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HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 


OF 


NEW  MEXICO 


No.  16 


THE  SPANISH  LANGUAGE 


IN 


NEW  MEXICO 

AND 

SOUTHERN  COLORADO 


BY 


AURELIO  M.  ESPINOSA,  PH.  D., 

Assistant  Professor  of  Spanish, 
At  the  Leland  Stanford  Junior  University. 


MAY,  1911 


SANTA  FE,  N.  M. 
NEW  MEXICAN  PRINTING  COMPANY 


HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

OF 

NEW  MEXICO 


No.  16 


THE  SPANISH  LANGUAGE 


IN 


NEW  MEXICO 

AND 

SOUTHERN  COLORADO 


BY 


AURELIO   M.   ESPINOSA,   PH.   D., 

Assistant  Professor  of  Spanish, 
At  the  Leland  Stanford  Junior  University. 


MAY,  1911 


SANTA  FE,  N.  M. 
NEW  MEXICAN  PRINTING  COMPANY 
1911. 


OFFICERS 


OF  THE 

HISTORICAL  SOCIETY  OF  NEW    MEXICO 

ign 

President Hon.  L.  Bradford  Prince,  LL.  D. 

j  Hon.  William  J.  Mills 
Vice-Presidents  •<  Hon.  Frank  W.  Clancy 

(  Hon.  Ralph  E.  Twitchell 

Recording  Secretary William  M.  Berger 

Asst.  Recording  Secretary Mrs.  J.  P.  Victory 

Corresponding  Secretary Ernest  A.  Johnston 

Treasurer John  K.  Stauffer 

Curator Henry  Woodruff 

LIFE  MEMBERS 


1881 
William  G.  Ritch.* 

1883 
L.  Bradford  Prince,  L.  L. 

1885 
William  W.  Griffin.* 

1887 
Francisco  A.  Manzanares.* 

1889 

L.  P.  Browne.* 
Jefferson  Raynolds. 
Ruel  M.  Johnson.* 
William  A.  Vincent. 
Wilson  Wadding-ham.* 
Mariano  S.  Oterp.* 
Nicolas  T.  Armijo.* 
Angus  A.  Grant.* 
Joshua  S.  Raynoids. 
Wm.  C.  Hazeldine.* 
Numa  Reymond. 
Russell  Marcy. 

1890 

Pedro  Y.  Jaramillo.* 
Jose  E.  Chaves. 
Samuel  P.  Foster.* 
Gustav  Billing'.* 
Eutimio  Montoya.* 

Thomas  B.  Catron. 
J.  Pablo  Gallegos.* 


*Deceased. 


1890 

Charles  H.  Gildersleeve.* 
Mariano  Barela.* 
D.       C.  H.  Dane. 

Walter  C.  Hadley.* 

1891 

H.  B.  Fergusson. 
Charles  B.  Eddy. 
Abram  Staab. 
W.  A.  Hawkins. 
Mrs.  Louisa  Bristol. 
Frank  Springer. 
Rufus  J.  Palen. 

1892 

William  T.  Thornton. 
Richard  Mansfield  White. 

1895 
Thomas  Lowthian.* 

1896 

Antonio  Joseph.* 
Felipe  Chaves.* 
Henry  C.  Carter. 

1902 

William  M.  Berger. 
Solomon  Spiegelberg.* 

1907 

Felix  Martinez. 
Solomon  Luna. 
Nestor  Armijo. 

1908 
Mrs.  Ella  May  Chaves. 


HONORARY  MEMBERS 


Adolph  F.  A.  Bandelier. 
Ellen  Kearney  Bascome. 
William  W.  H.  Davis. 


E.  G.  Littlejohn. 
George  W.  Martin. 
Reuben  Gold  Thwaites. 


PUBLICATIONS  OF  THE  SOCIETY 


No.     1.— 1881— Inaugural  Address  of  Hon.  W.  G.  Ritch. 

No.     2.— 1882— "Kin  and  Clan,"  by  Adolph  F.  Bandelier, 

No.  3.— 1896— "The  Stone  Idols  of  New  Mexico."  (Illu- 
strated) by  Hon.  L.  Bradford  Prince. 

No.  4.— 1903— "The  Stone  Lions  of  Cochiti,"  by  Hon.  L. 
Bradford  Prince. 

No.     5.— 1904— Bi-ennial  Report;  English. 

No.     6.— 1904— Bi-ennial  Report;  Spanish. 

No.     7.— 1906— "The  Franciscan  Martyrs  of  1680." 

No.     8.— 1906— The  Defeat  of  the  Commanches  in  1716. 

No.     9.— 1907  -Bi-ennial  Report. 

No.  10.— 1907 — Journal  of  New  Mexico  Convention  of  Septem- 
ber, 1849. 

No.  11.— 1908 -The  California  Column. 

No.  12.— 1908— Carson's  Fight  with  the  Commanches  at  Adobe 
Walls. 

No.  13.— 1909— Bi-ennial  Report. 

No.  14.— 1909— The  Palace,  Santa  Fe,  N.  M. 

No.  15.— 1910 — Catalogue  of  Books  in  the  Library  of  the 
Society,  relating  to  New  Mexico  and  the 
Southwest  (English.) 

No.  16.— 1911— "The  Spanish  Language  in  New  Mexico  and 
Southern  Colorado,"  byAurelio  M.  Espi- 
nosa,  Ph.  D. 


PREFACE. 

This  article  has  been  written  at  the  request  of  many 
of  my  New  Mexico  friends  and  at  the  request  and 
and  personal  desire  of  the  president  of  the  New  Mex- 
ico Historical  Society,  for  a  popular  presentation 
of  the  subject,  the  Spanish  language  in  New  Mexico 
and  Colorado.  I  have  attempted,  therefore,  to  avoid 
all  philological  discussion,  and  endeavored  to  treat 
the  matter  not  from  the  view  point  of  the  specialist. 
The  points  which  I  hope  I  have  made  clear,  are  the 
following: 

1st.  The  Spanish  language  as  spoken  to-day  by 
nearly  one  quarter  of  a  million  people  in  New  Mexico 
and  Colorado,  is  not  a  vulgar  dialect,  as  many  misin- 
formed persons  believe,  but  a  rich  archaic  Spanish 
dialect,  largely  Castilian  in  source. 

2nd.  The  indigenous  Indian  elements  are  unim- 
portant, and  only  the  Nahuatl  of  Mexico  has  exercised 
an  important  influence,  being  the  language  of  a  semi- 
civilized  nation. 

3rd.  The  influence  of  the  English  language  on  the 
Spanish  of  the  entire  South-west  is  one  of  the  greatest 
importance,  and  of  the  most  intense  interest  to  the 
philologists  and  ethnologists. 

4th.  The  Spanish  language  in  New  Mexico  and  in 
the  entire  South-west  has  had  a  great  influence  on  the 
English  vernacular  of  these  regions,  and  it's  study  is 
of  the  greatest  importance. 

5th.  The  State  school  of  laws  of  the  South-west, 
should  make  the  study  of  Spanish  possible  in  the 
public. schools,  for  the  benefit  of  the  Spanish  speaking 
children  of  these  regions,  who  have  no  opportunity 


Z  PREFACE. 

to  learn  to  read  their  native  tongue.  To  learn  En- 
glish no  one  has  to  forget  Spanish  or  any  other 
language. 

6th.  The  scientific  and  compresive  study  New  Mex- 
ican Spanish  folklore  should  be  encouraged  in  every 
legitimate  way  by  the  learned  Societies  and  educa- 
tional Institutions  of  New  Mexico. 

Stanford  University,  California,  April,  1911. 


CONTENTS. 

I.  The  Sources. 

II.  Distinguishing  Characteristics. 

III.  The  Nahuatl  and  other  Indigenous  Elements. 

IV.  The  English  Influence. 

V.  The  Influence  of  Spanish  on  the  English  Lan- 

guage. 

VI.  New  Mexican  Spanish  Folklore. 


I. 

THE  SOURCES. 

§  1.  After  the  fall  of  the  Roman  Empire  in  the  fifth 
century  of  our  era,  Latin  continued  to  be  the  spoken 
language  of  a  number  of  it's  peoples.  This  Latin  was 
not  the  classic  language  of  Cicero  and  Virgil,  but 
popular  Latin,  as  old  as  classic  Latin  and  different 
from  it  in  many  respects.  This  popular  Latin  was  the 
principal  source  of  the  neo-Latin  tongues  which  were 
gradually  developed  in  the  different  regions  of  the  old 
Roman  Empire.  In  the  end,  the  popular  Latin  lost  its 
individual  existence,  leaving,  however,  its  descend- 
ants, the  Romance  languages. 

