Che

Che is an interjection that has different scopes, and appears in Spanish, Valencian and Brazilian Portuguese.

Ernesto Guevara was nicknamed Che for the use of the muletilla «che».

This interjection is used to call a person, attract their attention, or even stop them; and also in case of surprise or astonishment. Therefore, in all these senses, it is equivalent to the interjection "man!" which is common in most of the regions of Spain. For example, in Argentina, "che, don't get angry!", is equivalent in Spain to "hombre, don't get angry!".

Etymology

Some authors maintain that it derives from the Guarani word “che”, which can be a personal pronoun (‘I’) or possessive (‘my’) in the first person singular. In the Guarani spoken in Northeast Argentina, “che” is pronounced /tʃe/ [che] and in Paraguayan Guarani it is pronounced /ʃe/ [she].

In the Mapuche language, che means person or people and is part of many adjectives in the region (such as mapu-che). The Mapuche language once dominated the entire expanse of the Pampas and part of what is now called "Patagonia", operating as the "lingua franca". At the origin of Buenos Aires are the sieges of Mapuche leaders who, as the dominant group, coordinated other towns in action. "Che" in the Spanish of Argentina (and also in the Patagonian south of Chile) it is an expression originated in the process of colonization of the Pampas, basically as a consequence of the War of Arauco, of 300 years of duration, with an effective although intermittent military dominance of the Pampa by the Mapuche warriors. When Peace in Chile was concluded between the governor of Chile and the Mapuche, the warriors crossed the Andes for military actions (raids) against modest settlements such as Mendoza, San Luis, Córdoba or Buenos Aires, especially against haciendas in the surrounding areas. There, Mapudugún was the lingua franca among different peoples of those areas subjected intermittently either to the Spanish or to the Mapuche, especially with their linguistic brothers beyond the Andes, the Puelche "people from the east" (from the Andes Mountains).

The word «che» is also found in the Quechua language in the northern highlands of Peru (Áncash) and in part of Ecuador, and is used as an interjection of attention, equivalent to «hey!».

Some Italian philologists (such as Grassi) affirm that the River Plate "che" is of Venetian origin. The speech of the Italians of Buenos Aires (who were in many cases originally from the Venice region) was cocoliche, almost extinct after the Second World War (1939-1945). Many of his words today are part of another Italian-Argentine dialect: lunfardo. As «volés» (you want) and as «ció», possibly the origin of the River Plate «che»: «¿Qué volés, che?» It is said in Venetian "Che vol, ció?" (pronounced in Spanish as [¿ké vól, chó?]).

The word "che" could be derived from the Italian adverb cioé which means 'either' or 'that is' and is pronounced [choé].

The massive immigration of Italian citizens to Argentina, from the end of the 19th century until after the Second World War (1939-1945), brought citizens from different regions of Italy, who spoke different dialects and rarely the Italian language. For a language of Latin origin, from which Spanish also derives, «cioè» appears, with such a frequency of use. “Cioè” served as a link between one idea and another that was intended to be linked, or about the same idea that was intended to be expressed in Spanish. Even to communicate among the Italians themselves, who spoke regional dialects, and came from peasant and working classes, and often had no school training in the official language of their country, “cioè” was the word with which that began their understanding. In this way, "che" became a voice that amalgamated cultures, and in its informality brought people together, becoming a popular word that manifests friendship and trust in the colloquium of the people of the River Plate.

In Nicaragua, certain rural communities in the northern region use it as an exclamation, astonishment or disgust, perhaps due to the influence of foreign immigration from both Europe and South America in past centuries, but it is used daily in the lexicon of the peasants of the aforementioned region, mainly in the communities of Sebaco.

