Characteristics of Language in Latino Community - Essay Example

Latinos in the US are an example of a language community. Their main language is Spanish, but most of them adapted to English after they migrating to the US. Other than language, Latinos also share the same beliefs and cultural practices. The term Latino refers a section of the United States that originated from Latin America and the Spanish-speaking Caribbean. Latinos trace their history back in 1500 when Spaniards migrated to the US and settled in Texas, Florida and Mexico. Factors that contributed to their migration from Caribbean and Latin America in to the US included expansion of territory by the US, neoliberal economic policies in US, wars and military interventions, and forced cheap labour, among others.

Moreover, the history of the Latinos has been overlooked and even forgotten in current discussions and debates over immigration, but it started developing in the late 1980s when more case studies were conducted in New York, Chicago, Texas, Los Angeles and other major cities. However, despite the fact that Latinos settled in the US and even adopted their culture, their proximity to the border, constant migration and close ties to their homeland helps them to replenish their culture (Stuart and Hirschberg 443).

“Machismo” is a term that plays an important role among the Latino/Hispanic groups. They use it as a flattering word, which means courage to fight, honour and dignity, protecting ones name, keeping one’s word, respect for others, love for one’s family and affection for children.. They use it as a flattering word, which means courage to fight, honour and dignity, protecting ones name, keeping one’s word, respect for others, love for one’s family and affection for children.

It can also be used in order to influence a person’s behaviour and to distinguish between sexes. Other examples of word used by Latinos include Corazon which means heart in English, respecto-respect, dignidad-dignity, afecto-warmth and demonstratives, and sensibilidad-sensitivity. The Latinos are said to avoid competition or activities that set them apart from their own group. They claim that standing out among one’s peers places a person in great jeopardy; thus, it should be avoided as much as possible.

Latinos say that European Americans are not trustworthy; hence, they teach their children to treat them with a lot of hostility and fear. For this reason, Latinos children do not believe that European Americans professionals want the best for them. Moreover, Stuart and Hirschberg (445), claim that Latinos children are not good at expressing themselves verbally; thus, they are not able to express their emotions to their friends, adults and authority figures. Properties of the Latino language community Since the Latinos started migrating into the US, their population has increased dramatically.

Stuart and Hirschberg (448) claim that Latinos were estimated to reach 40 million and become the largest minority group in the US by 2010. The most affected states where Latinos have dominated are; New York, California, Texas and Florida. They are now transforming the Unite States into Latino dominated region due their increasing population. Also, they have significantly influenced culture, politics and economy of many states in the US.