Venkatdas 1

Nitin Venkatdas
Anthropology 9
Inquiry 3
May 31st, 2021

SkippyJon Jones and White Public Space

Introduction

SkippyJon Jones: Into the Doghouse by Judith Byron Schachner is a picture book written

partially in Mock Spanish that is used in the American educational system to expose children to

the Spanish language from an early age in a fun and entertaining way. However, its use of Mock

Spanish leads to misconceptions and often a belittling of the Spanish language. Through this

inquiry, I will highlight the uses of Mock Spanish in the picture book and how they play into

stereotypes of Spanish-speaking individuals in the United States.

Data Description

All four linguistic features described by Hill, or derogation, euphemization, affixation,

and hyper-anglicization, are represented in SkippyJon Jones (Hill 2009). Derogation is defined as

“the use of positive or neutral Spanish words in humorous or negative senses” (Hill 2009: 682),

and one of the most prevalent examples of derogation is the referencing of Skippyjon’s

chihuahua gang as “Los Chimichangos” (Schachner 2007). Schachner names the chihuahua

group after a popular Mexican dish to make an attempt at humor. Other examples include

“Abuelo Crispito will spill the frijoles” (Schachner 2007).

Additionally, euphemization, or substituting a harsh English word with a milder Spanish

word, can be seen multiple times in the book. An example of its use can be seen when Skippito
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exclaims “Holy Jalapeño!” This euphemism replaces an English expletive with a milder,

recognizable Spanish word, and thus follows the requirements of this linguistic feature.

The third feature, affixation, or the use of “elements of ‘Spanish’ morphology… to create

jocular and pejorative forms” (Hill 2009: 682) is also present throughout the picture book.

Examples include the consistent use of the suffix “-ito” attached to English words throughout the

novel, such as in “poochitos” or “sirrito,” the use of the Spanish modifier “el” regarding names,

such as “el Skippito,” and the use of the suffix “a” to make English words seem “Spanish,” such

as in the sentence “He’s a fanatica, and so dramatica, and he bobbles and nods in our attica”

(Schachner 2007). In addition, affixation is represented orthographically in the sense that it is

extremely easy for an English speaking reader to understand an almost entirely English word

with a small Spanish suffix. The way the affixations are written creates a misconception that the

words on the page are actual Spanish.

Hyper-anglicization shows up multiple times in the book as well, often as

overemphasized pronunciations of English words that are supposed to “sound” like they are

pronounced in a Spanish accent. For example, Skippito exclaims, “Stop eet, you are keel-ing me

dudes!” Soon after, we see, “Enough of the monkey beez-ness” (Schachner 2007). All three cases

are written as a double ‘e,’ as this pronunciation is a common stereotype of Spanish speakers. In

addition, “keel-ing” and “beez-ness” are hyphenated in the middle of the words, indicating a

strong separation of the two syllables in both of the words, a sign of somewhat “damaged”

English that many Spanish speakers are perceived to speak. Both of these can be considered as

orthographic representations of the feature that makes it easier for the reader to understand both

the phrases themselves, and the fact that they are supposed to have some Spanish element.
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In addition, there are a variety of non-linguistic features that are bundled with Mock

Spanish. For example, chihuahuas are strongly associated with Mexican culture by Americans,

and the inclusion of chihuahuas in the book and the main character’s desire to be one allows

readers to immerse themselves in the idea that the story has now shifted to a space where Mock

Spanish will be appropriate. In addition, the drawing of popular Mexican foods such as tortillas

gives the reader a visual of the Mexican environment of the book.

Analysis

There are a variety of direct and indirect indexicalities at work in SkippyJon Jones due to

the author’s use of Mock Spanish. Direct indexicalities are defined as, “the production of non

referential meanings or ‘indexes’ that are understood and acknowledged by speakers” (Hill 2009:

683). Speakers of Mock Spanish state that they use it for a variety of reasons, including previous

exposure to Spanish, having regional “authenticity,” or even simply because it is funny.

Therefore, one can say that speaking Mock Spanish directly indexes a sense of humor.

In contrast, indirect indexicalities, or “profoundly racist images of members of

historically Spanish-speaking population” and are not acknowledged by the speaker (Hill 2009:

683). Without access to very negative stereotypes of Latinos as stupid, lazy, and dirty

individuals, it would be impossible to find expressions containing Mock Spanish as funny or

even intelligible (Hill 2009). SkippyJon Jones requires readers to have many of these negative

stereotypes, as the chihuahuas that are representing Spanish speakers are consistently represented

as dirty, lazy, simple, and even poor. In addition, the Spanish language is portrayed as

overwhelmingly simple due to the large use of affixation.

