The Presence and Influence of English in the Portuguese Financial Media

Abstract

As the lingua franca of the 21^st century, English has become the main language for intercultural communication for those wanting to embrace globalization. In Portugal, it is the second language of most public and private domains influencing its culture and discourses. Language contact situations transform languages by the incorporations they make from other languages and Portugal has witnessed an increase in the pervasion of English in written communication. The aim of this study is to disclose how this sociolinguistic behavior is perceived by examining the presence of English loanwords in the Portuguese financial media to uncover its role and functions. Three Portuguese newspapers, <em>Diário Económico,</em> <em>Expresso Economia </em>and<em> Vida Económica</em> were chosen as the corpus of analysis over a two-week period in January 2016 corresponding to the pre and post presidential election weeks. This may reveal if the electoral results affect the presence of English. The motivations of journalists for borrowing English items and the reactions of readers complement the analysis. Results have shown English borrowing as an acceptable/accepted behavior in the analyzed Portuguese financial newspapers.