Thesis Final Draft

LANGUAGE TRANSFER IN EMOTION WORDS 1

The Semantics of Emotion across Language:

English- Spanish Language Transfer in Emotion Words

Jenna Rose Elliott

Honors Thesis

Appalachian State University

Submitted to the Honors College

in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of

Bachelor of Arts

April, 2021

Approved by:

___________________________________

Catherine Fountain, Ph.D., Thesis Director

___________________________________

William Atkinson, Ph.D, Second Reader

____________________________________

Jefford Vahlbusch, Ph.D, Dean, Honors College

LANGUAGE TRANSFER IN EMOTION WORDS 2

Abstract

This paper aims to examine the semantic differences in emotion words between English and

Spanish. Having a more concrete understanding of what emotion words mean in different

languages can help language learners develop a more clear cultural understanding of the target

language, improve the educational context in which emotion words are taught, and further

psychologists' understanding of language differences that may arise between them and their

clients. After surveying fifty-eight L2 Spanish speakers and thirty L1 Spanish speakers about

different hypothetical scenarios, a few trends arose surrounding word usage and first and third

person subjects. It was found that the L2 Spanish speakers had different trends than the L1

Spanish speakers in which words they wrote in and that both groups preferred first person

subject responses over more indirect third person subject responses. Since the majority of L2

Spanish speakers had more than five years of experience in the language and the L1 Spanish

population had fewer participants, further research would need to be done on a less experienced

L2 population and with a larger L1 population in order to better understand the differences

between Spanish and English emotion words.

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Introduction

The expression of emotion in language is a complex topic to examine, and the question of

the place of emotion and emotion-laden words in the bilingual lexicon is an important and

neglected area of research into bilingualism (Wierzbicka, 2008). The study of language transfer

often focuses on syntactic, morphological, and phonological features, while the semantics of

bilingual language use is overlooked. However, semantic differences in language can create

miscommunications, as different languages can use seemingly analogous words in distinctive

ways. Understanding the conceptual differences between emotion words in languages “will

underscore the existence of a personal, subjective, cultural memory that is coded linguistically in

a unique way within a language” (Altarriba, 2003, p. 306).

Having a deeper understanding of differences in the meaning of emotion words has many

uses. First and foremost, understanding the full semantic meaning of emotion words and phrases

can offer great insights into the culture surrounding a language. These observations can be used

to understand the meaning of certain situations more fully and respond to other situations more

appropriately. For example, Wierzbicka (1994) explains that “in Japan, it is important to

apologize very frequently and in a broad range of situations” (p. 4-5). She then goes on to give

examples of certain situations where Westerners’ failure to fully comprehend the cultural

significance of an apology in Japan created an awkward, rude, or dangerous situation. If the

cultural significance of emotion words and phrases can be more clearly understood, then

language learners may have a smoother transition culturally when interacting with the native

speakers of that language.

Second, foreign language education can be greatly improved by understanding more

about the nuances of emotion words and developing a better definition of them to present to

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foreign language learners. While native English speakers may initially learn that feliz and alegre

both mean “happy,” they are sure to get a few raised eyebrows by Spanish speakers if they throw

the word feliz around too much. When looking at the respective definitions of feliz and alegre in

the Dictionary of the Real Academia Española, feliz means “que tiene felicidad” or in English “to

have a feeling of pleasant spiritual and physical satisfaction,” while alegre means “poseído o

lleno de alegría” which translates to “possessing or full of a pleasing feeling.” With these

definitions in mind, it seems that feliz has a much deeper meaning of happiness, while alegre is

more surface level. These words differ from each other pragmatically and are used in different

contexts. These nuances can and should be fleshed out more when first learning the language, in

order to better prepare students' interactions with native speakers.

Finally, an understanding of the semantics of emotion can lead to the development of

more culturally sensitive linguistic practices to incorporate into therapy, allowing psychologists

to reach a larger population (Altarriba & Santiago-Rivera, 1994). Patients who are second

language English speakers may not fully understand the English equivalent of the word they are

using because they may be applying their understanding of the word from their native cultural

and linguistic perspective. If therapy is conducted in English, they may misuse certain emotion

words in an attempt to convey specific ideas. On the other hand, if a psychologist is conducting

therapy in their second language, they might not fully understand the cultural implications of

certain emotion words a native speaker might use. If psychologists were more fully aware of the

meanings behind emotion words that native speakers use, it might help them more effectively

grasp the situation. Furthermore, it has been shown that it can be easier to talk about

embarrassing topics in one’s second language, so in therapy, language switching can be used as a

distancing technique in order to talk about topics that would otherwise be too upsetting (Bond &

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Lai, 1986). Ultimately, understanding the semantic differences between languages can help both

patients and psychologists alike in bilingual therapy settings.

Literature Review

Semantics

Semantics refers to the branch in linguistics that examines word meaning. There are

different ways of interpreting what a word means, both concrete and abstract. “The denotation of

a word or a phrase is the set of things in the world that the word refers to,” and “one other

important element to the meaning of a word is its connotation: the mental associations we have

with the word, some of which arise from the kinds of other words it tends to co-occur with”

(Anderson, 2018). The denotation of a word is more concrete in nature, while the connotation of

a word is more abstract.

