Llanito
Encyclopedia
Llanito or Yanito is an Andalusian Spanish
based creole
spoken in the British overseas territory of Gibraltar
. It consists of an eclectic mix of Andalusian Spanish and British English
, marked by a great deal of code switching
and loanwords from many other Mediterranean languages.
Gibraltarians also call themselves Llanitos.
(Ligurian
) and Hebrew
origin. Its other main language constituents are Maltese
and Portuguese
. It often also involves code-switching
to English. Some Llanito words are also widely used in the neighbouring Spanish town of La Línea de la Concepción
(due to the influx of people from La Línea working in Gibraltar over many years).
To some outsiders who only speak either English or Spanish, Llanito may sound incomprehensible, as speakers appear to switch languages in mid-sentence
, but to people who are bilingual
in both languages, it can sound interesting and unique. One feature of the language is the pronunciation of English words with an Andalusian flavour. For example, bacon is pronounced beki; cake, keki; battery, batteria; and a policeman is known as la parma, and porridge is called kuecaro (a Spanish-sounding version of the brand Quaker Oats]. Most Gibraltarians, especially those with higher education, speak standard Spanish of both Andalusian and Castilian
dialects and standard English of the British English variety
.
Llanito has significant Jewish influence, because of a long standing Jewish population in Gibraltar
. They introduced words and expressions from Haketia
, a largely extinct Judeo-Spanish language spoken by the Sephardic
communities of Northern Morocco
, such as Tetuan and Tangiers and the Spanish exclaves of Ceuta
and Melilla
in North Africa.
Even though Llanito is seldom written, a Llanito dictionary, Diccionario Yanito was published in 1978 by Manuel Cavilla and in 2001 Tito Vallejo published The Yanito Dictionary. Including Place Names and Yanito Anecdotes.
has also aired some programmes in Llanito including Talk About Town - a discussion series in which three presenters discuss local affairs, from the need to replace a street sign to important political affairs.
Pepe's Pot was a cookery programme which also used Llanito.
of Gibraltar is Gibraltarians. However, the people of Gibraltar may also be referred to as Llanitos (female Llanitas). This term is commonly used in the neighbouring towns of La Línea
, San Roque, Algeciras
and the rest of the Campo de Gibraltar
, as well as in Gibraltar itself. When speaking in English, the people of Gibraltar tend to use the word Gibraltarians to refer to themselves but when speaking in Spanish
they prefer to use the word Llanitos rather than the Spanish name for their official demonym, Gibraltareños.
The truncated
term Llanis is also used by the people of Gibraltar, where it can be heard all around the territory and proudly chanted in songs during the annual Gibraltar National Day
.
of the name Gianni
. During the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries the majority of the male civilian population of Gibraltar came from Genoa
and Gianni was a common Italian forename
.
Andalusian Spanish
The Andalusian varieties of Spanish are spoken in Andalusia, Ceuta, Melilla and Gibraltar. They include perhaps the most distinct of the southern variants of peninsular Spanish, differing in many respects from northern varieties, and also from Standard Spanish...
based creole
Creole language
A creole language, or simply a creole, is a stable natural language developed from the mixing of parent languages; creoles differ from pidgins in that they have been nativized by children as their primary language, making them have features of natural languages that are normally missing from...
spoken in the British overseas territory of Gibraltar
Gibraltar
Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...
. It consists of an eclectic mix of Andalusian Spanish and British English
British English
British English, or English , is the broad term used to distinguish the forms of the English language used in the United Kingdom from forms used elsewhere...
, marked by a great deal of code switching
Code-switching
In linguistics, code-switching is the concurrent use of more than one language, or language variety, in conversation. Multilinguals—people who speak more than one language—sometimes use elements of multiple languages in conversing with each other...
and loanwords from many other Mediterranean languages.
Gibraltarians also call themselves Llanitos.
Language
Andalusian Spanish is the main constituent of Llanito, but is also heavily influenced by British English. However, it borrows words and expressions of many other languages, with over 500 words of GenoeseGenoese dialect
Genoese is a dialect of the Ligurian language, the one spoken in Genoa .Ligurian is listed by Ethnologue as a language in its own right, of the Romance branch, and not to be confused with the ancient Ligurian language...
