From the western conquest to the space, 2,000 voices arriving from the USA.

Language culture

Valencia (Spain), Jan 17 (EFE).- More than 2.000 voices from the United States of America since the time of the western conquest to that of space and grouped into a study by the Spanish philologist and journalist Recaredo Agulló allow to verify “the enormous weight” that the culture of that country exerts on Spainand Latin America.

"His life system, his habits, his music, his cinema, his way of dressing and even speaking have been imposed on all western societies and with it, also, his enormous contribution of new words," said theAuthor of the investigation.

The work, published by “Cilengua-Institute History of the Language” of San Millán de la Cogolla (La Rioja, North), collects voices exported from the United States during the almost two hundred years elapsed between 1776, that of the country's independence, and1969, in which the arrival of man to the moon occurred.

The Valencia journalist (this) considered that the study analyzes "the strength of a culture that has been made and that it is better known than our grandparents" as a consequence of a progressive "globalization" of societies, in which"The value of classical antiquity has given way to the leadership of the United States and, consequently, to its language".

Work congregates words from the most diverse fields: animal world, weapons, cars, drinks, cinema and television, democracy, sport, economy, politics, slavery, geography, phrases and proverbs, clothing, industry, native peoples, literature, music, religion or toponymy, and analyzes the influence of Spanish, French and aboriginal languages over English.

Agulló recalled that in the transfer of words that complete the study, English is dominant, although Spanish is spoken by a high number people especially in the southern part of the country (Arizona, Nevada, California, Texas or Florida), whileThe languages of the Indian peoples and the French have also left their mark.

Animals such as coyote are present in the compendium, as well as weapons such as the "colt", the "wesson" or the "winchester" well known outside the country, in the same way that happens with numerous car brands (Lincoln, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Dodge or Ford) and motorcycles such as Harley-Davidson.

Regular drinks in Europe come from there, as is the case with Coca-Cola or Gin-Tonic, next to Daiquiri, Dry Martini and even whiskey.

A good part of the cinema vocabulary to which citizens who speak Spanish come from that country ("flash back", "script-guard", "Latin lover", "cameraman" or "dolby"), in addition to western as genreCinematographic, and the same occurs with sport, plagued with Castilianized anglicisms such as baseball, and competitions with names such as the America's Cup or the Super Bowl.

The states of the country have some of their origins in Spanish (Arizona, Colorado or Nevada), others in French such as Louisiana and many in native languages (Dakota, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Utah, Ohio or Kansas).

The "Cow Boys", "Marshalls", "Sheriffs", "Saloons", settlers, outlaws, ranchers or explorers belong to the epic world of the conquest of the West American in the framework of the literature and cinema of Indians and jeans.

Agulló's review also details some known quotes like "Made in USA" (manufactured in the USA), "American Way of Life" (American lifestyle) or "I have a Dream" (I have a dream) by Martin Luther King.

Abolitionists, confederate, slave and secessionists have become known outside that nation in stories about their civil war in the nineteenth century, in the same way that later the terminology linked to clothes with the American, the Bermuda or the"Blue jeans" (jeans)

In other areas, words of all kinds such as jazz, poker, poster, "Best Seller", "Pop art", "Tomahawk" or "Black Power" appear..Almost none generates compression problems for Spanish speakers.

Agulló concluded that many English voices that are presumed to arrive from the United Kingdom do not come from there, but that their true origin is in the United States, a country that went from being a territory "insignificant to become the first world power".

Alfonso Gil