The ability to semantically understand a word is more difficult depending on the type of

word. Concrete words “refer to objects or events that are available to the senses,” and “abstract

words “refer to ideas of concepts; they have no physical referents” (Friedlander, n.d.). Emotion

words are intangible and unable to be perceived with the senses and are, therefore, considered

abstract words. Wierzbicka (2008) even goes so far as to make the argument that “on the lexical

level, emotion and emotion-laden words need to be considered as a separate class of words in the

mental lexicon, because recent research shows that these words are represented and processed

differently from abstract and concrete words” (p. 147). In general, concrete words are more

likely than abstract words to share a number of semantic features across languages; therefore,

concrete words will have similar meaning across languages. Because abstract words overlap less,

they are more likely to have language-specific meanings (Altarriba & Heredia, 2001). This

LANGUAGE TRANSFER IN EMOTION WORDS 6

indicates that emotion words, more abstract words, are more likely to be difficult to translate

across languages.

Defining Emotion

It can be easy to examine the language of emotions with an ethnocentric perspective. As

Anna Wierzbicka (1995) writes:

Words of our native language have a powerful hold on us, and in a sense, it is

quite natural to project our own conceptualization of reality onto other human

groups, and to imagine that for them, too, ‘anger’ or ‘sadness’ are realities, and

when one hears that, for example, the Ifaluks don’t have words corresponding to

‘anger’ and ‘sadness,’ it is quite natural to be at first surprised and even

incredulous. (p.28)

Moreover, in order to study the semantics of emotion, it is important to recognize that the term

“‘emotion’ is an English word, and that it embodies a concept which is culture specific”

(Wierzbicka, 1995, p. 17). Therefore, it is important to understand that everything discussed in

the realm of “emotion” in English will inherently come from an Anglocentric perspective.

Defining what exactly is an emotion or an emotion word/phrase is the first obstacle in

studying the difference in communicating emotions through language. Wierzbicka (1999)

proposes that “the very meaning of the English word emotion includes both a reference to

feelings and a reference to thoughts... and culture often shapes both ways of thinking and ways

of feeling” (p. 5). For this reason, Wierzbicka’s idea of the meaning of the word “emotion” is not

clearly defined but instead, explained using references that fall under the umbrella of the concept

(specifically references to feelings and thoughts). She then goes on to explain that “emotion” is a

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difficult concept to pin down and her references to it are mainly of convenience, so when she

uses the term, it is meant to refer to, “roughly speaking, feelings based on thoughts” (p. 12). This

definition of emotion is also closely aligned with the cognitive perspective on emotion. Cornelius

(2000) describes the cognitive perspective as being centered around the idea “that thought and

emotion are inseparable. More specifically, all emotions are seen within this perspective as being

dependent on what Arnold (1960) called appraisal, the process by which events in the

environment are judged as good or bad for us” (para 18). Wierzbicka’s broad definition of

emotion as “feelings based on thoughts” will therefore be used for the purposes of this study.

Defining an emotion is difficult enough when examining its meaning and use in a single

language (such as English). However, when attempting to translate emotions and emotion words

from one language into another, inconsistencies can arise, since “even languages culturally (as

well as genetically) closely related to English provide evidence of different ways of

conceptualizing and categorizing human experience” (Wierzbicka, 1999, p. 3). Specifically,

Wierzbicka (1999) cites the examples of German and Russian, which along with English belong

to the Indo-European family of language, but which do not have a direct translation for the

English word “emotion.” Furthermore, there are many other factors to consider when examining

the role of an emotion in a culture. “More or less consideration may be given to how the emotion

event fits into the flow of action; how the participants are situated in relation to each other, in

terms of class, kinship, and biography and how emotion connects with other areas of value, such

as morality, law, and economy. Studies of emotion rarely take into account all these factors…”

(Beatty, 2005, pp. 18-19). All of this to say, that not only is the word “emotion” not always

translatable, its role in a culture and the cultural norms and context surrounding its expression are

also something that should be taken into account. This idea falls in line with the social

LANGUAGE TRANSFER IN EMOTION WORDS 8

constructionist perspective of emotions which states “that emotions are cultural products that

owe their meaning and coherence to learned social rules” (Cornelius, 2000, para 24).

Supporting the idea that cultural norms can influence the interpretation of emotion, there

is evidence that speakers of the same language can have different viewpoints surrounding the

expression of emotions. For example the Black or African American communities in the United

States may differ from white Americans in their communicative attitudes surrounding emotion,

“which white speakers tend to view negatively, as incompatible with clear thinking and rational

argumentation, and which black speakers view positively, as a ‘natural’ and positive force, as a

sign of sincerity and commitment” (Wierzbicka, 1994). In other words, white Americans tend to

view emotion as mutually exclusive with clear and logical discourse and, therefore, distasteful,

while many Black Americans see emotion-laden discourse as a positive. If two communities that

speak the same language can have such vastly different views about the role of emotion in

communication, then it is hardly necessary to state that communities that speak different

languages are also likely to have different perspectives.

