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Latino (demonym)

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The demonyms Latino and Latina (its feminine), are defined in English language dictionaries as:

  • "a person of Latin-American or Spanish-speaking descent."
  • "A Latin American."
  • "A person of Hispanic, especially Latin-American, descent, often one living in the United States."
  • "a native or inhabitant of Latin America"
  • "a person of Latin-American origin living in the United States"
  • "someone who lives in the US and who comes from or whose family comes from Latin America"

The two words originate in American Spanish latino and latina (from Latin Latinus, Latina), either meaning "Latin", or possibly a clipped form of latinoamericano, "Latin American".

In the United States, the term is in official use in the ethnonym Hispanic or Latino, defined as "a person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin regardless of race."

Usage in the United States

Official definitions

The term Latino was officially adopted in 1997 by the United States Government in the ethnonym Hispanic or Latino, which replaced the single term "Hispanic". U.S. official use of the term "Hispanic" has its origins in the 1970 census. The Census Bureau attempted to identify all Hispanics by use of the following criteria in sampled sets:
* Spanish speakers and persons belonging to a household where Spanish was spoken
* Persons with Spanish heritage by birth location
* Persons who self-identify with Spanish ancestry or descent

Other current definitions

Nevertheless, some authorities of American English maintain a distinction between the terms "Hispanic" and "Latino":

"Though often used interchangeably in American English, Hispanic and Latino are not identical terms, and in certain contexts the choice between them can be significant. Hispanic, from the Latin word for "Spain," has the broader reference, potentially encompassing all Spanish-speaking peoples in both hemispheres and emphasizing the common denominator of language among communities that sometimes have little else in common. Latino—which in Spanish means "Latin" but which as an English word is probably a shortening of the Spanish word latinoamericano—refers more exclusively to persons or communities of Latin American origin. Of the two, only Hispanic can be used in referring to Spain and its history and culture; a native of Spain residing in the United States is a Hispanic, not a Latino, and one cannot substitute Latino in the phrase the Hispanic influence on native Mexican cultures without garbling the meaning. In practice, however, this distinction is of little significance when referring to residents of the United States, most of whom are of Latin American origin and can theoretically be called by either word."
Neither term refers to a race, as a person of Latino or Hispanic ethnicity can be of any race. Like non-Latinos, a Latino can be White/Caucasian, or Black/African American, or Asian or Native American or Pacific Islander, whereas some may identify with more than one race, such as Mestizo (a bi-racial person of White/Caucasian and Native American descent), Mulatto (a person of White/Caucasian and Black/African American descent), Zambo (a person of Native American and Black/African American descent) or any other race or combination.

Although as officially defined in the United States, "Latino" does not include Brazilian Americans, and specifically refers to "Spanish culture or origin", some of the dictionary definitions may include them and/or Brazilians in general. Furthermore, Hispanic or Latino origin is, like race, a matter of self-identification in the US, and government and non-government questionnaires, including the census form, usually contain a blank entry space wherein respondents can indicate a Spanish/Hispanic/Latino origin other than the few (Mexican, Puerto Rican, and Cuban) which are specified; presumably, Brazilian Americans can thus self-identify as being of Hispanic or Latino ethnicity — as can anyone with no Latin American background, however. Brazilian Americans are not included with Hispanics and Latinos in the government's population reports.

Similar and related terms

Besides "Hispanic", "Latino" is sometimes used interchangeably with the terms "Latin" (e.g. "Latin jazz", "Latin Cuisine", "Latin music", "Latin Grammy Awards") and "Latin American", especially in popular speech.

As a demonym, though, "Latin" can have other meanings:

  • "a native or inhabitant of Latium; an ancient Roman."
  • "a member of any of the Latin peoples, or those speaking chiefly Romance languages, esp. a native of or émigré from Latin America."
  • "a member of the Latin Church; a Roman Catholic, as distinguished from a member of the Greek Church."
  • "A Latino or Latina."

"Latin American" may also not mean the same as "Latino", depending on which definition of the latter is used. The term Latin American is nevertheless preferred by some individuals and organizations in the United States. "Latin American" is defined as:

  • "A native or inhabitant of Latin America."
  • "A person of Latin-American descent."


The Countries of
Latin Europe and Latin America

Controversy

The term Latino is rejected by some, for various reasons. It is rejected by some indigenists who state that Native American 'Latinos' are disappropriated from their Native American origins and histories by the application of what they consider a racist, Eurocentric term that improperly associates people of different races, i.e. associating both the Spanish colonizers and the indigenous inhabitants, especially the descendants of both groups, as the same ethnic group.

In other languages

Latino (feminine latina) in the Romance languages, such as Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish, literally translates as "Latin". For example, Portuguese dictionaries define the demonym latino to refer to natives of Romance-speaking nations influenced by Roman civilization, and to the natives or inhabitants of ancient Latium (modern Lazio). Italian dictionaries define the demonym latino as the ancient Latins and Romans, and their language, Latin. The dictionary of the Real Academia Española defines ten meanings for latino, with the number 7 definition including the Latin Americans. In these languages, latino, just like any other demonym, is by convention not capitalized.

See also

References

Bibliography

  • The Oxford Encyclopedia of Latinos and Latinas in the United States, 4 vls, Oxford University Press 2006, ISBN 0195156005

External links



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Last updated on Thursday March 13, 2008 at 06:55:45 PDT (GMT -0700)
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