The  Spanish  language  must  have  been  an  independ- 
ent tongue  by  the  8th  century  of  our  era,  though  we 
have  no  written  specimens,  dating  earlier  than  the  10th 
century.  The  oldest  Spanish  documents  of  the  llth 
and  12th  centuries,  show  us  a  language  completely 
divorced  from  the  Latin  with  an  independent  and 
national  importance.  The  Spanish  language  is  a  Latin 
language,  notwithstanding  the  Germanic  and  Arabic 
elements  which  entered  long  after  its  Latin  founda- 
tions had  been  firmly  established. 

This  old  Spanish  language  which  we  see  in  its  writ- 
ten form  in  the  "Misterio  de  los  Reyes  Magos,"  !  and  in 
"El  Gantar  de  Mio  Cid,"  2  was  perfected  in  the  XlVth 

1  A  12th  century  composition;  Ed.  of   R.  Mene"ndez    Pidal 
Madrid,  1900. 

2  Ordinarily  known  as  the  Poem  of  the,  Cid.     The  first  im- 
portant literary  poetic  composition  in  the  Spanish  language, 
guage,  dating  from  the  llth  century,  according  to  R.  Mene'ndez 
Pidal;  Ed.  Madrid,  1900. 


6  SPANISH  LANGUAGE  IN   NEW   MEXICO 

and  XVth  centuries,  and  its  majesty  and  literary  glory 
reached  their  culmination  with  the  Don  Quixote  of  Cer- 
vantes3 and  the  famous  dramatists  of  the  17th  cen 
tury,  Lope  de  Vega  and  Calder6n.  4 

§  2.  This  Spanish  language  of  the  XVIth  and 
XVIIth  centuries,  made  glorious  by  such  names  as 
those  of  Cervantes,  Lope  de  Vega  and  Calder6n,  was 
precisely  the  language  which  the  Spanish  Conquista- 
dores  carried  to  America.  They  carried  it  to  Mexico 
in  the  XVIth  century,  and  from  there  to  New  Mex- 
ico in  the  XVIIth  century.  Juan  de  Onate  made  the 
first  permanent  settlement  in  New  Mexico  as  early  as 
1598,  but  the  Indian  revolution  of  1860  drove  all  the 
Spaniards  out  of  the  new  province  and  a  new  settle- 
ment was  not  effected  until  1693  when  Diego  De 
Vargas  re-entered  with  new  and  old  colonies. 

The  Sources  of  the  Spanish  of  New  Mexico  and 
southern  Colorado  are  to  be  found,  then,  in  the  Cas- 
tilian  Spanish  of  the  XVIth  century,  together  with 
other  Spanish  dialects  of  less  importance,  the  Anda- 
lusian,  the  Galician  and  the  western  Spanish-Portu- 
guese dialects.  The  first  inhabitants  of  New  Mexico 
represented  these  many  dialects,  and  furthermore, 
the  dialects  were  probably,  all  represented  in  differ- 
ent chronological  stages;  Spanish  settlers  came  bo 
New  Mexico  as  early  as  1598,  but  the  immigration 
continued  until  the  middle  of  the  XVIIIth  century. 
During  all  that  time,  however,  the  Castilian  was  the 

3  Mig-uel  de  Cervantes  Saavedra  (1547-1616).     The  first  part 
of  Don  Quixote  appeared  at  Alcala  de  Henares  in  1605. 

4  Lope  de  Vega  Carpio  (1562-1635);  the  most  prolific  drama- 
tist known. 

Pedro  Calderon  de  la  Barca  (1600-1681). 


AND    SOUTHERN    COLORADO.  7 

language  of  the  court  and  the  all-important  dialect 
which  all  spoke. 1 

1  See  my  Studies  on  New  Mexican  Spanish,  I,  g§  2,  3,  6. 
(Published  in  Eevue  de  Dialectologic  Romane,  Nos.  2,  3, 1909: 
Halle,  Germany,  and  in  Bulletin  of  the  University  of  New 
Mexico,  Language  Series  Vol.  I,  No.  2,  1910.) 


II. 

DISTINGUISHING  CHARACTERISTICS. 

§  3.  For  more  than  three  hundred  years,  New 
Mexican  Spanish  has  had  an  isolated  and  independent 
existence;  completely  divorced  from  any  contact  with 
the  Spanish  of  Spain  or  Mexico.  Other  than  the 
Nahuati  elements  introduced  from  Mexico  and  the 
modern  English  influence,  of  which  we  shall  speak 
later,  no  influence  whatever  has  come  to  disturb  the 
slow  development  of  this  original  Castilian  treasure, 
which  wonderfully  conservative,  and  deprived  of  the 
literary  culture  which  enriches  a  language,  remains 
to-day  as  it  was  brought  here  in  the  XVIIth.  century, 
a  Spanish  linguistic  monument,  which  no  influence 
or  power  can  ever  destroy. 

The  Spanish  language  is  extremely  conservative. 
It  is  not  too  much  to  say,  that  the  French  language 
reached  a  period  of  development,  already  in  the  Xllth. 
century,  which  the  Spanish  dialects  have  not  yet 
reached.  The  New  Mexican  Spanish,  perhaps  the 
most  isolated  daughter  of  the  Spanish  language  of  the 
Golden  Age  has  been  so  conservative,  that  a  good  part 
of  its  vocabulary  and  of  its  grammar,  including  pho- 
nology, has  changed  but  little  since  the  XVIth.  and 
XVIIth.  centuries.  The  changes,  of  course,  are  nu- 
merous. No  language,  however  conservative,  can  stand 
still,  and  phonetic  change  in  linguistic  science  is  to  be 
expected,  just  as  growth  or  decay  in  the  biological 
sciences. 

§'4.  The  first  and  most  important  character  of  the 
Spanish  language  of  New  Mexico  and  southern  Colo- 
rado, is,  therefore,  its  archaim.  I  believe  there  is  no 


AND  SOUTHERN   COLORADO.  9 

modern  Spanish  dialect,  either  in  Spain  or  America, 
that  can  surpass  the  New  Mexican  in  archaic  words 
and  expressions,  constructions  and  sounds.  The 
reasons  for  this,  are  evident,  when  one  considers  the 
long  period  of  isolation  and  lack  of  literary  culture. 
The  Spanish  of  Castile  has  undoubtedly  undergone 
more  change,  than  the  New  Mexican,  since  the  XVIth. 
century,  owing  to  the  ever  increasing  influence  of  the 
literary  language,  and  neighboring  dialects,  which 
though  unimportant,  have  never  yielded  to  theCastilian- 
Though,  the  author  believes,  that  New  Mexican  Spa- 
nish, is  as  archaic,  or  rather,  preserves  as  many  ar- 
chaisms as  any  other  Spanish  dialects  known,  it  is 
also  to  be  noted  that  the  Spanish-American  dialects 
all  preserve  many  archaisms  in  common,  an  for  that 
matter  many  of  the  dialects  of  Spain  have  their  share 
in  the  phenomenon  in  question.  To  state  categori- 
cally, which  are  purely  New  Mexican  archaisms  is 
no  easy  matter,  but  some  seem  fairly  certain.  This 
article  is  not  a  comparative  philological  treastise,  (a 
matter  treated  in  detail  in  my  Studies  in  New  Mexican 
Spanish)  hence  no  comparisons  with  the  other  dialects 
are  made.  Among  the  common  New  Mexican  archa- 
isms are:  (a)  ansi,  ansina,  asina,  naidien,  agora,  traidrd, 
lamber,.  ivierno,  pos,  onque,  dende,  trujo.  mesmo,  anque, 
ay,  comigo,  vide,  (vi),  cuasi  (casi),  escuro,  via  (veia), 
adrede,  endenantes,  sospirar  (b)  quese(que  esde)  Some 
of  these  are  Pan-American.  The  sound  given  to  II 
(ie,  a  y  sound)  and  to  z  or  c  before  e  or  i  (ie,  as  s)  is 
also  Pan-American,  but  not  archaic. 

§  6.  As  to  the  all  important  distinguishing  char- 
acteristics which  are  peculiarly  New  Mexican,  we 
/iv\ight  mention  the  following: 


10  SPANISH   LANGUAGE  IN   NEW   MEXICO 

(I)  Phonetic  Changes. 

