Cover not available
Article published In:
Pragmatics
Vol. 26:4 (2016) ► pp.609–629

Vagueness

A loanword’s good friend. The case of ‘print’ in Spanish fashion

The language of fashion is often set as the example of a field where the use of loanwords is common practice, but has seldom been worthy of scholarly analytical attention. At the same time, vagueness is usually regarded as an inherent characteristic in natural language, but, until recently, terminology relegated it, since the traditional approaches tended to prioritise accuracy and standardisation. With the help of a combined theoretical basis, a semantic theory and a pragmatic model, this paper brings together these two worlds in order to examine the English loanword ‘print’ in the domain of Spanish fashion, contrasting and comparing it with native near-equivalents. We conclude that the presence of this borrowed term, exclusively restricted to specialised fashion circles, cannot be motivated by its contribution to specificity, a characteristic that usually distinguishes loanwords from their semantic near-equivalents in the recipient language. The importance of ‘print’ lies in its unspecified, vague nature as a loan, which permits its adaptation to a variety of fashion contexts less appropriate for the more restricted denotation of the native terms.

Keywords: underspecification, vagueness, loanwords, language of fashion, semantic equivalence
Available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC) 4.0 license.
Published online: 1 December 2016
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/prag.26.4.04die
References
Aben-David, Dror
(ed.) (2014) Media and Translation. An Interdisciplinary Approach. New York, London: Bloomsbury.Google Scholar
Andersen, Gisle
(2014) Pragmatic borrowing. Journal of Pragmatics 67.1: 17–33. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Balteiro, I., and M.A. Campos
(2012) False anglicisms in the Spanish language of fashion and beauty. Ibérica 241: 233–260.Google Scholar
Balteiro, Isabel
(2014) The influence of English on Spanish fashion terminology: -ing forms. ESP Today: Journal of English for Specific Purposes at Tertiary Level 2.2: 156–173.Google Scholar
Barsalou, Lawrence
(2003) Situated simulation in the human conceptual system. Language and Cognitive Processes 18.5-6: 513–562. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bergenholtz, H., S. Nielsen, and S. Tarp
(eds.) (2009) Lexicography at a Crossroads: Dictionaries and Encyclopedias Today, Lexicographica Tools Tomorrow. Bern: Peter Lang.Google Scholar
Cabré, María Teresa
(1999) Terminology. Theory, Methods and Applications. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Caramazza, A., and J. Shelton
(1998) Domain specific knowledge systems in the brain: The animate-inanimate distinction. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 101: 1–34. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Carston, R., and S. Uchida
(eds.) (1998) Relevance Theory: Applications and Implications. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Carston, Robyn
(2002) Linguistic meaning, communicated meaning and cognitive pragmatics. Mind and Language 17.1-2: 127–148. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Channell, Joanna
(1994) Vague Language. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Cruse, Alan
(2011) Meaning in Language. An Introduction to Semantics and Pragmatics. Third edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Cruse, D. Alan
(1997[1986]) Lexical Semantics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Égré, P., and N. Klinedinst
(2011) Introduction: Vagueness and language use. In P. Égré, and N. Klinedinst (eds.), Vagueness and Language Use. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 1–21. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(eds.) (2011) Vagueness and Language Use. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Estornell Pons, María
(2012) Novedades léxicas en revistas femeninas: Procedimientos de formación y valor semántico-pragmático de las unidades. Revista de Estudios Lingüísticos Hispánicos 21: 77–108. Google Scholar
Faber, P., C. Vega Linares, and M. Vega Expósito
(2005) Framing terminology: A process-oriented approach. META 50, 4. Internet document available at: [URL]. Last access 22 April 2015.Google Scholar
Faber, P., P. León Araúz, J.A. Prieto Velasco, and A. Reimerink
(2007) Linking images and words: The description of specialised concepts. International Journal of Lexicography 201: 39–65. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Faber, P., S. Montero Martínez, R. Castro Prieto, J. Senso Ruiz, J.A. Prieto Velasco, P. León Araúz, C. Márquez Linares, and M. Vega Expósito
(2006) Process-oriented terminology management in the domain of coastal engineering. Terminology 12.2: 189–213. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Faber, Pamela
(2011) The dynamics of specialised knowledge representation. Terminology 17.1: 9–29. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(ed.) (2012) A Cognitive Linguistics View of Terminology and Specialized Language. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Fillmore, Charles
(1982) Frame Semantics. In Linguistics Society of Korea (ed.), Linguistics in the Morning Calm. Seoul: Hanshin, pp. 111–138.Google Scholar
Fischer, R., and H. Pulaczewska
(eds.) (2008) Anglicisms in Europe: Linguistic Diversity in a Global Context. Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.Google Scholar
Fischer, Roswitha
(2008) Introduction: Studying anglicisms. In R. Fischer, and H. Pulaczewska (eds.), Anglicisms in Europe: Linguistic Diversity in a Global Context. Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, pp. 1–14.Google Scholar
Furiassi, C., and H. Gottlieb
(eds.) (2015) Pseudo-Anglicisms. Studies on False Anglicisms in Europe. Boston and Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton.Google Scholar
Furiassi, C., V. Pulcini, and F. Rodríguez González
(eds.) (2012) The Anglicization of European Lexis. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gallardo, N., and J. Gómez de Enterría
(eds.) (2009) Estudios de Léxico Especializado. Granada: Atrio.Google Scholar
García Pérez, Rafael