Differences between English and Spanish

When looking at previous research into the semantics of emotion across languages, there

are a few words and phrases that have already been identified as difficult to translate between

English and other languages due to semantic differences, the examples of feliz and alegre having

previously been mentioned. Wierzbicka (1995) offers the Italian word rabbia as an example of a

word that could be a “universal human emotion” in one language, while not directly translating

into an easily identifiable emotion in English. The word rabbia is glossed as “rage, anger, fury”

in the Grande Dizionario Inglese-Italiano y Italiano-Inglese, and the examples “make it quite

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clear that the concept of ‘rabbia’ is really different from that of ‘anger,’ and that it implies an

intensity and a lack of control which place it closer to the English words ‘rage’ and ‘fury’ than to

the English ‘anger’” (Wierzbicka, 1995, pp. 31-32). The situation is similar in Spanish, with the

word rabia. The Real Academia Española, defines rabia as “ira, enojo, enfado grande,” which is

translated in WordReference.com as “anger, fury, rage.” Like the Italian rabbia, the Spanish

rabia ultimately does not have a single concise translation into English, and it is much more akin

in meaning to its Italian counterpart than the English gloss “anger.”

The language used in the context of apologizing provides another example of semantic

differences between English and Spanish with cultural implications. In English, the words

“apology” and “apologize,” which are elements of the English set of speech act terms, include in

their meaning the following cultural script as specified by Wierzbicka (1994, p. 16):

“If something bad happens to someone

Because I did something

I have to say something like this to this person:

‘I feel something bad’”

The cultural script that Wierzbicka (1994) proposes is meant to serve as a guide to

explain the best semantic denotation of an apology. Note that in her guide, the language she uses

includes the word “I” and directly claims responsibility for what happened. In English, common

apologies include the phrases, “I apologize,” and “I am sorry,” which both have the subject “I.”

The subject of a sentence is defined as “the doer of the action or what the sentence is about”

(Beason & Lester, 2015, p. 331), so therefore, the English apology phrases are centered around

the subject “I.” These “I” statements very strongly indicate the responsibility of the situation to

be on the speaker “I,” much like the cultural script that Wierzbicka puts forth.

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However, in Spanish, the cultural scripts and language used in the context of an apology

are different in a few ways. In Word Reference, the translations of “I’m sorry” include “perdón,”

“disculpa,” “lo siento, lo lamento,” and “perdone, disculpe.” There are a few interesting trends to

note with these words. The word perdón translates to the English interjection “pardon,” while the

noun disculpa translates to “excuse.” If we apply the definition of an apology that Wierzbicka

(1994) has put forth for English, neither of these words fall into the category of an apology, since

they don’t serve the same purpose grammatically. Lo siento is translated to “(I) feel it,” and

serves as more of an empathy statement than an act of claiming responsibility, and lo lamento is

translated to “(I) lament it.” The “I” is in parentheses because, in Spanish, the verb ending

clearly indicates the subject of the sentence and, therefore, eliminates the need to mark the

subject explicitly with a subject pronoun. That is not to say that Spanish does not make use of

explicit subject pronouns, but in Spanish, they are generally only expressed when the subject is

unclear or when emphasizing a point. However, with the aforementioned apology phrases in

particular, it is not common to hear native Spanish speakers using the subject pronoun “yo,”

therefore implying that the subject of the sentence does not need to be highlighted or

emphasized. Of these two phrases, “(I) lament it” is more close to a statement of taking

responsibility, while as I mentioned previously, lo siento is more commonly offered in

compassion rather than in responsibility. The final phrases perdone and disculpe are the most

interesting cases. Perdone is the formal command of the verb perdonar, which means “to forgive

or to pardon.” Disculpe is the formal command of the verb disculpar, which means “to excuse.”

Because perdone and disculpe are formal commands, the subject becomes the implied “you.” In

each of these cases, the implied cultural script centers not on a sense of “I feel bad” but rather (...

something about asking the person’s pardon/forgiveness)

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To summarize, the words and phrases that translate from the English “I’m sorry” to

Spanish do not follow the same cultural script that apologies do in English, either because they

serve mainly to offer empathy in place of taking responsibility, or focus on the person receiving

the apology by making the second-person “you” the subject of the phrase rather than the

first-person. All of this to say that the implication is strong that the definition and meaning of an

apology in Spanish doesn’t quite fit the words that are typically put forth as a translation of the

English “I’m sorry.” Just as certain emotion words can be hard to translate accurately from one

language to another, this implies that cultural scripts around speech acts like apologies are also

not an easily translated concept.