(a)  The  complete,  fall  of  intervocalic  II,  in  some  dis- 
tricts, as  in  the  San  Luis  Valley  (Southern  Colorado), 
and  its  fall  in  certain  positions  in  the  rest  of  the  New 
Mexican  Spanish  territory.  Examples:   Cabello-cabeo, 
silla-sia,  ellos-eos. 1 

(b)  The  change  of  Spanish  s(from  whatever  source) 
to  a  sound   like  the  English  h.     This  is  widespread 
among  the   rural  uneducated  classess.     Examples: 
Nosotros-noJiotros,  los  libros-loh  libros,  casa-caha.  5 

(c)  The  change  of  the  Spanish  ending  ado  to  an 
general.3    Examples:  soldau  (soldado),  comprau  (com- 
prado. 

(d)  The  change  of  final  posttonic  e  to  i  after  certain 
palatal  groups.     Examples:     Suefle-sueni,  noche-nochi, 
calle-cayi* 

(e)  The  complete  fall  of  nasal  consonantes  leaving 
nasal  vowels.5 

1  Studies  in  New  Mexican  Spanish,  I  158. 

2  Ibid  I  153. 

3  Ibid  g  180  (2). 

4  Ibid  §  47. 
6  Ibid  I  20. 

II.     riorpho logical  Changes. 

Among  the  morphological  changes  are: 

(a)  nos  (pronoun) — los. l 

(b)  The  charge  of  accent  in  the  first  person  plural 
of  the  subjunctive,   and  of  m  to  n  in  the  same  form: 
Examples:  vayamos — vdyanos,  [compremos — cdmprenos, 
etc.  2 

(c)  Indicative  forms  made  like  imperative  forms,  in 
certain  verb  forms.  3 

1  Studies  in  New  Mexican  Spanish.     I.  \  128. 

2  Ibid  \\  10,  142. 

3  Ibid  g  208. 


AND  SOUTHERN  COLORADO.  11 

(d)  The  change  of  a  to  o  and  o  to  e  by  analogy. 4 

(e)  Several  juxtaposed  words,   resulting  in  a  new 
formation,   such  as:     algotro  (algun  otro),   nuay  (no 
hay),  estiotro  (este  otro),  cunos  (con  unos),  pel  (para 
ellos),  quisque  (que  es  que),  diay  (de  alii),  etc.5 

4  Ibid  §g  42,  48. 

5  Studies  in  New  Mexican  Spanish,  Part   II,    Morphology, 
will  appear  soon  in  the  Revue  de  Dialectogie  Romane. 


III. 

THE  NAHUATL  AND  OTHER  INDIGENOUS 
ELEHENTS.1 

1  A  careful  preliminary  work  on  the  change  found   in   the 
Nahuatl  Elements  in  Spanish,  may  be  seen  in  Harden' s  "The 
Phonology  of  the   Spanish  Dialect  of  Mexico  C%,"  (Baltimore, 
1896). 

§  6.  The  Nahuatl  or  Nauatl  language  was  the  most 
important  language  which  the  Spsniards  encountered 
in  (J^exico.  It  was  the  language  of  a  semi-civilized 
Aztec  nation,  and  its  influence  in  the  Spanish  language 
of  Mexico  was  very  pronounced.  The  Nanuatl  words 
found  in  New  Mexico  and  Southern  Colorado,  are 
words  brought  from  Mexico  in  the  XVIIth  century, 
precisely  at  the  same  time  when  the  Spanish  colonists 
were  entering  slowly  into  New  Mexico  by  way  of 
Mexico.  Perhaps  not  more  than  one  hundred  Nahuatl 
words,  all  told,  are  used  in  New  Mexican  Spanish.2 
In  Mexico  they  have,  on  the  whole,  remained  un- 
changed since  that  time,  even  in  cases  where  in  New 
Mexico  they  have  later  undergone  other  phonetic 
developments,  Examples  of  this  last  phenomen  are: 

(1)  Nahuatl  x  (pronounced  sh  as  old  Spanish  x) 
became  modern  Mexico  Spanish./  (as  English  ft),  just 
as  old  Spahish  x  (sh)  became  j  both  in  Spain  and  Ame- 
rica; but  in  New  Mexican  Spanish  the  old  Nahuatl  sh 
sound  has  remained.  3  Examples:  4 

Nahuatl  xaxal  New  Mex.  Sp.  shashal,  Mexico  Span- 
ish jajal. 

2  Studies  in  New  Mexican  Spanish,  \  164. 

3  In  Southern  New  Mexico,  it  is  also  pronouced  J,  probably 
through   Mexican  influence  (Studies  in   New  Mexican  Span, 
ish,  g  165). 


AND  SOUTHERN  COLORADO.  13 

Nahuatl  xoxo  New  Mex.  Sp.  shosho,  Mexico  Span- 
ish jojo. 

Nahuatl  xocoqme  New  Mex.  Sp.  shocoque,  Mexico 
Spanish  Jocose. 

(2)  Nahuatl  tl  became  in  Mexican  Spanish,  ke  or  t 
or  remained,  but  in  New  Mexican  Spanish  t,  always. 
Examples: 

Nauatl  tlapechtli,  N.  Mex.,  Sp.,  tapeiste,  Mexican 
Sp.,  tapeskle.. 

Nahuatl  tlemulli,  N.  Mex.  Sp.,  temole,  Mexican  Sp., 
tlemole  or  klemole. 

§  7.  As  to  the  indigenous  elements,  that  is,  ele. 
ments  introduced  from  the  New  Mexico  Indians  and 
surrounding  tribes,  including  all  together,  the  Pueblo 
Indians  of  the  Rio  Grande,  the  Utes  and  Navahoes  of 
the  mountains,  and  wandering  Comanches,  it  is  certain 
that  no  important  linguistic  traces  are  to  be  found. 
Their  influence  was  little  felt,  linguistically  speaking, 
and  perhaps  not  more  than  a  score  of  words  have 
found  their  way  into  the  Spahish  language  of  New 
Mexico,  from  all  these  Indian  races  mentioned.  * 
The  writer  is  not  familiar  with  the  New  Mexico  In- 
dian languages  and  cannot  vouch  for  the  origin  of 
some  apparently  Indian  words.  In  my  New  Mex- 
ican Vocabularies  and  Studies,  I  have  only  noted  some 
twenty  words  for  which  I  could  find  neither  Spanish 
nor  Nahuatl  source.  Of  these,  the  following  seem  to 
be  of  native  Indian  origin: 

1  Batacdn  (bean),  Pueblo  Indians  of  the  North? 

2  Cambalachi  (trade,  market,   business  affair),  Co- 
manche.   '        / 

1  I  do  dot  include,  here,  the  native  names  of  plants  and 
animals.  This  would  increase  the  number  by  at  least  two- 
score. 


14  SPANISH   LANGUAGE  IN   NEW    MEXICO 

3  Canatt  (idea,   caprice)    Pueblo    Indians  of    the 
North? 

4  ChacMquite  (turquoise),  Pueblo  Indians. 

5  Macucha>  (coward,  akward),  Pueblo  Indian? 

6  Maruca,  (wife,  woman)  Navahoe. 

7  Naca  or  Nacayg,  (Spaniard,  stranger),  Pueblo  In- 
dians of  the  North. 

8  Techi,  (friend,  pal),  Pueblo  Indians. 

9  Tegua,  (moccasin),  Pueblo  Indians  of  the  North. 

10  Tuta*  (no,  not  at  all),  Ute. 

11  Yugue>  (grease,  dirt),  Apache,  or  Ute? 


IV. 
THE  ENGLISH  INFLUENCE. 

§  8.  In  the  year  1846  New  Mexico  was  occupied 
by  the  American  Army  under  Kearney  and  in  1848  by 
the  treaty  of  Guadalupe  Hidalgo,  it  became  a  part  of 
the  United  States  of  North  America.  For  some  sixty 
years,  therefore,  the  Spanish  speaking  inhabitants 
of  New  Mexico  have  been  in  continous,  direct  and  ne- 
cessary, contact  with  English  speaking  people.  The 
influence  of  the  English  language  on  the  Spanish  has 
been  great,  considering  the  short  time,  some  three 
hundred  words,  including  verbs,  nouns,  adjectives 
and  other  parts  of  speech,  having  already  become  a 
fixed  part  of  the  New  Mexican  Spanish  vocabulary. 
The  study  of  these  words  constitutes  some  of  the 
most  interesting  phenomena  of  linguistic  changes  and 
speech  mixture.  A  preliminary  study  of  the  phon- 
etic changes  in  the  New  Mexican  Spanish  words  of 
English  origin  is  found  in  the  author's  Studies  in  New 
Mexican  Spanish, x  and  a  detailed  study  is  now  in 
preparation.  Here  I  shall  merely  give  word  lists  to 

show  the  tremendous  influence  of  the  English  on  the 
Spanish  language  in  our  territory.  Though  it  will 
be  at  once  seen  that  many  words  are  those  for  which 
there  were  no  Spanish  equivalents,  known  in  New 
Mexico,  others  are  additions  to  the  linguistic  field. 
All  told,  there  are  in  current  use  among  the  unedu- 
cated classes  of  New  Mexico  and  Southern  Colorado, 
some  three  hundred  words  of  English  origin. 2 

