Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Authors' acknowledgements
- Preface to the second edition
- List of abbreviations and symbols
- Glossary
- The Spanish speaking world: countries where Spanish is spoken, with an estimate of the numbers of native speakers
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Passages illustrating register and local variety
- Part I Vocabulary
- 3 Misleading similarities between Spanish and English
- 4 Similarities between Spanish words
- 5 Fields of meaning – vocabulary extension
- 6 Complex verbal expressions
- 7 Affective suffixes
- 8 Idioms, similes and proverbs
- 9 Proper names
- 10 Adjectives pertaining to countries and towns
- 11 Abbreviations
- 12 Latin expressions
- 13 Anglicisms
- 14 Grammatical terms
- 15 Interjections
- 16 Fillers
- 17 Transition words
- 18 Numerals
- 19 Measurements
- 20 Semi-technical vocabulary
- Part II Grammar
- Index
13 - Anglicisms
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Authors' acknowledgements
- Preface to the second edition
- List of abbreviations and symbols
- Glossary
- The Spanish speaking world: countries where Spanish is spoken, with an estimate of the numbers of native speakers
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Passages illustrating register and local variety
- Part I Vocabulary
- 3 Misleading similarities between Spanish and English
- 4 Similarities between Spanish words
- 5 Fields of meaning – vocabulary extension
- 6 Complex verbal expressions
- 7 Affective suffixes
- 8 Idioms, similes and proverbs
- 9 Proper names
- 10 Adjectives pertaining to countries and towns
- 11 Abbreviations
- 12 Latin expressions
- 13 Anglicisms
- 14 Grammatical terms
- 15 Interjections
- 16 Fillers
- 17 Transition words
- 18 Numerals
- 19 Measurements
- 20 Semi-technical vocabulary
- Part II Grammar
- Index
Summary
Modern Spanish has many borrowings from English. Although some of these may prove to be only fleeting additions to the Spanish vocabulary, others appear to have been very firmly adopted into the language and are not necessarily to be avoided, despite the strictures of some purists. A number of anglicisms do not correspond exactly in meaning to the original English words. There have even been some coinings of pseudo-English words (especially those ending in -ing). Attention should also be paid to pronunciation, which is not always obvious either from the English original or the current Spanish spelling. Note also the gender and plural form of nouns (see also 22.1). The following are all in common use: pronunciation, which is often not obvious from the Spanish spelling on the English original, is indicated by standard International Phonetic Alphabet Symbols.
The influence of English is not restricted to single words. In English, nouns can be used quite freely as adjectives (paper money, road map, bank account), and while this was not impossible in Spanish, it is noticeable that the number of noun + noun combinations has substantially increased in recent years, perhaps as a result of the influence of English models. Some, however, must be native creations, since they do not correspond exactly, if at all, to English:
Plurals of these nouns: generally add -s/-es to the first noun – ciudades dormitorio, coches bomba, factores sorpresa.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Using SpanishA Guide to Contemporary Usage, pp. 229 - 232Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2005