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Description
This study aims to provide a systematic linguistic and lexicographic analysis of Spanish-derived loanwords in Modern Greek, addressing the limited attention given to Spanish as a donor language.
Methodologically, it draws on a dataset of 130 items, combining 105 entries from the Dictionary of Standard Modern Greek (DSMG) with 25 additional items collected from contemporary digital discourse. The analysis adopts a typological framework distinguishing loanwords, loanblends, and loanshifts, alongside grammatical, morphophonological, and semantic-domain analyses.
The results indicate a clear predominance of loanwords, with loan translations and semantic extensions occurring less frequently. Nouns constitute the dominant grammatical category, while morphophonological integration is largely systematic, aligning with Greek inflectional patterns. Semantically, borrowings cluster in culturally salient domains such as food, music, and material culture, whereas core vocabulary remains largely unaffected. The findings also highlight the predominantly indirect transmission of Spanish borrowings through intermediary languages and the accelerating role of global media in recent diffusion.
The study contributes by documenting Spanish as a secondary but meaningful donor language in Modern Greek and by identifying gaps in the DSMG, advocating for more systematic etymological attribution and a usage-based, dynamic approach to lexicographic practice.