Language experts have revealed that a new dialect might be forming in parts of the United States where Spanish-speaking residents have merged their native tongue with English to create 'ungrammatical' but natural results.
It's not just languages that distinguish large parts of the world, but within these languages are specific dialects that are often unique to the areas in which they are formed.
These can range from the use of certain words and turns of phrase to the way that sentences and grammar are formed, and can almost seem like new languages in of themselves despite using common words.
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Linguistic experts at Florida International University in Miami have reportedly uncovered a new language and dialect that has now formed in parts of Miami, Florida, comprising of a hybrid between Spanish and English, as per Indy100.
Miami is recognized as one of the most bilingual cities across all of America due to the large Hispanic and Latino population, with Spanish competing with English as the dominant language in the city.
Due to these developing social conditions, experts indicate that a new dialect has been developed that uses the direct translation of Spanish phrases into English, which are called lexical calques.
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One such example, as outlined in the English World-Wide journal, outlines the use of 'get down from the car' instead of the typical 'get out of the car'. This is due to the direct translation from the Spanish phrase 'bajar del carro', and is one of six different test items that were used to verify and establish the new local dialect.
What remained important to this discovery is that while lexical calques are typically only used by non-native speakers, these new dialect terms were utilized by first-generation English speakers within these communities, indicating that the 'Miami English' phrases were considered natural and not ungrammatical.
"What is remarkable about them is that we found they were not only used in the speech of immigrants," explains Professor Philip M. Carter in an interview with IFLScience, "but also among their children, who learned English as their co-first language."
Carter has also outlined how these new dialects are formed, illustrating that "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.
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"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."
That's why it remains fundamentally part of the English language, but has transformed in conjunction with Spanish to a point where it becomes almost 'alien' to those outside of Miami and across wider parts of America, indicating a new dialect and perhaps even a new language altogether.
Professor Carter has warned against the stigmatization of a dialect like Miami English though, stressing: "It's the language that person learned from their parents, that they used in school, that they hear in their community. It's the language variety they developed their identity in, developed their friendships in, found love in. Why should that be stigmatized?"
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It remains English and not English at the same time, yet entirely valid within its own community. Much like the subtle differences between American English and British English, Miami English simply offers perhaps a more severe shift on a far smaller scale, yet remains a language all the same.