There’s no denying that some
Spanish speakers get frustrated with the dialect that’s
spoken in New Mexico and southern Colorado. Take, for instance, the
Jemez Mountains. Anyone who’s sat through a high school
Spanish class would say “HEM-es.” Don’t try that in New
Mexico: Those are the “hay-mez” Mountains.
Luckily,
Rubén Cobos, a professor for 30 years at the University of New
Mexico, is here to disentangle tongues and set the linguistic
record straight. With the help of his students, Cobos has recorded
the family histories, jokes, ballads and riddles of rural New
Mexicans and southern Coloradoans for more than 60 years. Now,
he’s sharing what he’s learned about the language in
A Dictionary of New Mexico and Southern Colorado
Spanish.
Spanish spoken in this region is a
hodgepodge, writes Cobos, made up of Archaic Spanish, the Indian
dialects of Mexico and the Rio Grande pueblos, Mexican Spanish,
English and “regional vocabulary.” That’s what makes the
dialect unique — and confusing. You might know that cola
refers to the devil. You might not know that it also refers to a
person who leaves the door open when she enters or leaves a room.
Same with calabaza: Regulars to the market know that’s a
pumpkin; only the keen know it also means to turn down a marriage
proposal.
Even if you’re not prone to thumbing
through dictionaries, it’s fun to flip through Cobos’
book, looking for the familiar or the foreign, such as bequenpaura
(baking powder), uniones (long underwear), mujerero (woman chaser),
and lengua larga (gossipmonger or tattletale). Whether you’re
a native New Mexican, or a visitor to the area, you’ll have a
good time — or fon — learning something new from Cobos.
A Dictionary of New Mexico and Southern Colorado
Spanish
by Rubén Cobos, 258 pages,
softcover $19.95.
Museum of New Mexico Press,
2003
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Tongue-tied in the Southwest.
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