Using automated methods to explore the social stratification of anglicisms in Spanish

Abstract

Abstract Traditionally, automated methods for loanword detection have not received an abundance of attention within the field of language contact. However, as research on loanwords has begun utilizing corpora with word counts in the millions, these generous quantities of data pose challenges for traditional methods of linguistic annotation. This paper presents a method for automatically detecting anglicisms within Spanish text and presents a case study, applying this method to explore the social stratification of anglicisms in Argentine media. The findings of the case study suggest that anglicisms may function as prestige markers in Argentina, which may be a logical consequence of the mode of contact: those of upper socio-economic status have greater access to outlets where loanwords seem to emerge, such as the media, Internet, and second language education.