of the United States throughout modern history.

“In Miami, there are many ways to speak English” Phillip M. Carterdirector of the Center for Humanities in Urban Environments at Florida International University, told IFL Science.

“The variety We studied For the past decade, it has been the primary linguistic variety of people born in South Florida, in predominantly Latinx communities. The variety is characterized by unique but ultimately minor pronunciations, minor grammatical differences and word differences, which are influenced by the long-standing presence of Spanish in South Florida,” he said.

Miami English should not be confused with Spanglish – it is English, filled with English phrases taken directly from literal Spanish, what is called a calque. And increasingly, everyone in Miami is using them, no matter where their family is from, Indy100.com reported.

“What’s remarkable about them is that we found that they were used not only in the speech of immigrants – people who rely on their native language, Spanish, to learn English – but also among their children, who learned English as part of their English learning. -first language,” Carter said.

And layers are not new to language, Carter points out — in a previous article for the Conversationhe highlights a more famous example: Dandelion, derived from the French term Lion toothor lion’s tooth.

What is Miami English like?

From word-for-word translations to phonetic borrowing, Miami English has its roots in the many dialects of Spanish spoken in South Florida. The study authors tested 50 different expressions on a small assortment of local residents. Here are some commonly understood examples of the new and evolving jargon shared with journalists:

• “We got out of the car.” – a literal translation of “bajar del carro”. Used instead of “we got out of the car”.
• “I waited in line to pay for my groceries.”
• “He threw a party to celebrate his son’s birthday.” — Do instead of throw, comes from “hacer una fiesta”.
• “Marco and I went to a bar and he invited me for a beer.” — “invite” is commonly used in English by Spanish speakers to replace buying someone a beer, a coffee or a meal.
• “Alex married José.” From the Spanish “casarse con”, which literally translates to “married with” instead of “married to”.
• “Thank God.” — the “s” is borrowed from “gracias a Dios”.