Los anglicismos

[Marianopolita]

I was just browsing through El Listin Diario and noticed an excellent article posted today on Los anglicismos. Those of you who have been following the forum since inception in 2005 know that we have had discussions about anglicisms, false cognates, calques, foreign words & phrases and related topics. This article summarizes much of what has been discussed and includes some great points about the effects of the usage of anglicisms in Spanish. The article includes some interesting stats as well:


* it's one of the official six languages of the UN (La ONU)

* it's the third most spoken language in the world after Mandarin Chinese and English

* the usage of anglicisms appear in many fields such as sports, medicine, technology, the food industry etc.

* many Spanish words today are anglicized forms with Spanish phonetics and orthography. For example football = f?tbol


The last two paragraphs are excellent IMO:

El uso de estos anglicismos es debido a un esnobismo y/o un sentimiento de inferioridad hacia el idioma ingl?s, da?ando el nuestro con palabras totalmente inadecuadas y algunas veces inexistentes en ninguno. Las lenguas raramente se bastan por s? mismas, las necesidades de intercambio hacen que de sus contactos resulten beneficios, aportes, soluciones lingu?sticas inexistentes en las mismas, pero no debemos hacer caso omiso a consecuencias negativas que lejos de enriquecerlas, las empobrezcan.

-This statement is absolutely correct from a linguistic point of view and I have stated this many times in this forum as well. Languages do enrich each other. English is a perfect example which has been strongly enriched by Latin with its high % of Latin-based vocabulary. However, language mixing and word borrowing have a negative impact as well especially when Spanish words are replaced by anglicized forms and in some cases the original meaning from Eng ---> Span is lost.

Las lenguas que provienen del lat?n, como la nuestra o el franc?s, son lenguas incre?blemente ricas, tanto en vocabulario como en tiempos verbales y construcciones gramaticales, no como ocurre con el ingl?s, por lo que tenemos que cuidar m?s nuestro idioma, s?lo debemos adoptar las estrictamente necesarias. No hagamos del espa?ol, un dialecto.

-This a profound statement with which I agree and echoed as well in the past. Anyone who has knowledge of Latin based languages, French and Spanish specifically mentioned in the paragraph should have a sense of the richness of these two. IMO lexcial borrowing is inevitable especially if two languages co-exist in a country or region but as stated Spanish should not become a dialect as a result.


Great article by El Listin Diario(Puntos de vista - Los anglicismos)


-LDG.

 

[Marianopolita]

Otro ejemplo-

Here is a perfect example of an anglicism that is used in Spanish in sports but has not been officially accepted by the RAE nor does it appear in the DPD (Diccionario panhisp?nico de dudas). The word/ verb in question is ranquear derived from the English noun "ranking" and this anglicism has been converted to a hispanicized equivalent of el ranquin.

There are many more examples of words used in Spanish that are examples of anglicisms but are not found in Spanish dictionaries because they are not considered official words by the RAE nor its affiliate governing bodies. It's important to be able to differentiate in Spanish and any language what is considered an official word (used and found in dictionaries) vs. anglicisms used in day-to-day speech but not considered an official word in the Spanish language.

As I mentioned before in my experience and observation the usage of anglicisms in Spanish (and French) is exceptionally high in cities where there is an elevated concentration of either English/ Spanish spoken or English/ French. In the USA many cities exemplify the usage of anglicisms in the Spanish language that are not used in Spanish-speaking countries and in Montreal, Quebec there is a high usage of anglicisms in French in the spoken language.

The purists will argue that it's avoidable (and I agree) however, the reality tells a different tale. IMO, speakers who have an enriched or above average vocabulary are not even tempted to use anglicisms or any unofficial borrowed words per se. Lexical borrowing usually starts off at the "popular speech level" and the usage increases from there but does not always reach the literary language as mentioned in this post http://www.dr1.com/forums/574032-post86.html. Usually when they are used in literature, it's to emphasize a point or to exemplify characteristics of speech of a group or character.

Another example I have heard people use is the English word "rating" in Spanish. For example el bot?n del rating used to classify a book or song when doing reviews. As far as I know, "el rating" is not an official Spanish word (yet) so why do people deviate from the norm? or why are some bilingual speakers outside of Spanish-speaking countries inclined to deviate from the norm other than the obvious reason which is lack of vocabulary? In my experience observing those who speak this way once they begin, it's a very difficult habit to break.


-LDG.

____________________________


Here is the brief article from Bien Dicho today:

Publicado el viernes 09 de noviembre del 2007
BIEN DICHO

No registra la Academia Real Espa?ola un verbo ranquear.
Tampoco el Diccionario panhisp?nico de dudas se ha pronunciado al respecto.

Si bien el vocablo ingl?s ranking ha sido adaptado al espa?ol como ranquin, hasta el momento no ha sido publicado documento alguno que avale el uso de ranquear, derivado de ?l.

No por ello deja de ser usada esta creaci?n popular, frecuente en el habla de no pocos hispanohablantes, especialmente de los amantes del deporte.

