[Ads-l] Latinx

[Stanton McCandlish]

My impression (based on a fair amount of reading) is that it's not really
"their word", but rather an exonym that was invented in US universities as
a language-change activism matter.  That may be a moot point if some
Hispanics are themselves now adopting it. But what I was reading up until
this year was that use of the term was not finding much traction among
Spanish speakers, and less so the farther away from the US you get (e.g.,
some in Mexico, only a little in South America, and hardly at all in
Spain).  It was preceded in online writing by "Latin@" (among actual users
of Spanish), since "@" looks like a "a" inside an "o", and in turn was
derived from earlier use of "Latino/a" in writing, usually said aloud as
"Latino o Latina" or "Latino y Latina", depending on context. Like
"Latine", this is all generally neologistic usage from the 1990s or maybe a
bit earlier, a feminist reaction against the masculine form being used as
generic, much as "he/him/his" have been falling into disuse in English as
generic.

Anyway, I don't think it's insensitive to examine the term, and its origins
and history, and why and among whom it is used versus other less awkward
alternatives.  The "x" seems to have been chosen because of its frequent
use as a variable in mathematics.

--
Stanton McCandlish
McCandlish Consulting
5400 Foothill Blvd Suite B
Oakland CA 94601-5516

+1 415 234 3992

https://www.linkedin.com/in/SMcCandlish

"The capacity to produce social chaos is the last resort of desperate
people."
—Cornel West, author and philosopher (1953–)
"Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent."
—Isaac Asimov, biochemist and science-fiction writer (1920–1992)
------------------------------



On Mon, Aug 17, 2020 at 6:43 AM Bethan Tovey-Walsh <accounts at bethan.wales>
wrote:

> Evidently, there’s a large enough group of people who find the term useful
> and acceptable as a representation of their identity. Telling them that the
> word they’ve settled on is absurd and unnecessary and has a far more
> grammatical alternative is insensitive as well as missing the point. It’s
> their word. It’s no more good or bad than any other word adapted to fill a
> need.
>
> No argument that a word’s spelling is unreasonable can hold much water in
> English, of all languages. The pronunciations “lateen-ex” or “latin-ex” are
> both perfectly reasonable. They’re not conventional according to English
> orthotactic/phonotactic rules; but we settled on ways to pronounce “Czech”
> and “gateaux” and “shih tzu”, so I think we can do the same with “Latinx”.
>
> Bethan
>
> ___________________________________________________
> Dr. Bethan Tovey-Walsh
>
> Myfyrwraig PhD | PhD Student CorCenCC
> Prifysgol Abertawe | Swansea University
>
> CV: LinkedIn
>
> Croeso i chi ysgrifennu ataf yn y Gymraeg.
> On 17 Aug 2020, 13:47 +0100, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>,
> wrote:
> > I heard it on MSNBC yesterday pronounced as "Latin X."
> >
> > "Latine" is obviously the superior choice, assuming one is even
> necessary.
> >
> > JL
> >
> > JL
> >
> > On Mon, Aug 17, 2020 at 8:27 AM Michael Everson <everson at evertype.com>
> > wrote:
> >
> > > It makes absolutely no sense. And is it [laˈtinɛks] or [laˈtiŋks]?
> Anyway
> > > the obvious third choice given “latino” and “latina” is “latine”
> [laˈtine].
> > >
> > > M
> > >
> > > > On 14 Aug 2020, at 15:45, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> > > wrote:
> > > >
> > > > Huh?
> > > >
> https://news.yahoo.com/latinx-mostly-unknown-term-even-035021574.html
> > > >
> > > > (Ironic "huh?" Of course I'm familiar with it! But this spelling is
> > > > absurd.)
> > > >
> > > > JL
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > --
> > > > "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
> > > truth."
> > > >
> > > > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > > > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> > >
> > > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> > >
> >
> >
> > --
> > "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
> truth."
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

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