The Evolution of Language and Identity

In her essay "How to Tame a Wild Tongue," Gloria Anzaldua explores the relationship between her identity and her language, arguing that they are "twin skin." In this novel, she is able to explain the affects that her language has had on the way she views herself and the people around her. Personal identity is complicated. It is not just comprised of one characteristic, but of many, all intertwining, and interdependent of each other. Our language, just like our identities, are constantly evolving and changing. They are never stagnant and always growing and moving.

I hurt for the child Gloria was, and the constant tug-of-war she was forced to endure from every form of authority figure and source of influence she had. As a child, being told to "speak American" by the American teachers, being accused of being a traitor and betraying her ethnicity by speaking English by the Latinos, and the continual nagging from her mother to speak English without "sounding like a Mexican." The following quotes from Anzaldua were particularly eye catching.

"At American University, I, and all Chicano students, were required to take two speech classes. Their purpose: to get rid of our accents."

"Pocho, cultural traitor, you're speaking the oppressor's language by speaking English, you're ruining the Spanish language."

"I want you to speak English."

Anzaldua was continually made to feel in superior by both Americans and Mexicans, never really being accepted by either culture simply because of the languages she spoke. Yet, I don't know that the evolution and mixture of the English and Mexican language could have been avoided.

Language is simply a means of communicating with each other, but its variations and styles are rich with history, our history! Since history is the study of our past, language also can be considered the study of our past. The way we pronounce words, phrase a sentence, or the use of particular expressions, all have a history. For instance, the English language has been used since the 5th century AD when three Germanic tribes invaded Britain. It was the Angles, who came from Englaland and spoke Englisc, that the English language was born. Since then, the English language has gone through many evolutions, beginning with Old English, Middle English, Modern English, and Late Modern English, which is currently the style of English in use today. That being said, there are many variations of Late Modern English, some of them being, Australian English, New Zealand English, Canadian English, and South African English, just to name a few. Each of these styles of English is rich with history. Our American style of English began around 1600 during the colonization of North America. Some of the British pronunciations and wording "froze," as the settlers reached the Americas. American English has also been greatly influenced by the French, the Spanish, and the West African countries as well.

When I think about the relationship between my own identity and my own language, I first think of my history. I mainly think of the history of my ancestors and my country. I did not get to choose where I was born, or what language I would speak as a child, but they do contribute to the person I am today. I am proud to be an American, proud of the ancestors that came before me, proud of the values and realities that make me American, and also proud to speak my own variation of American English. I completely understand Anzaldua when she says, "Ethnic identity is twin skin to linguistic identity-I am my language." Just like me, Anzaldua's Ethnicity has a history, a past. She is Mexican and American, and that mix gives her a unique history different from my own. Each of these facts is not chosen by her, but both contribute to her personal identity. She was in a sense, forced to speak Spanglish, in an effort to communicate effectively with those around her. Some of those people being Mexican, some being American, and all criticizing her for speaking the “other” language.

I am convinced that Anzaldua's statement, "Until I am free to write bilingual and to switch codes without having always to translate, while I still have to speak English or Spanish when I would rather speak Spanglish, and as long as I have to accommodate the English speakers rather than having them accommodate me, my tongue will be illegitimate," comes from her frustrations of being forced to choose one country and one language, over the other, and in essence, being forced to deny part of her identity, making her to continually feel “illegitimate.”