Annals of the University of Oradea: Economic Science (Jul 2015)
GLOBALIZATION, ANGLICISMS AND BUSINESS ENGLISH
Abstract
For a long time, people have felt the need for a common language in order to communicate faster and better and English has become the global language, spreading across the world. Nowadays, more and more people learn and speak English for different reasons. The effect of it is that English started influencing the native languages of the speakers who use a great variety of words and expressions from English while speaking their respective languages. The aim of this paper is to analyze the influence of Anglicisms on the Romanian vocabulary, especially on the business vocabulary. Our paper focuses on English for Business and Economics, as we have been teaching business English to students from the Department of International Business for several years. The research undertaken in this paper is a theoretical research, concentrating on the controversies that surrounded this highly debated subject by the linguists: should Anglicisms be used in Romanian or not? In this regard, there are two sides: on one hand those who are rather supportive of the trend and those (and here we mention highly reputed Romanian linguists like George Pruteanu or Eugen Simion) who were categorically against it. The paper provides the results of a survey conducted by “Special Eurobarometer 243” showing that English is the most widely spoken language in Europe with a score of 51%. The concept of “romgleza” tends to replace the Romanian language in large corporations and not only and this is a natural trend, considering the “invasion” of the English language. A conversation in “romgleza” combines Romanian and English elements, thus resulting a technical jargon, the English words being used especially in areas like IT, marketing, management. This is due to the fact that in these areas the daily exposure to English is higher because everything people in these fields do is connected to English. Romgleza appeared because in Romanian there are no words to express the same meaning as the English words and that is why the majority of people prefer to use the English word. Yet, the purpose of this paper is not to mourn the fate of the Romanian language. Anglicisms have not determined an “alteration” of the Romanian language, but, on the contrary, they have contributed to its permanent renewal and development, modernizing its vocabulary.