Bilingual Emotion Interpretation

When examining the difference in meaning in concepts across languages, it is important

to keep in mind that bilinguals are in a unique position, but may not be conscious of semantic

differences across the languages they speak. Wierzbicka illustrates this again using the example

of English “anger” and Italian “rabbia”:

to understand the relationship between two words like ‘anger’ and ‘rabia,’ it is not

enough… just to ask informants (native speakers of Italian who can also speak English,

or native speakers of English who can also speak Italian) what they think about it. It is

quite likely that untrained informants will say, for example, that ‘rabbia’ and ‘anger’

mean the same thing. It is a basic principle of semantic analysis that meaning can only be

established by systematic study of the way words are used. (...) To think that untrained

native speakers can tell us what a word (e.g. rabbia) means, or how it differs in meaning

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from another word (e.g. anger), would be as naive as to think that an untrained patient

can make the best diagnosis of his or her own illness. (Wierzbicka, 1995, p.32)

Therefore, bilinguals are not always aware of any difference in semantic meaning between a

word that exists in their multiple lexicons.

Since bilingual individuals have two lexicons to consider when examining emotion

words, and two sets of cultural scripts to refer to, they can also have different ways of processing

and expressing these emotions. Bilinguals with a clear L1 and L2 (not bilinguals who acquired

both languages from childhood) typically exhibit more familiarity with the emotion words of

their first language, while they have a more broad understanding of the emotion words in their

second language. As a result, bilinguals will often demonstrate more emotion in their first

language than in their second (Altarriba & Santiago-Rivera, 1994). Expressing emotions in one’s

native language is “more spontaneous and less inhibited, and more defensive styles of behavior

are generated in the nondominant language” (Altarriba & Santiago-Rivera, 1994, p. 391).

The aim of this study is to compare and analyze the expression and understanding of

specific emotion words among Spanish native speakers, including feliz, alegre, frustrado,

enfadado, triste, and devastado. The meanings of feliz and alegre have been explained above.

Frustrado translates to “frustration,” enfadado translates to “angry,” triste translates to “sad,”

and devestado translates to “devastated.” In the context of this study, L1 Spanish speakers will

refer to native Spanish speakers, and L2 Spanish speakers will refer to English native speakers

who learned or are learning Spanish as a second language. I hypothesize that L2 Spanish

speakers will have an incomplete understanding of the meaning and use of Spanish emotion

words and will use them differently than the L1 Spanish speakers.

Methods

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Materials

Two parallel surveys were prepared and distributed for the purposes of this study, one for

native speakers of Spanish and the other for native speakers of English who have studied Spanish

as a second language. These surveys were largely the same, with a few key differences. The

native English speaker survey was written with instructions in English, while the native Spanish

speaker survey was entirely in Spanish. Both surveys consisted of the same five multiple choice

questions written in Spanish. Following the multiple choice questions, participants were asked to

answer a few demographic questions. The native English speakers were asked (in English) about

what other languages they spoke, how long they had been learning Spanish, the gender identity,

and their age. The native Spanish speakers were asked (in Spanish) about what other languages

they spoke, which variety of Spanish they identified with, their gender identity, and their age.

Multiple Choice Questions

Following the cognitive perspective of emotion, participants were asked to appraise their

reactions to certain hypothetical situations (Cornelius, 2000). Participants were given four

multiple choice responses to each hypothetical scenario, with a fifth option to write in a different

response if they chose to. The first two responses always had the implied subject of yo (I). As I

mentioned earlier, Spanish speakers don’t normally add in the subject pronoun yo unless making

a strong point in reference to the self, so the subject pronoun yo was not included in the

responses. The second two responses did not have a subject of yo. Instead, indirect constructions

were used, that included a direct object pronoun of me (me). The subject of the sentence ended

up being the idea that was mentioned in the hypothetical. For example:

Hypothetical: Su amigo le da un helado gratis (Your friend gives you a free ice cream)

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“I” subject response: Estoy feliz ([I] am happy*)

“Me” direct object response: Me hace feliz el helado (The ice cream makes me happy*)

*Note that the translation for feliz in this instance is happy, although, as previously mentioned, this translation is not exact.

In this example, the “I” subject response has a more direct relationship between the

recipient of the ice cream and their corresponding emotional reaction. In the “me” direct object

response, the subject of the sentence is the ice cream, el helado, while the recipient of the ice

cream is me, me. This second type of response places the recipient in a more indirect relation to

the verb and the emotion, feliz.

It is also worth noting that ending punctuation in the responses was not used to prevent

influencing the responses participants chose. My thought was that including a period or an

exclamation mark at the end of the responses may influence which responses participants were

drawn to. However, the sentences describing each hypothetical situation did contain a period as

their ending punctuation.

The five questions asked in the survey and the four multiple choice responses provided

are listed below. Images of both surveys are included in the Appendix.