(Ligurian
Ligurian language (Romance)
Ligurian is a Gallo-Romance language spoken in Liguria in Northern Italy, parts of the Mediterranean coastal zone of France, Monaco and in the villages of Carloforte and Calasetta in Sardinia. Genoese , spoken in Genoa, the capital of Liguria, is its most important dialect...
) and Hebrew
Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
origin. Its other main language constituents are Maltese
Maltese language
Maltese is the national language of Malta, and a co-official language of the country alongside English,while also serving as an official language of the European Union, the only Semitic language so distinguished. Maltese is descended from Siculo-Arabic...
and Portuguese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
. It often also involves code-switching
Code-switching
In linguistics, code-switching is the concurrent use of more than one language, or language variety, in conversation. Multilinguals—people who speak more than one language—sometimes use elements of multiple languages in conversing with each other...
to English. Some Llanito words are also widely used in the neighbouring Spanish town of La Línea de la Concepción
La Línea de la Concepción
La Línea de la Concepción is a town in Spain, in the province of Cádiz in Andalucia. It lies on the eastern isthmus of the Bay of Gibraltar on the border with the British overseas territory of Gibraltar, with which it has close economic and social links...
(due to the influx of people from La Línea working in Gibraltar over many years).
To some outsiders who only speak either English or Spanish, Llanito may sound incomprehensible, as speakers appear to switch languages in mid-sentence
Code-switching
In linguistics, code-switching is the concurrent use of more than one language, or language variety, in conversation. Multilinguals—people who speak more than one language—sometimes use elements of multiple languages in conversing with each other...
, but to people who are bilingual
Multilingualism
Multilingualism is the act of using, or promoting the use of, multiple languages, either by an individual speaker or by a community of speakers. Multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population. Multilingualism is becoming a social phenomenon governed by the needs of...
in both languages, it can sound interesting and unique. One feature of the language is the pronunciation of English words with an Andalusian flavour. For example, bacon is pronounced beki; cake, keki; battery, batteria; and a policeman is known as la parma, and porridge is called kuecaro (a Spanish-sounding version of the brand Quaker Oats]. Most Gibraltarians, especially those with higher education, speak standard Spanish of both Andalusian and Castilian
Castilian Spanish
Castilian Spanish is a term related to the Spanish language, but its exact meaning can vary even in that language. In English Castilian Spanish usually refers to the variety of European Spanish spoken in north and central Spain or as the language standard for radio and TV speakers...
dialects and standard English of the British English variety
Variety (linguistics)
In sociolinguistics a variety, also called a lect, is a specific form of a language or language cluster. This may include languages, dialects, accents, registers, styles or other sociolinguistic variation, as well as the standard variety itself...
.
Llanito has significant Jewish influence, because of a long standing Jewish population in Gibraltar
History of the Jews in Gibraltar
There has been a Jewish presence in Gibraltar for more than 650 years. There have been periods of persecution, but for the most part the Jews of Gibraltar have prospered and been one of the largest religious minorities in the city, where they have made contributions to the culture, defence, and...
. They introduced words and expressions from Haketia
Haketia
Haketia is an endangered Jewish-Moroccan Romance language, also known as Djudeo Spañol or Ladino Occidental , that was spoken and spread throughout the North of Morocco such as in Tetuan, Tangiers and the Spanish towns of Ceuta and Melilla, in the latter of which it has achieved partial...
, a largely extinct Judeo-Spanish language spoken by the Sephardic
Sephardi Jews
Sephardi Jews is a general term referring to the descendants of the Jews who lived in the Iberian Peninsula before their expulsion in the Spanish Inquisition. It can also refer to those who use a Sephardic style of liturgy or would otherwise define themselves in terms of the Jewish customs and...
communities of Northern Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
, such as Tetuan and Tangiers and the Spanish exclaves of Ceuta
Ceuta
Ceuta is an autonomous city of Spain and an exclave located on the north coast of North Africa surrounded by Morocco. Separated from the Iberian peninsula by the Strait of Gibraltar, Ceuta lies on the border of the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Ceuta along with the other Spanish...
and Melilla
Melilla
Melilla is a autonomous city of Spain and an exclave on the north coast of Morocco. Melilla, along with the Spanish exclave Ceuta, is one of the two Spanish territories located in mainland Africa...
in North Africa.