(2000) Los neologismos del mundo de la moda en los diccionarios actuales. In S. Ruhstaller, and J. Prado Aragonés (eds.), Tendencias en la Investigación Lexicográfica del Español. El Diccionario como Objeto de Estudio Lingüístico y Didáctico. Huelva: Servicio de Publicaciones de la Universidad de Huelva, pp. 417–423.Google Scholar
Gómez Capuz, Juan
(2000) Anglicismos Léxicos en el Español Coloquial. Cádiz: Servicio de Publicaciones de la Universidad de Cádiz.Google Scholar
(2004) Préstamos del Español: Lengua y Sociedad. Madrid: Arco Libros.Google Scholar
Grice, H. Paul
(1975) Logic and conversation. In P. Cole, and J.L. Morgan (eds.), Syntax and Semantics 3: Speech Acts. New York: Academic Press, pp. 41–58.Google Scholar
Hampton, James
(2007) Typicality, graded membership and vagueness. Cognitive Science 311: 355–384. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Haspelmath, M., and U. Tadmor
(eds.) (2009) Loanwords in the World’s Languages. A Comparative Handbook. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Haspelmath, Martin
(2009) Lexical borrowing: Concepts and issues. In M. Haspelmath, and U. Tadmor (eds.), Loanwords in the World’s Languages. A Comparative Handbook. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, pp. 35–54. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hoffer, Bates
(2002) Language borrowing and language diffusion: An overview. Intercultural Communication Studies 11.4: 1–37.Google Scholar
Hyde, Dominic
(2008) Vagueness, Logic and Ontology. Aldershot: Ashgate.Google Scholar
Kageura, K., B. Daille, H. Nakagawa, and L.F. Chien
(2004) Introduction: Recent trends in computational terminology. Terminology 10.1: 1–21. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Keefe, Rosanna
(2000) Theories of Vagueness. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Kempson, Ruth
(1992[1977]) Semantic Theory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Kurz, Ingrid
(1997) Getting the message across — Simultaneous interpreting for the media. In M. Snell-Hornby, Z. Jettmarová, and K. Kaindl (eds.), Translation as Intercultural Communication. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company, pp. 195–206. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
L’Homme, Marie-Claude
(1998) Définition du statut du verbe en langue de spécialité et sa description lexicographique. Cahiers de Lexicologie 73.2: 61–84.Google Scholar
(2000) Understanding specialized lexical combinations. Terminology 6.1: 89–110. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lakoff, George
(1973) Hedges: A study in meaning criteria and the logic of fuzzy concepts. Journal of Philosophical Logic 21: 458–508. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
León Araúz, P., P. Faber, and S. Montero Martínez
(2012) Specialised language semantics. In P. Faber (ed.), A Cognitive Linguistics View of Terminology and Specialized Language. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, pp. 95–175.Google Scholar
Lorenzo, Emilio
(1996) Anglicismos Hispánicos. Madrid: Gredos.Google Scholar
(1999) El Español en la Encrucijada. Madrid: Espasa Calpe.Google Scholar
Onysko, A., and E. Winter-Froemel
(2011) Necessary loans – luxury loans? Exploring the pragmatic dimension of borrowing. Journal of Pragmatics 43.6: 1550–1567. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Onysko, Alexander
(2007) Anglicisms in German: Borrowing, Lexical Productivity and Written Codeswitching. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Orengo, Alberto
(2005) Localising news: Translation and the ‘global-national’ dichotomy. Language and Intercultural Communication 5.2: 168–187. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Pratt, Chris
(1980) El Anglicismo en el Español Peninsular Contemporáneo. Madrid: Gredos.Google Scholar
Rodríguez González, Félix
(1996) Functions of anglicisms in contemporary Spanish. Cahiers de Lexicologie 68.1: 107–128.Google Scholar
Rosch, Eleanor
(1978) Principles of categorization. In E. Rosch, and B. Lloyd (eds.), Cognition and Categorization. Hillsdale: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, pp. 27–48.Google Scholar
Seco, M., O. Andrés, and G. Ramos
(1999) Diccionario del Español Actual. Madrid: Aguilar.Google Scholar
Solt, Stephanie
(2015) Vagueness and imprecision: Empirical foundations. Annual Review of Linguistics 11: 107–127. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Sperber, D., and D. Wilson
(1995) Relevance, Communication and Cognition. Second edition. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
(2012) Rhetoric and relevance. In D. Wilson, and D. Sperber (eds.), Meaning and Relevance. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 84–96. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Vourinen, Erkka
(1997) News translation as gatekeeping. In M. Snell-Hornby, Z. Jettmarová, and K. Kaindl (eds.), Translation as Intercultural Communication. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company, pp. 161–172. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Williamson, Timothy
(1996) Vagueness. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Wilson, D., and D. Sperber
(2004) Relevance theory. In L. Horn, and G. Ward (eds.), The Handbook of Pragmatics. Oxford: Blackwell, pp. 607–632.Google Scholar
(eds.) (2012) Meaning and Relevance. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Wilson, D., and R. Carston
(2007) A unitary approach to lexical pragmatics: Relevance, inference and ad hoc concepts. In N. Burton-Roberts (ed.), Pragmatics. Houndmills, Basingstoke, London: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 230–259. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Zhang, Qiao
(1998) Fuzziness – vagueness – generality – ambiguity. Journal of Pragmatics 29.1: 13–31. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cited by

Cited by 2 other publications

Diez-Arroyo, Marisa
2018. Metarepresentation and echo in online automobile advertising. Lingua 201 ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo
Todorova, Bilyana Bozhinova
2019. Bulgarian-English Code-switching in Internet Forum Communication: The BG-mamma Case. Open Linguistics 5:1 ► pp. 121 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 13 april 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.