Ruben Cobos, recorder, October 4, 1976
Item — Box: 13, CD: Lect 7
Scope and Contents
Lecture for his class, continuation of a lecture on Pachuquismos and then later on talks about the Influence of the English Language on the Spanish Language of New Mexico, Inglesismos (fair to good recording, in Spanish, you can hear him but some of the examples of words he gives are hard to understand, Cobos is talking about the previous class where he was discussing the Pachuco language, Pachuquismos, he explains that they are part English, Spanish and even have some Italian and International vocabulary, the Pachucos devised their own language so no one could understand what they were saying, etc., examples. Next he goes on to Inglesismos or English expressions that entered into the Spanish vocabulary of New Mexico, starting about 1821, after Mexico won its independence from Spain and New Mexico was no longer part of New Spain, but now under Mexico politically, New Mexico still retained many of its own Spanish cultural aspects and Spanish language and vocabulary; in 1821 Anglo Americans, Norteamericanos, began to enter New Mexico as traders along the Santa Fe Trail, for example Charles Becknell, new commerce with the United States, Cobos names some of the products sold in New Mexico from Los Estados, the States, the United States, from Missouri, Kansas, Texas, etc., because the United Stares had factories, mills and industry and many goods to bring to New Mexico that the people here had never had before, new items, unknown names, many things for which there was no word in the Spanish language of New Mexico, so New Mexico Hispanic people borrowed the words for them from the Anglo Americans, Cobos gives many examples of English words picked up and spoken by the New Mexicans during this period, weights and measures, yards, gallons, inches, greetings like How do you do sir, in New Mexico came out as hady, howdy, hdusa, etc.; Cobos said the Anglo Americans did not want to learn Spanish, did not care to do so (but many Norteamericanos did learn to speak Spanish), after Kearny and the 1846 so called bloodless conquest, New Mexicans had to learn English just to get by and talk to the Anglos, English became the unofficial but working language of New Mexico, so the New Mexicans began to talk half in Spanish and half in English, using words they had learned from the Americans (Spanglish), for new items introduced from the United States, he gives examples. In turn, the Anglo Americans adoped some Spanish words in their vocaculary, but very few, examples, from Spanish juzgado, juez, judge, court, came English slang word juzgow, buckaroo from vaquero, lariat, larriata, bronco, rodeo, darle vuelta, mustang, chaparral, fiesta, siesta, etc., meanwhile the New Mexico Hispanics adapted thousands of English words into their vocabulary, examples, many for government terms, city hall, casa corte, boletas, distrito. Penitentiary, etc.; Cobos notes that later the schools of New Mexico began to teach English and included English European and Americann literature books, and authors and characters, Shakespeare, Hamlet, and such but did not teach about great Spanish literary figures and books like Cervantes and Don Juan. The Spanish people of New Mexico thought this was muy feo, very sad, ugly not to teach about their own Spanish authors. He goes on to give many examples of English words that New Mexican Hispanics adopted and used, he says these words or phrases were pronounced in New Mexico half in Spanish and half in English, was very humouros (sometimes the Hispanic person really knew the correct words but used the half and half words in humor to make his listener laugh, be happy and relax) words around the school room, pencil sharpner, fountain pen, mailman, use the word show for movie, etc. He tells about shopping, business, trade in a market here in New Mexico compared to in Spain and gives other examples of activities in Spain compared to here. Example, haggling for costs, in Spain a store keeper starts with the hightest price and goes down to a price the customer accepts, here we start low and go to the highest price the buyer will accepy. He gives more examples of English words adopted into the Spanish language of New Mexico, sports words, social life, home appliances, etc. Cobos had given the class a list of words and here reads some more examples from the list. He tells a story about Dr. Arthur Campa, his former teacher, and Campa's experiences with such works. Cobos mentions some New Mexico localismos where the meaning of the word is different here in the state than in Spain or Mexico. He also mentions the WPA, the Great Depression era in New Mexico, WPA was locally called el diablo a pie, the New Deal era, government interference, taxes, handouts, paying, supporting those not working, welfare checks, jokes about it, humor, chistes).
Dates
- October 4, 1976
Language of Materials
From the Collection:
English, Spanish
Access Restrictions
The collection is open for research.
Extent
From the Collection: 13 boxes (12.25 cu. ft.)
Creator
- From the Collection: Cobos, Rubén (Person)
Repository Details
Part of the UNM Center for Southwest Research & Special Collections Repository
Contact:
University of New Mexico Center for Southwest Research & Special Collections
University Libraries, MSC05 3020
1 University of New Mexico
Albuquerque NM 87131
505-277-6451
cswrref@unm.edu
University of New Mexico Center for Southwest Research & Special Collections
University Libraries, MSC05 3020
1 University of New Mexico
Albuquerque NM 87131
505-277-6451
cswrref@unm.edu