English in computing

Both English and Russian have influence over Bulgarian computing vocabulary. However, in many cases the borrowed terminology is translated, and not transcribed phonetically. Combined with the use of Cyrillic this can make it difficult to recognize loanwords. For example, the Bulgarian term for motherboard is 'Bulgarian: дънна платка' (IPA /danna platka/ or literally "bottom board").

• компютър /kompiutar/ – computer
• твърд диск /tvard disk/ – hard disk
• дискета /disketa/ – floppy disk; like the French disquette
• уеб сайт /web sait/ – (phonetic) web site; but also "интернет страница" /internet stranitsa/ – internet page

The Faroese language has a sparse scientific vocabulary based on the language itself. Many Faroese scientific words are borrowed and/or modified versions of especially Nordic and English equivalents. The vocabulary is constantly evolving and thus new words often die out, and only a few survive and become widely used. Examples of successful words include e.g. "telda" (computer), "kurla" (at sign) and "ambætari" (server).[1]

In French, there are some generally accepted English loan-words, but there is also a distinct effort to avoid them. In France, the Académie française is responsible for the standardisation of the language and often coins new technological terms. Some of them are accepted in practice, in other cases the English loanwords remain predominant. In Quebec, the Office québécois de la langue française has a similar function.

• email/mail (in Europe); courriel (mainly in French-speaking Canada, but increasingly used in French-speaking Europe); mél. (only used as an abbreviation, similar to "tél."[2]); more formally courrier électronique
• pourriel – spam
• hameçonnage, phishing – phishing
• télécharger – to download
• site web – website
• lien, hyperlien – website hyper-link
• base de données – database
• caméra web, webcaméra, short webcam – webcam
• amorcer, démarrer, booter – to boot
• redémarrer, rebooter – to reboot
• arrêter, éteindre – to shut down
• amorçable, bootable – bootable
• surfréquençage, surcadençage, overclocking – overclocking
• refroidissement à l'eau – watercooling
• tuning PC – case modding

In German, English words are very often used as well:

• nouns: Computer, Website, Software, E-Mail, Blog
• verbs: downloaden, booten, crashen

See also: Japanese input methods

Japanese uses the katakana alphabet for foreign loan words, a wide variety of which are in use today. English computing terms are remain prevalent in modern Japanese vocabulary.

• コンピューター (konpyuuta) - computer
• コーダー (koodaa) - coder
• コーデック (koddekku) - codec
• リンク (rinku) - link

Utilizing a keyboard layout suitable for romanization of Japanese, a user may type in the Latin script in order to display Japanese, inclusive of hiragana, katakana, and Japanese kanji.

Usually when writing in Japanese on a computer keyboard, the text is input in roman transcription, optionally according to Hepburn, Kunrei, or Nippon romanization; the common Japanese word processing programs allow for all three. Long vowels are input according to how they are written in kana; for example, a long o is input as ou, instead of an o with a circumflex or macron (ô or ō). As letters are keyed in, they are automatically converted, as specified, into either hiragana or katakana. And these kana phrases are in turn converted, as desired, into kanji.[3]

The Icelandic language has its own vocabulary of scientific terms, still English borrowings exist. English or Icelandicised words are mostly used in casual conversations, whereas the Icelandic words might be longer or not widespread.

It's quite common to use English words in regards to computing in all Scandinavian languages.

nouns: keyboard, webside, mail, software, blogg, spam

verbs: å boote, å spamme, å blogge

Polish language words derived from English:

• dżojstik: joystick[4]
• kartrydż, kartridż: cartridge
• interfejs: interface
• mejl: e-mail

• History of computer hardware in Soviet Bloc countries
• Computer Russification

The English influence on the software industry and the internet in Latin America has borrowed significantly from the Castilian lexicon.

Frequently untranslated, and their Spanish equivalent

• email: correo electrónico
• mouse (only in Latin America): ratón (mainly in Spain)
• messenger: mensajero
• webcam: cámara web
• website: página web, sitio web
• blog: bitácora, 'blog'
• ban/banned: vetar, vetado
• web: red

Not translated

• flog

Undecided

Many computing terms in Spanish share a common root with their English counterpart. In these cases, both terms are understood, but the Spanish is preferred for formal use:

• link vs enlace or vínculo
• net vs red

Many personal computers have a BIOS chip, displaying text in English during boot time.

Keyboard shortcuts are usually defined in terms of English keywords such as CTRL+F for find.

Web user percentages usually focus on raw comparisons of the first language of those who access the web. Just as important is a consideration of second- and foreign-language users; i.e., the first language of a user does not necessarily reflect which language he or she regularly employs when using the web.

English-language users appear to be a plurality of web users, consistently cited as around one-third of the overall (near one billion). This reflects the relative affluence of English-speaking countries and high Internet penetration rates in them. This lead may be eroding due mainly to a rapid increase of Chinese users.[5]

First-language users among other relatively affluent countries appear generally stable, the two largest being German and Japanese, which each have between 5% and 10% of the overall share.

One widely quoted figure for the amount of web content in English is 80%.[6] Other sources show figures five to fifteen points lower, though still well over 50%.[7][8][9] There are two notable facts about these percentages:

The English web content is greater than the number of first-language English users by as much as 2 to 1.

Given the enormous lead it already enjoys and its increasing use as a lingua franca in other spheres, English web content may continue to dominate even as English first-language Internet users decline. This is a classic positive feedback loop: new Internet users find it helpful to learn English and employ it online, thus reinforcing the language's prestige and forcing subsequent new users to learn English as well.

Certain other factors (some predating the medium's appearance) have propelled English into a majority web-content position. Most notable in this regard is the tendency for researchers and professionals to publish in English to ensure maximum exposure. The largest database of medical bibliographical information, for example, shows English was the majority language choice for the past forty years and its share has continually increased over the same period.[10]

The fact that non-Anglophones regularly publish in English only reinforces the language's dominance. English has a rich technical vocabulary (largely because native and non-native speakers alike use it to communicate technical ideas) and many IT and technical professionals use English regardless of country of origin (Linus Torvalds, for instance, comments his code in English, despite being from Finland and having Swedish as his first language).