Anglicism is a word or term in English that is used by Spanish in the absence of a better word or expression of this language that translates it in an appropriate or specific way. In Spanish the use of anglicisms is widespread and some are accepted by the Dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy.
Anglicism.
- m. Turn or mode of speaking proper to the English language
- m. Vocabulary or spin of the English language used in another.
- m. Use of English words or phrases in different languages
- Dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy
- Royal Spanish Academy
One of these terms is Internet, that if we made a literal translation, it would mean "interconnected network", but the agreement is that due to the number of syllables that must be pronounced, it is not practical, immediate, convenient, simple, so it is better to use English, much more accurate in the judgment of society and academia.
In the field of technology, another reason Anglicisms are used may be the fact that Anglo-Saxon countries are at the forefront of scientific and technological development, which has in part driven English as the most widely used language for interact in that area, develop, research and program protocols and software. This is not to mention that it is one of the most spoken languages worldwide.
In the case of Bitcoin, we have that when this word is capitalized, it is referring to the technology, the protocol of that distributed network, while when it is written with lowercase letters (bitcoin) it is referring to the cryptoactive. If we translate it into Spanish, we would have to say "bit coin" or "binary digit". Not very attractive
Proposed in 2009 by Satoshi Nakamoto, the white paper makes clear in its title that Bitcoin is a User-to-User Electronic Cash System (P2P), so the Bitcoin form should be considered as the proper name of a network and a protocol distributed made up of individuals who exchange information directly among themselves, without intermediation or central authority.
The word blockchain could be translated as a chain of blocks, but this Anglicism is also used quite generally. Another reference term, such as Distributed Accounting Technology, uses the acronym DLT for Distributed Ledger Technology, equally named in both English and Spanish translation. Thus, it is common to see that the abbreviations are used in English, as is the case of Anti-Money Laundering (AML) anti-money laundering legislation or standards, or the case of Ethereum Virtual Machine, which is translated as Machine Virtual of Ethereum, the electronic processor of the Ethereum protocol, its initials are written EVM.
In addition, there are abbreviations such as FUD, Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt (Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt), which refers to campaigns that seek to destabilize the opinion on a topic related to blockchain; as well as the technical term GPU (Graphic Processing Unit), per graphic processing unit, known among mortals as video cards.
The community has also chosen to leave FinTech as a reduced version of Financial Technologies, financial technology; a term quite used and which refers to the technological developments applied to finance.
During 2016 the RAE launched a campaign that seeks to combat the excessive use of anglicisms, understanding it as an insertion of English words into Spanish speech. The academy considers that it is through advertising where Anglicisms are inserted the most.
However, some words are also used more in their translation in Spanish, than in English or as Anglicism. Such is the case of cryptovalle, which although originated in the English Crypto Valley, is used to refer to those cities, towns or regions that have a number of advantages that facilitate the use of cryptocurrencies in their jurisdiction.
As for that word, we should reflect on other terms that are frequent to hear in the business field: startup, partner, briefing, slides, input, output, know-how. Why not use entrepreneurship, partner, report, sheet, entry, saloda or -the most obvious example- knowledge or method?
If what is aspired is to make Spanish more practical in these areas of technological and financial business, the blockchain commercial and research projects that are emerging in Latin America and Spain could successfully achieve this as they contribute to the world with their growth.