How do you feel about language mixtures?

Question

For the last couple of years now we've been hearing more and more about Spanglish and how it's ruining the the Spanish language. Words like trucke, parquear, and mopear are all words clearly taken from the English language and switching back and forth from one language to another is also likely to happen. While we mostly hear about Spanglish I've heard that this also ocurring in Hindi, Tagalog, Korean, Japanese, and many others. Do you think that this type of mixing messes up the language? Also, do you think that the strong use of English will cause smaller languages like Tagalog to eventually fade out?

Answer 1

I know what you mean, and where you're concerned. With widespread use of communication, what would have been a localized happenstance is often on a larger scale now. However, we have to remember that language is a living entity, and is in constant evolution. Trying to stop that is similar to using a worm to prevent a wall from falling down. Borrowings of words from one language to the next has always been done, and always will. Just think of the number of English words that were taken from French because of the Norman invasion. Languages coexist, and just as people, they share things. It might seem scary, but that's how languages evolve and adapt to their environment and speakers.

Answer 2

If the people who speak Spanglish can understand Spanish then why would it be a problem? Spanish could change or even die out, but that is the way of languages. You don't hear much Greek these days do you?

Answer 3

One side of my family has been living in Texas for 177 years. For a good part of that time the loan words were coming from South to North, too; lariat, ranch, chaps, and so on. The other side of the family were indigenous to the Smokey Mountains before moving out West. Want proof that American Indian languages are also taking part in this language mixing? Consider that before the Cherokee Removal the word for devil was "skeena," but afterward it was "tsakso" (Jackson, as in "Andrew Jackson"). Or that the word for cow - which didn't exist in the Cherokee mind before Spanish explorers from Florida started making their way North - is "waca" (vaca). The point, I guess, is that languages change, evolve, and share words for convenient concepts.

Answer 4

Language mixture can be the origin of a new language. Had English not mixed the old Anglo-Saxon substrate and grammar with a French-Norman superstrate, modern English would not have the incredible amount of vocabulary and the structural flexibility that it has now.

Answer 5

good question i guess when you think about it the smaller languages fading out kind makes sense. but i don't think that all those languages will just die i just think that they won't be used as often as other major languahes such as korean, spanish , or even english for that matter. as for the other half of your questio i do think mixing does kill the uniquness of the language its self. when you combine two languages it just doesn't sound right to me.

Answer 6

sir, tagalog is mixed with spanish, yet it is still very distinct. english is no threat to my island languange. we will simply make english words sound like tagalog eventually.

Answer 7

i think it is fine as long as the original language somewhere is preserved it would be a shame to lose more languages

Answer 8

Well, i thinkeo that u are righto.
JAJA...U'r right...

But is not that bad...only the mixtures of cultures...

If we focus on protecting (?) the good n nature languages, nothing will happen.

Answer 9

ok