1  %%  215,263 

2  This  does  not  include  many  English  words  and   phrarse 
used  by  educated  Spanish- Americans,  which  are  straight  un- 
changed English  words  and  mingled  in  Spanish  conversation- 
In  the  list    above,    I    include    only  real   hispanized   vocables, 
when  half  of  the  people  who  use  them  are  ignorant  of  their 
source. 


16  SPANISH   LANGUAGE   IN    NEW    MEXICO 

§  9.  The  greatest  English  influence  is  felt,  of 
co.use,  in  the  cities,  where  the  English  speaking  peo. 
pie  are  more  numerous,  but  a  large  part  of  the  three 
hundred  words  found,in  the  New  Mexican  vocabulary 
are  known  and  used  by  people  from  the  mountain  and 
country  districts,  where  English  is  spoken  only  by  a 
few 

The  old  people,  i.  e,  those  above  say,  sixty  five  years 
of  age  use  little  English  in  their  speech,  while  the 
younger  generation,  or  those  between  the  ages  of  six 
and  forty  use  the  largest  number  of  English  borrow- 
ed words.  Among  school  children,  especially  in  larger 
cities  and  towns,  and  among  those  who  work  in  the 
cities,  as  clerks,  porters,  laundry  girls,  etc.,  there  is 
to  be  seen  not  only  the  greatest  English  influence,  but 
even  astonishing  speech  mixture,  such  as  phrases 
half  Spanish  half  English  etc..  and  it  is  not  at  all  rare 
to  see  Spanish-American  people  in  the  stores  or 
streets,  speaking  Spanish  and  mingling  here  and 
there  English  words,  which  are  not  felt  to  be  English. 

This  speech  mixture  is  not  confined  to  the  unedu- 
cated and  lower  classes,  but  pervades  the  whole 
speech  of  the  Spanish-Americans  in  New  Mexico,  Co- 
lorado, Texas,  Arizona  and  California.  The  autor  is 
familiar,  however,  only  with  the  conditions  in  New 
Mexico  and  Colorado.  Here,  one  may  often  go  to  an 
evening  party  where  both  Spanish  and  English  are 
spoken,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  only  Spanish  speak- 
ing speaking  persons  attend.  Modern  conditions 
in  society  have  demanded  that  the  New  Mexicans 
learn  and  use  English  words  and  phrases.  At  such 
gatherings  one  hears  such  expressions  as  "jugvr  al 
high  five,"  "Ese  es  tu  widow"  (at  cards),  "Ahi  viene  tu 
felow,"  "Que  ice  cream  tan  fine,"  "Dame  candy, " 


AND  SOUTHERN  ^  COLORADO.  17 

"Thank  you  Seflorita,"  "You  bet  si,"  "Well  vdmonos," 
"Hello,  Compadre"  "Aquivan  los  refreshments",  etc., 
etc.  The  autor  himself  is  not  free  from  such  speech 
mixtures.  Among  the  higher  educated  classes  of  the 
cities,  it  is  not  at  all  rare  to  find  young  school  children 
who  speak  more  English  than  Spanish,  and  in  some 
cases  children  who  ignore  Spanish  altogether,  though 
their  parents  may  speak  it.  They  learn  English  at 
school  an  with  their  associates  and  converse  often 
with  their  parents  in  English  while  the  parents  reply 
in  Spanish,  and  they  understand  each  other  perfectly. 
§.  10.  Tne  number  of  people  who  speak  only 
Spanish,  among  the  Spanish-speaking  inhabitants  of 
New  Mexico  and  southern  Colorado,  is  by  no  means 
small.  Tne  total  Spanish-speaking  population  of 
these  regions  I  estimated  in  my  Studies  in  New  Mex- 
ican Spanish,  at  about,  250,000,  of  which  some  50,000 
are  found  in  Colorado.  1  1  cannot  say  definitely  what 
proportion  of  these,  speak  only  Spanish.  A  large 
number  of  the  people  are  not  at  all  familiar  with  the 
English  language,  especially  in  the  remote  country 
Districts.  If  I  were  to  make  a  guess,  I  would  say 
that'of  the  total  250,000  some  80, 000,  or  one  third  of  the 
entire  Spanish-speaking  population  do  not  speak  the 
English  language,  though  some  of  these  may  under- 
stand a  few  words  of  English.  About  two  thirds,  then, 
of  the  Spanish  inhabitants  of  the  regions  in  question 
speak  English  and  understand  it,  while  one  third 
speak  only  Spanish,  and  understands  a  little  En- 
glish and  about  one  out  of  every  five  persons  is  totally 
ignorant  of  the  English  language.  There  are,  of 

1  Introduction,  page  1.  The  Santa  Fe  New  Mexican  (Oct. 
1909), believes  I  overestimated  the  population  in  question  by 
about  50,000.  No  statistics  are  available. 


18  SPANISH  "LANGUAGE   IN    NEW    MEXICO 

course,  great  differences,  if  one  distinguishes  social 
classes,  the  cities,  country  districts,  etc.  In  the 
cities  and  towns  perhaps  ninety  percent  of  the  New 
Mexicans  speak  English,  while  the  figures  may  be 
easily  reversed  in  the  remote  districts  etc.  It  is  also 
to  be  noted,  that  in  Southern  Colorado  the  percentage 
of  English  speaking  Spanish-Americans  is  larger 
than  in  New  Mexico.  With  this  observation  must 
also  be  mentioned  a  curious  fact.  Throughout  the 
Spanish  speaking  regions  of  the  United  States,  there 
has  always  been  a  persistent  effort  to  teach  these  in- 
habitants the  English  language.  Generally  speaking, 
and  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  schools  the  effort 
has  been  successful,  and  fortunately.  I  am  not  fami- 
liar with  the  school-laws  of  the  States  and  Territories 
of  the  South-west,  other  than  those  of  New  Mexico 
and  Colorado,  In  Colorado,  since  long  ago,  the  law 
of  the  State  requires  that  in  the  school-districts  where 
the  majority  of  the  children  are  of  Spanish  parents, 
the  teacher  must  know  both  Spanish  and  English  and 
may  teach  them  to  read  in  Spanish,  in  adition  to  the 
other  school  branches-  And  these  people  speak  more* 
and  better  English  .than  in  New  Mexico,  where  no 
such  law  exists,  and  where,  in  fact,  there  is  great 
animosity  on  the  part  of  the  school  authorities,  lest 
the  Spanish  speaking  children  learn  to  read  Spanish. 
It  has  always  seemed  to  me  a  very  foolish  argument, 
to  insist,  that  to  learn  English,  the  children  must 
forget  Spanish.  The  learning  of  English  is  a  sure 
fact.  All  are  learning  it  and  very  quickly.  But  there 
is  one  danger,  namely,  that  unles  the  school-laws 


AND  SOUTHERN  COLORADO. 


19 


provide  for  their  Spanish  instruction,  they  will  forget 
their  beautiful  native  tongue.1 

§  11.  We  shall  not  enter  here  into  a  philological 
treatment  of  the  phonetic  changes  in  words  of  English 
origin,  current  in  New  Mexico.  Those  desiring  to 
study  these  phenomena  will  consult  the  author's  pre- 
liminary study  in  the  work  already  mentioned.  We 
shall  only  give  examples,  to  illustrate  the  English 
influence. 

(a)  Verbs  directly  borrowed  from  the  English,  to 
which  is  attached  the  Spanish  infinitive  ending: 

baquiar        from  English  (to)  back  plus  -iar. 


