The Presence of Loanwords of Nahuatl Origin in the Press of Veracruz, Mexico

Abstract

In this article I would like to talk about one of the results of the cohabitation of Spanish and indigenous languages in Mexico: the presence of loanwords of Nahuatl origin in Mexican Spanish. For this purpose I will present the results of my research, whose aim was to collect words of Nahuatl origin in the newspapers of Veracruz, one of the states of Mexico; and to show the importance of this type of vocabulary in Mexican Spanish. The use of indigenous words is a characteristic feature of almost all Spanish varieties spoken in America, and Mexican Spanish is no different. The vitality of the lexicon of Nahuatl origin in Mexican Spanish can be demonstrated by the fact that it has been used in journalistic texts on very different subjects: society, economy, politics, culture, gastronomy, etc. Journalistic language, as it is well-known, is a dynamic and constantly changing type of language, so the constant presence of words of Nahuatl origin there shows that this kind of vocabulary constitutes an integral part of the Spanish spoken in Mexico.