A CORPUS STUDY OF BORROWINGS AND ITS LINGUISTICS FEATURES
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
This study explores the phenomenon of lexical borrowings through a corpus-driven approach, aiming to provide a comprehensive analysis of how words from donor languages are adopted, adapted, and integrated into a recipient language. Borrowings are a key element of linguistic change, reflecting the influence of cultural contact, globalization, technological advancement, and shifting sociopolitical dynamics. Drawing on data extracted from a large, representative language corpus, this research investigates both the quantitative and qualitative dimensions of borrowing.
The primary objectives of the study are threefold: (1) to identify and classify borrowed lexical items based on their source languages and frequency of occurrence; (2) to analyze the linguistic features of these borrowings, focusing on their phonological adaptation, morphological assimilation, syntactic behavior, and semantic development; and (3) to examine the sociolinguistic contexts that facilitate borrowing, such as prestige, necessity, and language policy.
Through corpus analysis, the study uncovers patterns in borrowing related to domain-specific usage (e.g., science, technology, fashion, media), register variation (formal vs. informal texts), and diachronic shifts (changes over time). The findings demonstrate that borrowings undergo varying degrees of integration, from near-foreign elements to fully naturalized words, and reveal that adaptation is shaped not only by structural linguistic factors but also by cultural and social motivations.
Article Details
References
Ager, D. (2001). Introduction to Applied Sociolinguistics: How to Use Language in a Social Context. Blackwell Publishing.
Andersen, H. (2001). Language Contact: An Introduction to Language and Linguistic Diversity in Contact Situations. Routledge.
Baker, C. (1997). Foundations of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism. Multilingual Matters.
Bauer, L. (2002). An Introduction to Linguistic Morphology. Oxford University Press.
Bell, A. (1991). The Language of News Media. Blackwell.
Bergen, B., & Plummer, P. (2018). The Linguistics of English and the English of Linguistics. Cambridge University Press.
Chambers, J. K. (1995). Sociolinguistic Theory: Linguistic Variation and its Social Significance. Blackwell.
Dorian, N. C. (1981). Language in Crisis: The Sociology of Language in the Decay of a Linguistic Community. John Benjamins Publishing.
Haugen, E. (1950). The Analysis of Linguistic Borrowing. Language, 26(2), 210-231.
Hickey, R. (2010). The Handbook of Language Contact. Wiley-Blackwell.
Kachru, B. B. (1983). The Other Tongue: English across Cultures. University of Illinois Press.
Labov, W. (1972). Sociolinguistic Patterns. University of Pennsylvania Press.
Matras, Y. (2009). Language Contact. Cambridge University Press.