Words: 1770
According to The Longman dictionary, Anglicism is “an English word or phrase that is common use in another language”. In Spain the adoption of English words is extremely common as we will discover later when speaking about the history of language contact between both countries. However, the adoption of foreign terms in Spanish, and in particular the influence of loans from English, has traditionally met with opposition of linguists and lexicographers as well as of social and political institutions. The criticism against it is basically founded in their exotic nature.
Foreign terms should be considered not only from a linguistic perspective but also from a more social angle. Also, anglicisms evoke the hegemony of Anglo-Saxon countries, especially the United States, and this may trigger purists attitudes. The first strong reactions against foreign elements were felt in response to the avalanche of French in the 18th century. This led to the foundation of the Real Academia Espanola (1713),which received strong official support and quickly published its first dictionary, the so-called Diccionario de autoridades (1726-39). This criticism was puristic rather than nationalistic.
And, during the 19th century, this influence was a normal pattern and when anglicisms first appeared they were not identified as such, as they were mostly mediated by French. Words such as biftec, dandy and tilbury were considered Gallicisms. After the Civil War and up until 1950, the Home Ministry of the Franco regime issued regulation against the use of foreign words,especially in the field of sports. As a result, a good number fell into disuse : encuentro replaced match, defense replaced back, and locator replaced speaker , but the attempt was not successful in the case of coctel, sandwich, record, and football.
After the sixties the regime eased its restrictions. But, the unexpected avalanche of foreign terms which followed was felt to be a heavy burden by certain language-conscious people. As a result, new purist tendencies arouse among academics and men of letters, who referred to Spain as a colony of the USA. The articles by Salvador the Madariaga(1962) and Alfaro`s dictionary ( published in Spain in 1964) are the best exponents of this view. Other more moderate views were held by prominent academics such as Lapesa, Lorenzo and Seco, reflected in ore liberal policies towards the inclusion of foreignisms . THE HISTORY OF CULTURAL EXCHANGES BETWEEN SPAIN AND ENGLISH Before the 18th century, english loanwords were very scarce. They were imported in small numbers generally through French mediation. The name of cardinal points (norte, sud _a variant of sur_ and este , and oeste ) were probably the first loand borrowed, attested between 1431 and 1607. The 17th century gave us dogo (1644 dog ) and the 18th puritan, bote (boat),ponche(punch) and ron(rum).
All this words are now completely assimilated and almost impossible to recognize as English except by etymologists. We can establish different stages of lexical borrowing related to the most relevant cultural and language contacts between English and Spanish : _The first impact on Spanish intellectuals was in the 18th century, and in the first half of the 19th century. English started to be taught at some schools, the first English grammar and first bilingual dictionary were publish in Spain , the first translation were well done by persons such as Cadalso, Jovellanos and Moratin.
It is interesting to know that the Spanish word anglicismo itself is attested as early as 1848 (cf-Fernandez Garcia 1970: 25). _ The English influence intensified in the 19th century as a result of the technological developments of the industrial revolution (transport and clothmaking ) _ The late 19th century and early 20th century saw the first important wave of anglicisms in many domains such as music, dance,motorcars, dress, breeds of dogs and specially sports, such as football, golf, polo, tennis, horse-racing, boxing and hockey.
Span remained relatively open to English influences until the Civil War (1936-39) when the country experienced a period of linguistic Chauvinism and political isolationism which lasted until the early fifties during the first stage of Franco? s dictatorship. _After 1950 the impact of English became massive . The first sign of the break with political isolationism was the establishment of American military bases in Rota and Torrejon de Ardoz in the early fifties; this was the first physical contact with the so called “American way of life”.
In the sixties contact was widened and reflected in tourism which was given its own ministry. Spanish coasts became the favourite site for British tourists. The British Isles, and especially London, also became the most popular place for modern young Spaniards to visit. In the seventies, with dictatorship lingering on, the more radical and politically conscious youth were attracted by North-America underground movement which made an imprint in Spanish marginal literature(commix, fanzines,etc). Two of their basic themes, drugs and music (especially rock), became important sources of inspiration and of new words.
Also, in the seventies and especially the eighties new technical fields such as computers and the internet emerge with growing number of users and its characteristically anglicized jargon. In addition to, media coverage of sports increased in popularity (aerobic , windsurfing ,baseball etc);a great deal of their jargon was and it is in English. Therefore, the importance of anglicisms , as a source of new words in present-day Spanish is easy to understand. ENGLISH ON MODERN SPANISH English contact with Spanish can influence all levels of language.
It is most visible in spelling, pronunciation, morphology and lexis, and it is hardly noticeable in semantics, pragmatics and syntax. There is a consensus among grammarians that the influence of syntax(for instance the misuse of preposition and verbal forms) are the most harmful to a language. There is a tendency known as “frequency anglicisms”,to make use of constructions which are especially frequent in English ( for instance, forming adverbs in –mente, such as basicamente from basically) neglecting the native counterparts (such as en el fondo),this phenomenon has been studied by Vazquez Ayora(1977).