1. Su amigo le da un helado gratis.

a. Estoy feliz

b. Estoy alegre

c. Me hace feliz el helado

d. Me alegra el helado

2. Usted ve a su abuela por la primera vez en un año.

a. Estoy feliz

b. Estoy alegre

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c. Me hace feliz verla

d. Me alegra verla

3. Usted gana un millón de dólares con la lotería.

a. Estoy feliz

b. Estoy alegre

c. Me hace feliz ganarla

d. Me alegra ganarla

4. Usted tiene un montón de tarea para mañana y todavía necesita ir a su trabajo por

tres horas.

a. Estoy frustrado/frustrada

b. Estoy enfadado/enfadada

c. Me frustra la tarea

d. Me enfada la tarea

5. Su mascota querida muere después de doce años.

a. Estoy triste

b. Estoy devastado/devastada

c. Me hace triste

d. Me hace devastado/devastada

Variety of Spanish Question

When the participants were asked about their variety of Spanish, several options were

presented to them as well as a blank option to write in. Participants were given the eight options

of “Caribeño (Carribean), Mexicano (Mexican), Centroamericano (Central American),

Castellano peninsular (Peninsular Spanish, or Castillian), Andalucía/ Islas Canarias (Andalucian/

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The Canary Islands), Rioplatense (River Plate), Chileno (Chilean),” and "Andino (Andean).”

This list is similar to the list of Spanish regions identified by Delgado et al. (2020), which

identified “the eight main areas [as]: Spain (32%), Mexico-Central America (19%), River Plate

(14%), Continental Caribbean (12%), Andean (8%), Antilles (7%), Chilean (6%), USA (1%).”

While Spain (Castilian), River Plate, Andean, and Chilean were all included, Antilles and the

USA were eliminated. Antilles was grouped in with the Carribean variety due to their

geographical proximity, so Continental Caribbean was expanded to just be “Caribbean.” The

USA was eliminated altogether, the thought being that Spanish native speakers born in the USA

would likely identify with the variety (or one of the varieties) of their caregivers. I separated

Mexico and Central America in order to reduce the number of non-Mexican Central American

participants who wanted to distance themselves from the Mexican variety and would potentially

write in a different response to do so. Finally, Andalusian and the Canary Island variety of

Spanish was added due to the presence of several key defining features that differ from the

Castilian variety of Spanish.

Participants

Participants belonging to two groups were recruited for this study. One group consisted

of individuals who identified themselves as native English speakers who are learning, or have

learned, Spanish as a second language. The other group consisted of individuals who identified

themselves as native Spanish speakers. Most participants were recruited through the Hispanic

and Lusophone Linguist Facebook group. I also posted the surveys on my own Facebook page,

as well as distributed them to several of my peers and professors in Appalachian State

University’s Languages, Literatures, and Cultures Department, with the intention that my peers

LANGUAGE TRANSFER IN EMOTION WORDS 17

and the professors would help distribute the surveys. All of the participants were over the age of

eighteen, and there was no age limit. The responses were anonymous.

L2 Spanish Speakers

58 participants responded to the survey as L1 English speakers and L2 Spanish learners;

this group will be referred to as “L2 Spanish speakers.” Of the L2 Spanish speakers, 79.3% of

respondents were female, 19% were male, and 1.7% preferred not to give their gender identity.

24.1% of the participants ranged from ages 18-25, 13.8% ranged from 26-30, 34.5% ranged from

31-40, 6.9% ranged from 41-50, 15.5% ranged from 51-60, and 5.2% were above the age of 60.

In terms of years spent studying Spanish, the majority (72.4%) identified as having

learned the language for 9+ years. 10.3% had studied between 5-8 years, 6.9% had studied for 4

years, 6.9% studied for 2 years, 1.7% had studied for 1 year, and 1.7% had studied for less than a

year. The sample was clearly skewed toward highly experienced L2 Spanish speakers, as 82.7%

of the participants had studied Spanish for over five years. Ideally the sample would have

contained more L2 Spanish language speakers who had less than five years of experience, so this

particular aspect of the participant demographics will be taken into account when considering

results and conclusions.

Of the 58 participants, 17 (29.3%) identified as speaking more languages than English

and Spanish. 29.4% of these multilinguals also spoke Portuguese, and 23.5% spoke French. 1

speaker (5.8%) spoke both French and Portugese. The L2 Spanish group also included one

speaker (5.8%) of each of the following languages: Malay, Arabic, Hebrew, and Vietnamese. 2

speakers (11.8%) identified as speaking French, German, and Portuguese in addition to English

and Spanish, and another speaker (5.8%) said they spoke Portuguese, Italian, French, and

German.

LANGUAGE TRANSFER IN EMOTION WORDS 18

While some respondents did specify that they were not fluent in the languages they had

listed, I decided to include all answers, regardless of what ability level the participant specified

(if they specified at all). As such, I will assume that each participant had at least a basic level of

understanding in each language.

L1 Spanish Speakers

30 participants responded identifying as L1 Spanish speakers. 53.3% of participants

identified as female, 43.3% identified as male, and 1 participant (3.3%) identified as

genderqueer. 3.3% of participants were between the ages of 18-25, 13.3% were 26-30, 36.7%

were 31-40, 23.3% were 41-50, and 13.3% were 51-60, and 10% were over the age of 60.

The variety of Spanish that the largest percentage of participants identified with was

Peninsular Spanish (26.7%). Following that, River Plate was the next biggest group, with 23.3%.

