Lexical Analysis of the Chronicles of the Spanish Newspapers Covering the FIFA World Cup Final (South Africa)

Abstract

Six sports chronicles were analyzed, three from general newspapers and three from sports press, related to the FIFA World Cup Final (South Africa). Each sample was analyzed based on the used lexicon (war, law, recreation, magic and society), the word grouping (spare words, phrases and set phrases), and the referential and metaphorical aspects of the speech. The conclusion was that all the lexicons under analysis were evenly blended throughout each chronicle except for the war language, which was used more extensively. Additionally, a relationship was discovered between the size of a chronicle and the usage of the lexicons in the chronicles from the sports newspapers. That same relationship did not exist in the case of the general press. Also, the study concludes that the referential speech prevailed over the metaphorical. Finally, spare words were found more often in the samples than other forms of word grouping. This statement is a realization of the previous one, as phrases were more popular in the methaphorical speech.