False Loanwords Due to Improper Semantic Shift in Argentine Legal Spanish

Abstract

In legal texts written in Spanish, it is often the case that terms in other languages are used. This article explores this phenomenon, known as “loan words”, and focuses on the words that look foreign but are actually used in Spanish with a meaning different from that given to them in the original language. These are “false loan words”; in particular, four false Anglicisms created on the basis of semantic shift are studied as used in the Argentine legal language: leasing, cramdown, probation, and mobbing. These are words that exist in English, but are not used the same way in English and in Spanish. These false loan words entail understanding and expression, as well as translation, issues. The article analyzes alternatives for expression and translation proposals for all of them.