-ar 

-iar. 

-ar. 

-iar. 


bosiar 

craquiar  *  *  u 

chachar  "  " 

deschachar  "  " 

fuliar  "  " 

lonchar  "  " 

puliar  "  " 

pushar  "  " 

ri/iar  "  " 

roseliar  "  " 

shainiar  "  " 

trampiar  ' ' 

tritiar  "  " 

Nearly  all  verbs  are  of  the  first  conjugation. 

1  I  have  attempted  to  answer  in  $g  9,  10  many  questions 
touching  the  problems  of  speech  mixture  in  New  Mexico,  pro, 
pounded  to  me  in  a  recent  letter  by  Professor  Rudolph  Lenz- 
of  Santiago  de  Chili. 

For  the  culture  value  of  Spanish,  see  the  excellent  article 
of  Professor  Hills  of  Colorado  College.  ilA  Plea  for  more 
Spanish  in  the  Schools  of  Colorado."  Colorado  College  Studies 
Vol.  XII.  No.  17. 


boss 

crack 

charge 

discharge 

fool 

lunch 

pull 

push 

drill 

rustle 

shine 

tramp 


20 


SPANISH   LANGUAGE  IN    NEW    MEXICO 


(b)  Nouns  directly  borrowed  from  the  English  to 
which  is  attached  a  Spanish  ending: 

jaquero        '   from  the  English  hackman. 

piler. 
cheating, 
switchman, 
fooler, 
backer, 
canvasser, 
pulling. 

(c)  Nouns  directly  borrowed  with  regular  phonetic 
development  in  toto: 

lonchi  from  the  English  lunch. 

laundry. 

lot  (land). 

oat-meal. 

automobile. 

pancake. 

partner. 


pilero 

chitiada 

suichero 

juliador 

baquiador 

cambasiador 

puliada 


londre 
lote 
otemil 
otomovil 
panqueque 
parna 
pone 
queque 
quique 
rigue 
rinque 
sete 
sute 
tiquete 

(d)     Adjectives  regularly  and  phonetically  hispan- 
ized: 

from  the  English  broke. 
"       "  "       crazy. 

"       smart. 

"        funny. 

"        high-toned. 


poney. 

cake. 

kick. 

rig. 

drink  (liquor). 

set. 

suit  (clothes). 

ticket. 


broquis 

crese 

esmarte 

fone 

jaitun1 


AND  SOUTHERN  COLORADO.  21 

Jul  "       "          "       fool. 

lain  "       "  "       .fine. 

ponque  "       "  "        punk. 

(e)     Interjections  and  oaths. 

albechu  from  the  English  Fll  bet  yon. 

gurbai  "       "  "        Good  bye. 

jald  "       "          "       Hello. 

auchi  "       "  "        Ouch! 

sh6  i«       «i  »        Pshaw! 

shoquis  "       "  "       Shucks! 

sanamagdn          "       "  "        Son  of  a  gun! 

gi-juis  "       "  "        Gee  whis! 

§  12.  The  Spanish  translations  used  for  govern- 
mental, political,  educational,  industrial  and  house- 
hold terminologies,  furnish  materials  which  are  suf- 
ficient for  a  long  and  interesting  study.  Frequently, 
words  as  a  rule  Spanish,  are  combined  in  order  to 
translate  the  English  word  of  phras'e  in  question, 
while  at  other  times  the  English  terminologies  are 
translated  literally,  into  a  Spanish  which  is  perfectly 
clear  to  the  New  Mexicans,  but  which  in  many  cases 
would  be  well  nigh  unintelligible  to  our  Spanish 
brothers  in  other  Spanish  countries.  I  have  not  yet 
made  a  definite  and  complete  classification  of  these 
phenomena,  and  shall  content  myself,  here,  by  giving 
a -few  of  the  most  interesting.  The  local  Spanish 
newspapers  are  full  of  such  hispanized  or  Spanish 
translated  English  terms  or  phrases.  Examples: 

abridor  dejarros,  can  opener. 

alianza  de  los  rancheros,  farmers'  alliance. 

came  de  bote,  canned  meat. 

casa  de  corte,  court  house. 

cuerpo  de  education,  board  of  education. 

1  These  adjectives  are  usually  not  inflected;  jaitiinis. 


22  SPANISH   LANGUAGE   IN    NEW    MEXICO 

dipo  de  la  unidn,  union  depot. 
efectos  secos,  dry  goods. 
enumerador  del  censo,  census  enumerator. 
escuela  de  reforma,  reform  school. 
esteque  de  pierna,  round  steak. 
frijoles  dejarro,  canned  beans. 
frutas  evaporadas,  evaporated  fruits. 
implementos  de  rancho,  ranch  implements. 
jamdn  de  almuerzo,  break-fast  bacon. 
mdquina  de  cortar  sacate,  hay  mower. 
mdquina  de  trillar,  threshing  machine. 
mayor  de  laciudad*  city  mayor. 
medicina  de  patente,  patent  medecine. 
mesa  de  libreHa,  library  table. 
notario  publico,  notary  public. 
palita  de  los  panqueques,  pancake  paddle. 
patio  de  maderas,  lumber  yards. 
policia  montada,  mounted  police. 
queso  de  nata,  cream  cheese. 
reserva  florestal,  foreste  reserve. 
supervisor  de  Uorestas,  forest  supervisor, 
tiquete  de  paso  repondo,  return  ticket. 
vendedor  de  tiquetes,  ticket  seller. 
viaje  redondo,  round  trip. 


V 

THE  INFLUENCE  OF  SPANISH  ON  THE 
ENGLISH  LANGUAGE. 

§  13.  The  study  of  the  Spanish  influence  on  the 
English  language  in  New  Mexico,  or  for  that  matter, 
in  the  whole  South-west,  where  Spanish  has  been 
spoken  for  over  three  centuries,  is  one  which  yet 
remains  to  be  done.  A  careful  classification  of  the 
words,  considering  source,  pronunciation  and  exact 
meaning  would  be  a  reward  to  any  one  who  would 
undertake  such  a  problem;  and  although  the  results 
would  be  of  interest  and  importance,  especially 
from  the  view  of  point  of  English  scholars,  it 
would  not  fail  to  throw  light  on  points  of  Spanish 
historical  grammar.  Like  the  other  chapters  of  our 
article,  this  chapter  will  not  enter  into  a  detailed 
treatment  of  the  matter  in  question.  I  shall  merely 
indicate  in  a  general  way  the  importance  of  this  sub- 
ject and  illustrate  by  examples  the  character  of  the 
Spanish  elements  of  the  English  language  in  New 
Mexico  and  southern  Colorado.  No  doubt,  a  large 
number  of  the  Spanish  words  and  phrases  used 
here  are  also  current  in  the  English  of  Texas,1  Ari- 
zona and  California,  but  as  I  have  not  made  a  careful 
study  of  the  conditions  in  all  these  regions,  I  shall 
merely  indicate  those,  or  some  of  those  used  in  New 
Mexico,  without  indicating  source  or  different  mean 

1  A  careful  and  interesting  study  of  the  Spanish  words  used 
in  Texas,  is  one  by,  H.  Tallichet,  " A  Contribution  towards  a 
vocabulary  of  Spanish  and  Mexican,  words  used  in  Texas." 
Dialect  Notes,  Parts  IV,  V  and  VI.  About  four  hundred 
words  are  listed  of  which  the  author  says,  only  some  two  hun- 
dred are  now  in  current  use. 


24  SPANISH  LANGUAGE  IN    NEW   NEXICO 

ings  if  any,  in  other  regions.  I  am  of  the  opinion 
that  New  Mexico  and  Texas  have  been  the  great 
distributing  centers  of  the  large  majority  of  the 
Spanish  words  used  in  the  Spanish  south-west,  though 
of  course,  to  indicate  where  first  introduced,  and  when 
are  problems,  which  though  not  impossible  to  solve, 
do  not  concern  me  here. 

§  14.  The  Spanish  influence  on  the  English  speech 
in  New  Mexico  and  the  whole  southwest  is  far  greater 
than  one  would  first  imagine.  As  for  New  Mexico  and 
Colorado,  there  are  some  two  hundred  words  in  cur- 
rent use  among  those  who  have  lived  here  for  several 
years.  This  would  not  include,  of  course,  people  of 
our  larger  towns  and  cities,  many  of  whom  live  among 
an  English-speaking  community  with  no  contact  what- 
ever with  Spanish-speaking  people.  One  must  also 
consider  that  a  large  number  of  Spanish  words  which 
were  in  current  use  in  the  pioneer  days,  i.  e.,  1850- 
1880,  are  rapidly  disappearing  on  account  of  the  pass- 
ing away  of  older  institutions,  for  example  such 
words  as  Idtigo  (strap),  shaps  or  shaparejos,  alcalde, 
vaquero,  lariat,  (rope),  bronco,  etc. 

