Kayla Adams
Language, what does that even mean? According to dictionary.com, it says “Language is a body of words and the systems for their use common to a people who are of the same community or nation, the same geographical area, or the same cultural tradition”. We have been reading many authors these past weeks. James Baldwin was one who stuck with me. We read “If Black English Isn’t a Language, Then Tell Me, What Is?” by James Baldwin. Baldwin talks about language and how people might be speaking the same main language but aren’t speaking it the same way.
I come from a Hispanic background, a family who is Dominican and speaks Dominican Spanish. I say Dominican Spanish and not just Spanish because those who are Dominican will know that they are not the same. “Ahorita ”, this word in Dominican Spanish means later, but in other Latin speaking groups, this word can mean something different. My aunt works at a hospital and she was told by her boss who is Mexican to do something “ahorita”. My aunt ( who is Dominican) said okay, implying she would get to it later. Some time went by and her boss came back to her asking her why she still hasn’t done what he asked. And she was starting to get aggravated because to her this word meant later so she was confused as to why he kept rushing her. It wasn’t until some lady came out who was Colombian and explained to her boss that she is Dominican, and when you say ahorita it means later, while in Mexican it means right now. Not only was my aunt shocked but so was her boss. They were both saying the same word yet, they had different meanings coming from each group. They were both speaking Spanish but were not associated with the same group so they had their own meanings and weren’t familiar with the other’s definition.
In “If Black English Isn’t a Language, Then Tell Me, What Is?” by James Baldwin he states “and they would all have great difficulty in apprehending what the man from Guadeloupe, or Martinique, is saying, to say nothing of the man from Senegal–although the “common” language of all these areas is French. But each has paid, and is paying, a different price for this “common” language, in which, as it turns out, they are not saying, and cannot be saying, the same things: They each have very different realities to articulate, or control.” Even though all these groups were speaking the same “common” language as Baldwin said. Each group had their own way of expressing themselves. Just like my Dominican Spanish, it’s still Spanish but people from Spain, Puerto Rico, even different parts of The Dominican Republic might not understand or know what every word or phrase means.
Living in New York, you notice that the way new yorkers speak different than people who live outside of New York. Many people say we have an accent, even though we speak the same “common” language as they do. There are also certain slang that new yorkers use that anybody outside of New York probably won’t understand. Even if your from New York, depending on what borough your from there are different lingo’s within each borough. Lingo is words or speech used in a particular area or circumstance (https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=lingo). I’ve lived in Washington Heights for most my life and then I moved to the Bronx. As far as language goes they are both pretty similar.
These “secret languages” are commonly used within different communities. These communities can be formed from many different things. It usually forms from your environment and the people you’re around. I am a part of many different groups as you have read. I can associate myself with the Dominican “secret language”, as well as the New York “secret language”, and to be even more precise I can also associate myself with the Bronx and Washington Heights “secret language”. These are languages that I have grown up speaking, so these are my different ways of communicating with people. This is also my way to connect with different people and different groups. These phrases that we say and languages that we speak can affect the way we connect with others. You will be able to have a better conversation with someone if you can relate and are able to understand one another. It becomes harder to connect with people when you don’t have the same “secret languages”. It’s like you’re talking in two completely different languages. “Secret languages” can be key to most relationships that you form throughout your life.
