The ‘Glish is no Glitch: Spanish-English Contact Phenomena in Advertising Copy

Date
2009
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Producer
Director
Performer
Choreographer
Costume Designer
Music
Videographer
Lighting Designer
Set Designer
Crew Member
Funder
Rehearsal Director
Concert Coordinator
Moderator
Panelist
Alternative Title
Department
Swarthmore College. Dept. of Linguistics
Type
Thesis (B.A.)
Original Format
Running Time
File Format
Place of Publication
Date Span
Copyright Date
Award
Language
en_US
Note
Table of Contents
Terms of Use
Full copyright to this work is retained by the student author. It may only be used for non-commercial, research, and educational purposes. All other uses are restricted.
Rights Holder
Access Restrictions
Terms of Use
Tripod URL
Identifier
Abstract
Potato, potahto, tomato, tomahto: some customers call their favorite cereal “Corn flakes,” while others reach for los cornflais (Ilan Stavans 2005: 102). Faced with language choices, advertisers might be calling the whole thing off. The fast food chain Chick-Fil-A combines English and Spanish in their caricatured cow-friendly calendar: “Chikin es mooey gud.” Fashion magazine Ocean Drive Español promises “lo más fashion para la playa (the most fashion for the beach),” and hosts headlines on the “hoteles con star power (hotels with star power)” (italics theirs). The cows are painting it. The fashionistas are styling it. “Spanglish,” according to the title of Ilan Stavans’ 2003 book on the topic, is “the new American language.” The present study examines competing definitions of “Spanglish.” After reviewing various English-Spanish contact phenomena, the presence of code-switching, calques, Spanglish neologisms, and bilingual translation in print advertising are examined. Qualitative analysis serves to assess the motivations, rules, and ramifications of meshing Spanish and English in the media. Such analysis reveals that the function of advertising language is often more symbolic than referential. Close readings of the ad also serve as an additional account of linguistic correlates of “Spanglish” in the hybrid communication between advertiser and consumer.
Description
Subjects
Citation
Collections