The  Spanish  phrases  used  currently  by  the  English- 
speaking  inhabitants,  here,  are  also  very  numerous, 
and  jus.t  as  the  New  Mexicans  will  canverse  in  Spanish 
and  mingle  here  and  there  English  words  and  phrases 
(see  §  8),  the  English-speaking  inhabitants  may  be 
often  heard  conversing  in  English  and  mingling  here 
and  there,  Spanish  words  and  phrases.  I  shall  now 
give  in  alphabetical  order  lists  (not  complete)  of  Span- 
ish words  and  phrases  used  in  New  Mexico  and  South- 
ern Colorado. 

(a)  Spanish  words  current  in  the  English  vernacu- 
lar of  New  Mexico  and  Southern  Colorado,  with  their 


AND  SOUTHERN  COLORADO.  25 

meanings.  Since  we  are  concerned  with  the  words 
only,  we  need  not  indicate,  here,  the  exact  pronuncia- 
tion. In  general  they  should  be  pronounced  according 
to  the  Spanish  rules  of  pronunciation. 

acequia,  cequia,  irrigation  ditch. 

qdobe,  dobe,  mud  brick. 

amigo,  friend. 

arroyo,  creek  (dry,  as  a  rule). 

atole,  corn  mush. 

baile,  ball  dance. 

bronco,  wild  horse. 

burro-,  burro,  donkey. 

caballero,  sir,  gentleman. 

centavo,  cent. 

compodre,  friend,  pal. 

conquistador,  conqueror,  (Spanish). 

corral,  corral;  fenced  yard. 

chile,  chile. 

disciplina,  Penitentes'  (flagellant's)  whip. 

estufa,  (Pueblo  Indian  secret)  council  hall. 

fandango,  dance,  ball. 

fiesta,  feast;  celebration. 

frijoles,  beans. 

gallo-race,  roos terpulling  race  or  game. 

hombre,  man. 

Idtigo,  saddle  strap;  qinch  strap;  halter  strap. 

lareat(a),  cowboys  rope  (rawhide). 

loco,  crazy;  a  little  off. 

manana,  to-morrow;  some  day. 

myordomo,  ditch  overseer. 

mesa,  table-land. 

morada,  Council  house  of  Penitentes. 

olla,  Indian  jug  or  jar. 

padre,  priest. 


26  SPANISH   LANGUAGE  IN   NEW   MEXICO 

paisano,  countryman. 

penitente.  flagellant  brother. 

pedn,  peon;  laborer. 

peso,  dollar. 

pindn,  pinion  nut  or  pinion  wood. 

pinto,  spotted. 

placita,  courtyard  of  Mexican  house. 

presto,  quick. 

pueblo,  Indian  village. 

rancho,  ranch;  farm, 

ranchero,  farmer;  ranchman. 

sarape,  Indian  blanket. 

senor,  sir;  man. 

senora,  madam;  wife. 

sombrero,  hat,  big  wide  brimmed  hat. 

tamale,  chile,  corn  (and  meat)  sandwich. 

tinaja,  Indian  jar. 

tombe',  Indian  (base)  drum. 

tortilla,  tortilla  (Mexican). 

vaquero,  cowpuncher. 

vega-grass,  meadow  grass. 

(b)  Spanish  phrases  and  one  word  expressions, 
current  in  the  English  vernacular  of  New  Mexico  and 
Southern  Colorado,  with  meanings: 

Adios!  Good  bye! 

Buenos  dias!  Good  morning!  t 

Buenas  noches!  Good  night;  good  evening! 

carambas!  jingo! 

como  le  va?  how  are  you? 

c6mo  estd?  how  are  you? 

como  estamos?  how  are  you? 

con  mucho  gusto,  gladly. 

mucho  tveno,  very  good;  alright. 

no  sabe,  I  don't  know;  you  don't  know. 


AND  SOUTHERN  COLORADO.  27 

no  senor,  no,  sir. 

no  weno,  no  good. 

no  iveno  por  nada,  no  good  at  all. 

poco  caliente,  a  little  warm. 

poco  frio,  a  little  cold. 

sabe,  or  \sabe  the  burro?  do  you  understand?  do  you 
catch  on? 

vamos  (pronounced  also  —  vamoose)  let  us  go;  get  out, 
go  away. 

vamos  the  rancho,  let  us  or  we,  leave  the  ranch. 
!  (bueno)good',  fine;  alright!  x 


1  I  am  indebted  to  some  of  my  students  for  help  in  gathering 
some  of  these  expressions  and  words,  and  in  particular  to  Miss 
Matilde  Allen,  of  Cubero,  New  Mexico. 


VI. 
NEW  flEXICAN  SPANISH  FOLKLORE. 

§  15.  The  Folklore  study  of  Spanish-America  is  a 
field  that  is  unlimited.  In  South  America  a  good  deal 
of  research  is  now  being  done  largely  through  the 
personal  efforts  of  a  few  specialists  such  as  Dr. 
Rudolph  Lenz  and  Sefior  Vicufia  Cifuentes,  of  San- 
tiago de  Chile.  l  in  Mexico  very  little  scientific  work 
has  been  done,  and  in  Texas,  Arizona,  Colorado  and 
California,  nothing  that  is  of  importance  has  been 
accomplished.  The  author  of  this  article  has  been 
gathering  in  some  of  these  regions  both  philological 
and  folklore  materials  for  some  eight  years,  and  the 
attempt  is  being  made  to  carry  on  this  research 
in  a  scientific  way  and  in  the  light  of  modern  philolo- 
gical progress.  New  Mexico  on  account  of  the  fact 
that  it  is  isolated,  presents  a  unique  problem  in  the 
folklore  field  of  Spanish-America.  The  institutions 
of  learingand  learned  societies  of  the  territory  should 
undertake  the  study  of  New  Mexican  Spanish, 
Archeology,  History,  Folklore  and  Linguistics  on  a 
large  scale  and  encourage  studies  along  these  lines 
in  every  possible  way.2 

§  16.  I  shall  not  publish  the  folk  materials  gathered 
in  New  Mexico  for  the  last  few  years,  until  each  one 

1  Dr.  Lenz  has  recently  organized  an  enthusiastic  Chilean 
Folklore  Society,  with  "La  Eevista  de  Folklore  Cliileno"  as  its 
organ.     (1909). 

2  The  University  of  the  Territory  which  by  right  ought  to 
deem  it  its  privilege  to  lend  support  to  such  studies  has  taken 

very  little  interest  in  Spanish.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  in  the 
future,  some  wise  president  will  institute  a  regular  department 
of  Spanish  language,  literature  and  folklore  at  the  University. 


AND  SOUTHERN  COLORADO.  29 

of  the  parts  has  assumed  large  proportions.  I  shall 
indicate,  here,  however,  the  kind  and  amount  of  the 
materials  gathered,  especially  for  the  benefit  of  those 
who  in  response  to  a  circular  letter,  which  I  published 
a  year  ago,  have  contributed  in suchagenerous  manner 
to  increase  my  store  house  of  New  Mexican  Spanish 
folklore  materials.1  The  materials  gathered  thus  far, 
mentioning  them  in  the  order  of  provisional  literary 
importance  and  stating  the  amount  of  material  in  each 
class  I  am  classifying  in  the  following  manner: 

I.  Traditional  Spanish  ballads.  Popular  Spanish 
ballads  composed  in  Spain  previous  to  the  XVIth  cen- 
tury and  preserved  here  by  oral  tradition.  I  have 
discovered  thus  far,  eight-  in  twenty-four  versions. 
These  are: 

(1)  La  dama  v  el  pastor  or  (La  Zagala),  four  ver- 
sions. 

