This paper examines several factors affecting loanword adaptation, using a data set of Romanian loanwords from Turkish and French. After exploring the position of loanwords in the lexicon and the nature of the two contact situations, the author considers relevant social, morphological, and phonological factors. First is the difference in the loanwords’ semantic domains and their motivations for being borrowed. Next, the author introduces the morphophonological factors considered—stress, desinence class, and gender assignment—and discusses their behavior in the core vocabulary and previous relevant studies. Subsequently, the author examines the loanword data in detail, comparing and contrasting the Turkish- and French-origin loanwords. The author concludes that one must consider different modules of the language—the phonology and the morphology—and that only by contrasting borrowings from different languages into the same language can one determine the relative effect of internal and external factors on the outcome of contact.

This article considers the origin of distinctly “québécois” phonological traits. Using data from the Atlas linguistique de l’Est du Canada (1980), the analysis examines the geographic distribution and history of two variables—/t/ and /d/ affrication and high vowel laxing — establishing that both are innovations of Canadian French, spreading from the influential urban centre of Montreal. In addition, the supposed uniformity of Canadian French and the robustness of the east-west dialect boundary are disputed. Finally, the article draws from data on two additional variables — the replacement of apical [r] by posterior [R] and the diphthongization of/ε:/ and /e:/ — to tie the nature of linguistic diffusion to the degree of consciousness of the change in question. The findings and model are relevant not only for the study of the origin and description of Canadian French, but also more broadly for the field of dialect geography.

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This paper examines the adaptation of rhotics in loanwords in French by Hispanophone and Francophone Montrealers, in order to investigate the linguistic integration of immigrant communities and the mutual influence of native and nonnative speakers on the outcome of borrowing. Multivariate analysis reveals that many factors govern the variation among the three possible variants. Immigrants have only acquired some of the constraints. Second-generation immigrants share the grammar of the larger community but resemble other Hispanophones in terms of the rates of use of each variant. The author concludes that both native and nonnative speakers influence the integration pattern of loanwords in particular ways.

Montrealers are often categorized into three distinct groups: Anglophones, Francophones, and Allophones. However, within these groups there are individuals whose trajectories are complex, as reflected, for example, in their linguistic practices. Our interest lies in the relationship between these complex practices and the ethnolin-guistic attributions of the speakers. We concentrate on two groups of Francophones: those from Spanish-speaking families who have been in Quebec for one or two generations and those from Francophone families who have frequent English-speaking contacts. After summarizing the results of a perception test, in which Francophones from Quebec were asked to identify the ethnolinguistic affiliation of speakers of various origins based on short clips of their French, we analyze the usage of sociopho-netic variables reflecting the influence of French, Spanish, or English. The analysis indicates that phonetic variation stems from speakers’ sociosymbolic orientation, as well as certain other sociodemographic factors linked to identity construction as it relates to ethnicity.