Inicio News Interés general La fascinante historia del ampersand. El origen y el significado del signo...
El lenguaje tiene entre los orígenes de sus palabras datos curiosos que resultan fascinantes y ayudan a comprender el porqué de sus formaciones lingüísticas.
A continuación veremos todo lo concerniente al ampersand. Su historia y la utilización en el idioma cotidiano.
Ampersand es la palabra usada para denominar al signo «&», que en inglés equivale a la conjugación copulativa “and“.
“&” tiene su origen en la palabra del latín “Et” que significa “y”. Se remonta al siglo I a.C. con la escritura de los antiguos romanos que fue evolucionando hasta el “&” que conocemos hoy.
Marco Tulio Tirón era un esclavo secretario de Cicerón que se encargaba de dejar constancia escrita de todos los discursos del senador romano. El fue quien ideó un sistema de escritura rápida mediante la abreviación de palabras.
La más famosa de estas abreviaturas que se ha impuesto hasta la actualidad, es la escritura de las dos letras de et, la conjunción copulativa en latín. Tirón juntó en un solo trazo la e y la t para no levantar el puño de la mesa. El signo «&» fue un gran avance que permitía a los escribas ir más rápido e incluso, fue hallado grabado en una pared de la antigua ciudad de Pompeya.
En español, el signo «&» entró en el diccionario en 1791 para sustituir a la palabra etcétera con una c final (&c = et y cétera). Sin embargo, en 1843 se añadió la alternativa etc., que acabaría imponiéndose.
Con el significado de “y”, sin embargo, el signo «&» tradicionalmente no ha tenido mucho éxito en español, ya que “&” no simplifica nuestra “y”.
Para el siglo XI el uso del “&” ya estaba extendido no solo para los que usaban el Latín, sino también para los que usaban el Francés donde el “Et” también significa “y”.
En el 1800 el “&”se exhibía como la ultima letra del alfabeto inglés presentando una pequeña dificultad. No resultaba práctico su memorización en las escuelas. Sonaba “extraño” que el alfabeto finalizara con “&” pronunciado como “And” porque generaba suspenso. Por ello es que optaron terminar con “And per se, And” (Y por si misma, Y) ampersand.
Finalmente el signo “&” fue descartado en 1936 como última letra oficial del alfabeto escolar, ya que no se la utilizaba para formar palabras.
Durante los últimos dos milenios, el uso de ampersand ha sido una constante en el lenguaje escrito de cualquier lengua que emplee el alfabeto latino.
Teniendo en cuenta que vivimos en un mundo globalizado en el que el ingles es predominante, un signo como el ampersand resulta cada vez más visible.
Como se puede comprobar la “&” se emplea habitualmente en el lenguaje artístico, económico y empresarial, expresando la asociación entre dos o más personas (Hall & Oates, Johnson & Johnson, Dolce & Gabbana), como abreviatura de “and company” (& Co.) o como parte de acrónimos fácilmente reconocibles como B&B (bed and breakfast) o R&D (Research and developmen).
El ampersand es un signo muy activo también en la informática. Con frecuencia aparecen en fórmulas y códigos de computadora.
A través del tiempo este signo encontró su lugar en la cultura contemporánea, ya que gráficamente es singular y atractivo. La sociedad, en general, lo ha aceptado asociando su uso a títulos formales o de negocios, bufetes de abogados, restaurantes y tiendas de artículos de lujo, Etcétera.
Fuente: Mauro Lorenzo – Sarah Pappalardo
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