D) Spanish and Portuguese borrowings

Spanish and Portuguese borrowings reflect the cultural traditions and accomplishments and the naval and military exploits of the countries of origin. Spain and Portugal led Europe in the colonization of the New World, and some of the words borrowed from Spanish had been borrowed into English from American Indian languages.

Spanish has made one of the major contributions to English vocabulary. Its influence began to be felt in the 16-th century, at a time when Spain was a world power in conflict with the English Crown, and it gained new momentum when Spain set foot in America.

Early borrowings from Spanish include: armada (1530), guava (1555), hammock (1555), maize (1555), negro (1555), potato (1565), armadillo (1570), mestizo (1588), buoy (1596), cargo (1602), masquerade (1654), siesta (1655), pimento (1690) etc.

Some 18-th century loans from the Spanish and Portuguese languages are: adobe (1748), albino (Portuguese, 1777), banjo (1764), banana (Spanish or Portuguese, 1590), cocoa (1707), demarcation (1727), fandango (1700), flotilla (1711), hacienda (1760), lasso (1768), mantilla (1717), mesa (1775), palaver (Portuguese, 1733), poncho (1748), quadroon (1707), torero (1728), alpaca (1792) etc.

From these languages the English language also adopted: alligator, barricade, bravado, cannibal, canoe, canyon, corral, coyote, desperado, enchilada, hurricane, marijuana, mesa, mosquito, mustang, ranch, taco, tornado, tortilla, vigilante, hasta la vista, hasta luego etc.

From Portuguese English also borrowed such words as: banjo, Madeira, molasses, port (wine), samba, verandah, cobra, auto-da-fe, although some of these may rather be Spanish than Portuguese. Some of the Portuguese words have offered a precedent for introducing the Latin words into England and have assisted in their general adoption.

Borrowings from the Spanish language are characteristic of English throughout its history. The latter is very rich in different types of contacts with the Spanish-speaking world. Besides one shouldn't forget that Hispanics are a powerful force in American culture and, of course, it is reflected in the English language. For historical reasons, most of the Spanish loanwords in English are specific to American English, constituting one of its most distinctive features when compared with British English. So, we can say that some Spanish borrowings came into English mainly through its American variant. There are the following semantic groups of them: a) trade terms: cargo, embargo; b) names of dances and musical instruments: tango, rumba, habanera, flamenco, bolero, cachucha, castanets, guitar; c) names of vegetables and fruit: tomato, potato, tobacco, cocoa, ananas, apricot; d) names of animals: alligator, alpaca, armadillo, mosquito etc.

As in case with Italian words, Spanish words sometimes entered English through French or took a French form: grenade, palisade, escalade, cavalier, porcelain, caprice, terrace, tirade, intrigue, revolt, brave and still others.

It should be mentioned that nowadays words from Spanish exist in English practically in all spheres of life. Nowadays linguists deal not only with the ordinary borrowings in English from Spanish – loanwords, calques, etc. but they also face more complicated phenomenon – Spanglish. Some researchers even think that Spanglish is going to be a new, independent language created on the basis of the English and Spanish languages.

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