Language Contact: Spanish on English

Language contact is unavoidable. When one group of people speaking one language enters/invades/coexists with another group of people speaking another language, it is inevitable that the two languages will influence each other, though these influences happen in different ways. Borrowing results when one language begins to incorporate foreign words or other linguistic elements into its vocabulary. Substratum influence refers to the linguistic influence exerted on the dominant language by a lesser language. For example, when a group of people migrate into another place, their language can become intrusive and can affect the dominant language. The Gauls, for example, abandoned their language in favor of Latin. A much less common phenomenon is that of the superstratum influence, in which the dominant language influences the lesser language. Adstratum describes the process in which two languages coexist as separate entities; for example, the Latin and Greek words used in science and medicine can arguably be called adstrata.

We've already seen a great deal of the influences other languages have had on the development of English. French, for example, had a massive influence that completely changed our vocabulary...with a much lesser degree the syntactic structure of the language (something that's rather hard to change; in Susan's post, you read how in legal language we have preserved some of the French syntax of placing the adjective after the noun: e.g. attorney general).

French's influence has subsided, but another Romance language is now affecting English. Spanish has historically influenced English, mainly in borrowings, but with the great wave of immigrants from Spanish-speaking countries, we have to wonder where this will lead. Will Spanish have an even greater influence on English? Will we adopt vocabulary, change syntactic structures, incorporate new ideas and phrases into our language? Or will immigrants adapt to English, their language eventually subsiding? Will the reversal happen? And will English at all affect Spanish? At present, it seems that all of the above is happening.

Spanish's influence happened long before today. The southwest brought along contact with Spanish during the early days of our country's settlement: the southwest (and then some) was, after all, Spain's territory.

Following is a (not at all comprehensive) list of some borrowings from Spanish to English, many of which are regional words. When a concept exists without a name to it, it is only natural that another word will be borrowed to correct the problem. English, finding itself with an insufficient vocabulary in its new environment, remedied the situation by adopting words from an already existing language.

AI here indicates words borrowed from an American Indian language.

adobe
aficionado
alamo
alcove
alligator (from el largato)
armadillo
avocado (AI)
barbecue (of Haitian Creole origin)
barracuda
barrio
bozo
bravo (Spanish or Italian)
bronco
buckaroo
cabana
cacao (AI)
cannibal (AI)
canoe (AI)
canyon
castanets
chaps
chile/chili (AI)
chinchilla (AI)
chocolate (AI)
cigar/cigarette (AI)
cinch
cockroach
coconut
comrade
coyote (AI)
creole
desperado (butchered version of desesperado)
enchilada
fiesta
grandiose (Spanish or Italian)
gringo
guava (AI)
guerilla
guitar
gusto (Spanish or Italian)
hacienda
hammock (AI)
hazard
hurricane (AI)
iguana (AI)
jaguar (AI)
lariat
lasso
llama (AI)
loco
macho
maize (AI)
mambo (of Haitian Creole origin)
margarita
marijuana
matador
mestizo
mosquito
mulatto
mustang
patio
peccadillo
peon
picaro
pinto
plantain
platinum
poncho (AI)
potato (AI)
pueblo
quixotic
ranch
rodeo
salsa
sarsapilla
savanna/savannah (AI)
sherry
siesta
silo
sombrero
stampede
tango
tapioca (AI or Portuguese)
tequila
tobacco
tomate (AI)
tornado
tuna
vanilla
villa
yucca (AI)

works cited:
Breaking Out of Beginner's Spanish, Joseph J. Keenan
Introduction to Historical Linguistics, Anthony Arlotto