Anglicism

An anglicism is a word or construction borrowed from English by another language. Due to the global dominance of English in the 20th and 21st centuries, many English terms have become widespread in other languages. Technology-related English words like internet and computer are prevalent across the globe, as there are no pre-existing words for them. English words are sometimes imported verbatim and sometimes adapted to the importing language in a process similar to anglicisation (modification of borrowed non-English words to suit English language better). In languages with non-Latin alphabets, these borrowed words can be written in the Latin alphabet anyway, resulting in a text made up of a mixture of scripts; other times they are transliterated. Transliteration of English and other foreign words into Japanese generally uses the katakana script. Some consider anglicisms to be relatively benign, and the use of English words may even take on a chic aspect; in Japan, marketing products for the domestic market often involves using English or pseudo-English brand names and slogans. In other countries, excessive use of anglicisms is seen much more negatively, and there are efforts by public-interest groups and governments to reverse the trend. The word anglicism can refer to any borrowing from the English language; the term americanism can be used for borrowings from specifically American usage.