Hotwords

Hotwords are words that summarize rich points (cf. Heringer 2017, 181). Furthermore, hotwords are „words that are particularly charged by cultural meanings“ (Rössler 2008, 23). Hotwords are referred to as hot,

„because they address burning issues in that culture,

because they may be controversial,

because they name cultural hot spots,

because they are topical“ (Heringer 20072, 174).

The meaning of hotwords is difficult to find in a dictionary. In order to understand these words, the culture of the language must first be understood. This is the only way to acquire the necessary communicative competence (cf. Herringer 2017, 181).

Hotwords play a major role in history or social life. Moreover, argumentations as well as emotions of a positive or negative nature can be attached to them (cf. Heringer 2017, 181).

Criteria for a hotword

„The meaning of the word is difficult to specify.
even native speakers have a hard time with it.
it is a word that is difficult for strangers to understand.
there are controversial issues associated with the word.
the word is considered by Natives to be an aspect of their identity.
the word contains many culturally specific meaning traits.
to understand a hotword, one must study the culture and its history in depth.
to understand it, one must immerse oneself in the target culture.
the meaning components form a cultural pattern (Heringer 2017, 182).“

A typical example of a German hotword is Heimat (cf. Heringer 2017, 181 f.). Other examples ofHotwords are freedom, opinion, education, work, etc.

Literature

Agar, Michael (1994): The intercultural frame. In: International Journal of Intercultural Relations 18.

Dudenverlag: https://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/Hotspot [29 Aug. 2019].

Heringer, Hans Jürgen (2017): Intercultural communication. Foundations and concepts. 5th ed. Tübingen: Francke.

Rössler, Andrea (2008): Successful vocabulary acquisition in the Spanish classroom. In: Lüning, Marita/ Rössler, Andrea/ Sommerfeldt, Kathrin/ Strickstrack-García, Roswitha/ Vences, Ursula/ Wlasak-Feik, Christine (eds.): Principles and methods of teaching Spanish. The teaching of Spanish as a foreign language. Seelze: Friedrich, 20-25.