Languages In the World by Julie Tetel Andresen, Phillip M. Carter Read Free Book Online Page B

Spanish-speaking Mexicans who comprise over 65% of the overall Latino population in the United States. The question is: Why are the Mexicans now the largest overall Latino population in the United States? The answer is: the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1994, which had a negative effect on small farmers south of the border, thereby sending them north to find jobs.
    Throughout this chapter, we have seen the persistent effects of economic pressures on human movement. Here at the end, we perceive the sometimes-subtle, always-present workings of one of the most powerful forces in language dynamics: attitudes about language in response to prestige.
Exercises
Exercise 1 – map making
    Chicanos in the United States have an expression: “I didn't cross the border, the border crossed me.” This is a theme we explore throughout this text, not only here in Chapter 1. Sketch a map of Mexico in 1821. Use annotations and/or different colored pencils to illustrate the events of 1836 and 1845. What does your map show about the history of Spanglish in North America? What does it show about the historical presence of Spanish speakers in the United States and English speakers in Mexico?
Exercise 2 – code switching
    Part of the beauty of Spanglish is that it is grammatically flexible. Speakers can say many things in many different ways, but it is not the case that anything goes. In anexperiment, sociolinguist Jacqueline Almeida Toribio gave the following fairy tales written in Spanglish to native Spanish/English bilinguals. One of the stories was easy for most participants to comprehend and read aloud fluently. The other was more tricky, and participants stumbled as they read aloud in many parts of the text. If you are able to read Spanish, perform the experiment on yourself – read both passages aloud and decide which is the well-formed Spanglish fairy tale and which is ill-formed. If you are not able to read the Spanish words, analyze the texts and make your best guess. Is there a difference in the type of code-mixing you can observe? What patterns can you discern?
“Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs/BLANCANIEVES Y LOS SIETE ENANITOS”
    Ã‰RASE UNA VEZ UNA LINDA PRINCESITA BLANCA COMOLA NIEVE. SU MADRASTRA, LA REINA, TENÍA UN MÁGICO mirror on the wall. The queen often asked, “Who is the MÁS HERMOSA DEL VALLE?” Y UN DÍA EL mirror answered, “Snow White is the fairest one of all!” Very envious and evil, the REINA MANDÓ A UN CRIADO QUE MATARA A LA PRINCESA. EL CRIADO LA LLEVÓ AL BOSQUE Y out of compassion abandoned LA ALLÍ. A squirrel took pity on the princess and led her to a PEQUEÑA CABINA EN EL MONTE. EN LA CABINA, VIVÍAN SIETE ENANITOS QUE returned to find Snow White asleep in their beds. Back at the palace, the stepmother again asked the ESPEJO: “Y AHORA, QUIÉN ES LA MÁS BELLA?” EL ESPEJO OTRA VEZ LE answered, without hesitation, “Snow White!” The queen was very angry and set out to find the CASITA DE LOS ENANITOS. DISFRAZADA DE VIEJA, LA REINA LE OFRECIÓ A BLANCANIEVES UNA MANZANA QUE HABÍA laced with poison. When Snow White bit into the apple, she CALLÓ DESVANECIDA AL SUELO. POR LA NOCHE, LOS ENANITOS LA found, seemingly dead …
“The Beggar Prince/EL PRÍNCIPE PORDIOSERO”
    EL REY ARNULFO TENÍA UNA HIJA MUY HERMOSA QUESE LLAMABA GRACIELA. AL CUMPLIR ELLA LOS VEINTE AÑOS, EL REY INVITÓ many neighboring princes to a party. Since she was unmarried, he wanted her to choose UN BUEN ESPOSO. Princess Grace was sweet Y CARIÑOSA CON TODOS. TENÍA SOLAMENTE UN DEFECTO: she was indecisive. Surrounded by twelve suitors, she could not decide and the king SE ENOJÓ. GRITÓ, “JURO POR DIOS QUE TE CASARÉ CON EL PRIMER HOMBRE that enters this room!” At that exact moment, a beggar, who had evaded A LOS PORTEROS, ENTRÓ EN LA SALA.EXCLAMÓ, “.ACABO DE OÍR