Dominicans among 40M ‘Spanglish’ speakers in the US: EFE

Barcelona.- Dominicans figure among the 40 million people in the US who mix English and Spanish to speak "Spanglish," which a professor in a Massachusetts university calls "a new verbal demonstration that deserves recognition," EFE reports.

Ilan Stavans says the figure makes Spanglish the "most important force and verbal phenomenon in recent years" in the US today.

The Amherst College Professor, who presented his work for teachers and students at the Barcelona University’s Philology dept., translated into Spanglish the first part of Spanish language icon "Don Quixote" during the last decade

He said there are sixty million Latinos in the US, the largest minority. "There are more Latinos in the US than Canadians in Canada, and Spaniards in Spain."

The also expert in Latino culture in the US said while Spanglish has emerged from several factors, the key is the Latino immigration to that country, whether for political, economic or social reasons.

"One can speak of many types of Spanglish and, among them, ‘Dominicanish’ (Dominican-English), ‘Tex-Mex’ (Mexican and English) or ‘Cubonish’ (Cuban and English),” the expert said.