Scientists discover a new language is developing in the United States
Lucy Devine
Featured Image Credit: Getty Stock Images / Jeffrey Greenberg/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
A brand new language is said to be developing in the US, researchers have claimed.
A new dialect appears to have emerged in specific areas of Miami, and linguists at Florida International University are calling it a 'perfect example' of how language is constantly changing.
The new dialect seems to be the result of two different languages - Spanish and English.
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Researchers say the language is a Spanish-influenced version of English, resulting from immigration to Southern Florida from Spanish-speaking countries across the globe.
Essentially, it's a hybrid of Spanish mixed with American English - and it's resulted in heaps of new expressions and colloquial phrases.
Professor Phillip M. Carter, Director of the Center for Humanities in an Urban Environment at the Florida International University, explained that all languages have a history, including this one.
He told IFLScience: “All words, dialects, and languages have a history. In Miami, there are many ways of speaking English.
"The variety we have been studying for the past 10 years or so is the main language variety of people born in South Florida in Latinx-majority communities.
"The variety is characterized by some unique but ultimately minor pronunciations, some minor grammatical differences, and word differences, which are influenced by the longstanding presence of Spanish in South Florida."
The new dialect sees Spanish phrases - and the Spanish structure of the phrase - translated into English.
For example, 'bajar del carro' has become 'get down from the car' instead of 'get out of the car'.
“These are examples of literal lexical calques – direct translations," added Carter.
"What is remarkable about them is that we found they were not only used in the speech of immigrants – folks who are leaning on their first language Spanish as they navigate the acquisition of English – but also among their children, who learned English as their co-first language."
To understand how the language was developing, researchers asked 33 people living in Miami how they felt about 50 sentences that were all examples of the new Spanish-English dialect.
Participants had to rate the sentences on whether they sounded 'perfect', 'okay', 'awkward' or 'horrible'.
The study, published in the English World-Wide journal, found that while they sounded 'natural' to those in Miami, people living outside of the region found them more peculiar.
Carter explained that as the language evolves, it's important that it shouldn't be stigmatised.
“I want Miami English to lose its stigma because Miami English is someone’s home language variety. It’s the language that person learned from their parents, that they used in school, that they hear in their community," Carter added.
"It’s the language variety they developed their identity in, developed their friendships in, found love in. Why should that be stigmatized?”