The use of nicknames to refer to Premier League English Football Teams in Spanish digital press

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15381/lengsoc.v23i2.27867

Keywords:

nicknames, English football clubs, Spanish press, anglicisms, pragmatic functions

Abstract

Nicknames have been associated with several sports across different countries and languages for a long time; thus, their use by a number of English football clubs is not surprising. Frequently, these sobriquets are culturally bound to the origins or history of these soccer teams along with their fans. Some previous research has focused on the analysis of the use of cognomens in sports, but no recent study has been carried out in the area of English football clubs. This paper intends to provide data on the employment of agnomens referring to English football teams participating in the Premier League during the 2023-2024 season in the particular context of the Spanish digital press. It uses the anglicisms search tool ‘Observatorio Lázaro’ to excerpt real media examples from various Spanish online newspapers from April 2020 up to February 2024. A qualitative and quantitative analysis of the sample reveals that Spanish news reporters tend to use many of the examined cognomens to refer to English football clubs. The motivations that encourage Spanish journalists to employ these English nicknames are discussed considering some pragmatic linguistic functions of these sobriquets.

Author Biographies

  • Carmen Luján-García, Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, España

    Is an Associate Professor at the Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC), Spain, where she currently teaches ESP at the Modern Languages, Translating and Interpreting Department. She has also taught English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL)  as a visiting teacher in the United States. She is a member of the Research Group “Estudios socioculturales y sociolingüísticos”. Her main field of research is the sociolinguistics of English in Spain, and she has extensively worked and published on the presence of anglicisms in different areas of the Spanish language. She has also worked on the use of Information Technology (IT) in the ESL and ESP classroom. Some of her publications are: La lengua inglesa en Canarias: usos y actitudes (2003); The English Language and Anglo-American Culture: Its Impact on Spanish Language and Society (2013); La presencia del inglés en la publicidad televisiva (2013-2015) in 2015; Anglicismos sexuales en español (2018), and she has edited the volume Anglicismos en los nuevos medios de comunicación: tendencias actuales (2021). She has published different international papers in journals indexed in JCR such as English Today, Onomazein, CALL, Spanish in Context, Sintagma, Terminology, among others. 

     

  • Eugenia Esperanza Núñez Nogueroles, Universidad de Extremadura, Cáceres, España

    Is currently based at the University of Extremadura (UEx, Spain), although, during the academic years 2022-2023 and 2023-2024, she is carrying out a research stay at the University of Lisbon (Portugal). She is a member of the Research Institute for Linguistics and Applied Languages (LINGLAP, UEx, Spain) and of the Research Group ‘Text and Discourse in Modern English’ (University of Granada, Spain). She has published articles and book chapters related to her research interests, which include Anglicisms in Spanish, Corpus-based studies, Lexicology, Lexicography, Teaching Spanish as a Foreign Language, and Inclusion in Higher Education. The results she has obtained have been disseminated in different international conferences, too. 

References

Álvarez, E. (2020). Observatorio Lázaro. Accessed june 21 of 2024 on https://observatoriolazaro.es/index.php

Aston Villa FC. (2016, may 19). From the archives: the origins of the famous ‘villa villan’. Aston Villa FC. Accessed may 24 of 2024 on https://www.avfc.co.uk/news/2013/09/17/from-the-archives-the-origins-of-the-famous-villa-villan

Awad, E. (2012). What's in a Nickname? Nicknames and Identity in the 2010 Football World Cup in South Africa. Cross-Cultural Communication, 8(3), 72-75.

Brentford FC. (n.d.). Buzz Bee. Accessed february 25 of 2024 on https://www.brentfordfc.com/en/teams/profile/buzz-bee

Britannica. (2014, february 2). Crystal Palace. Accessed february 25 of 2024 on https://www.britannica.com/topic/Crystal-Palace-building-London

Britannica. (2024, february 25). Chelsea FC. Accessed february 25 of 2024 on https://www.britannica.com/topic/Chelsea-FC

Castañón, J. (1993). El lenguaje periodístico del fútbol. Secretariado de Publicaciones. Universidad de Valladolid.

Castañón, J. (2012). El lenguaje periodístico del deporte en el idioma español. Historia y Comunicación Social, 17, 343-358.

Cintas, J. (2022, august 5). La historia de los motes y apodos de los equipos de la Premier League. Fotorrelato, As. Accessed march 13 of 2024 on https://as.com/futbol/fotorrelato/la-historia-de-los-motes-y-apodos-de-los-equipos-de-la-premier-league-f/

Cuba, M. (2020). El préstamo léxico y su adaptación en el castellano de la sierra norte del Perú: Un fenómeno lingüístico y cultural. Lengua y Sociedad, 19(2), 105-128. https://doi.org/10.15381/lengsoc.v19i2.22308

Đurčević, J., and Kostić, N. (2021). Pragmatic functions of anglicisms in the Montenegrin language. Círculo de Lingüística Aplicada a la Comunicación, 86, 169-183. https://dx.doi.org/10.5209/clac.75500

Evans, D. (2008). From Bumble Bee Slim to Black Boy Shine: Nicknames of blues singers. In D. Evans (Ed.), Ramblin’ on My Mind: New Perspectives on the Blues (pp. 179-221). University of Illinois Press.