1  So  valuable  are  the  materials  sent  to  me,  many  times,  by 
my  New  Mexico  friends,  that  I  wish  to  thank  beforehand,  and 
express  my  gratitude  to  the  persons  who  have  aided  me  in  the 
gathering  of  materials,  and  in  particular,  Mr.  Eusebio  Cha- 
con, of  Trinidad,  Col'o;  Mr.  Tito  JVLaez,  of  Trinidad,  Colo; 
Mr  Celso  Espinosa,  of  Albuquerque,  N.  M:  Mr.  Francisco 
Garcia,  of  Santa  Fe",  N.  M;  Mr.  Candido  Ortiz,  of  Santa  Fe", 
N.  M;  Mr.  George  Metzger,  of  Ranches  de  Atrisco.  N.  M; 
Mr.  Eduardo  Espinosa,  of  Taos,  N.  M;  Mr,  J.  M.  C.  Chavez, 
of  Abiquiu,  N.  M;  Miss  Isabel  Mordy,  of  Albuquerque,  N. 
M;  Mr.  Jesus  M..  Espinosa,  of  Conejos,  Colo;  Mr.  Jos£  A. 
Ribera,  of  PeSa  Blanca,  N.  M;  Mr.  Justiniano  Atencio,  of 
Nutrias,  N.  M;  Mrs.  Marianita  Wagner,  of  Albuquerque,  N. 
M;  Miss  Benjamina  Gutierrez,  of  Los  Griegos,  N.  M;  Mr. 
Teofilo  Romero,  of  Barelas,  N.  M;  Mr.  Juan  C.  Garcia,  of 
Puerto  de  Luna,  N.  M;  Mr.  Crescencio  Torres,  of  Del  Norte 

Colo;  Mr.  Manuel  Vigil,  of  Albuquerque,  N.  M;  Mr.  Victo- 
riano  Ulibarri,  of  Tierra  Amarilla,  N.  M;  Miss  Maria  Espi- 
nosa, of  Albuquerque,  N.  M;  Miss  Rumaldita  Chaves,  of 
Sabinal,  N.  M;  Miss  Adelina  Montoya,  of  Bernardo,  N.  M., 
and  many  more. 


30  SPANISH   LANGUAGE   IN    NEW    MEXICO 

(2)  La  Esposa  Infiel  (assonance  in — 6),  two  versions, 

(3)  La  Delgadina,  six  versions. 

(4)  La  Esposa  Infiel  (assonance  in — i),   four    ver- 
sions. 

(5)  Gerineldo,  four  versions. 

(6)  El  Pastor  Desgraciado,  one  version. 

(7)  La  Aparici6n,  three  versions. 

(8)  Las  Senas  del  Marido,  one  version. 

These  popular  ballads  with  others,  which  may  be 
found,  will  be  published  in  a  separate  book,  entitled, 
"RomancerilloNuevo-Mexicano,"  as  a  modest  contri- 
bution to  Don  Ram6n  Mene"ndez  Pidal  and  his  wife 
Dofia  Maria  Goyri  de  Mz.  Pidal,  who  are  to  publish  a 
"Romancero  tiadicional  Espaflol,"  or  a  complete  bal- 
lad collection  of  the  Spanish  ballads  old  and  modern 
of  all  the  Spanish  countries. 

II.  Modern  ballads.  These  are  many  numerous 
and  some  of  very  literary  merit.  I  shall  probably 
publish  only  the  best.  Among  those  gathered  tfrus 
far  are  the  following: 

1.  Isabel  Aranda.  one  version. 

2.  Luis  Rodarte,  one  version. 

3.  Jesus  Leal,  one  version. 

4.  Luisita,  one  version. 

5.  Las  maflanas  de  Belen,  two  versions. 

6.  Reyes  Ruiz,  two  versions. 
(7)  ,  Pachuca,  one  version. 

.(8)     Apolonio,  one  versiou. 

(9)  Chaparita,  one  version. 

(10)  Rumaldo,  one  version. 

(11)  Ignacio  Parras,  one  version. 

(12)  David,  one  version. 

(13)  Cruz  Chavez,  one  version. 

(14)  Don  Fernando,  one  version. 


AND  SOUTHERN  COLORADO.  31 

(15)  Paustin  Sanchez,  one  version. 

(16)  Monteros,  two  versions. 

(17)  Macario  Romero,  four  versions. 

The  last  one,  "Macario  Romero,"  of  which  I  have 
four  versions,  I  consider  the  jewel  of  the  modern  New 
Mexican  popular  ballads,  so  I  shall,  here,  give  one  of 
the  complete  versions: 

Corrido  de  flacario  Romero. 

(Recited  by  Juanita  Lucero,  of  Juan  Tafoya.   New 
Mex.,  18  years  of  age,  who  learned  it  in  the  same  place. 
Dice  Macario  Romero,  al  capitan  Villalplata: 
'•Conce'dame  una  licencia,  par'ir  a  ver  a  mi  chata." 
Le  responde  Villalplata:  "Macario  ^que"  vas  hacer? 
Te  van  a  quitar  la  vida,  por  una  ingrata  mujer." 
Dice  Macario  Romero:  parandose  en  los  estribos: 
"Si  al  cabo  que  me  han  hacer,   si  todos  son  mis 

amigos." 

Y  el  capitan  Villalplata:  "  Por  mi  licencia  no  vas; 
Si  lo  llevas  en  capricho,  en  tu  salud  lo  hallaras." 
Dice  Macario  Romero,  enfrentando  a  la  garita: 
"Me  voy  £  ver  a  mi  chata,  pues  nadie  me  lo  quita." 
Dice  la  nina  Rosita:  "Papa  aqui  viene  Macario." 
'Hijita,  <; en  que  lo  conoces?'  'Lo  conozco  en  el  caballo. ' 
Dice  el  papa  de  Rosita:  "Pues  <jque  plan  le  forma- 

remos? 

"Le  formaremos  un  baile;  las  armas  le  quitaremos." 
Luego  que  llega  Macario'  lo  convidan  a  bailar, 
Pero  Romero  muy  vivo,  no  se  quisoemborrachar. 
Dice  la  nina  Rosita:  "Les  jugaremos  un  trato. 
Ensillate  dos  caballos,  ya  estamos  perdiendo  el  rato. 
Dice  el  papa  de  Rosita:    "Macario  hombre,   hazme 

un  favor; 

No  te  la  lleves  orita,  que  sea  en  otra  ocasi6n." 
Dice  MacarioRomero:  "Hombreel  favor  selohiciera; 


32  SPANISH   LANGUAGE  IN    NEW   MEXICO 

Si  no  me  la  llevo  orita,  toda  esta  gente  se  riera." 
Le  dice  el  papa  a  Rosita:  'Ya  que  mal  lo  has  pensado' 
<;Que  esperanzas  te  mantienen,  d'irte  con  un  des- 

graciado?" 

Dice  la  nifia  Rosita:  "No  le  diga  desgraciado; 
Porque  el  no  tiene  la  culpa.  yo  soy  quien  lo  he  ena- 

morado.  " 

Al  llegar  £  1'agua  grande,  iban  muy  entrenidos; 
Cuando  menos  acordaron,  les  dieron  el  primer  tiro. 
Dice  Macario  Romero:     ",;Porqu6    ora  no    entran 

marchando? 

Que  estoy  impuesto  a  matar,  las  aguilitas  volando." 
Dice  la  nifia  Rosita:  "Tu  tirales  a  matalos, 
Tii  tirales  £  matalos,  yo  te  cuido  las  espaldas." 
Dice  Macario  Romero:  "Rosita  querida  mia, 
Quiero  morir  en  tus  brazos,  y  alii  acabar  mi  vida." 
Dice  la  nifia  Rosita:  "Romero,  querido  mio, 
Para  morir  en  mis  brazos,  todo  esto  se  ha  cumplido. ' 
Dice  la  nifia  Rosifca:  "Ora  si  quedaron  bien, 
YamataronaMacario,puesmatenmeami  tambi^n." 
Sale  la  nifia  Rosita,  en  busca  de  una  pistola. 
t'Ora  lo  veran  cobardes,  como  ora  les  hago  bola." 
III.  Modern  popular  "versos."  By  ''-verso"  the  New 
Mexicans  mean,  short  octosyllabic  verse  strophies 
(as  a  rule  4,  6  or  8  verses  or  lines),  with  assonance  of 
the  even  verses  only  (Romance).     They  are  sung  at 
dances,  social  gatherings,  or  for  mere  competition 
among  the  composers.    These  have  been  for  the  most 
part  composed  in  New    Mexican  soil,   by  personsj 
usually  men,  called  "puetas,"  or  "cantadores,"  and 
are  a  good  index  to  the  New  Mexican  Spanish  char- 
acter and  sentiments.    I  have  now  in  my  possession  a 
little  over  one  thousand  of  these  popular  "versos.'* 
Here  are  transcribed  a  few  of  them : 


AND  .SOUTHERN  COLORADO.  33 

1. 

