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There's so much bad-ass beauty in Mexican Spanish. I've written about some of it in "Mexican X-plainer" threads & Medium articles.
One of my favorite things about my dialect is an odd construction emphasizing (irritating) repetition.
I call it the "chingue y chingue" form.
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One of my favorite things about my dialect is an odd construction emphasizing (irritating) repetition.
I call it the "chingue y chingue" form.
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The form uses the auxiliary verb "estar" (to be), & rather than combining it with the gerund (for the normal progressive tenses), pairs it with a repeated form of the main verb, ending with -e.
"M'ijo estaba cante y cante, bien feliz."
"My son was singing away, real happy."
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"M'ijo estaba cante y cante, bien feliz."
"My son was singing away, real happy."
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"La niña está llore y llore."
"The girl is crying her heart out."
"Ese güey no deja de estar friegue y friegue."
"That dude won't stop being super annoying."
Some people will assume this is some weird form of the subjunctive (which for -ar verbs takes -e in the singular).
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"The girl is crying her heart out."
"Ese güey no deja de estar friegue y friegue."
"That dude won't stop being super annoying."
Some people will assume this is some weird form of the subjunctive (which for -ar verbs takes -e in the singular).
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But nope. Here's how I can tell that's not what's going on:
Look at plural subjects:
"Estábamos baile y baile toda la noche."
"We were dancing with abandon all night long."
"Ustedes siempre están trabaje y trabaje."
"Y'all are always working your butts off."
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Look at plural subjects:
"Estábamos baile y baile toda la noche."
"We were dancing with abandon all night long."
"Ustedes siempre están trabaje y trabaje."
"Y'all are always working your butts off."
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What's more, the ending is ALWAYS -e.
Escribir (write)? "Estaba escribe y escribe."
Comer (eat)? "Estaba come y come."
And so on.
I'm not sure if this occurs outside of Mexico. I've only heard Mexicans and Chicanx folks use the construction.
Don't know its origin.
BUT—
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Escribir (write)? "Estaba escribe y escribe."
Comer (eat)? "Estaba come y come."
And so on.
I'm not sure if this occurs outside of Mexico. I've only heard Mexicans and Chicanx folks use the construction.
Don't know its origin.
BUT—
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This phenomenon has a name.
Reduplication.
Guess what other language uses it a lot?
Nahuatl.
An indigenous Mexican language.
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Reduplication.
Guess what other language uses it a lot?
Nahuatl.
An indigenous Mexican language.
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"Hablar" is Spanish for "speak."
In this reduplicative construction, "he speaks a lot" would be "está hable y hable."
In *Nahuatl,* the verb is "tlahtoa."
"He speaks a lot" is "tlahtlahtoa," repeating the first syllable of the base verb form.
Reduplication = frequency
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In this reduplicative construction, "he speaks a lot" would be "está hable y hable."
In *Nahuatl,* the verb is "tlahtoa."
"He speaks a lot" is "tlahtlahtoa," repeating the first syllable of the base verb form.
Reduplication = frequency
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I'm not saying there's a connection (especially as speakers of other dialects are explaining similar forms in their respective homelands), just that this is a common linguistic strategy to emphasize the repetitiveness of an action.
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(Note that I'm literally thinking aloud on Twitter without doing any research, hahaha. Living dangerously.)
From what y'all are telling me, in other Latin American countries (and maybe Spain? Hacédmelo saber, tíos) the verb endings DO equate with the subjunctive.
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From what y'all are telling me, in other Latin American countries (and maybe Spain? Hacédmelo saber, tíos) the verb endings DO equate with the subjunctive.
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So that "comer" becomes "estaba coma y coma."
That suggests to me that the "y" first diphthongized with the initial -a (comay coma) before lifting the /a/ to /e/ (come y coma) & a tendency toward vowel harmony did the rest (come y come).
Now I need to do some research!
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That suggests to me that the "y" first diphthongized with the initial -a (comay coma) before lifting the /a/ to /e/ (come y coma) & a tendency toward vowel harmony did the rest (come y come).
Now I need to do some research!
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(I'm calling it the "chingue y chingue" form because that's phrase in which I hear it used the most: "Estás / sigues chingue y chingue" ... "You keep riding my ass" or "You just keep fucking annoying me.")
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From what I'm seeing, the original form (or the most common one outside of my dialectal area, at least) uses "que" instead of "y":
"Estaba come que come" rather than our "estaba come y come."
Fascinating!
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"Estaba come que come" rather than our "estaba come y come."
Fascinating!
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Thanks to wonderful comments, I've discovered that this particular sort of reduplication has a name: gerundial imperative (because its origins are in the imperative form being used instead of a gerund).
The early form used "que":
-"camina que camina"
-"come que te come"
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The early form used "que":
-"camina que camina"
-"come que te come"
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-"Estaban las dos habla que te habla"
Etc.
It can be found in other Romance languages, like Italian:
"Cammina, cammina, o presto o tardi ci arriverò" - "If I just keep on walking, I'll get there sooner or later."
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Etc.
It can be found in other Romance languages, like Italian:
"Cammina, cammina, o presto o tardi ci arriverò" - "If I just keep on walking, I'll get there sooner or later."
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Ah! As @laTejana33 points out, the Spanish gerundial imperative (which "raises" the final vowel /a/ to /e/) can raise the vowel even HIGHER to /i/ (as in many Texan / Southwestern Chicano dialects)
The evolution looks like:
llora que llora --> llore y llore --> llori llori
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The evolution looks like:
llora que llora --> llore y llore --> llori llori
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A particularly odd example of this construction is "andar vuelta y vuelta" (to be running about from place to place) in which "vuelta" is a nominalized form of the verb "volver" (return) that most often means "trip, trek, walk."
Seems the reduplicated element is analyzed —
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Seems the reduplicated element is analyzed —
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—as something other than a verb, some sort of verbal derivative (like the gerund for which the construction is named). I'm hard pressed to figure out what the rule for its construction is in Mexican Spanish, but I'm going to try running a ton of verbs ... a ver qué.
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Oh, yes! I remembered another one that uses something other than a verb:
"Andaban beso y beso" (they were all kissy-kissy with each other).
This exists alongside "andaban bese y bese," meaning the same thing but with the verb in -e form.
If y'all have examples, share!
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"Andaban beso y beso" (they were all kissy-kissy with each other).
This exists alongside "andaban bese y bese," meaning the same thing but with the verb in -e form.
If y'all have examples, share!
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