Anglicisms in the Spanish press: A Descriptive Study

This paper studies the use of anglicisms in the eight digital Spanish newspapers with the highest circulation figures: El País, El Mundo, La Vanguardia, ABC, El Confidencial, La Razón, OKDiario and El Diario. The data collection has been carried out during a twenty-day period, between February and March, 2018. The main aim is to quantify these anglicisms and study the different strategies which have been used to show to what extent the appearance of these anglicisms can be avoided. The style guides and the rules established by the Real Academia Española have been studied to prove whether the rules with regard to the use of anglicisms coincide with their real use. The data have been grouped according to three different strategies: no strategy, i.e. direct transfer, explicitation by means of an equivalent in Spanish, and amplification, by means of an explanation in Spanish. The results show that the rules do not mirror the real use of anglicisms