The distinction between acknowledged positive direct indexicalities and unacknowledged

negative indirect indexicalities leads to the success of the series. The negative elements of Mock

Spanish are not recognized or acknowledged by the writer or readers, resulting in a general

positive sentiment surrounding the series due to the positive direct indexicalities of humor and

even a perceived inclusivity of non-Spanish speaking individuals into Mexican culture.

However, the negative sentiments surrounding the Spanish language extend beyond the

picture book. The quote “each of my adventures are ay caramba, mucho fun but they’re

educational too!” depicted on the author’s website is a clear example of derogation, as it is

attempting to use neutral Spanish words and phrases in a humorous way. However, considering

the quote and the picture book through the lens of American language ideologies exposes

negative opinions about the Spanish language and the individuals speaking it. Language

ideologies are defined as “morally and politically loaded representations of the nature, structure,

and use of languages in a social world” (Woolard 2021: 1) and two of the processes used to

understand these ideologies, or iconicity and erasure, are important for understanding sentiments

surrounding Mock Spanish in both the quote and book. In iconicity, “participants treat linguistic

forms as if they were depictions of the character of speakers associated with them” and in

relation, “an ideological concomitant to iconization is erasure, which overlooks or even actually

eliminates linguistic forms, qualities, and speakers that do not fit the iconic image” (Woolard

2021: 10). Due to indirect indexicalities, Americans iconize Spanish speakers as lazy, stupid,

simple, dirty and uneducated. As a result, they erase many of the positive qualities of Spanish

speakers, including both the complexities of the speakers and the language itself, and the fact

that there is little to no difference in intellectual acuity between Spanish and English speakers.
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This dual process of iconization and erasure results in an unconscious belittling of the

Mexican people and their language. In the book, the chihuahuas representing the Mexican people

celebrate Skippito’s victory by singing, “Muchas gracias, skippy-dippy-dango, Bye Bobble-ito,

boogie-woogie tango” (Schachner 2007). The author attempts to use a combination of derogation

and affixation to create a humorous, cheerful tone, but the incomprehensibility of the quote due

to the author’s use of absolute nonsense intended to represent Spanish iconizes speakers of the

language as stupid or uneducated. When returning to the quote depicted on the author’s website,

we see the author use Mock Spanish in the two instances where she is talking about “fun” or

“craziness,” and English when considering her books as being “educational.” While the author

likely did not consciously consider this factor when creating this quote, she clearly iconizes

Spanish as being a “fun” language that is spoken by simple individuals, and erases the

complexity of the language. She simultaneously iconizes the English language as being

educational, and as a result, English speakers as being intelligent.

Since the book was written to be read aloud to young children, SkippyJon Jones exposes

young children to problematic stereotypes of Mock Spanish and its speakers through a process of

language socialization supplemented by American white hegemony. Language socialization is

defined as, “the process by which novices are simultaneously socialized, by experts, “into and

through” language and discourse” and this process is how they “become familiar with their

community’s ways of thinking, feeling, and being in the world” (Billings). Ahearn argues that “it

is virtually impossible for a child to learn a language without also becoming socialized into a

particular cultural group” (Ahearn 2021: 76). Because the community that these children are

being socialized into through the picture book is the mainstream American community,

hegemony is a large factor in their exploration into the Spanish language. Hegemony is defined
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as, “domination or rule achieved through ideological and cultural means, rather than by choice”

(Billings). Because white hegemony dominates American society and results in Spanish being

iconized as an inferior language, and the picture book depicts the language as almost purely

humorous with very little real substance, children adopt the same ideologies surrounding the

language as their community to match these ideals. Therefore, through a process of language

socialization, children “learn” that the Spanish language is inherently humorous and simple, and

through learning about the language, they learn that the people speaking this language are also

humorous and simple. Although children are exposed only to chihuahuas speaking the language

in SkippyJon Jones, the ideologies they develop about the Spanish language will likely extend to

human Spanish speakers as those children grow up and are exposed to more of their community,

and will thus further contribute to the structure of white hegemony already present in American

culture.

Conclusion

SkippyJon Jones is a picture book that unintentionally supports problematic stereotypes

and ideologies surrounding the Spanish language and the people who speak it. Although these

books can be educational in exposing young children to the Spanish language, educators and

community members must recognize the dangers of socializing children with the mainstream

American language ideologies that this picture book promotes.

Bibliography

Ahearn, Laura M. Living Language: An Introduction to Linguistic Anthropology. 3rd ed.

Billings, Sabrina. Anthropology 9: Language and Culture, Class lecture at Dartmouth College,
Hanover, NH, 2021.

Hill, Jane H. “Language, Race, and White Public Space.” American Anthropologist 100, no. 3
(September 1998): 680–89. https://doi.org/10.1525/aa.1998.100.3.680.

Schachner, Judith Byron. Skippyjon Jones in the Dog House. New York, NY: Dutton Children's
Books, 2013.

Woolard, Kathryn A. “Language Ideology.” The International Encyclopedia of Linguistic