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I could see your point if this was something that was more widespread, however this is the very first time that I hear something like this ever.
In Mexico, the language spoken at the time of the Spanish arrived to this continent was Nahuatl and it has been spoken in Central Mexico since at least the 7th century AD. It was the language of the Aztecs, who dominated what is now central Mexico during the Late Postclassic period of Mesoamerican chronology. During the preceding century and a half, the expansion and influence of the Aztec Empire had led to the variety spoken by the residents of Tenochtitlan becoming a prestige language in Mesoamerica.
I have however, never heard of a Mexican person saying that their language is Nahuatl and refused to speak Spanish simply because of that fact.
There can be a lot of stereotypes in the US when it comes to Hispanic people as Americans tend to think that most if not all Hispanics are Mexican, when they can be from different countries, however some don't think it is a big deal while others get extremely insulted; same thing happens when Americans visit other countries (They are simply Americans, not Texans, Californians, or even Canadian as they are also Caucasian and speak English)
If Spanish is the language in which your parents brought you up since you were a child, I would say that should be your language and accept it with pride; my question is this; since you really don't consider English your language, are you ever going to go back to your country and learn Nahuatl? What steps have you taken to learn that language?
I don't know why you people are saying Nahuatl disappeared, it's currently the mother tongue of an estimated 1.5 million human beings, probably one of the most healthy native languages in the Americas. It's widely spoken in Mexico, there's thousands of primarily Nahuatl speaking villages all across Mexico, if you want to learn the language I'm sure you can. While the local El Salvador dialect is highly endangered, you could just learn a neighbouring dialect from southern Mexico. Of course, you'd have to move to Mexico to live immersed in this language. Nahuatl speakers are stigmatized and speaking the language is associated with poverty in Mexico, maybe you could learn the language and try to change peoples perceptions of it.
I was born in El Salvador but I refuse to call Spanish My language. It's the language of Spain. Before people from Spain arrived, another language was spoken, Nahuatl was spoken, the name of the country was changed to El Salvador, before it was known Cuscatlan. My parents talk to me in Spanish, I respond back in English. English is also not my language. My language died many years ago after Spain took over. I refuse to speak the language that was replaced in the land where I was born, so I have communicate in English. I hate how people assume you speak Spanish just because you're Hispanic. They should realize that not everybody has accepted this as their language.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Hypnosis
English is also not my language..
And it is not mine either ... ! The same with Spanish, not mine either !
I am a *brown-face*, and I really hate it when *white* people come up to me and say:
*Spah-neesh ?*
So I come back with *Noh ... Eeng-grease ... !!*
On the other hand, I do not understand why the OP is so upset about his parent's main language ...
And what exactly is the point of this thread? Your language died, no big deal.
So you're blaming Spain for it?
You know who else got colonized by Spain? The Philippines. Did their original language died? Not really. Instead they incorporated Spanish into their language, which is now called Tagalog. But the Philippines has still more than 100 dialects existing. Spoken by millions of people. Cebuano or Bisaya, a dialect almost different from Tagalog & nearly a relative of a Malay-Polynesian, spoken by over 20 million people.
Aren't languages dying and evolving as time goes on? I mean Spanish really didn't exist 2,000 years ago, nor did French or English. So did Spanish, French and English kill those previous languages? And didn't those previous languages kill other previous languages?
My parents talk to me in Spanish, I respond back in English. English is also not my language. My language died many years ago after Spain took over.
The angst is strong with this one.
Seriously I get what you are saying, and to an extent you have a point. That part about your parents is pretty far out there though. At some point you have a be a human being and not just a political cause.
I think the OP should put his/her life effort into reintroducing this ancient language to the world.
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