Americans Are Speaking a New Dialect of Spanish-Influenced English in Miami: Study
The world has several languages and dialects. Most of these languages have a legacy of centuries and yet continue to develop in a myriad of ways. In 2024, linguists were stunned to observe an unexpected occurrence in terms of language in Miami, stated indy100. Findings regarding this occurrence were published in English Worldwide journal.
Researchers claim that a new dialect is developing in parts of Miami because of intermingling between Spanish and English speakers. The dialect is of the English language but is heavily influenced by Spanish. This dialect has blossomed so much that it has its own expressions and phrases.
A team of experts has been examining this dialect for around a decade. "All words, dialects, and languages have a history," Professor Phillip M. Carter, Director of the Center for Humanities in an Urban Environment at Florida International University, explained. "In Miami, there are many ways of speaking English. The variety we have been studying for the past 10 years or so is the main language variety of people born in South Florida in Latinx-majority communities. The variety is characterized by some unique but ultimately minor pronunciations, some minor grammatical differences, and word differences, which are influenced by the longstanding presence of Spanish in South Florida," added Carter.
Researchers noted that in this new dialect, certain elements of Spanish sayings are translated to English, however, they are spoken following the Spanish structure. In this dialect, "bajar del carro" becomes "get down from the car," not "get out of the car," which is popular in typical American English. Similarly, “una empanada de carne” becomes "meat empanada" rather than "beef empanada." The translation happens in this particular way because in Spanish, 'carne' refers to all meat, without any specific context, stated IFL Science. This practice is called calque.
"These are examples of literal lexical calques – direct translations. What is remarkable about them is that we found they were not only used in the speech of immigrants – folks who are leaning on their first language, Spanish, as they navigate the acquisition of English – but also among their children, who learned English as their co-first language," Carter said, stated indy100.
Experts noted that the dialect is being spoken not only by Spanish immigrants but also by people who identify English as their first language. In the study, researchers asked a group of 33 people in Miami their thoughts on the new dialect. This group consisted of first-generation and second-generation Cuban-Americans as well as non-Cuban Hispanic people. They were given 50 sentences from this new dialect and were asked to categorize each of them as "perfect," "okay," "awkward," or "horrible." The same exercise was conducted on a group of people outside South Florida.
Results indicated that the dialect sounded natural to Miami people, however, people outside the region found it alien. This showcases how distinct dialects develop through subtle differences, building up to such an extent that people not familiar with it end up finding it ungrammatical. The researchers are hopeful that dialects like the one they have found are not disparaged or denounced. "I want Miami English to lose its stigma because Miami English is someone’s home language variety. It’s the language that person learned from their parents, that they used in school, that they hear in their community. It’s the language variety they developed their identity in, developed their friendships in, and found love in. Why should that be stigmatized?" asks Carter.