2._Anglicisms

Teoría y Práctica de la Traducción B1-ATheory 3

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SOURCE TEXT TRANSLATIONThe doors of the public houses were open (Women in Love, D.H. Lawrence)

Las puertas de las casas de zorras estaban abiertas (Antonio Escohotado, Mujeres enamoradas, 1980).

ANGLICISMS

1. What is an anglicism? Define:

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.

Real Academia Española © Todos los derechos reservados

Prof. Dr. Jorge Braga Riera. 1


2. Anglicisms can be divided into two separate blocks:

I. BORROWINGSII. CALQUES (Also known as ‘loan translations’ or ‘through translations’).

I BORROWINGS: Two types:

1. Borrowings introduced due to a series of linguistic and non linguistic factors: airbag, big-bang, blazer, brandy, caddie, catering, crack, gin tonic, hooligan, overbooking, sex-appeal, sexy, topless …

Linguistic: The English term needs a long phrase in Spanish: jetlag, zapping The English term is more generic: media, show The English term is more concise: top model, stand The need to use a euphemism: gay, handicap The need for new words (sometimes replacing others): sandwich, pub

Extralinguistic: Many scientific-technological discoveries come from universities in the

USA: web, link, buffer The power and influence of North American culture: baby-sitter, surf,

música country, hamburguesa, halloween The need to be snobbish/intellectual: ser cool/fashion/trendy, ser

glamuroso The need to give prestige to a particular product: Skip Microplus, Mister

Proper, bottom-bra, magic shaper, los lunchables The need to indicate specialization: road movie, dirty realism, sitcom The need to provoke a specific effect on the reader/listener: ¡vaya flash!,

desatascator, porfaplís

2. Borrowings that triumphed over an already existing Spanish word (which might have been previously borrowed). Provide examples: fútbol (over balompié), lifting (over estiramiento), disc-jockey

(over pinchadiscos) light (over bajo en calorías)…

Both borrowing and Spanish term may coexist: hall and vestibulo, babysitter and canguro, christmas and postal navideña, corner and saque de esquina, free lance and autónomo, hobby and pasatiempo, ranking and clasificación …



Sometimes the borrowing can be part of a stock phrase, as in casarse de penalty, ni flowers, vaya full (de Estambul), etc.

In both cases, a process of adaptation always applies. This adaptation can be: Only phonemic (the original spelling is kept): overbooking, catering,

grunge… In this sense, the Spanish speakers have developed a phonemic system in which oo = [u], ee = [i], -e = [Ø], etc. This may also lead to the mispronunciation of words coming from languages other than English: Catalan ‘Artur’ pronounced as [ártur], Catalan ‘Turner’ as [túrner], German ‘Goethe’ as [gét]

Phonemic and orthographic: condón, tabloide, estrés, sidecar, unisex… Occasionally we may find different spellings for the same term: smoking/ esmokin/ esmoquin.

Please notice that sometimes borrowings can adopt a different meaning once incorporated into the Spanish language, thus becoming words with a completely different semantic content: footing (jogging), camping (campsite), slips (underpants, briefs), etc. Spanish own creations (pseudoanglicisms) are: edredoning, puenting [bungee jumping], cuerding [ropelling], enaning [dwarf/midget throwing/tossing], cañoning, balconing, sofing, vueling, sillonball, [to be a couch potato/sofa spud], botafumeiroman, etc.

Juan Gómez Capuz (Préstamos del español: lengua y sociedad, Madrid: Arco, 2004) makes a distinction between:

Cultural borrowing: transmission of “cultural novelties”: words and things. In the case of the anglicisms, they are especially frequent in the fields of food, fashion, cosmetics, sport, music and cinema, tourism and computing.

“Intimate” borrowing: transmission of words between coexisting languages (Catalan and Spanish in Catalonia, for instance).

Internal borrowing: transmission of words between the internal varieties on one same language (for example the incorporation of jargon terms into a language, such as the gitanismos ‘jalar’, ‘gachí’, ‘camelar’ or ‘chungo’ into Spanish).

He calls those forms which are easily identified as English (either keeping their original spelling or adapted) “anglicismos patentes”.

II. CALQUESThree types:

1. Typographic calques:

A typographic calque takes place when typographical conventions that only exist in the source language are transferred to the new language. For example, English use of capital



letters has started to creep into Spanish, as well as the use of italics for emphasis and certain uses of quotation marks.See: “Los anglicismos ortotipográficos en la traducción”, by José Martínez de Sousa in Panace@ IV, 11, 2003.

ExerciseThe following phrases contain typographic calques. Try to correct them following the expected Spanish conventions:

1.1. El estudio se remonta a los años 1800s (siglo XIX), más concretamente a los años 1840s. (década de los 40)

1.2. Se conocieron en la Expo ‘92. (Expo del 92)

1.3. Le costó $130. (130 $) – con espacio o dólares en letra

1.4. En el apartado iv. se encuentran los casos de calcos más comunes. (4.º)

1.5. Vinieron Antonio, Juan, y María. –sin coma

1.6. Vive en la calle Corredera Baja de San Pablo 10. (décimo)

1.7.

