Spanish Influence on American English

Hello, danielgodoy. Welcome to A2K.

Spanish influence on the English language has been felt especially on American English, or, at least, terms that were originally strictly American. It's hardly surprising since we acquired nearly half of what had been Mexico following the US-Mexican War in 1848. During the westward migration and growth of the cattle trade in the 1870s in the states and territories which had been part of Mexico -- Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado -- the settlers borrowed much from Mexican Spanish. It's why we call cattle-raising operations ranches, not farms (from Sp. rancho) and why the rope which cowboys use is called a lariat (from Sp. la riata, i.e. rope). We refer to a flat-topped hill as a mesa, which means 'table' in Spanish. The Spanish language has also entered American slang. For example, the word "buckaroo", slang for cowboy, is just a corruption of the Spanish word vaquero, which is what Mexican cowboys are called. There are probably a dozen words you can think of yourself, which are mainly in use in the Southwest but derive directly from Spanish. Adobe for a house nuilt of mud bricks is just one example.

A bit more Spanish entered into English as a result of our acquisition of Puerto Rico following the Spanish-American War in 1898. But by then many Spanish words had already become well established in everyday American English idiom. But the major contributions came from the Mexicans. There was a goodly number of them living in those territories which we took over.

I hope that serves as a starting point for your wife's thesis. She might want to Google Eric Partridge, whose dictionary of American slang will provide the etymologies of many slang words. Also recommended: H.L. Mencken's The American Language which dwells at length on the influences of not only Spanish, but French and Dutch as well, on the language we speak daily.