New York Latino English
The
According to linguist William Labov, "A thorough and accurate study of geographic differences in the English of Latinos from the Caribbean and various countries of Central and South America is beyond the scope of the current work", largely because "consistent dialect patterns are still in the process of formation".[2] Importantly, this East Coast Latino ethnolect is a native variety of American English and not a form of Spanglish, broken English, or interlanguage, and other ethnic American English dialects are similarly documented.[6] It is not spoken by all Latinos in this region, and it is not spoken only by Latinos.[1] It is sometimes spoken by people who know little or no Spanish.
Phonology
General phonology
- Some New York Latino English speakers, the best documented being East Harlem Puerto Rican males with many African American contacts, may be indistinguishable by sound from African American Vernacular English (AAVE) speakers.[7]
- New York Latino English utterances may have some degree of syllable-timed rhythms, so syllables take up roughly the same amount of time with roughly the same amount of stress and particularly among older and male speakers.[8] Standard American English is stress-timed, so only stressed syllables are evenly timed, though Spanish is also syllable-timed.
- /t/ and /d/ are realized as dental stops [d̪] rather than as the standard American and AAVE alveolars [t] and [d] (a feature also found in many Romance languages, including Spanish). Dentalization is generally also common in New York accents, and /n/ in New York Latino English is also pronounced dentally, as [n̪].[9]
- /θ/ is often pronounced [
- Devoicing of voiced obstruent codas is optional among stronger accents (e.g., characterize may be realized with a final [s]).
- Consonant cluster simplifications occur such as the loss of dental stops after nasals (bent) and fricatives, (left, test). That also leads to a characteristic plural, in which words like tests are pronounced [ˈt̪ɛst̪ɨs], though this is highly stigmatized and not necessarily common.[11]
- syllable codas (at the end of syllables), however, /l/ is often vocalized (turned into a back vowel) so that, for instance, soul may approach the sound of so, and tool may approach the sound of too.[13]
- Predominantly, pronunciation is variably ɹ̠].
Subcultural variations
As the unity of the dialect is still in transition, in order to enhance their study, Slomanson & Newman grouped their participants based on differences in subcultural (or peer group) participation and identification. The study differentiated between the influential youth groups/subcultures of
The study found that the
Grammar and vocabulary
- Similarity of many grammatical structures between New York Latino English and
- Lack of inversion or do support particularly in first- and second-person questions (I can go to the bathroom? rather than Can I go to the bathroom?)[19]
- Calques and direct translations of Spanish expressions and words (owned by the devil, instead of possessed by the devil, closed meaning locked).[20]
- The AAVE and Southern U.S. term you-all [juɑw] or y'all is common.[21]
Notable native speakers
This section possibly contains original research. (January 2019) |
- Cardi B (variably rhotic; /aɪ/ glide deletion) — "an Afro-Latina with a thick Bronx accent"[22][23][24]
- Fat Joe (non-rhotic; /aɪ/ glide deletion) — "Fat Joe is a born and bred Bronxite who still speaks in the singular city accent"[25]
- Luis Guzmán (non-rhotic; no /aɪ/ glide deletion) — "his Nuyorican accent is oh so thick"[26]
- La India (variably rhotic; variable /aɪ/ glide deletion) — "speaking in a gruff Nuyorican accent"[27]
- John Leguizamo (variably rhotic; variable /aɪ/ glide deletion) — "his hardcore New York accent"[28] and "he has a Nuyorican accent he can't shake"[29]
- Jennifer Lopez (rhotic; no /aɪ/ glide deletion) — "Bronx Puerto Rican... when I grew up I talked like this"[30] and "her Nuyorican (meaning, a Puerto Rican from New York, since Jenny from the Block was born in the Bronx) accent"[31]
- Rosie Perez (non-rhotic; no /aɪ/ glide deletion) — "she will always be remembered [for...] the Nuyorican accent"[32] and "a high-pitched voice with a thick Nuyorican accent"[33]
- Marc Anthony (variably rhotic; no /aɪ/ glide deletion)
- Shaggy Flores (non-rhotic; no /aɪ/ glide deletion)
- Immortal Technique (variably rhotic; /aɪ/ glide deletion)
- Lumidee (variably rhotic; no /aɪ/ glide deletion)
- Rick Gonzalez (variably rhotic; no /aɪ/ glide deletion)
- Cuban Link (variably rhotic; no /aɪ/ glide deletion)
- Joell Ortiz (variably rhotic; /aɪ/ glide deletion)
- Victor Rasuk (variably rhotic; no /aɪ/ glide deletion)
- Prince Royce (rhotic; no /aɪ/ glide deletion)
- Glen Tapia (variably rhotic; /aɪ/ glide deletion)
- Tru Life (variably rhotic; no /aɪ/ glide deletion)
- Lauren Vélez (rhotic; no /aɪ/ glide deletion)
- David Zayas (non-rhotic; no /aɪ/ glide deletion)
- 6ix9ine (variably rhotic; no /aɪ/ glide deletion)
- Big Pun (non-rhotic; no /aɪ/ glide deletion)
- Romeo Santos (variably rhotic; /aɪ/ glide deletion)
References
- ^ a b Newman, Michael. "The New York Latino English Project Page." Queens College. Accessed 2015.