Pintar  tu  bella  hermosura 
Quisiera  con  un  pincel, 
Pues  eres  una  criatura 
Nacida  del  dios  de  Israel. 

2. 

Quisiera  ser  pajarito, 
Pero  no  de  los  azules, 
Para  ir  a  ver  a  mi  chata, 
Sabado,  Domingo  y  Lunes. 

3. 

Ante  noche  fui  a  tu  casa, 
Tres  golpes  le  di  al  candau; 
No  estas  buena  para  amores, 
Tienes  el  suefio  pesau. 

4. 

Mai  haya  la  ropa  negra, 
Y  el  sastre  que  la  cort6; 
Mi  negrita  tiene  luto 
Sin  que  me  haya  muerto  yo. 

5. 

Ya  la  luna  tiene  cuernos 
Y  el  lucero  1'  acompafia, 
;Ay  que  triste  queda  un  hombre, 
Cuando  una  guera  lo  engafia! 
6. 

El  clavel  que  tu  me  dites, 
El  dia  de  la  Acensi6n, 
No  fu£  clavel  sino  clavo, 
Que  clavo  mi  coraz6ri. 


34  SPANISH   LANGUAGE  IN   NEW   MEXICO 

7. 

Dicen  que  lo  negro  es  triste; 
Yo  digo  que  no  es  verdad, 
Tu  tienes  los  ojbs  negros, 
Y  eres  mi  felicidad. 

8. 

Si  quieres  que  yo  te  olvide, 
Pidele  a  Dios  que.muera; 
Porque  viv6  es  imposible 
Olvidar  a  quien  yo  quiera. 

IV.  New   Mexican  Spanish  riddles  (adivinanzas). 
These  are  usually  recited,  not  sung,  but  while  some- 
times metrical  and  sometimes  not,  assonance  is  usual- 
ly present.     I  have  collected  150  of  them. 

(a)  Metrical  and  assonanced: 
En  alto  vive  y  en  alto  mora, 

Y  en  alto  teje  la  tejedora. — La  arafia. 

Una  vaca  josca1  paso  por  el  mar 

Pegando  bramidos  sin  ser  animal. — La  nube. 

(b)  Non-metrical  though  assonanced: 
Rita,  Rita,  que  en  el  monte  grita, 
Y  en  su  casa  calla'dita. — El  hacha. 
Una  vieja  con  un  diente, 

Recoge  toda  su  gente. — La  campana. 

V.  Pastorelas  or  Los  Patores  (New  Mexican  Nati- 
vity plays).     I  have  two  manuscripts. 

VI.  Aparici6n  de  Nuestra  Sefiora  de  Guadalupe. 
New  Mexican  plays  treating  of  the  apparition  of  Our 
Lady  of  Guadalupe.     I  have  one  complete  and  one  in- 
complete manuscript.     The  complete  M.  S.  I  owe  to 
the  kindness  of  Mr.  Candido  Ortiz,  of  Santa  Fe",  N.  M. 

VII.  Las  Posadas.     A  dramatic  composition,  deal- 

1  Hosca. 


AND  SOUTHERN  COLORADO.  35 

ing  with  episodes  from  the  life  of  Christ.     I  have  one 
manuscript. 

VIII.  Primera  Persecuci6n  de  Jesus.  A  dramatic 
composition,  treating  of  the  slaughter  of  the  innocents 
and  the  flight  of  the  Child  Jesus  into  Egypt.  I  possess 
one  very  old  manuscript. 

IX.  De'cimas,  Inditas,  Cuandos  (varied  ballad  like 
compositions,   some  of  literary  merit,  others  of  no 
merit  whatever).     These  are  not  yet  definitely  classi- 
fied.  There  are  about  50  of  these  in  my  possession. 

X.  Nursery  Rhymes.     Rhymed  nonsense,  etc. 
Classified  under  these  categories  I  have  a  large 

collection  of  such  rhmyes  as: 

"El  piojo  y  la  liendre  se  quieren  casar, 
Pero  no  pueden  porque  no  tienen  pan." 

Entre  melon  y  melamba 
Mataron  una  ternera; 
Melon  se  comi6  la  carne, 
Melamba  la  cagalera. 
Sefiora  Santa  Ana, 
Sefior  San  Joaquin, 
Arroya  este  nifio, 
Se  quiere  dormir,  etc.  etc. 

XI.  Cuentos  (folk-tales.)    These  are  very  abund- 
ant in  New  Mexico,  both  long  and  short.     Among  the 
very  long  ones  I  have  versions  of:  • 

(1)  Pedro  de  Urdimalas. 

(2)  Mano  Fashico  (a  series  of  short  anecdotes). 

(3)  La  Zorra. 

(4)  El  Negrito  poeta. 

(5)  Cuentos  locales  hist6ricos. 

XII.  Cantadas,    Canciones    (Songs.)     These    are 
being  gathered  also  by  C.   P.  Lummis,  the  author  of 


36  SPANISH  LANGUAGE  IN   NEW   MEXICO 

"TJie  Land  of  Poco  Tiempo."  They  are  semi-learned 
in  source.  I  understand  Mr.  Lummis  will  make  a 
complete  collection  of  them,  accompanied  by  the 
music,  so  we  await  his  work  with  the  greatest 
interest. 

XIII.  Current  New  Mexican  Spanish   customs, 
superstitions  and  beliefs.    Here  we    have    another 
field  that  alone  is  worthy  of  study  and  research.     In 
our  region  the  most  interesting  fact,  at  once  evident, 
is,   that,  customs,   superstitions    and    beliefs  vary 
greatly  from   one  region  to  another.     Here  are  in- 
cluded some  200  popular  remedies.  l 

XIV.  Proverbs  (refranes  or  dichos.)    I  have  col- 
lected about  six  hundred  of  these.     Many  are  asson- 
anced  but  rarely  metrical: 

1.  Haz  bien — y  no  acates  a  quien. 

2.  Pan  ajeno — hace  al  hijo  bueno. 

3.  Recaudo  hace  cocina — no  Catalina. 

4.  Las  viejas  de  noche  son  gatas — de  dia  beatas. 

.5.  El  que  da  lo  que  ha  menester — el  diablo  se  rie 
deel. 
6.  Onde  hay  cuecho — hay  derecho. 

XV.  New  Mexican  Spanish  Christian  names  and 
surnames.     The  former  offer  intereresting  material, 
for  the  study  of  phonetic  change,  as  in: 

Emiterio-Miterio,  Eulogia-Ologia,  Aurelio-Abrelio, 
etc,  while  the  latter  are  of  special  interest  to  History 
and  Etchnology. 

XVI.  The  English  language  in  New  Mexican  Spa- 
nish Folk-lore.     These  materials  include  for  the  most 
part,  short  stories,  anecdotes,  plays  on  words,  and 
the  like.     For  example: 

1  I  have  published  part  of  these  materials  in  the  Journal  of 
American  Folklore,  Dec.,  1910. 


AND  SOUTHERN  COLORADO.  37 

Give  me  a  match,  Quiere  comprar  el  macho. 
You  damn  fool,  y  la  f  rezadita  azul. 

XVII.  Christian    prayers    (Spanish):    and    Latin 
words  and  phrases  (parady  of  the  responses  at  mass 
etc.,)  in  New   Mexican  Spanish  Folk-lore.     Los   mu- 
chachos  traviesos  (The  mischievous   boys),  known   a 
large  number  of  such  paredies,  and  the  like,  such  as: 

Padre  nuestro  que  estas  en  los  cielos,  2 

Tu  cuidas  las  vacas  y  yo  los  becerros.  etc.,  etc. 

XVIII.  Child rend's  games   (juegos  infantiles), 
Some  twenty  of  these,  with  words  etc.,  and  evidently 
traditional  in  character,  are  in  my  collections. 

XIX.  La  Cocica  popular.  3 

5  A  most  excellent  article,  entitled;  "El  Latin  en  el  Folk-lore 
Chileno,"  has  just  been  published  by  K.  E.  Laval,  in  the  Re. 
vista  de  Folk-lore  Chileno,  Vol,  I,  No.  I  1910,  Santiago  de 
Chile. 

3  The  materials  for  this  study  are  being-  collected  by  my 
wife. 


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