Abstract: This article considers the place of loans or external neology in the vocabulary of sports in French. The sample is taken from a specialized lexicographical corpus (Dictionnaire analogique et alphabétique des activités physiques et sportives by P. Ligas) in view to evaluating the proportion of loanwords – Anglicisms in particular – in the overall vocabulary of the field. Using a general language dictionary (Petit Robert 2014) to eliminate words already consigned by usage, it is possible to ascertain at least to some extent, just how new or neological these words are. The official equivalents, as published on the official language planning website FranceTerm, are also taken into account as the official position on these terms. The specificities of sports vocabulary in both synchrony and diachrony are taken into account, as well as what is involved in the lexicalisation of new words, in particular loanwords.
