Cross-linguistic lexical influence between English and Spanish

Abstract

This article focuses on the cross-linguistic lexical influence between English and Spanish. We begin by redefining the concept of cross-linguistic lexical influence as the impact that two or more languages have on each other’s vocabulary. We then present a brief chronological survey of Hispanicisms in English and Anglicisms in Spanish, taking theOxford English Dictionary(OED) and theDiccionario de la lengua española(DRAE) as the main sources, and examine some of the factors that affect the patterns of word interchange between these two languages. We argue that the historical and social milieu, mass media, information technology, prevailing attitudes to foreignisms, and the stance taken by dictionaries and official linguistic policy condition which words are borrowed, affect the phonological, orthographic and semantic forms of these borrowings, and impact the degree of their integration in the receiving language. The present study is the first to offer a cross-linguistic (bilateral) perspective on lexical borrowing, a novel approach that is of particular interest given the contrasting philosophical differences governing language policy and lexicographic traditions in English and Spanish. It demonstrates the importance of adopting a comparative approach in the study of lexical influence between languages.

¿Nos hacemos un/una selfie con la/el tablet? Cross-Linguistic Lexical Influence, Gender Assignment and Linguistic Policy in Spanish

“…As we have explained, in languages like Spanish that are marked with explicit gender distinctions, gender assignment is one of the immediate effects of crosslinguistic lexical influence (Muñoz-Basols & Salazar, 2016). However, as we have seen in the characteristics of the words 'tablet' and 'selfie', in the case of loanwords in Spanish it is also necessary to look at the broader sociolinguistic picture, analysing gender assignment in conjunction with any adaptations of the words in question.…”

Social Networks: A Source of Lexical Innovation and Creativity in Contemporary Peninsular Spanish

“…Since "it is at the level of lexis that this phenomenon is greater and most noticeable", as Oncins Martínez (2009, p. 116) puts it, the most common borrowed elements among languages are lexical items (Görlach 2003, p. 1;Siemund 2008, p. 5;Balteiro 2011Balteiro , p. 24, 2014Reyes and Jubilado 2012, p. 43;Muñoz-Basols and Salazar 2016, p. 80;García Andreva 2017, p. 13;Sanou 2018, p. 179). Therefore, the frequent attestation of English terms in Spanish, nowadays "undergoing an exponential increase", according to Núñez Nogueroles (2017, p. 176), cannot be considered an exceptional fact, as verified by their presence, either in their original form or adapted to the orthographic system of the target language, in the following semantic fields: (i) gastronomy (beicon, sándwich); (ii) fashion, clothing and cosmetics (trendy, biquini, rímel); (iii) sports, leisure activities and places (derbi, hobby, resort); (iv) professions (mánager, bróker); (v) politics and economics (líder, marketing); (vi) music and urban tribes (rock, hípster); (vii) cinema, television and shows (tráiler, casting, reality show); (viii) health and fitness (estrés, gym); (ix) housing (hall, lobby); (x) aspects of transport (airbag, sidecar); (xi) mass media and communications (eslogan, spot); and (xii) technology (chat, wifi) (Gómez Cápuz 2004;Balteiro 2011;García Morales et al 2016;Muñoz-Basols and Salazar 2016;Sanou 2018).…”

Growing East Asian words in English

“…Negative attitudes towards foreign words entering the English language have been noted early on as is suggested by the following statement: ‘encroachment of alien words not only hinders understanding and solidarity among speakers, but also threatens the purity of a language by taking away its uniqueness and limiting its ability to create new words using its own linguistic sources' (Urquieta, 1973: 114, cited by Munoz–Basols & Salazar, 2016). When considering lexical borrowings from Asian languages, as Cannon (1981, 1990) noted, the situation was worse.…”