10 Questions for Claudia Parodi

Los Angeles is home to one of the many dialects of Latin American Spanish, says Claudia Parodi, professor of linguistics. She discussed the language of some L.A. neighborhoods and industries with Susan Bauckus, an editor of UCLA's Heritage Language Journal and LA Language World online magazine.

What is Los Angeles Spanish and who speaks it?

It's spoken by immigrants from Central America and Mexico. Usually Mexicans, Salvadorans and Guatemalans in Los Angeles live in the same neighborhoods. I would say that 95% of them speak the same type of Mexican Spanish.

What type is that?

The dialect is from little towns in Mexico. Spanish spoken in the cities went through many changes since the 16th century, but in small towns people still use features of Old Spanish. When Los Angeles Spanish speakers say "agora" as opposed to "ahora" (now), "asina" instead of "así" (this way, so), or "mesmo" as opposed to "mismo" (same), that's Old Spanish. You'll find many of the same words in Quixote's Spanish.

What else is different about it?

The "vos" form of "you," for some reason, upsets Mexicans. They make fun of people who use it, and the result is that Salvadoran and Guatemalan speakers abandon their "voseo."

Do Central Americans who immigrated as adults speak it?

Most speakers have grown up here. They learn it in school from their peers. Some adults in America keep the features of their Salvadoran or Guatemalan Spanish, but they're less noticeable.

Are there native speakers of Los Angeles Spanish?

Oh, yes. It's also used in some businesses. A Chilean constructor told me that he learned to speak Mexican Spanish, otherwise he couldn't hire anyone. I would say that a dialect of Spanish is forming in Los Angeles.

Is it used in the media?

Yes, the news here is given in Los Angeles Spanish.

Are people aware that they speak it?

Yes. Someone from El Salvador might say that Salvadoran Spanish is "the best," but also that "I have to speak the way they speak here."

Do college instructors know it when they hear it?

It depends on who is teaching. The goal should be to add knowledge of the standard variant, not to take away the home dialect, so that you can use both.

Do you or your family speak it?

No, because I wasn't raised here.

And your colleagues?

Not really. By the time they get here, even if they used to speak it at home, they don't use it. But students speak it. I had one graduate student who spoke a beautiful vernacular Los Angeles Spanish. I told her that I loved her Spanish and that she should not lose it, but eventually she dropped it. Once they go to the university or are interested in educational matters, Los Angeles Spanish speakers start drifting away.

A longer version of this interview was published in LA Language World at www.lalamag.ucla.edu/features/article.asp?parentid=87275.