Nessie School of Languages

A novel written in ?Chicano? dialect: ?The House on Mango Street?
by Sandra Cisneros

Sandra Cisneros is a Chicano writer.
She wants to express her feelings like a member of an immigrant community. She
uses simple vocabulary, which shows us her honest personality and the human
group where she comes from.

Her name has become very popular in
American literature and, specially, in Chicano literature. She is one of lots
of Chicano American writers who express all she wants to say in English, but
with experiences which also could be expressed in her native language.

There are some American
vocabulary  with tipical spelling from
this English variety:

Sandra Cisneros
uses a simple style. The plot of the novel is very easy to follow because the
writer?s vocabulary is not difficult. She writes using the language of her
community, that?s why she uses many vernacular Spanish words and colloquial
expressions. The uses of the grammar is also simple, as she is keen on using
sentences without verb. The main features might be:

– Hispanisms:

e.g. tortilla
(page 31); abuelito (page 56); espiritus (page 63).

– Use of ?get? instead of ?have?:

e.g. I got a cousin (page 35)

– Use
of ?better? instead of ?had better? (= should):

e.g. Better get the broom (page 37)

– No
subject:

e.g. Better get the broom (page 37)

– The use of ?no? instead of ?not?, to avoid using ?ain?t? or
using the auxiliary verb in negative:

e.g. I?m no Spartan (page 44); Ain?t
it a shame (page 66); No speak
English (page 78).

– Double negative:

e.g. Don?t open up for nobody (page 46)

– Use of ?gotta? instead of ?have to?:

e.g. You gotta be able to know what to do with hips when you get them
(page 50); You gotta know how to walk
with hips (page 50)

– Avoid
the use of the auxiliary ?do?:

e.g. You see anybody?s face? (page 63)

– Avoid the use of the verb to be:

e.g. Who you calling ugly, ugly? (page 37); He not here (page 77)

– No
verbs:

e.g. Not a flat. Not a aparment in back. Not a man?s house. (page 108)

Conclusion

As far as my
knowledge of the English language is concerned, this assignment has been very
useful for me. I have learnt that a language has a lot of varieties, all of
which are totally correct and can be considered ?proper language?. Although
there must be a standard variety (at school, television, radio or press), it is
important to know that a language isn?t spoken everywhere using the same accent
or the same kind of vocabulary. We must understand we are talking about the
most international language in the world, which is spoken in such distant
countries such as: Great Britain, the Republic of Ireland, Australia, Canada,
New Zeeland, South Africa, India, Jamaica, and so on. 

This is the
first time that I have got in touch with American English and I have realized
that it is very interesting because it has a strong influence from several
foreign languages. In  American English,
as a big country with huge geographical and cultural differences and a
population from different social classes, there are a lot of different
varieties. Some phenomena like Black English or Spanglish lead controversy
because the language has lots of tendencies to a uniform speech. On the other
hand, I consider that they are a very important cultural part which cannot be
forgotten. The fact that a work as ?The House on Mango Street? by a
Chicano writer with Mexican origins is considered an American literature
classic is very important, because it shows that everybody steps forward to a
multiracial societies dignity.

From what I
have learnt, I would like to say that:

 – Chicano English should be included in the
proper federal educational system of the United States, as a way of dignifying  ethnics and linguistics minorities, lower
social classes, and as the clearest example of 
cultural normalization.

– English will
obviously continue getting influences from other languages in touch with. As
far as the Hispanic  population is
concerned, Spanglish and Chicano English will spread, and  it mustn?t become a linguistic problem which
does frighten  language puritans.

– It is an
example of human dignity, and cultural normalization, that Hispanic or  Black writers (or any members of a minority
group) use their own dialectal form in their books, which is the best way of
enriching and impoverishing the American literature.

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