Si bien hasta el momento se considera incorrecto el empleo de dicho 'verbo', en el lenguaje deportivo es escuchado con frecuencia en boca tanto de deportistas como de periodistas y locutores, por lo que pensamos que quiz?s muy pronto sea considerado adecuado no s?lo en la jerga deportiva, sino tambi?n en un sentido m?s amplio.

 

[Chip]

What I find telling is the use of the word "esnobismo", an obvious anglicismo, in the above article where the author laments the English influence.

I have found many such words here in the DR. It amy not be pretty, but what should one expect for a people that have such a love of many things American. If I didn't know any better, I could say that the DR is like a state in the Union.

 

[Norma Rosa]

What I find telling is the use of the word "esnobismo", an obvious anglicismo, in the above article where the author laments the English influence.

I have found many such words here in the DR. It amy not be pretty, but what should one expect for a people that have such a love of many things American. If I didn't know any better, I could say that the DR is like a state in the Union.

Esnobismo is a term accepted by the RAE:
esnob (Del ingl. snob)
Persona que imita con afectaci?n las maneras, opiniones, etc., de aquellos a quienes considera distinguidos. Tambi?n usado como adjetivo.



Norma

 

[Marianopolita]

Clarification of an anglicism-

Just as a general comment an anglicism should not be confused with a word of English origin (etymology). Using esnobismo as an example the origin is from the English word snob but it's not an anglicism.

Definition #2 below is what this thread is about and the anglicized word is also hispanicized meaning no change in stress patterns from English to Spanish and Spanish phonetics/ spelling is used to parallel the English word. El ranquin is a perfect example.


anglicismo.

1. m. Giro o modo de hablar propio de la lengua inglesa.

2. m. Vocablo o giro de esta lengua empleado en otra.

3. m. Empleo de vocablos o giros ingleses en distintos idiomas.

source: RAE.


Thanks Norma you did exactly what I was going to do when I read post #3.


-LDG.

 

[Chip]

#2 on that list looks like a dead ringer too me. Call it what you will, when you get down to it, it comes from the same dynamic - taking an English word and converting to use in Spanish.

 

[Marianopolita]

To add to my two previous posts-

To add to my comments in my first two posts, El Listin Diario published an article last month about the release of a new dictionary that incorporates new vocabulary that has evolved (which includes hispanicized anglicisms) and phrases (*giros, as mentioned in the definition #2 above provided by the RAE) that have evolved since 1996.

The biggest challenge in terms of finding equivalent vocabulary in Spanish without using hispanicized anglicisms is in the technology sector. English being the most popular language on the internet and Spanish closely following this language, the challenge is to keep pace with new terminology. Many words and phrases that are used daily and heard in the spoken language are not found in the RAE or the DPD. However, the new terms will be subject to review by all governing bodies and overtime will be determined if they are official terms in the Spanish language or not.

To those who are interested there are good linguistic references on the market that address the lexical challenges of the Spanish language today. Visit a campus bookstore or search on Amazon.com


Some of the English words (complete language borrowing) from the article include:

"blog" (although there is a Spanish word as well) , "chat", "e-book", "SMS"
etc.


New words (nouns) derived from English are masculine in gender as well new verbs created belong to the -ar group.


* Giro-

-Estilo, estructura especial de la frase para expresar un concepto: ej. ese es un giro leon?s.


source: elmundo.es


-LDG.

 

[mariel]

What's the Spanish word for blog?

 

[Chirimoya]

bit?cora - which like the English word, means a 'log' in the sense of a diary.

The English word blog comes from web-log - Probably inspired by Star Trek - "Captain's Log".

 

[lbayard]

It is the same in Montreal...

After about twelve years in the D.R. I came back to my native Quebec and was surprised to hear my family and friends no longer wishing me a "bonne fin de semaine" but a "bon weekend". We barely use "stationnement" any more that was substituted by "parking" for the spot and "parquer" for the verb! While we used to go "magasiner" from the word "magasin" (store), now we go "faire du shopping"...

This natural invasion is normal due to our location and the presence of numerous English speakers around us. In any case, my responsibility is to teach my son the proper words so he may become a proud speaker of the French language, letting aside the franglish his friends might speak.

Bonne journ?e ? tous!

 

[Marianopolita]

Ibayard- Je suis d'accorde avec vous-

I totally agree with you regarding the influence of English in French in Montreal. If you check my posts you will see that I have discussed this thoroughly of late. The English/ French dynamic in Montreal is deep and the presence and usage of "franglais" will continue as long as the two languages co-exist. However, I still believe language mixing is a choice of the speaker and one can avoid it completely or minimize it by having a strong vocabulary and to a certain extent a lot depends on the company you keep. As I mentioned in a previous post, the levels of language have everything to do with this dynamic.

BTW- "magasiner" is strictly a quebecism. I use it all the time but I know if I speak to other French speakers it's best that I use 'faire des courses' or 'faire des achats'. 'Faire du shopping' is very international believe it or not. My friends from France, Belgium and le Congo use it all the time.