4 participants each (13.3%) identified with Carribean and Mexican Spanish, respectively, and

9.9% of participants wrote in Colombian as a response. The Central American, Chilean, and

Andean varieties were each represented by just one respondent (3.3%) and a single participant

(3.3.%) wrote in as identifying with Spanish of the United States. Another participant (3.3%)

wrote in Peruvian Spanish, although Peruvian Spanish is generally grouped with other Andean

Spanish varieties. Finally, a single participant (3.3.%) wrote in “Colombian/ Peninsular”; the

participant may have wanted to indicate that they identified as bidialectal, but the intention is not

entirely clear.

Bilingualism and multilingualism was common among L1 Spanish respondents. All but 2

(6.6%) of the L1 Spanish participants spoke a language other than Spanish. English was the

second language of 36.6% of respondents, and, one individual (3.3.%) spoke Dutch as well as

Spanish. Several respondents reported speaking three languages; the most common

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second-language combinations being English and Portuguese (10%), English and French (6.6%),

and Portuguese and French (6.6%). There were several respondents who had unique multilingual

backgrounds; the following language profiles correspond to single respondents (3.3% of the

sample in each case): English, French, and Italian; English and Italian; English, French, Italian,

and Portuguese; English, Catalan, Esperanto, and French; 3 English, Guarani, and French;

English and German; English and Japanese; English, French, Chinese, and Italian; and English,

Catalan, and French. Some respondents did choose to specify that they were not fluent, so it will

be assumed that for each language, the respondents had at least basic knowledge of the language.

Procedure

The surveys were posted on Facebook. Each survey was posted with a description of the

participants needed. After the survey had been open for three weeks, the survey was closed to

further responses. The results are described in the next section. It’s worth noting that full

statistical analysis was not done but may be beneficial in future research.

Results

L2 Spanish

In question one, the majority, 56.9% of the participants, responded with “estoy feliz.” The

results of each of the questions asked in the L2 Spanish speaker survey are displayed in the

figures below. 48.3% of participants in question two selected “me alegra verla” as their response.

Question three had the greatest amount of variation in their responses, with 39.7% of participants

choosing “estoy feliz.” Questions four and five had the most write ins, with five each. Question

four also had the greatest consensus in responses, with 69% of participants responding with

LANGUAGE TRANSFER IN EMOTION WORDS 20

“estoy frustrado/ frustrada.” In question five, 46.6% of participants selected “estoy devastado/

devastada” as their response.

1. Su amigo le da un helado gratis.

Estoy feliz

56.9%

Me hace feliz el helado

29.3%

Estoy alegre

5.2%

Me alegra el helado

3.4%

Write ins: “Me pone feliz el helado,” “Me encanta el helado, gracias amigo,” “Me encantan los helados – son

riquísimos”

2. Usted ve a su abuela por la primera vez en un año

Me alegra verla

48.3%

Me hace feliz verla

27.6%

Estoy feliz

13.8%

Estoy alegre

3.4%

Write ins: “Estoy muy feliz,” “No puedo más de la emoción.,” “¡Estoy muy contenta!,” “Me emoncioné al verla.”

3. Usted gana un millón de dólares con la lotería.

Estoy feliz

39.7%

LANGUAGE TRANSFER IN EMOTION WORDS 21

Me hace feliz ganarla

25.9%

Me alegra ganarla

15.5%

Estoy alegre

8.6%

Write ins: “Estoy emocionada,” “No puedo más de la emoción,” “Me alegra mucho,” “Ya chingué, no inventes,

muero de emoción”

4. Usted tiene un montón de tarea para mañana y todavía necesita ir a su trabajo por tres horas.

Estoy frustrado/ frustrada

69%

Me frustra la tarea

15.5%

Estoy enfadado/ enfadada

5.2%

Me enfada la tarea

1.7%

Write ins: “Estoy molesta,” “Estoy harta,” “Me harta esta tarea,” “Estoy ansiosa,” “Estoy cansada”

5. Su mascota querida muere después de doce años.

Estoy devastado/ devestada

46.6%

Estoy triste

29.3%

Me hace triste

8.6%

Me hace devastado/ devestada

6.9%

Write ins: “Estoy deprimida,” “Me pone triste/ deprimida,” “Me pone triste,” “Estoy deshecha,” “Me puse bien

deprimido”

L1 Spanish

LANGUAGE TRANSFER IN EMOTION WORDS 22

Among the L1 Spanish speakers, the most common response for question one was “estoy

feliz.” Question two had the most variety in the response distribution with 33.3% responding

with “me hace feliz verla.” Questions four and five had the most write-ins with five each.

Question five was the only question to have an even split in responses, where 46.7% of

participants responded with “estoy devastado/ devastada” and 46.7% of participants responded

with “estoy triste.” The results of the L1 Spanish speaker survey are displayed in the table below.

