macaronic

[Audiendus]

Macaronic (adjective, noun)

(Of a poem, song, text etc) Consisting of a jumbled mixture of two or more languages, often one vernacular and the other Latin.

[From old or dialect Italian, maccherone or maccarone (related to macaroni), a dumpling-type food eaten by peasants - implying a lack of sophistication.]

These days it is usually a humorous device, but in the late Middle Ages it was often a consequence of the gradual switch from Latin to vernacular languages by the literate classes. A well-known example is the Christmas carol In dulci jubilo, which was originally in a mixture of Latin and German, but was subsequently translated into Latin/English:

In dulci jubilo
Let us our homage show.
Our heart's joy reclineth
In praesepio,
And like a bright star shineth
Matris in gremio.
Alpha es et O!

[LukeJavan8]

There is a song by the St. Philip's Boys Choir, also
known as "Libera" (treble singers) called Voca Me.
It alternates English and Latin. Unfortunately the
disc does not come with words to the song, so I
cannot add them here.

[MTC]

Thanks for the interesting selection.

The jumbled mixture of languages can also be spoken. Where I live in Southern California Spanglish and Chinglish are common. On a personal note, my wife and I have encouraged our son Justin to speak Mandarin at home, and to avoid mixing English and Chinese, especially in the same sentence. English words become like weeds which must be extirpated. You will appreciate that for me this linguistic police work is more than a little ironic, considering my lifelong love of the English language. The situation is somewhat redeemed because Justin has a minor in English.