Indigenous Influences on the Spanish Language

Transculturation has has a huge affect on Latin America from everything including religion, style and agricultural practices. The influence of indigenous words on the Spanish language is an example of this transculturation. The Nahuatl word "cholo" was adopted by the Spanish in Mexico and used as a derogatory word to describe Mexicans. It leiterally meant Mexican dog. Now in the United States the word has been reappropriated by Mexican-Americans to mean somethinlike Mexican gangster. It is interesting how the definition of a word can change by who uses and where they use it.