- ^ a b Labov, William; Ash, Sharon; Boberg, Charles (2006). The Atlas of North American English, Berlin: Mouton-de Gruyter, p. 24.
- ^ Slomanson & Newman (2004:214)
- ISBN 0-87281-034-8
- ^ Newman, Michael (2010). "Focusing, implicational scaling, and the dialect status of New York Latino English". Journal of Sociolinguistics, 14: 210.
- ^ Zacarian, Debbie (2012). Mastering Academic Language: A Framework for Supporting Student Achievement. Corwin Press p. 16.
- Lanehart, Sonja(2015). The Oxford Handbook of African American Language. Oxford University Press. p. 284-285
- ^ a b Shousterman, Cara (2014) "Speaking English in Spanish Harlem: The Role of Rhythm," University of Pennsylvania Working Papers in Linguistics: Vol. 20 : Iss. 2, Article 18. Available at: http://repository.upenn.edu/pwpl/vol20/iss2/18
- ^ Newman (2014:84)
- ^ Newman (2014:82)
- ^ Newman (2014:86)
- ^ Newman (2014:83)
- ^ Slomanson & Newman (2004:213)
- ^ Cutler, C. (2010). "Hip-Hop, White Immigrant Youth, and African American Vernacular English: Accommodation as an Identity Choice". Journal of English Linguistics, 38(3), p. 252.
- ^ Slomanson & Newman (2004:202)
- ^ Slomanson & Newman (2004:205)
- ^ a b c Slomanson & Newman (2004:211)
- ^ Newman (2014:94–95)
- ^ Newman (2014:95)
- ^ Newman (2014:99)
- ^ Newman (2014:89)
- ^ Shamsian, Jacob (September 27, 2017). "Meet Cardi B, the rapper who dethroned Taylor Swift from the top of the charts". Business Insider. Archived from the original on October 19, 2017. Retrieved October 19, 2017.
Her distinctive New Yawk accent makes her an important part of the city's constellation of hip-hop artists.
- ^ Breihan, Tom (July 19, 2017). "Cardi B Is A Great Rapper, And You Need To Start Taking Her Seriously". Stereogum. Archived from the original on October 19, 2017. Retrieved October 19, 2017.
Her voice is a full-bodied New Yawk nasal bleat...
- ^ Cepeda, Eddie (September 2017). "Cardi B Won't Change To Make White Fans Comfortable — And That's Why She's Number One". Bustle. Archived from the original on October 19, 2017. Retrieved October 19, 2017.
She's an Afro-Latina with a thick Bronx accent...
- ^ Guzman, Sandra (2008). "MY NEW YORK: FAT JOE". New York Post. NYP Holdings, Inc.
- ^ "Our Five Favorite Luis Guzman Performances". Tu Vez. Archived from the original on December 31, 2011.
- ^ Valdes-Rodriguez, Alisa (2000). "Commanding Respect". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ "John Leguizamo Has A Southern Accent (Southern Queens, That Is)". CBS. CBS Interactive.
- ^ Rico, Jack (2009). "John Leguizamo to play 'Cantinflas' in biopic?" ShowBizCafe.com.
- ^ Know the Difference Between a Brooklyn Accent and a Bronx Accent? Here's a Tutorial by Jennifer Lopez and Leah Remini". Dexter Canfield Media Inc./YouTube. 2018.
- ^ Gonzalez, Irina (2019). "How Jennifer Lopez Paved the Way for a Generation of Latinas". O: The Oprah Magazine. Hearst Magazine Media, Inc.
- ^ "4 ways Rosie Perez stole our hearts". Gizmodo Media Group. 2014.
- ^ George, Nelson (2014). '"Face dance means you don't know what the hell the rest of your body was doing but your face is fierce. That's face dancing." —Rosie Perez'. Esquire. Hearst Magazine Media, Inc.
Bibliography
- Newman, Michael (2014), New York City English, Mouton de Gruyter.
- Slomanson, Peter; Newman, Michael (2004), Peer Group Identification and Variation in New York Latino English Laterals (PDF), English World-Wide, 25, pp. 199–216
- Wolfram, Walt & Natalie Schilling Estes (2005) American English 2nd edition Blackwell ISBN 1-4051-1265-4
- Wolfram, Walt & Ben Ward (2005) American Voices: How Dialects Differ from Coast to Coast Blackwell ISBN 1-4051-2109-2
External links
- The New York Latino English Project The site of the New York Latino English project, which studies the native English spoken by New York Latinos.