The nativization of pragmatic borrowings in remote language contact situations

Abstract

This article focuses on the issue of pragmatic borrowing and how it manifests in language contact settings where the language of influence is a nonnative language for the receiving speech community. In this case, the languages under investigation are English and its unidirectional influence on Finnish. The article first establishes the behavior of pragmatic elements in traditional language contact settings, then moves on to problematize the notion within contemporary language contact settings. The article then moves on to specific examples of pragmatic borrowings from English into Finnish, including pliis ('please'), oh my god, and about. The discussion accounts for the social, pragmatic, semantic and grammatical incorporation of these elements into Finnish, demonstrating that the borrowed forms have characteristics which are distinct from both the source language (English) as well as heritage form in the recipient language (Finnish). Included in the discussion of these forms is a proposed trajectory for how such borrowings enter into native discourse, as well as the success vs. failure of pragmatic borrowings in entering mainstream discourse.

The wanderlust of German words and their pragmatic adaptation in English

“…Pragmatic borrowing concerns the borrowing of discourse markers -interjections, expletives and focus-making devices -as investigated e.g. by Terkourafi (2011), Peterson (2017), Mišić Ilić (2017 and Balteiro (2018). While Andersen (2014) argues for an enhancement of studies of lexical borrowing to include discourse markers, this study focuses on the more 'classical' lexicological concerns.…”

To agree or not to agree? English adjectives in Estonian-English bilingual blogs and vlogs

“…The same occurs world-wide. More and more studies focusing on the pragmatic and social aspects of borrowing from English (see Fiedler 2017, Peterson and Vaattovaara 2014, and Peterson 2017 are being published, suggesting that borrowing from English is not only about borrowing of highly specific English lexical items but also about pragmatic models, for example, incorporating norms of interaction and discourse patterns.…”

The English of Englishes: a Threat or an Opportunity?

“…The language contact phenomenon described in a number of works as a pragmatic borrowing refers to the adaptation of a class of lexical items and phrases that are non-specialized, non-domain specific features. E.Peterson argues that some linguistic elements are prone to borrowing in language contact settings in general, but perhaps especially in foreign language contact settings [23]. According to him traditionally, the entrance of a foreignsourced lexical item has been associated with bilingual speakers.…”

“…Nevertheless, this is not a prerequisite for pragmatic borrowings as the motivation for such borrowings is pragmatic in nature. There is a certain shift in the term pragmatic borrowing from referring strictly to pragmatic elements to pointing to an element which enters a recipient language due to pragmatic and social motivations [23]. Moreover, a pragmatic borrowing seems to work in a complementary fashion with a heritage equivalent, creating what is perceived by native speakers as a variant that cohabitates with a pre-existing form; in other words, the pragmatic borrowing does not replace the stable, often standard, heritage form.…”

“…A related point addresses foreign language contact and the role of a widespread lingua franca or foreign language such as English. E. Peterson argues that the notion of pragmatic borrowing and further investigation of this phenomenon would help answer questions that right now remain unansweredsuch as what effect, if any, English has on the system of recipient languages [23].…”