How to Tame a Wild Tongue

In this reading, Anzaldua starts out by expressing how the tongue is uncontrollable through a scenario of a dentist cleaning the roots of a tooth with the tongue getting in the way. Throughout the paper, Anzaldua pointed out that her hometown language was not well accepted by society. She lists eight different kinds of languages that Chicanos people speak today and claims to speak the last five listed to her family and friends. Majority of the Spanish languages somehow adapted to the English community. Even though America is a nation of many ethnicities, people who did not speak English were often attacked verbally. This displays the struggles Chicanos people face based on the unacceptance of their culture and language. Denying a person’s language is almost similar to denying a significant part of them. As for the tongue, it is what we use to speak our languages and the persistence of the Chicanos people helped Americans recognize them as a distinct group.

The Meanings of a Word

In this reading, Naylor pointed out the amount of power used in a word. She referred to the word, “nigger” as a bad word when he was still in grade school. She describes how the word can be used in the following paragraphs. First, the word, “nigger” could be used to signifiy himself in a situation that brought approval for his strength, intelligence, or drive. Or it could’ve meant a term of endearment for husband or boyfriend if used by a possessive adjective by a woman. The point is, there are meanings in the words we say, even if it is something derived of prejudice. In our case, we can use the words that we were called in our early life and explain how that shaped us as a person for our papers. They could signify our language or even who we are. In Naylor’s example, it showed that the word “nigger” adapted into a way which it may be okay to say words if used properly, although it can bring shame if used inappropriately.

How to Tame a Wild Tongue

Gloria Anzaldua speaks about her experiences growing up with a language that is neither considered standard Spanish nor standard English in the article How to Tame a Wild Tongue. Due to a merge from colonization and a mix of different cultures, Chicano Spanish was born. According to Anzaldua, Chicano Spanish was not considered an “official language” and it sometimes embarrassed her to speak it in front of people who didn’t speak it. She often considered it as an “improper” language while growing up because that was what her parents always told her. Because of this, she spoke a variation of different types of English and Spanish: standard English, working class and slang English, standard Spanish, standard Mexican Spanish, North Mexican Spanish dialect, Chicano Spanish, Tex-Mex, and Pachuco. However, she eventually came to the revelation that she should embrace the language instead because it was a part of her identity that many other people could relate to as well.

The Meanings of a Word

Words said in different contexts can have different meanings. Depending on what tone was used and what situation one is in, it can either pass off as a compliment, insult, or a neutral observation. In The Meanings of a Word, Gloria Naylor explains how she first came to the realization that the “n-word” could be used as an insult when confronted with a classmate who decided to be racist to her. That was when she realized that although she has heard the word many times before, this was the first time it had sounded insulting to her. This was also the moment when she realized that one word could be applied to numerous different situations and used in more than one way so that it could sound like an insult in one particular moment but be used as a form of praise in another moment. For example, when one of her family members uses it in a praiseworthy tone to compliment someone, she pays no attention to it and it doesn’t really register itself in her brain. But the moment someone else uses it in a demeaning way, her brain suddenly registers it as an offense and recognizes it as an insult.

Response

In different discourse communities, different words and languages could be understood in numerous different ways. Words that could be interpreted as insults could be interpreted as a compliment in a separate situation. Languages that might seem “incorrect” may serve as a link to tie a community tighter together due to their common understanding of said language. People are able to interpret things differently simply because of this single change and by doing so, it is drawing people together and creating new meanings to words that weren’t available before.

In “How to Tame a Wild Tongue,” Gloria Anzaldua talks about her own language which is Chicano Spanish. She states how Chicano Spanish is very ambiguous because it’s not the kind of Spanish that Latinos would speak. It also has lots of variations which make it hard to explain the language. What is interesting about this is that there are prejudices against Chicano people just because they speak a different type of Spanish. The Chicano people have found their name and place since 1965 when Ceasar Chavez and the farmworkers united, I Am Joaquin got published, and when la Raza Unida party was formed in Texas. However, they still face struggles of trying to maintain their language and not give up their native tongue. This is because of their struggles of identity from getting looked down upon by English speaking people AND Spanish speaking people.

In “The Meanings of a Word,” Gloria Naylor argues that a mere word is harmless and that it is the meaning of the word that carries the power of a word. When she was younger, a boy called her a “nigger” as a means of humiliating her. She knew then that the word was supposed to be degrading, however, didn’t know why he used it then because she had a different meaning of the word in her head. She explains how she has heard the word being used many times but thought it was a word to describe a man. She only realized that it was a degrading term when the boy had said it to her that day. This is interesting because when we’re young, we don’t understand the full meaning of a word until we hear the word being used in every way possible. The word itself can be used for many things, but the context and history of the word limit it to be used only in certain situations.