The majority of anglicisms in Spain are nouns. As they become integrated they can pose problems in the assignment of gender an number. Verbs and adjectives, which show less capacity for inflection, are found less frequently. LEXICAL BORROWINGS Lexical borrowings denoting conceptual innovations Sport: futbol, corner (saque de esquina), gol, penalti ~ penalty tenis, golf Technology: tren, tunel, tender, jeep; software Politics: mitin, lider Clothes: jeans ~ bluyin, sueter, jersey jean(s) o blue jean(s), , yin (pl. yins o yines), .Other: gan(g)ster, hooligan Morphological CALQUES contenedor|| container reportero || reporter eciclar || recycle antimercadista || antimarketeer entrevista || interview aparcamiento || parking desodorante || deodorant fotocopiadora || photocopier rascacielos || skyscraper limpiaparabrisas || windscreen wiper Semantic CALQUES canal (‘channel (through which water, etc. , runs)’ ?? ‘channel (on television, etc. )’) estrella (‘star (in the sky)’ ?? ‘star (famous actor/actress)’) cadena (‘chain (of links of metal, etc. )’ ?? ‘chain (commercial, etc. )’) calibre (‘calibre (measurement)’ ?? ‘calibre (quality)’) congestion (‘congestion (medical)’ ?? ‘congestion (traffic, etc. )’) caja fuerte || strong box mesa redonda || round table
Morphological productivity as evidence of assimilation of anglicism into Spaniss lider: liderar, liderazgo, liderato entrevista: entrevistarse con reciclar: reciclaje gol: golear, goleado, goleada, goleador Semantic development of English word follows a different course in Spanish light: light. (Voz ingl. ). 1. adj. Dicho de una bebida o de un alimento elaborado: Con menos calorias de las habituales. 2. adj. Dicho de un cigarrillo: Que se presenta como portador de menos elementos nocivos. 3. adj. iron. Que ha perdido gran parte de sus caracteres esenciales. Un comunista light. mitin: mitin. (Del ingl. meeting). 1. m.
Reunion donde el publico escucha los discursos de algun personaje de relevancia politica y social. 2. m. Cada uno de estos discursos. dar el ~. 1. fr. Provocar, hablando intempestivamente, situaciones dificiles en una reunion. Coexistence of anglicism and ‘native’ word: Continuing coexistence: chofer / conductor film(e) / pelicula reportero / periodista ‘Native’ word eventually preferred: patrocinio, mecenazgo (sponsoring, esponsorizacion) plusmarquista (recordman) probeta (tubo de ensayo) Anglicism eventually preferred: futbol (balompie) gol (tanto) hobby (pasatiempo) Semantic discrimination achieved by survival of both words: andwich / bocadillo pudin~budin / postre contenedor / recipiente, envase poster / cartel mitin / reunion Patterns of phonetic adaptation Direct imitation of English: no problems posed: nailon , sueter, lider Direct imitation of English produces unusual but possible sounds or combinations of sounds: beicon~bacon (preferred form is bacon) [beikon], clip , film Direct imitation of English with accommodation to phonetic or phonotactic system of Spanish: hippy~hippie , flash , estandar , chofer Direct imitation of English with creation of new sounds: show , jet Spanish pronunciation of English spelling: iceberg , espray Morphological impact
Plurals The direct borrowing of an English plural form for nouns ending in a consonant is inconsistent with the very general rule for pluralisation in Spanish, according to which -es is added to consonantal stems. ‘Older’ plurals: mitines, lideres ‘Newer’ plurals: boicots, jeeps, sueters, posters, films Variation: cocteles~coctels, clubs~clubes Productivity of the -ing suffix? Borrowings: parking, mailing, training Apparent borrowings: footing ‘jogging’, lifting ‘facelift’, spinning ‘exercise bike workout’, rafting ‘white-water rafting’, ranking ‘league table’ Suffixation to Spanish stem: puenting ‘bungee-jumping’ Syntactic impact
Nouns as adjectives The majority pattern: the qualifying noun follows the qualified noun: cancion protesta, fecha limite, ciudad dormitorio, futbol sala, sector carreteras, tiempo record The qualifying noun precedes the qualified noun (as in English): ciencia ficcion, cine club Passives ‘Es posible que no este lejano el dia en que topemos con un la cama no habia sido dormido en (; the bed had not been slept in). Si trepar por las paredes y tuberias puede transformarse en las paredes y las tuberias son trepadas, solo falta que la preposicion, como en ingles, vaya pospuesta y se diga son trepadas por. ‘ (Lorenzo 1996:622-30)
Passivisation on indirect objects? El ministro fue preguntado si… (preguntar algo a alguien) Esta decision fue respondida ayer con una nota (responder a una decision) but cf. y un 13% no respondio la pregunta (http://www. rimaweb. com. ar/aborto/ encuesta_romer. html) La pregunta fue contestada (contestar (a) una pregunta) La nina transplantada de pulmones y corazon… (transplantar algo a alguien) but cf. La nina fue operada (de apendicitis) 4. 3 Gerund Una senora hallo al nino deambulando por el parque but cf. Oi a mis padres discutiendo Further reading: Agencia Efe, 1992. Vademecum de espanol urgente (Madrid: Fundacion Efe).
Lorenzo, Emilio (1996). Anglicismos hispanicos (Madrid: Gredos). Pountain, Christopher J. (1994). ‘Syntactic anglicisms in Spanish: innovation or exploitation? ‘, in M. M. Parry, W. V. Davies & R. A. M. Davies (eds), The Changing Voices of Europe, University of Wales Press/MHRA, Cardiff, pp. 109-24. Pountain, Christopher J. (1999). ‘Spanish and English in the 21st Century’, Donaire, 12, 33-42, and at http://www. cus. cam. ac. uk/~cjp16/arts/spaneng. htm Pratt, Chris, 1980. El anglicismo en el espanol peninsular contemporaneo (Madrid: Gredos). Smith, Colin, 1975. ‘Anglicism or not? ‘, Vida Hispanica, 23, 9-13