Changes to the English Language and the Introduction of Anglicisms into the Italian Language as a Result of the Covid-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Modifications made to the English language and the introduction of various anglicisms into the Italian language, both created as byproducts of the Covid-19 pandemic, are the central topics of this dissertation. Changes made to a language are consequences of political, social/cultural, economical, and technological events. Because pandemics can be considered one of any of these event types, they do have a history of creating changes to languages. Some examples of this modification phenomenon include the Black Death, Spanish flu, and, presently, Covid-19. Modifications made to the English language, including those that happened during Covid-19, are tracked by authoritative English sources such as the Oxford English Dictionary (British-English Dictionary) and the Merriam Webster Dictionary (American Dictionary) with their different methodologies, as well as unofficial sources such as the Urban Dictionary. The impact of Covid-19 on the English language has spread to other languages such as Italian, in which the pandemic’s anglicisms are highly prevalent, especially in informative sources. The importance of these English terms being used in the Italian language triggered speculation in linguists and common people alike regarding the role of English during the pandemic. The conservative position toward pandemic-age anglicisms held by the linguistic institution known as the “Accademia della Crusca” will be analysed, as will the results of a dissertation survey conducted among Italians which focused upon the role of anglicisms as permanent modifications to the Italian language coupled with the presence of English words as a factor that influenced Italian knowledge about Covid-19. Keywords: Covid-19, pandemics, language changes, English, Italian, anglicisms, information sources