La terminologia della caffetteria napoletana: tra tecnicismi e tradizioni. Un confronto con la lingua spagnola

The purpose of this paper is to focus on the terminology related to the café in order to carry out a contrastive analysis between the Italian and Spanish terminology of the field of the café. The study also aims to outline how the terminology that belongs to the ‘world of coffee’ is linked to the local culture. The Neapolitan café has always been a place dear to the Neapolitans and represents a significant cultural element, as evidenced by the large spread and the large number of this type of place in the area. This is the reason why the Neapolitan café is part of the landscape of the bay of Naples and can be interpreted as an insight into the cultural reality of Naples: to step in a café in Naples means to get in a world where persist precise rules related to established local customs. There are specific terms related to the field of the café that form a microlanguage, this means that these terms belong to a specialised language, even though these terms are different from a place to another because they are specific of habits and traditions of an area. In fact, as often happens, the culture of an area is reflected in its language and, in a lexicultural perspective, it is possible to study the lexicon according to the cultural context to which it belongs. In Naples, in fact, the long and ancient tradition to go to the café makes it a culturally and socially connoted place, symbol of conviviality of the Neapolitans and their pleasure to meet each other. In addition, the café is linked to the ritual of coffee which is sacred for the inhabitants of the city. These aspects leave their mark in the terminology used in the cafés. In the same way, in Spain there is an old and strong tradition linked to the ritual of coffee as well. The contrastive analysis between the Italian and Spanish terminology of this field is even more interesting due to the fact that these two languages are similar to each other and also subject to linguistic exchanges due to the geographical proximity of the countries where they are spoken. This creates a number of interesting nuances to be studied. Since the language is a vehicle of culture, the contrastive analysis between Italian and Spanish will outline how deeply is developed the terminology of the field of the café according to the importance that this field holds in the culture of a country. The aim of this study is to analyse the specific terminology of the café in Italian and Spanish, the terms used to name products, machinery, tools, as well as the names of the different professions that exist in this field. The paper will also outline the terms strictly related to local traditions in order to highlight the link between lexicon and culture.