6. Su amigo le da un helado gratis.

Estoy feliz

46.7%

Me alegra el helado

13.3%

Estoy alegre

10%

Me hace feliz el helado

6.7%

Write ins: “El helado me pone contenta,” “El helado me pone contenta,” “Mi amigo me hace feliz con el helado,”

“Agradezco el helado,” “Qué rico. Gracias. Me encanta el helado,” “Me sorprende,” “Estoy contento”

7. Usted ve a su abuela por la primera vez en un año

Me hace feliz verla

33.3%

Estoy feliz

26.7%

Me alegra verla

23.3%

Estoy alegre

3.3%

Write ins: “Ve a su abuela,” “Estoy feliz de verla,” “Estoy contento,” “Estoy mas que contenta”

LANGUAGE TRANSFER IN EMOTION WORDS 23

8. Usted gana un millón de dólares con la lotería.

Estoy feliz

56.7%

Me hace feliz ganarla

16.7%

Estoy alegre

6.7%

Me alegra ganarla

3.3%

Write ins: “Me alegra haberla ganado, o mejor,estoy contento de haberla ganado,” “No lo puedo creer,” “Qué

emoción. No quepo de alegría,” “No lo puedo creer!” “Estoy encantado de la vida”

9. Usted tiene un montón de tarea para mañana y todavía necesita ir a su trabajo por tres horas.

Estoy frustrado/ frustrada

43.3%

Me frustra la tarea

23.3%

Estoy enfadado/ enfadada

6.7%

Me enfada la tarea

3.3%

Write ins: “Estoy agobiada,” “Me pudre,” “Tener tanta tarea me molesta,” “Qué fastidio,” “Me estresa,” “Me

siento abrumado,” “Estoy exhausta/recansada, no doy mas”

10. Su mascota querida muere después de doce años.

Estoy devastado/ devastada

46.7%

Estoy triste

46.7%

Me hace triste

Me hace devastado/ devestada

Write ins: “Me entristece,” “Estoy remal”

Discussion

LANGUAGE TRANSFER IN EMOTION WORDS 24

Overall Comparison

For question one,“estoy feliz” was the top answer for both groups of participants, with

56.9% of L2 Spanish speakers and 46.7% of L1 Spanish speakers choosing it as a response.

While 29.3% of the L2 Spanish speakers chose “me hace feliz el helado,” making it the second

most common response, only 10% of L1 Spanish speakers selected that option as a response. The

second most common response by the L1 Spanish speakers was “me alegra el helado” with

13.3%, but it was the least popular response for the L2 Spanish speakers, with only 3.4%.

For question two, 48.3% of L2 Spanish speakers chose “me alegra verla” as their

response, but only 23.3% of L1 Spanish speakers chose that as their response, making it the third

most popular response of the four. The most popular response by L1 Spanish speakers was “me

hace feliz verla” at 33.3%, which was the second most common response for L2 Spanish

speakers at 27.6%. The second most common response for L1 Spanish speakers was “estoy feliz”

(26.7%), which was the third most common response chosen by L2 Spanish speakers (13.8%).

“Estoy alegre” was the least common response by both groups.

For question three, both groups of participants chose “estoy feliz” as the most popular

response, with 39.7% of L2 Spanish speakers and 56.7% of L1 Spanish speakers choosing it as a

response. “Me hace feliz ganarla” was the second most common response for both groups, with

25.9% of L2 Spanish speakers and 16.7% of L1 Spanish speakers selecting it. While “me alegra

ganarla” was the third most common response by L2 Spanish speakers (15.5%), it was the least

common response chosen by L1 Spanish speakers (3.3.%). The reverse was true for “estoy

alegre,” which 6.7% of L1 Spanish speakers chose as their response, while it was the least

common response for L2 Spanish speakers (8.6%).

LANGUAGE TRANSFER IN EMOTION WORDS 25

For question four, both groups had the same ranking of responses with slightly different

percentages. Both groups selected “estoy frustrado/ frustrada” as the top response, with 69% of

the L2 Spanish speakers and 43.3% of the L1 Spanish speakers choosing it. The second most

common response for both groups was “me frustra la tarea,” with 15.5% of L2 Spanish speakers

and 23.3% of L1 Spanish speakers selecting it. “Estoy enfadado/ enfadada” was the third

response, chosen by 5.2% of L2 Spanish speakers and 6.7% of L1 Spanish speakers. “Me enfada

la tarea” was the least common response, with only 1.7% of L2 Spanish speakers and 3.3% of L1

Spanish speakers selecting it.

Question five had the most unique distribution in responses. The L1 Spanish speakers

were evenly split between “estoy devastado/ devastada” and “estoy triste” as responses, with

46.7% of participants selecting each response. None of the L1 Spanish speaker participants

selected “me hace triste” or “me hace devastado/ devastada” as a response. The L2 Spanish

speakers chose “estoy devastado/ devastada” as their top response, with 46.6% of participants

choosing it. “Estoy triste” was the second response at 29.3%. 8.6% of participants chose “me

hace triste” as a response, and 6.9% chose “me hace devastado/ devastada.”

