Language is always evolving, due to a variety of different pressures and circumstances. One of the things that influences the evolution of any language is the exposure of its speakers to other languages. In every language, around the world, there are occurrences of loan words: words which originated in one language and then are adopted by another. However, the process doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time for a new word to become fully integrated into a language. Part of the process includes speakers of both languages practicing something called “interlanguage code switching.” The overlap of languages, sometimes expressed as a non-grammatical form of one language or the use of terms from one language while speaking another is sometimes described by combining the names of the languages in question. Spanglish, for example, refers to a mixture of English and Spanish spoken by those who understand both languages. Chinglish is a similar mixture of English and Chinese.
Is Spanglish a Real Language?
The answer to this question is more complex than you might think. There are numerous ways in which languages affect one another, and language mixtures don’t always evolve in the same way. For example, certain terms from one language might simply be absorbed into another. In Spanish, for example, it isn’t uncommon to hear certain terms borrowed from English when referring to current technology, like the term linkear which means “to link” in the context of hyperlinks. The Spanish alternative to this verb is hacer un enlace. Once enough people adopt a term like linkear, the term itself becomes an accepted Spanish word.
When there are many such crossovers in grammar and vocabulary, a truly blended combination of Spanish and English can occur. This is common in regions in which English speaking and Spanish speaking populations have merged. In Puerto Rico, for example, knowledge of the regional Spanglish is very much a requirement for English or Spanish speakers to fully communicate with locals. In this sense, Spanglish is a “real” language in that region. However, there is not a single, unified manner in which Spanglish is spoken. Spanglish in Panama, for example, may have different features than the Spanglish spoken in southern Florida, Puerto Rico, Los Angeles, or Texas.
Is Chinglish a Real Language?
Chinglish, while referring to the blending of English and Chinese by speakers of both languages, much as Spanglish does in the context of Spanish and English speakers, is still a somewhat different situation. Loan words from English do occur in Chinese, and vice versa, not unlike the borrowing of words that occurs in Spanglish. Some examples of this include the verb “to shanghai” in English, which refers to the process of kidnapping or influencing someone to take part in fraudulent activities. In Chinese, many science and technology terms have been adopted from English, like the words calorie, ampere, and beta. While these loanwords might correctly be referred to as “Chinglish,” the term is also used in another, often derogatory sense.
Specifically, the term can refer to grammatically incorrect translations from Chinese to English. These are frequently the result of translating Chinese into English in a particularly literal fashion. For example, a sign that, in Chinese, reminds patrons of an establishment to remember to take all of their belongings with them might be directly translated to read “Please don’t forget your everything.” While the translation is, in a technical sense, correct, the result in English is awkward and grammatically incorrect. Misspellings can further complicate the process, as a sign pointing the way to a smoking area may read “Go aheand smorking section.” This type of “Chinglish” is in no sense a “real” language; it is simply the result of unfortunate and inaccurate translation.
What Purposes do Blended Languages Like Spanglish and Chinglish Serve?
The simplest answer to this is that they serve the same purposes that all languages do: to facilitate communication. However, the full answer is a bit more complex.
Blended languages can also help to bridge linguistic gaps between two groups by adding context to unfamiliar terms. This can be observed when two groups with different native languages are placed in a situation in which they must learn to communicate with one another. Typically, this results in each group speaking a simplified form of their own language and incorporating whatever terms they’re familiar with from the second language. This type of language blending is known as “pidgin.” Pidgin English/Chinese was used, for example, between Chinese and English speaking traders in the early 1600s, and later by Chinese immigrants to the United States.
If a pidgin language becomes established enough that it ceases to be overly simplified and develops grammatical rules, it becomes a “creole” language—a completely new language borne from two other languages. This new language can then become the main language in a region, with children learning the new language as their first language.
Blended languages can also play an important role culturally. Spanglish, in particular, is in many places an important aspect of the regional cultural identity. The use of one’s heritage language, particularly as a minority, can be a method of expressing one’s attachment to the culture that language is identified with. Essentially, blended languages can (while still facilitating communication and bridging gaps in understanding) signify that the speaker is not abandoning their heritage language in favour of assimilation.
Blended Languages, Blended World
While there are many advocates that seek to keep heritage languages “pure,” it’s simply not a realistic goal in an increasingly globalized world. There are more people who speak English as a second language, for example, than there are people that speak it as a native language. With that being the case, determining who “sets the standard” for a language is less and less clear. In the case of English, should it be the United Kingdom? The United States? India? Latin America?
The fact of the matter is, languages develop organically—and when they come into contact with one another, they are changed, just as cultures that encounter one another influence each other.