In Chicano English, the word barely, which traditionally means “just happened,” can also mean “almost didn’t happen,” as in “I just barely got here.” This locution apparently reflects the fact that in Spanish, the word apenas can mean either one of these. The Chicano use of the barely in this sense is a calque, or loan translation, which occurs when a pattern from one language gets transferred to another. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Barely Locution”
Hello, you have A Way with Words.
Hi, this is Timmy Martin from Dallas, Texas.
Hi, Timmy. Welcome.
What’s up?
All right. So I am an automotive technology teacher down here in Dallas, and I’ve got some students. Most of my students have used it at some point or another.
And just to give you a for instance, it’s if I’ve got a student that walks in late. Just to make a point of why you should show up early, I’ll ask them a question about what we’re going over. And they’ll say, but Mr. Timmy, I just barely got here. I don’t know. I don’t know the answer to that question.
And it’s always sort of bothered me that they insert barely as this extra word. I would simply say, I just arrived or I just got here. I don’t know. But I’ve never really understood why they insert barely as that extra little word.
And, Timmy, do they speak English as their first language?
I would say it’s more of a Spanglish. Their parents probably either don’t speak any English or English is definitely not their first language.
Well, that actually makes a lot of sense because in Chicano English, the word barely can mean both something that almost didn’t happen and something that just happened recently. Like, I barely got out of the hospital.
So that’s apenas?
Yeah.
Yes, the word apenas in Spanish, which can mean either one of those. And so I could see it being applying in English as well. So it’s kind of what we call a calc, where you take the pattern of a language, language A, and apply it to language B. Similar to the way that I think nouns and the way that you switch the descriptive word in Spanish as well.
Right.
The adjective.
The adjective is often placed in a different way, right? Can you give us an example of that?
Taco Bueno. It would be said it’s the good taco, but instead the title of the restaurant is Taco Bueno.
Oh, really?
Right.
Where in English we usually put the adjective before the noun.
Exactly.
Not always. And same for Spanish. Usually it’s after the noun, but not always.
Well, thank you very much. Can you tell me the word one more time when you transfer patterns from one language to another?
It’s calc. C-A-L-Q-U-E.
Yeah, and it’s really revealing if you Google it because you come across all these interesting places where people who learn a second language make do. They use what they know in their first language and try to make that second language fit because it’s easier for them to get into the second language that way.
Cool. Thanks for calling, Timmy.
Yeah, no problem. Thanks y’all.
All right.
Thank you, sir.
Bye-bye.
Bye-bye.
Bye.
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