First Person vs Third Person Subject

For question one, 62.1% of the L2 Spanish responses (including write-ins) had a first

person subject. 63.3% of the L1 Spanish responses also had a first person subject. For question

two, only 22.3% of the L2 Spanish participants responded with a first person subject response.

The L1 Spanish speakers favored the first person subject responses slightly more at 39.9%. In

question three, 53.4% of the L2 Spanish speakers chose a response with a first person subject.

The L1 Spanish speakers chose more responses with a first person subject at 76.6%. In question

LANGUAGE TRANSFER IN EMOTION WORDS 26

four, 81% of the L2 Spanish speakers responded with a first person subject, while only 59.9% of

the L1 Spanish speakers responded with a first person subject. Finally, in question five, 79.3% of

the L2 Spanish speakers responded with a first person subject. All but one of the L1 Spanish

speaking participants, 96.7%, chose a response with a first person subject.

For each question, with the exception of question two, the majority of the responses in

both surveys had a first person subject. Question two was the only question where the majority

of the responses had a third person subject. The Spanish speakers had a higher percentage of first

person subject responses for each question but question four.

Word Choice

In each question, participants were given two different adjectives to choose between

when giving their responses (ex. alegre and feliz). In the write-ins, there were a few noteworthy

trends in adjectives and phrases used.

Me Encanta

In the first question, two L2 Spanish participants wrote in responses with the phrase “me

encanta” including “Me encanta el helado, gracias amigo,” and “Me encantan los helados – son

riquísimos.” One of the L1 Spanish speakers also wrote in the response “Qué rico. Gracias. Me

encanta el helado.” This question was the only one where participants wrote in the phrase me

encanta as a response.

Contento/ Contenta

In the first question, an L1 Spanish participant wrote in “Estoy contento,” although none

of the L2 Spanish speakers wrote in a phrase with the word contento/contenta. In the second

question, one L1 Spanish speaker wrote in the phrase “Estoy más que contenta” and another

LANGUAGE TRANSFER IN EMOTION WORDS 27

wrote in “Estoy contento.” An L2 Spanish participant wrote in the response “¡Estoy muy

contenta!” Because multiple L1 Spanish speakers wrote in phrases with the word

contento/contenta while only one L2 Spanish speaker did, there is an indication that the word

contento/contenta might be underused by L2 Spanish speakers.

Estoy harta/ Me harta

For question four, one L2 Spanish participant wrote in the phrase “estoy harta,” while

another wrote in the phrase “me harta esta tarea.” None of the L1 Spanish participants wrote in a

response with the word/phrase harta/ me harta.

Deprimido/ Deprimida

In the final question, three of the L2 Spanish participants wrote in responses using the

word deprimido/ deprimida. The phrases included “estoy deprimida,” “me pone

triste/deprimida,” and “me puse bien deprimido.” However, none of the L1 Spanish participants

included the word deprimido/ deprimida in their write-in responses.

Participants

One factor that likely impacted the results of the experiment was the amount of

experience that the L2 Spanish speakers had. 72.4% of the L2 Spanish participants said they had

nine or more years of Spanish experience and 10.3% said they had five to eight years of

experience. Only 17.2% of participants had less than five years of experience, indicating that the

majority of the participants had a large amount of experience with Spanish and were, therefore,

less likely to make mistakes more common with beginners.

Many participants were recruited via Facebook groups, including a “Hispanic and

Lusophone Linguistics” group, meaning that the participants likely included at least some L2

LANGUAGE TRANSFER IN EMOTION WORDS 28

Spanish speakers who have training in linguistics and a long-ranging academic experience with

the language. This is reflected in the large percentage of participants from the L2 group who

reported having studied Spanish for 9 years or more, and likely decreased the overall percentage

of beginner and non-native-like responses that more inexperienced participants would have

made. In the future, limiting the L2 Spanish speaker pool to participants with less than five years

of experience in the language would likely offer a more clear picture of semantic differences

between L2 and L1 Spanish speakers.

Conclusion

Understanding the differences in semantic meaning of emotion words between languages

has many uses. Having a more clear picture of the semantic differences can help improve foreign

language education and allow learners to improve their understanding of the target language. It

can also be useful for psychologists, so they have a better understanding of possible language

differences between them and their clients.

After surveying fifty-eight L2 Spanish speakers and thirty L1 Spanish speakers about

different hypothetical scenarios, there was not a clear difference in the responses given by the

two groups. This was likely due to the L2 Spanish population having a large amount of Spanish

experience. Both groups used a first person subject more often than a third person subject in all

but one of the questions. The L2 Spanish speakers did write in more responses containing the

words/phrases contento/contenta, me encanta, harta/ me harta, and deprimido/ deprimida. The

L1 Spanish speakers did not have any clear trends in their responses, but this may be due to the

smaller amount of participants. Further research would need to be done with a less experienced

LANGUAGE TRANSFER IN EMOTION WORDS 29

L2 population and a larger L1 population in order to better understand the differences between

Spanish and English emotion words.

LANGUAGE TRANSFER IN EMOTION WORDS 30

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Appendix

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