Please note I mentioned this dynamic in my post #2 in this thread and a few others.


Bonne journ?e.


-LDG.

 

[Norma Rosa]

After about twelve years in the D.R. I came back to my native Quebec and was surprised to hear my family and friends no longer wishing me a "bonne fin de semaine" but a "bon weekend". We barely use "stationnement" any more that was substituted by "parking" for the spot and "parquer" for the verb! While we used to go "magasiner" from the word "magasin" (store), now we go "faire du shopping"...

This natural invasion is normal due to our location and the presence of numerous English speakers around us. In any case, my responsibility is to teach my son the proper words so he may become a proud speaker of the French language, letting aside the franglish his friends might speak.

Bonne journ?e ? tous!

I don't think this is happening just in Quebec. I've been studying French for few years and all my learning materials say: parking, weekend, and some other English expressions. Just two weeks ago, I said to a co-worker who used to work in the Ivory Coast: "Bonne fin de semaine" and she corrected me: "Bon weekend". The French singer, Cabriel (Gabriel?) says in one of his songs: "Le parking de voiture". I had a French tutor from Paris, who also uses such English expressions. Next time I talk to my niece (who lives in Cannes (spelling?) and is married to a Frenchman, I am going to question her about this.

Sometimes I find myself saying that languages are mutually exclusives, is that possible? Well, one thing languages have always done is to borrow from each others.
I dislike the use of foreign terms in my native language; it frustrates me, but where is that going to take me?

While in the DR in the summer, I heard my niece day: "Estoy printiando".

 

[Chirimoya]

Franglais - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Norma Rosa]

Please excuse my errors (post 12). Had no time to edit.
Chirimoya, thanks for the link.

Let's don't forget that the English language is full of French terms.

Norma

 

[Kateinyork]

After about twelve years in the D.R. I came back to my native Quebec and was surprised to hear my family and friends no longer wishing me a "bonne fin de semaine" but a "bon weekend". We barely use "stationnement" any more that was substituted by "parking" for the spot and "parquer" for the verb! While we used to go "magasiner" from the word "magasin" (store), now we go "faire du shopping"...

This natural invasion is normal due to our location and the presence of numerous English speakers around us. In any case, my responsibility is to teach my son the proper words so he may become a proud speaker of the French language, letting aside the franglish his friends might speak.

Bonne journ?e ? tous!

I know when I learnt French - mainly in France there were alot of words that seemed more English - like shopping as you mentioned, and shampooing! There were many more but I can't hink of them right now. I can see how it happens though and in some ways I think its kind of nice - it shows that different cultures etc are mixing together. Although I wouldn't call DR a state in the union in front of my husband - he's very proud to be Dominican and definitely wouldn't want to be called anything else lol.

Bonne journee a toi aussi.

And there is also a wikipedia for Spanglish Spanglish - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Marianopolita]

Anglicism vs. Spanglish-

Just to ensure it's clear the term anglicism and spanglish are NOT synonymous. Please consult a linguistic dictionary for clarity. Not an internet link. One can compare Spanglish to Franglais but anglicisms by linguistic definition and examples in this thread are a different (but comparable) branch of study.


Norma-

Unfortunately words like printiar and many others in the technology sector are "hispanicized" anglicisms. Not for the lack of a correct Spanish word such as imprimir but again it's the influence or even dominance of one language over another. As I mentioned in my post #7, the technology sector is taking the biggest hit in Spanish right now to keep pace with equivalent terms and vocabulary. However, I use the correct word because there is one. Voy a imprimir xxx and NOT printiar. IMO, this is an example of how word borrowing does not enrich language but decays it. There's no need to invent a word from English.

Unlike foreign words and expressions which always enrich languages, English uses many from French for example cul de sac, jeu de mots, jeu d'esprit, hors d'oeuvre etc. these French phrases are used in English unchanged and unaltered. This is enrichment IMO. Anyway, I do have a thread on foreign words and phrases therefore no need to elaborate.


-LDG.

 

[Norma Rosa]

Norma-
IMO, this is an example of how word borrowing does not enrich language but decays it. There's no need to invent a word from English. -LDG.

I wholeheartedly agree with you.

 

[Norma Rosa]

I received this e-mail today:

LA P?GINA DEL IDIOMA ESPA?OL
Noviembre de 2007

El rey de Espa?a prefiere los anglicismos
El rey de Espa?a, Juan Carlos I, en 2006 decidi? mediar, con la buena voluntad que lo caracteriza, en el conflicto que mantienen Argentina y Uruguay por la instalaci?n en este ?ltimo pa?s de una planta de pasta de celulosa que Buenos Aires considera contaminante. Pero en lugar de designar un mediador, nombr? un "facilitador", anglicismo que sorprende en boca del monarca que suele presidir ad hon?rem los congresos internacionales de la lengua espa?ola.

Norma