For true language lover's I thought it would be interesting to share this article that I came across yesterday in the Chicago Tribune about Spanish. It's in English therefore I figured more people have the opportunity to read it. It was originally posted last month in reference to a recent book release titled Spanish Word Histories and Mysteries from American Heritage Dictionaries.
English has adopted words from many languages however, the key ones are French, Latin and Spanish. They are used in everyday speech and seen in written form in books, newspapers, articles, essays etc since these foreign words contribute to and are a functional and essential part of the English language. However, one may not realize how much Spanish has contributed to English and not just in food or gastronomy however, all thematic vocabulary. The lexical contribution is either the root word deriving from Spanish or the Spanish word in complete form.
Please read the link below in order to follow my post: You can thank Spanish for barbecues, chocolate -- chicagotribune.com
The article provides key lexical examples of Spanish words that are part of English vocabulary. Some select examples include:
- barbecue: from the Spanish word "barbecoa," meaning a wooden rack used either to roast meat or as a makeshift platform for sleeping outside over wet ground.
- cafeteria: Spanish word meaning "small restaurant," or literally, "coffee shop" -- with "cafe" meaning "coffee" and the suffix "-eria" meaning "shop."
I will expand on the importance of suffixes for vocabulary building in a follow up post.
- jalapeno: named for Xalapa, the capital of the Mexican state of Veracruz, known for the pepper with this name.
- mosquito: Spanish word for "little fly," from the Spanish "mosca" for "fly."
- salsa: Spanish word for "sauce," from the Latin "salsus," literally meaning "salted."
A key question that one may consider:
How does it compare to the linguistic dynamic today (English words in Spanish) and why is it that the increased presence of English words in Spanish have the purists, linguists and other language professionals concerned about the impact on the Spanish language?
IMO, the key aspect I see here when comparing the examples in the article with the trend of English words in Spanish today is that the borrowed words in English from Spanish many decades/ centuries ago don't necessarily replace existing English words. Many of the Spanish words are unaltered phonetically and orthographically in English. However, the increased usage of English words in Spanish are defined as anglicisms or hispanicized anglicisms. As well, sometimes the usage does not convey the same meaning in Spanish as in the source language. As the Spanish language continues to evolve lexically in certain countries, cities and regions more than others, new vocabulary is used in the language. Whether the words are official or not requires another level of analysis. However, the RAE and the DPD are challenged with word borrowing from English.
Recent examples from the column Bien Dicho (El Nuevo Herald) include:
1/ - La palabra inglesa password tiene una gran frecuencia de uso en espa?ol.
(sector: technology)
2/ - No existe en espa?ol un verbo 'afordar'.
La''creaci?n'' de tal palabra se debe a una influencia del ingl?s, que cuenta con el verbo to afford. Dicho verbo puede significar en espa?ol:
a/ dar, suplir, proveer.
b/. afrontar, hacer frente a, darse el lujo de, permitirse, tener recursos para.
I have never heard this used anywhere and I definitely would not use or promote the usage of this anglicism.
3/ Una vez m?s recordamos que chat es voz inglesa que significa 'charla'. Ha sido adoptada por el espa?ol con el significado de 'conversaci?n entre personas conectadas a Internet, a trav?s de mensajes electr?nicos'.
Del sustantivo se ha derivado el verbo 'chatear', con el significado de, 'mantener una conversaci?n mediante el intercambio de mensajes electr?nicos'.
(sector: technology)
There are many more examples from Bien Dicho. Out from reading the article, the dictionary seems like an interesting reference for anyone who is interested in this area of language. I ordered a copy. Gems like these make for casual and very enlightening reading about language.
-LDG.
English has adopted words from many languages however, the key ones are French, Latin and Spanish. They are used in everyday speech and seen in written form in books, newspapers, articles, essays etc since these foreign words contribute to and are a functional and essential part of the English language. However, one may not realize how much Spanish has contributed to English and not just in food or gastronomy however, all thematic vocabulary. The lexical contribution is either the root word deriving from Spanish or the Spanish word in complete form.
Please read the link below in order to follow my post: You can thank Spanish for barbecues, chocolate -- chicagotribune.com
The article provides key lexical examples of Spanish words that are part of English vocabulary. Some select examples include:
- barbecue: from the Spanish word "barbecoa," meaning a wooden rack used either to roast meat or as a makeshift platform for sleeping outside over wet ground.
- cafeteria: Spanish word meaning "small restaurant," or literally, "coffee shop" -- with "cafe" meaning "coffee" and the suffix "-eria" meaning "shop."
I will expand on the importance of suffixes for vocabulary building in a follow up post.
- jalapeno: named for Xalapa, the capital of the Mexican state of Veracruz, known for the pepper with this name.
- mosquito: Spanish word for "little fly," from the Spanish "mosca" for "fly."
- salsa: Spanish word for "sauce," from the Latin "salsus," literally meaning "salted."
A key question that one may consider:
How does it compare to the linguistic dynamic today (English words in Spanish) and why is it that the increased presence of English words in Spanish have the purists, linguists and other language professionals concerned about the impact on the Spanish language?
IMO, the key aspect I see here when comparing the examples in the article with the trend of English words in Spanish today is that the borrowed words in English from Spanish many decades/ centuries ago don't necessarily replace existing English words. Many of the Spanish words are unaltered phonetically and orthographically in English. However, the increased usage of English words in Spanish are defined as anglicisms or hispanicized anglicisms. As well, sometimes the usage does not convey the same meaning in Spanish as in the source language. As the Spanish language continues to evolve lexically in certain countries, cities and regions more than others, new vocabulary is used in the language. Whether the words are official or not requires another level of analysis. However, the RAE and the DPD are challenged with word borrowing from English.
Recent examples from the column Bien Dicho (El Nuevo Herald) include:
1/ - La palabra inglesa password tiene una gran frecuencia de uso en espa?ol.
(sector: technology)
2/ - No existe en espa?ol un verbo 'afordar'.
La''creaci?n'' de tal palabra se debe a una influencia del ingl?s, que cuenta con el verbo to afford. Dicho verbo puede significar en espa?ol:
a/ dar, suplir, proveer.
b/. afrontar, hacer frente a, darse el lujo de, permitirse, tener recursos para.
I have never heard this used anywhere and I definitely would not use or promote the usage of this anglicism.
3/ Una vez m?s recordamos que chat es voz inglesa que significa 'charla'. Ha sido adoptada por el espa?ol con el significado de 'conversaci?n entre personas conectadas a Internet, a trav?s de mensajes electr?nicos'.
Del sustantivo se ha derivado el verbo 'chatear', con el significado de, 'mantener una conversaci?n mediante el intercambio de mensajes electr?nicos'.
(sector: technology)
There are many more examples from Bien Dicho. Out from reading the article, the dictionary seems like an interesting reference for anyone who is interested in this area of language. I ordered a copy. Gems like these make for casual and very enlightening reading about language.
-LDG.