«¿Sabe si en el momento de caer subía o bajaba la escalera?»«Bajaba.»«¡Alabado sea Dios!», exclama míster Mac. «Si bajaba, llevaba la botella vacía.»(quitar comillas y poner rayas)

1.8. El cerebro contiene la mayor parte de las células nerviosas corporales —alrededor de diez mil millones. (ponerlo entre paréntesis, puntos)

1.9. JF Kennedy vivía en el no. 12. – J. F. Kennedy vivía en el n.º12/ núm. 12

1.10. Su libro favorito es Por quién doblan las campanas. (solo la primera con mayúsculas)

2. Syntactic/structural calques:

The syntactic or structural calque is the product of erroneous connection between the elements of a sentence or phrase (“in order to” = “en orden a” instead of “para”). See the following examples:



Passives:The home was being builtLa casa estaba siendo construida.IMPROVE: ________________________________

Comparisons:Joan Collins as AnnaJoan Collins como Anna,IMPROVE: __________________________

He’s as mad as a hatterEstá tan loco como una cabra.IMPROVE: __________________________

Prepositions:In front of her: En frente de ellaCORRECT: __________________________

On the basis of these findingsEn base a estos resultadosCORRECT: __________________________

ExerciseThe following phrases contain syntactic calques. Try to find a better translation in Spanish:Source: López Guix, J.L. (1999). Manual de traducción, Barcelona: Gedisa

I WORD ORDER1. These artificial languages have not made much progress, though an international

society of Esperanto exists.Estas lenguas artificiales no han progresado demasiado, a pesar de que una sociedad internacional de esperantistas existe.

II ARTICLES2. She is a teacher.Es una profesora.

3. When I was a young girl I used to play the piano.Cuando era una chica joven tocaba el piano.

4. Old Joe said he was tired.Viejo Joe comentó que estaba cansado.



III ADJECTIVES5. English biblical translator and humanist.Traductor bíblico inglés y humanista.

Spanish law and crime.Leyes españolas y delincuencia.

6. Energy-efficient industrial processesProcesos industriales eficaces energéticos

7. As he sank low in water, a strange, hollow voice sounded within him.A medida que se hundía, una voz hueca, extraña, resonó en su interior.

IV DEMONSTRATIVES8. All of us got into this big discussion about the type of software….Nos pusimos a hablar de este gran debate sobre el tipo de software….

9. In Rome a statue of Marsyas stood in the forum. This was imitated by Roman colonies.En el Foro de Roma se alzaba una estatua de Marsias. Esto fue imitado por las colonias romanas.

10. He was found guilty. This directly contradicts the evidence provided.Le declararon culpable. Esto contradice frontalmente las pruebas presentadas.

V POSSESSIVES11. The woman holds her hands by her sides.La mujer tiene sus manos junto a su cuerpo.

12. The blood began to trickle down his chest.La sangre empezó a correrle por su pecho.

13. After working all day our backs are completely shot.Después de trabajar todo el día tenemos las espaldas completamente molidas.

Are you insinuating it is my fault?¿Insinúas que es mi culpa?

VI ADVERBS



14. The proposal simply vanished in 1975.La idea se esfumó simplemente en 1975.

15. Saudi Arabia banned slavery only in 1962.Arabia Saudí abolió la esclavitud solo en 1962.

VII VERB TENSES

16. The bus is coming.El autobús se está acercando. – ya viene el autobús

17. Please tell me if I am being a nuisance.Si te estoy molestando por favor no dudes en decírmelo.- Si te molesto

18. For several months we have been receiving flowers from a secret admirer.Durante varios meses hemos estado recibiendo flores de un admirador secreto.- llevamos meses recibiendo…

19. I’ll just finish this letter and then you can tell me what happened.Acabaré ahora la carta y entonces me cuentas qué pasó.- Acabo la carta y me cuentas

They sent him a box containing 100 books.Le mandaron una caja conteniendo cien libros.- que contenía

Matters to deal with.Asuntos a tratar. – Asuntos que tratar

VIII PASSIVE VOICE20. Five new cinemas have opened this year.Este año han sido abiertos cinco cines nuevos.- han abierto

21. The bed wasn’t slept in.La cama no fue utilizada.- nadie durmió en la cama

IX PREPOSITIONS22. I’ll be finished by 6.Habré acabado sobre las seis.- a las 6

23. I walked by the house.Caminé por la casa.-paséal lado de la casa

24. He died by a fall.



Murió por una caída.- Murío a causa de una caida.

25. He was back in a month.Volvió en un mes.- después de un mes

26. He stayed in the rainPermaneció en la lluvia.- bajo la lluvia

27. The best hotel in ParisEl mejor hotel en París. – de paris

28. I haven’t seen you in yearsNo te he visto en años. – hace años que no te veo

29. Under no circumstances.Bajo ninguna circunstancia. – En ningún caso/Bajo ningún concepto

There has been a rise in the number of crimes.Se ha producido un aumento en el número de delitos.- del numero de delitos

England has the highest crime rate in the EU.Inglaterra cuenta con el índice de delitos más elevado en (de) la Unión Europea.

