Did you know that the first research about Anglicisms
in Chile was in 1942? Gabriele Schwarzhaupt's thesis called “Die englischen Fremd-
und
Lehnwˆrter im chilenischen Spanisch” carried out in 1942, was the first study regarding
the Anglicisms in Chile. It begins with a chapter about cultural
relations between England and the US with Chile. Then, it provides a phonetic
analysis of the loan words. But, the core
of the thesis is formed by conceptual and alphabetical sorts of lexical terms
found in Chile. Interestingly, this study distinguishes the Anglicisms that
come directly from English and also those that come from other languages and were
adopted by English before they were incorporated into the Chilean Spanish (guatapercha,
pijama).
The sources were newspapers (El Mercurio, Santiago, El
Correo de Valdivia, retrieved between 1939 and 1940), literary works and
Chilenism dictionaries (Roman, Medina, Echeverria and Kings).
The results showed significant data, according to
Schwarzhaupt, the British influence was in fields related to sports, navigation
and costumes. While, the most significant influence of the US was on technology,
industry and increasingly in the spiritual life of Chilean people, especially the
youth: parties, dances, fashion and cinema.
Another important inference is that the US linguistic
influence was increasing as much as its economic influence; which could be
proved by the amount of Anglicisms related to industry, trade, shipping lines,
mobile, news agencies, newspapers and radio stations.
In short, this is the first comprehensive collection
of Anglicisms in the Chilean Spanish, made by a German researcher in Germany.
The material collected is abundant: more than seven hundred entries with phonetic
and semantic indications that can still be useful, not only for historical purposes,
but also for socio-cultural purposes, since the evidence that the growing
influence of the US was already observed before the economic policies established
in Chile in the 1980s.
Interesting topic, great post!! I never thought German people would be interested in our language, specially since they came south to colonise us. Well, there are always exceptions to the rules! I guess this guy was one.
ResponderEliminarBy the way, I have heard guatapercha but I don't know what that means, can you explain it to me Mario? :D