The Languages of Mexico
Mexico’s official language is Spanish however it is home to a multitude of languages that has impacted the Mexican dialect’s development.
Map displaying the variety of languages spoken throughout Mexico and in which regions.
Origins and History of Spanish Language in Mexico
Spanish began when vulgar Latin evolved linguistically. It is now considered a Romance Language and is employed by over 500 million people (native and second language learners included). It is also considered the official language of 44 countries, including Mexico. However Spanish is by far not the only language spoken in the nation This has caused a blend between Spanish and the native languages of Mexico, causing “Mexican Spanish” to emerge.
Mexican Language
“Two major relexifications have taken place in the history of México over the past 500 years (relexification is a term from linguistics for the mechanism by which one language changes its lexicon to that of another language).
The first major relexification occurred at the time of the Spanish conquest of México where a variety of Uto-Aztecan indigenous languages were spoken. Of these Uto-Aztecan languages, the predominant language of central Mexico was Náhuatl. Náhuatl (Ná-watl) was the indigenous language spoken by the Mexica (Aztecs) and was utilized as the administrative language throughout the Aztec Empire. After the destruction of the Aztec Empire by the Spanish and during the time of colonial rule, Mexicans learned the Spanish language in the context of their own indigenous languages. Mexican Spanish, while similar to the Spanish from Spain in terms of its comprehensibility, is distinct in that it has been influenced by the Uto-Aztecan languages, especially Náhuatl in terms of prosody, vowel reduction (preference for the consonant), and vocabulary. Thus, Mexican Spanish retains the history and distinctiveness of México in its language.” (Teacher’s Guide to Supporting Mexican American Standard English Speakers; History of Chicano English)
Watch the video below to learn more about the differences between Spanish dialects in terms of pronunciation and which form of Spanish constitutes the “true” form of Spanish.
Chicano English
“For Mexican-Americans or Chicanos the development of the language known as Chicano English can be understood as the living spoken history of the Chicano people. Emerging from the contact between Mexican Spanish and English, Chicano English has now developed as an independent, systematic, and rule-governed language that can count itself among the various original language varieties found in the U.S.
Having gained complete independence from Spain in 1821, México would enjoy a brief period of national influence in the territory now known as the Southwestern United States. It would be here where the second major relexification would occur as the result of war with the United States of America. In 1848 after the conclusion of the Mexican American War, México was forced to cede almost 1/2 of its territory to the U.S.A. In the ensuing settlement of former Mexican territory by Anglo-Americans, contact between speakers of Mexican Spanish and American English increased. In time, Mexicans would come to learn English as a second language and speak a variety of non-native English that could be characterized as a learner’s English. This learner’s English contained various patterns such as phonology, syntax, and semantics from Mexican Spanish. Within the germ of this interlanguage or learner’s English, a new language would be formed and codified by the children of these English learners. This language is known as Mexican American language.
Chicano English emerges from the linguistic setting where there is contact between Mexican Spanish and American English. Linguists describe this language as a contact “dialect” because it develops independently after a period of time and begins to distinguish itself from the interlanguage of learners. Carmen Fought (2003) describes how this interlanguage forms the foundation of Chicano English:
However, particularly within the phonological component, the various non-native English patterns of the immigrants were inherited by their children, modified somewhat, and can still be seen in the new (native) dialect. To a lesser degree, there may be syntactic and semantic elements that also reflect the influence of Spanish. Chicano English now has independent phonological and syntactic norms of its own, which will be discussed later. It is important to reiterate the inaccuracy of the idea that Chicano English is simply English influenced by Spanish. (p. 14)
It is important to note that Chicano English is not simply English influenced by Spanish. Speakers of Chicano English have acquired English perfectly, albeit their English is of the variety found in their community. Chicano English therefore, is a variety of English spoken by fluent English speakers who are not English learners.” (Teacher’s Guide to Supporting Mexican American Standard English Speakers; History of Chicano English)
