Language in USA

        The United States of America have been known as the world’s melting pot of culture for some time now. This title stems from the fact that there are many different cultures from around the world in the United States and with many different cultures comes a fair share of various languages that are spoken. The States have been shaped by immigration more than any other country on the planet and language is no exception for that matter.

        The United States of America actually have no official all-national language, even though it would seem that English would be an appropriate candidate for the position. However, English, specifically American English, is the de facto language of the United States, and is used for legislation, regulations, executive orders, treaties, federal court rulings, and all other official matters. Nevertheless there are laws that require some documents (e.g. ballots) to be printed in multiple languages when there are a certain number of non-English speakers in the area.

       Spanish in the United States is considered and reviewed through the course of time. Also, a cultural phenomenon, where two languages melt, called Spanglish is observed and some interesting examples are stated. In total, there are 34,547,077 people in the United States who speak Spanish as their primary language at home, including 3.5 million in the territory of Puerto Rico, where Spanish is the primary language. Over half of the country's Spanish speakers reside in California, Texas, and Florida alone. According to Metcalf (2000), Spanglish (blends of the language names "English" and "Spanish") or jerga fronteriza – refers to the range of language-contact phenomena, primarily in the speech of the Hispanic and Anglo population of the United States and the population of Mexico living near the Mexican-American border, who are exposed to both Spanish and English. These phenomena are produced by close border contact and large bilingual communities along the United States-Mexico border and California, Oregon, Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, Florida, Puerto Rico, The City of New York, and Chicago. Spanglish is also known by a regional name "Tex-Mex" in Texas.
       
        To conclude with this brief glimpse to the languages coexist in America in general, a quotation said by former president John F. Kennedy: “Everywhere immigrants have enriched and strengthened the fabric of American life”. And it is true; the English that we hear in the United States today is an account of America’s history by itself. Ever since the first settlers from Europe started their lives on new soil, language has been evolving rapidly. What followed were just waves of new immigrants from all around the world looking for a new life and an opportunity to live across the pond, in a presumably better society. Language is closely connected to culture and culture has been an area of conflict since the dawn of man.


Source: How has immigration into the United States influenced the language? by Jan Hansel.

By Estefanía Benítez Sánchez