Pay for a soda.Pagar por un refresco. – sin el por.

3. Semantic calques:

2. Semantic calques:Semantic calques are the result of an incorrect correspondence between two words that have similar forms or etymologies but that have evolved differently in their respective languages to the point that they now have different meanings (semantic transfer). That is, English words with similar spelling to Spanish words that are given ‘our’ meaning. See the following example:

Eg.: very light complexion:Wrong: complexión muy ligera X.Right: tez muy clara .

Exercise 1The following translations have been published in different written media. Find a better Spanish translation for them:Source: Lorenzo, Emilio (1996). Anglicismos hispánicos, Madrid: Gredos



1. allegedly: alegadamente, intentó matar a un amante. presuntamente,supuestamente

2. America: son ciudadanos americanos.estadounidense

3. yellow: máximos exponentes del amarillismo televisivo.sensacionalista

4. anxious: estamos ansiosos por jugar.Tengo ganas de jugar

5. crime: se trata de un crimen menor.delito

6. domestic: bombas domésticas / asuntos domésticos / vuelos domésticos.Caseras/internos/nacionales

7. facilities: un centro con facilidades inmejorables.instalaciones

8. fatal: hubo tres infartos; dos de ellos fueron fatales.mortales

9. hero: el héroe de la novela.El protagonista

10. honestly: honestamente, estoy un poco sorprendido.La verdad/ A decir verdad

11. officer: el oficial le indicó la salida de la comisaría.El agente

12. presumably: Presumiblemente, llegará al anochecer.Se supone

13. reluctant: se mostró reluctante a cooperar.reacio

14. sentence: El alcalde ha sido sentenciado a cadena perpetua.condenado

15. seriously: está seriamente enfermo.gravemente

16. severe: sufrió una severa derrota.dura

17. terrific: un film terrorífico.buenísima

18. troops: siete mil tropas rebeldes.soldados

19. invaluable: el talento de los genios es invaluable.incalculabre

20. neigbourhood: vecindarios enteros siguen en ruinas.barrios

21. villain: una historia donde los villanos reciben su merecido.Los malos

22. disaster area: área de desastre.Zona catastrófica

23. emergency/ forced landing: aterrizaje de emergencia.



Aterrizaje forzoso24. House of Commons: Casa de los Comunes.

Cámara de los Comunes25. commit suicide: cometer suicidio.

Cometer suicidio26. organized crime: crimen organizado.

Delincuencia organizada27. phone directory: directorio telefónico.

Listín telefónica28. state of the art: estado del arte.

Última generación29. wall to wall carpeting: alfombras de pared a pared.

moqueta30. second thoughts: nunca tuve segundos pensamientos a este respecto.

Dudas

Exercise 2Translate the following sentences into Spanish. Pay special attention to the underlined words:Source: Prado, Marcial (2001). Diccionario de falsos amigos ingles-español, Madrid: Gredos

Eg.: The actual thief is on the loose:Wrong: El ladrón actual anda suelto X.Right: El verdadero ladrón anda suelto .

1. These trees are as ancient as Christ.-estos arboles tienen más años que matusalén2. I don’t like bigots.-No me gustan los intolerantes3. These beans have a bland taste.-Estas habichuelas están sosas4. He is a candid candidate.-es un candidato sincero5. This poem contains 20 couplets.-pareado6. There is much destitution in Africa.-miseria7. Let’s discuss like civilized people.-hablemos de8. What a disgrace!-9. She loves drama.-peliculera10. Did your parents pay for your education?-formación11. It was a grand party.-magnífica12. Do you like horror movies?- de miedo13. It is very inconvenient to read by candle light.-incómodo14. He is very industrious at school.-trabajador15. Hispania is the journal of the American Association of Teachers of Spanish.-revista16. Four white policemen are accused of beating a black motorist.-chófer17. Don’t you like to swim in the ocean?-mar18. I couldn’t procure the book I wanted.-conseguir19. Did you attend the recent Isabel Pantoja’s concert?-el nuevo



20. The recipient pays for the postal charges.-destinatario21. The refrain tells about love and grief.-estribillo22. Free refreshments after the lecture.-refrigerio23. He sent a registered letter.-carta certificada24. He registered several complaints.-recibió varias quejas25. The two countries resumed peace negotiations.-retomaron26. A sane person doesn’t do that.-cuerda27. He is a renowned scholar.-estudioso28. Very wealthy people live in the suburbs of San Diego.-zona residencial afueras29. The student was suspended for cheating.-expulsado30. I gave him my sincere sympathy.-pésame31. The house maid is uneducated.-no tiene estudios32. He committed vicious crimes against humanity.-atroces


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2._Anglicisms