English borrowings in the Spanish language: Language policy of the Royal Academy of the Spanish language and the Fundéu BBVA regarding anglicisms

Abstract

The Italian linguist Virginia Pulcini wrote in 2002 that languages such as Italian and Dutch are considered "extroverted" languages with an open attitude toward other languages, while Spanish is considered "introverted" in its desire to limit the influence of foreign languages, especially English. Nevertheless, even "introverted" Spanish is invaded by an endless list of anglicisms. Although a lot of English words have their equivalents in Spanish, they seemed to be largely ignored by Spanish speakers. This behavior appears to be even reinforced by the media. The Internet, press, television, and radio make extensive use of English loanwords and contribute to the increasing use of English-language terms. Many countries are pursuing a fairly active language policy, which is usually a system of measures and legislation implemented by state institutions with specific social and linguistic goals in mind. Nowadays, in the age of globalization, one of such goals is a protection of the native language. Spain is not an exception. We can observe a rather purist attitude of certain Spanish institutions towards the use of anglicisms in the Spanish language. This difference in attitudes towards openness to other languages between the various countries may be explained by, among other things, the existence of linguistic institutions such as the Royal Academy of the Spanish Language (La Real Academia Española) and the Foundation of Urgent Spanish (Fundéu BBVA), which, according to many researchers, follow a restrictive policy against the use of anglicisms.