In the Valencian Community of Spain this interjection has been very frequent for centuries, and is found inscribed on murals. This suggests, either in a relationship with the "che" from the River Plate, or in a coincidence, hence, among other things, the Valencia CF soccer team is called the ché team. The Valencian “che” is spelled xe, although it was possibly written for a long time with ch until the arrival of linguistic normalization. The Valencian xe is pronounced with an open e that in some places is lengthened for emphasis. A piece of information in favor of a possible relationship between the South American and the Valencian "che" is the fact that the card game par excellence of the South American cone, the trick, well known in several countries, is also very typical and exclusive to the Valencian Community, where it receives the name of truc (which means 'trick') and is practically unknown in the rest of Spain. In the province of Castellón, the tendency to open the e has resulted in the expression used being “cha” instead of “che”, although it is used in the same circumstances.

The Hispanist Ángel Rosenblat relates the Rio de la Plata “che” and the Valencian “che” (identical to the Argentine/Uruguayan in meaning and uses) with the old Spanish word “ce”, with which someone was called, stopped or silenced. This “ce” formerly had a pronunciation similar to [tse], which explains the change to “che”. According to Rosenblat, in certain areas of Lombardy (in Italy), there is a similar expression, “ce”, pronounced [che] with the same meanings and uses as the Che River Plate and Valencian, but it does not clarify if they are related.

Although after some four centuries of domination by the Crown of Aragon, and its linguistic extension, I would certify this on the island of Sardinia, since the exclamation “cè” (pronounced [che]). But, more than a way of calling someone, it is an exclamation of wonder or amazement.

Similarly, the Valencian “che” is lowered (regardless of its relationship with the River Plate native) with the Arabic imperative “shuf” ‘look!’.

Geographic distribution

"Che" is used in Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, as well as in Spain, particularly in the Valencian Community and neighboring areas, but also in the north of the country, since in Galicia it is widely used in the area of the Costa de la Muerte (La Coruña). The variant “chey” is also used by the islanders in the Malvinas Islands, where a variant of English known as Malvinense English is spoken, the use of this word applies to the same meaning that is given in the River Plate Spanish.

In Brazil, two dialects record the use of variations of “che”, the expression is spoken and written as “tchê” in the state of Rio Grande del South, being part of the Gaucho dialect; in the state of São Paulo, through the caipira dialect, influenced by the gaúcho, it is written as “ché” or “xé”, however the pronunciation sounds like the Castilian “che”.

Use

According to the Dictionary of the Spanish language (of the Royal Spanish Academy) it is used in Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay to call, stop or ask for someone's attention or to denote astonishment or surprise.

In Argentina, the use of the expression denotes confidence and is used to emphasize.

In the Valencian Community it is used with various connotations, for example it has a use similar to 'hey!', 'hombre!', 'look!' or 'wow!'; for example: “xe, ja havíem parlat d'això” (‘hey, we already talked about that!’). It is frequently used together with the pronoun “tu”, for example to express anger: “Xe tu, ja hem tornat a fallar” ('dammit, we're back! to fail!'), or to reaffirm or emphasize ideas: “Yes, che, I have seen it” ('Yes, man, I have seen it!'). It seems to have various other wildcard uses or as a mere filler with no specific meaning.

In other Spanish-American countries, especially in Mexico and Central America, the word is used as a synonym for 'Argentine' due to the abundant use they make of this interjection.

In Spain «che» is used to refer to a person of Valencian origin. Valencia Club de Fútbol is known as the “Che team” or simply “los Che”.

It is pronounced the same way but it is written in different ways depending on where it is spoken, for example it is represented as “tchê” according to the writing rules of the Portuguese language. the form to write it in Valencian it is "xe".

In some Latin American countries, the term "che" is used to refer to an Argentine person.

Sometimes it is used as an adjective from Argentina ("diarios che", "obelisk che").

Ernesto Guevara was nicknamed Che, because he himself used it repeatedly in conversations (for example: "It's hot, che!"), but deepened his need to addressing so many people whose names he did not know. Then Guevara resolved it, for example, with: "Che, will you take me to Havana?"

Modern usage

Che is still used with this same meaning today.