Says who? Language regard towards speaker groups using English loanwords in Dutch

Abstract

This paper contributes to the ongoing Cognitive Linguistic turn in research on lexical borrowing: rather than searching for objective and universal linguistic criteria to demarcate different contact phenomena, we prioritize language users’ subjective perception of contact-induced change. In particular, combining insights from folk linguistics and social role theory, this paper presents the results from a survey targeting 177 Belgian Dutch respondents’ expectations on the use of English loanwords. The survey uncovers variation in these expectations, depending on the age of the projected speaker (RQ1), on the social role of the projected speaker (RQ2), and whether (unexpected) use of English by projected social role actors leads to negative evaluations (RQ3). Results reveal shared expectations regarding the use of English loans by age, with a perceived peak in late adolescence. Regarding the use of English by social role actors, we find high anticipated use of English loans for modern roles (e.g. rapper, gamer), whilst the expectation on English use for public (e.g. primary school teacher) and traditional roles (e.g. farmer) is significantly lower. Finally, our results indicate that role violation only seems to trigger negative evaluations when the role actor is a public figure with social responsibility. The discussion reflects on the implications of the results, contrasting the top-down or bottom-up emergence of shared beliefs on speaker groups and contact-induced variation.

The (Lack of) Salience of T/V Pronouns in Professional Communication: Evidence from an Experimental Study for Belgian Dutch

“…Yet, descriptions like 'modern' and 'youthful', which were absent in the other conditions, echo indexical values that have been associated with the use of English in Belgian Dutch. For instance, the perception study by Schuring et al (2023) shows how the use of English lexical items in Dutch is linked more with (pre)adolescents than with older participants, and more with modern roles (e.g., rapper) than with traditional roles (e.g., 'butcher') or public roles (e.g., 'mayor'). Likewise, in their summary of the associations linked to the use of English (in advertising), Hornikx and van Meurs (2020, pp.…”