Eurosport. (2014, october 7th). De dónde viene el nombre de los equipos de fútbol. Eurosport. https://espanol.eurosport.com/futbol/curiosidades-efemerides/2008-2009/de-donde-viene-el-nombre-de-los-equipos-de-futbol_sto4424319/story.shtmlhttp://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5406/j.ctt1xck91.8

Feng, W., Zhuyue, Z., and Cheng, C. (2020). A Preliminary Study on the Nicknames of the FIFA National Football Teams. Names, 68(2), 59-75.

Fifield, D. (2024, october 7th). Word of Mouth. The surprising origins of football club names. BBC Radio 4. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/4nyVyHG27VVfh4CrgBpy2yP/the-surprising-origins-of-football-club-names

Galindo, M., and López, Á. (2021). El humor en la crónica deportiva: Recursos humorísticos de Andrés Montes en las narraciones de la NBA. Estudios de Lingüística del Español, 43, 35-50. https://doi.org/10.36950/elies.2021.43.8428

Gumperz, J. (1975). Comunidad lingüística. En D. Sills y V. Cervera (Eds.), Enciclopedia Internacional de las Ciencias Sociales. French & European Publications.

Harre, R. (1980). What’s in a Nickname? Psychology Today, (78-79), 81-84.

Holland, T. (1990). The Many Faces of Nicknames. Names, 38(4), 255-272.

Hougham, D. (2023, february 26th). Brighton and Crystal Palace: The rise of a rivalry separated by 39 miles. These Football Times. Accessed March 13th of 2024 on https://thesefootballtimes.co/2023/02/26/brighton-and-crystal-palace-the-rise-of-the-poo-gate-rivalry/

Jeppesen, S. (2017). Humanizing the Deities of Jazz. Music Educators Journal, 103(4), 57-63. https://doi.org/10.1177/0027432117697799

Lawson, E. (1990). Nicknames: An annotated bibliography. Names, 38(4), 323-363.

Lovón, M., and Jiménez, P. (2016). Apelativos futbolísticos en el Perú. Escritura y Pensamiento, 39, 191-212.

Luján-García, C. (2020a). Language contact in the media discourse: Anglicisms in section leisure in the newspaper La Provincia. ELIA: Estudios de Lingüística Inglesa Aplicada, 20, 113-146. https://doi.org/10.12795/ELIA.2020.I20.05

Luján-García, C. (2020b). Presencia de anglicismos en el campo de las ciencias farmacéuticas. Onomazein, 49, 140-173. http://hdl.handle.net/10553/77268

Luján-García, C. (2023). Adults only or pets welcome: Use of anglicisms in the tourist domain in Spanish digital press. Lengua y Habla, 27. http://erevistas.saber.ula.ve/index.php/lenguayhabla/article/view/19406

Mambwe, K., and Da Costa, D. F. (2015). Nicknaming in football: A case of selected nicknames of national football teams in Southern Africa. International Journal of Innovative Interdisciplinary Research, 2(4), 52-61.

Martínez, J. (1992). El lenguaje periodístico ante el neologismo. In Reigosa, C. G. (Ed.), El neologismo necesario (p. 73-112). Madrid.

Negrea-Busuioc, E., and Simion, D. L. (2021). What’s in a nickname? Form and function of sports’ team nicknames. In N.-S. Drăgan (Ed.), Differences, Similarities and Meanings: Semiotic Investigations of Contemporary Communication Phenomena (pp. 275-287). Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co.

Nyambi, O. (2018). ‘Warriors’ and ‘Mighty Warriors’: national football team nicknames and the politics and politicisation of national identity in Zimbabwe. National Identities, 20(3), 259-276. https://doi.org/10.1080/14608944.2016.1218452

Nyambi, O. (2020). A divided nation? Ethnicity, name-calling and nicknames in cyber Ndebele soccer discourse in Zimbabwe. National Identities, 22(1), 23-40. https://doi.org/10.1080/14608944.2018.1530339

Olimat, S., Mahadin, D., and Olimat, K. (2023). A socio-onomastic study of the 2022 FIFA World Cup football teams’ nicknames. Training, Language and Culture, 7(2), 9-20.