Even though Llanito is seldom written, a Llanito dictionary, Diccionario Yanito was published in 1978 by Manuel Cavilla and in 2001 Tito Vallejo published The Yanito Dictionary. Including Place Names and Yanito Anecdotes.
Broadcasting
The Gibraltar Broadcasting CorporationGibraltar Broadcasting Corporation
The Gibraltar Broadcasting Corporation is Gibraltar's public service broadcaster. It has provided the community with a radio and television service since 1963.-History:...
has also aired some programmes in Llanito including Talk About Town - a discussion series in which three presenters discuss local affairs, from the need to replace a street sign to important political affairs.
Pepe's Pot was a cookery programme which also used Llanito.
Film
A documentary film, "People of the Rock: The Llanitos of Gibraltar" (2011) discusses Llanito speech characteristics, history and culture. Notable interviews include Pepe Palmero (of GBC's "Pepe's Pot"), Kaiane Aldorino (Miss World 2009) and Tito Vallejo (author of "The Llanito Dictionary").Demonym
The official demonymDemonym
A demonym , also referred to as a gentilic, is a name for a resident of a locality. A demonym is usually – though not always – derived from the name of the locality; thus, the demonym for the people of England is English, and the demonym for the people of Italy is Italian, yet, in english, the one...
of Gibraltar is Gibraltarians. However, the people of Gibraltar may also be referred to as Llanitos (female Llanitas). This term is commonly used in the neighbouring towns of La Línea
La Linea
La Linea may refer to:* La Línea de la Concepción, a town in Spain bordering Gibraltar* La Linea , a series of animated shorts from Italy* La Linea , 2008 action crime thriller...
, San Roque, Algeciras
Algeciras
Algeciras is a port city in the south of Spain, and is the largest city on the Bay of Gibraltar . Port of Algeciras is one of the largest ports in Europe and in the world in three categories: container,...
and the rest of the Campo de Gibraltar
Campo de Gibraltar
The comarca of the Campo de Gibraltar is a comarca in the province of Cádiz, Spain, in the southwestern part of the autonomous community of Andalusia, the southernmost part of continental Western Europe...
, as well as in Gibraltar itself. When speaking in English, the people of Gibraltar tend to use the word Gibraltarians to refer to themselves but when speaking in Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
they prefer to use the word Llanitos rather than the Spanish name for their official demonym, Gibraltareños.
The truncated
Truncation
In mathematics and computer science, truncation is the term for limiting the number of digits right of the decimal point, by discarding the least significant ones.For example, consider the real numbersThe result would be:- Truncation and floor function :...
term Llanis is also used by the people of Gibraltar, where it can be heard all around the territory and proudly chanted in songs during the annual Gibraltar National Day
Gibraltar National Day
Gibraltar National Day, celebrated annually on 10 September, is the official national day of the British overseas territory of Gibraltar. The day commemorates Gibraltar's first sovereignty referendum of 1967, in which Gibraltarian voters were asked whether they wished to either pass under Spanish...
.
Etymology
The etymology of the term Llanito is ambiguous. In Spanish, Llanito means "little flatland" and has been interpreted as "people of the flatlands". It is thought that the inhabitants of La Línea with important social and economic ties with Gibraltar, were actually the first to be referred to as Llanitos since La Línea lies in the plain and marsh land surrounding The Rock. An alternative theory for the origin of the word is that it is a diminutiveDiminutive
In language structure, a diminutive, or diminutive form , is a formation of a word used to convey a slight degree of the root meaning, smallness of the object or quality named, encapsulation, intimacy, or endearment...
of the name Gianni
Gianni
Gianni is a male Italian forename , derived from the Hebrew Yohanan -Description:...
. During the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries the majority of the male civilian population of Gibraltar came from Genoa
Genoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
and Gianni was a common Italian forename
Italian name
A name in Italian consists of a given name and a surname . Surnames are normally written after given names. Occasionally in official documents, the surname may be written before given names...
.