Welcome to my Blog

In this blog, I will be focusing on my Linguistic Identity and what it means to me. The topic I chose was on the different dialects or "coded language" used in my hometown vs. in other communities. I have included examples along with sources from Gloria Anzaldua's How to Tame a Wild Tongue essay and Myriam Marquez' Why and When we Speak Spanish in Public article.

Northern New Mexico

I grew up in a small town in Northern New Mexico called Española. I really liked it because it was small and everybody knew each other. I would take college classes at a small community college, but I found that it made my transition to Albuquerque this year really difficult for me since it is a big city that I am not used to. I graduated from Pojoaque Valley High school, Class of 2015. The picture below is my family and I the day of my graduation: My Dad, Mom, and brothers.

My Identity

My definition of linguistic identity is who we are. I believe it is the environment and the people who surround us while we grow up. Our linguistic identity is the culture that surround us and something that we need to hold onto wherever we go. For me religion also plays a big role because I have been taught about it since I was small and it has always been important to me and my family. The picture below is me receiving my sacrament of confirmation. Standing behind me are my godparents.

Examples

In my hometown Española, there ranges different dialects of language just as there does in other communities. Since I am from northern New Mexico, there is a lot of English, Chicano English, Spanglish, and Spanish that is spoken along with slang that is tossed around. I am Hispanic and although I think Spanish and English have evolved and changed, they still have the same convergent. For Example, when referring to "a lot", people in my town will use the phrase "he/ she talkes all kinds". Other times we include unnecessary words at the end of our phrases such as "I know huh". Rarely does my family speak a lot of Spanish. When they do, it is in the form of Spanglish, which is moving between Spanish and English in the same sentence and it is often used by my grandparents more than anyone else. When I have visited other communities such as Los alamos, which is where my parents work, I notice that they do not show much language dialect and often stick strictly to English. When I use the slang I grew up around, they understand it, but they don't use it. In Albuquerque, I don't hear much of the dialects I hear from back in Española either but I think the reason for that is because a lot of the people who live in Albuquerque are not originally from that city.

"How to Tame a Wild Tongue"

One of the research components I chose to use for my Project 1 was Gloria Anzaldua’s How to Tame a Wild Tongue essay. The reason I chose this scholarly source is because she goes into great detail about the deviations of her language and explains that although they may vary in dialects, they are not incorrect. She states “We speak a patios, a forked tongue, a variation of two languages”. I also really like the way she defines linguistic identity. Ethnicity and Language should be considered the same because our roots are buried in our language. I have always loved growing up in northern New Mexico and all the language and culture that comes with it. If someone talks badly about my my language, it is offensive to me because you are not only hurting me, but you are hurting the people that surround you.

"Why and When We Speak Spanish in Public"

My second research component I chose was the “Why and When We Speak Spanish in Public” article by Myriam Marquez. I chose this scholarly source because I thought it was interesting and it really brought into my perspective that giving up your native tongue is similar to saying that you are ashamed of who you are or where you come from. I utilized Myriam’s article while observing how my “coded language” differs in other communities and realized that no matter how different it feels to use different language dialects, I should use what I feel most comfortable with because it is my linguistic identity.

Conclusion

To tie everything together, I would say that language is our identity and we must take pride in it because it represents who we are. It comes in different variations and dialects that differ from those used in other communities. To me linguistic identity has a lot to do with our culture and roots.