Premier League. (n. d.). Clubs. Premier league. Accessed may 10th of 2024 on https://www.premierleague.com/clubs

Prince-Wright, J. (2022). Ever Wonder why Newcastle fans are called Geordies? Sports. Accessed march 13th of 2024 on https://www.nbcsports.com/soccer/news/ever-wonder-why-newcastle-fans-are-called-geordies#:~:text=A%20Geordie%20is%20defined%20as,and%20Newcastle%20United%2C%20are%20based

Prince-Wright, J. (2023). Ever Wonder why Wolverhampton Wanderers are known as Wolves? Sports. Accessed february 18th of 2023 on https://www.nbcsports.com/soccer/news/ever-wonder-why-wolverhampton-wanderers-are-known-as-wolves

Pubquizhelp. (2009). List of English football club nicknames. Pubquizhelp. Accessed february of 6th of 2024 on https://pubquizhelp.com/sport/names.html

Quintero, S. (2019). Metaphors of victory and defeat in sports headlines in English and Spanish. Revista de Lingüística y Lenguas Aplicadas, 14, 141-151. https://doi.org/10.4995/rlyla.2019.9564

Relaño, A. (2016, 20 de diciembre). Un decreto españoliza los nombres (1940). 366 historias del fútbol mundial. Diario As – Diario online de deportes. Accessed may 14th of 2024 on https://as.com/futbol/2016/12/20/mas_futbol/1482219211_088536.html

Rodríguez, F. (1996). Functions of Anglicisms in Contemporary Spanish. Cahiers de Lexicologie, 68, 107-128.

Rotabroach. (2022). Why is Sheffield called the ‘Steel City’? Rotabroach. Accessed February 12th of 2024 on https://www.rotabroach.co.uk/blog/why-is-sheffield-called-the-steel-city/

Shih, S., and Rudin, D. (2021). On Sound Symbolism in Baseball Player Names. Names. A Journal of Onomastics, 69(1), 21-34.

Skipper, J. K. (1984). The Sociological Significance of Nicknames: The Case of Baseball Players. Journal of Sport Behavior, 7, 28-38.

Skipper, J. K. (1985). Nicknames, Folk Heroes, and Assimilation: Black League Baseball Players, 1884-1950. Journal of Sport Behavior, 8, 100-14.

Skipper, J. K. (1986). Nicknames, Folk Heroes and Jazz Musicians. Popular Music and Society, 10, 51-62.

Skipper, J. K., and Leslie, P. (1988). Nicknames and Blues Singers. Part I: Frequency of Use 1890-1977. Popular Music and Society, 12(1), 37-48.

Skipper, J. K., and Leslie, P. (1989). Nicknames and Blues Singers 1890-1977. Part II: Classification and Analysis. Popular Music and Society, 13(3), 29-43.

Slootweg, B. (2022). Nicknames of Premier League clubs. P1 Travel Hospitality. https://www.p1travel.com/en/blog/premier-league-nicknames

Smith, T. (2024). Why Are Arsenal Called ‘The Gunners’ (But Fans Called ‘Gooners’)? Sports Quotes and Facts (SQaF). Accessed march 14th of 2024 on https://sqaf.club/why-are-arsenal-called-gunners-gooners-fans/

Špehar, E., and Lončar, J. (2022). Creating a global identity and collapsing local identities – example of Premiership. Geoadria, 27(2), 205-232. https://doi.org/10.15291/geoadria.3665

Street, S. (2016). IRON THE HAMMERS. Why are West Ham called The Hammers and The Irons, and which is the official nickname? All the biggest questions about West Ham's two nicknames answered. The Sun. https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/2231129/why-are-west-ham-called-the-hammers-and-the-irons-and-which-is-the-official-nickname/

van Eijden, J. (2010). The Beautiful History of Club Crests, Club Colours & Nicknames. Nottingham Forest. https://thebeautifulhistory.wordpress.com/clubs/nottingham-forest/

Witalisz, A. (2021). Polish LGBTQ+-Related Anglicisms in a Language Contact Perspective. Studia Anglica Posnaniensia, 56(1), 631-653. https://doi.org/10.2478/stap-2021-0013

Downloads

Published

2024-12-30

Issue

Vol. 23 No. 2 (2024)

Section

Academic articles

License

Copyright (c) 2024 Carmen Luján-García, Eugenia Esperanza Núñez Nogueroles

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

AUTHORS RETAIN THEIR RIGHTS

a. Authors retain their trade mark rights and patent, and also on any process or procedure described in the article.

b. Authors can submit to the journal Lengua y Sociedad, papers disseminated as pre-print in repositories. This should be made known in the cover letter.

c. Authors retain their right to share, copy, distribute, perform and publicly communicate their article (eg, to place their article in an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in the journal Lengua y Sociedad.

d. Authors retain theirs right to make a subsequent publication of their work, to use the article or any part thereof (eg a compilation of his papers, lecture notes, thesis, or a book), always indicating its initial publication in the journal Lengua y Sociedad (the originator of the work, journal, volume, number and date).

How to Cite

Luján-García, C., & Núñez Nogueroles, E. E. (2024). The use of nicknames to refer to Premier League English Football Teams in Spanish digital press. Lengua Y Sociedad, 23(2), 535-555. https://doi.org/10.15381/lengsoc.v23i2.27867