A new dialect has been emerging from certain parts of Miami due to cultural intermingling between Spanish and English speakers.
The distinct dialect is a Spanish-influenced dialect of English, born out of decades of immigration to Southern Florida from Spanish-speaking countries.
Consider on of the most bilingual cities in the US, Miami consists of a majority Hispanic and Latino population. In recent decades, the Spanish languages has mixed with American English, resulting in a new dialect consisting of its own expressions and phrases.
Linguists at Florida International University in Miami said the linguistic development is a perfect example of how human languages are constantly shape-shifting in the face of historical and social conditions.
“All words, dialects, and languages have a history,” Professor Phillip M. Carter, Director of the Center for Humanities in an Urban Environment at the Florida International University, told IFLScience .
“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. 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,” added Carter.