Source-Language Classification of Loanwords in German: A Typological Approach to English, French, Latin, Slavic, and Turkic Influences
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.69760/aghel.026003003Ключевые слова:
loanwords, German, language contact, loanword typology, borrowing, source-language classification, lexical integrationАннотация
This article classifies selected German loanwords according to their source language and typological features, focusing on English, French, Latin, Slavic, and Turkic influences. Drawing on established frameworks in loanword typology and language-contact theory, the study approaches borrowed vocabulary not as isolated foreign elements but as linguistic evidence of historical contact and cultural exchange. A qualitative, comparative design is used to examine representative loanwords from each source-language group in terms of semantic field, historical period, cultural function, and degree of integration into the German linguistic system. The analysis shows that each donor language contributed to German vocabulary in a distinct way: Latin shaped religious, educational, scientific, and administrative terminology and is very highly integrated; French influenced vocabulary connected with fashion, cuisine, diplomacy, and cultural prestige; English dominates modern fields such as technology, business, media, sport, and youth culture; Slavic languages contributed regional and everyday vocabulary through geographical proximity and settlement history; and Turkic languages, though fewer in number, provided culturally significant terms linked to Ottoman history and Turkish migration. The findings confirm that loanwords should be analysed not only by etymological origin but also by semantic domain, period of borrowing, and level of adaptation, since older borrowings tend to be more fully integrated than recent ones. A source-language classification therefore reveals the historical and social layers of German vocabulary and demonstrates that lexical borrowing is systematically shaped by prestige, contact, and cultural need rather than occurring at random.
Библиографические ссылки
Álvarez de la Granja, M., & Dubert García, F. (2024). Semantic fields and Castilianization in Galician: A comparative study with the Loanword Typology Project. Languages, 9(7), Article 244. https://doi.org/10.3390/languages9070244
Bouchard, M.-E. (2024). Investigating attitudes towards a changing use of anglicisms in Quebec French. Canadian Journal of Linguistics/Revue canadienne de linguistique, 69(4), 412–437. https://doi.org/10.1017/cnj.2024.32
Carstensen, B., & Busse, U. (1993–1996). Anglizismen-Wörterbuch: Der Einfluss des Englischen auf den deutschen Wortschatz nach 1945 (Vols. 1–3). De Gruyter.
De Heer, M., Blokland, R., Dunn, M., & Vesakoski, O. (2024). Loanwords in basic vocabulary as an indicator of borrowing profiles. Journal of Language Contact, 16(1), 54–103. https://doi.org/10.1163/19552629-bja10057
Dudenredaktion. (2020). Duden: Das Herkunftswörterbuch. Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (6th ed.). Dudenverlag.
Dumrukcic, N., & Kotzor, S. (2024). Überachiever or developerin: Eye movements during the processing of translingual hybrid noun-formations. Heliyon, 10(3), Article e24896. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e24896
Gooskens, C., Kürschner, S., & van Heuven, V. J. (2022). The role of loanwords in the intelligibility of written Danish among Swedes. Nordic Journal of Linguistics, 45(1), 4–29. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0332586521000111
Görlach, M. (Ed.). (2001). A dictionary of European Anglicisms: A usage dictionary of Anglicisms in sixteen European languages. Oxford University Press.
Haspelmath, M. (2008). Loanword typology: Steps toward a systematic cross-linguistic study of lexical borrowability. In T. Stolz, D. Bakker, & R. Salas Palomo (Eds.), Aspects of language contact: New theoretical, methodological and empirical findings with special focus on Romancisation processes (pp. 43–62). De Gruyter.
Haspelmath, M. (2009). Lexical borrowing: Concepts and issues. In M. Haspelmath & U. Tadmor (Eds.), Loanwords in the world’s languages: A comparative handbook (pp. 35–54). De Gruyter Mouton.
Haspelmath, M., & Tadmor, U. (Eds.). (2009). Loanwords in the world’s languages: A comparative handbook. De Gruyter Mouton.
Haugen, E. (1950). The analysis of linguistic borrowing. Language, 26(2), 210–231. https://doi.org/10.2307/410058
Matras, Y. (2009). Language contact. Cambridge University Press.
Onysko, A. (2007). Anglicisms in German: Borrowing, lexical productivity, and written codeswitching. De Gruyter.
Schaefer, S. J. (2021a). English on air: Novel anglicisms in German radio language. Open Linguistics, 7(1), 569–593. https://doi.org/10.1515/opli-2020-0174
Schaefer, S. J. (2021b). Hybridization or what: A question of linguistic and cultural change in Germany. Globalizations, 18(4), 667–682. https://doi.org/10.1080/14747731.2020.1832839
Schaefer, S. J. (2022). Global Englishes and the semiotics of German radio: Encouraging the listener’s visual imagination through translingual and transmodal practices. Frontiers in Communication, 7, Article 780195. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2022.780195
Schaefer, S. J. (2024). Stylistic functions of anglicisms in German radio: Brevity of expression and conveying modernity from the perspective of journalists. English Today, 40(3), 201–205. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0266078424000099
Schaefer, S. J. (2025). Linguistic diversity in German youth media: The use of English in professionally produced Instagram memes and reels. Languages, 10(5), Article 96. https://doi.org/10.3390/languages10050096
Şimon, S., Stoian, C. E., Dejica-Carțiș, A., & Kriston, A. (2021). The use of anglicisms in the field of education: A comparative analysis of Romanian, German, and French. SAGE Open, 11(4). https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440211053241
Tatsioka, Z. (2023). English loanword use in Greek online women’s magazines: The construction of the female identity. English Today, 39(4), 281–296. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0266078422000190
Thomason, S. G. (2001). Language contact: An introduction. Georgetown University Press.
Thomason, S. G., & Kaufman, T. (1988). Language contact, creolization, and genetic linguistics. University of California Press.
Weinreich, U. (2011). Languages in contact: French, German and Romansh in twentieth-century Switzerland. John Benjamins. https://doi.org/10.1075/z.166. Original work published 1953.
Загрузки
Опубликован
Выпуск
Раздел
Лицензия
Это произведение доступно по лицензии Creative Commons «Attribution» («Атрибуция») 4.0 Всемирная.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms: Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0), which allows others to share, adapt, and build upon the work for any purpose, provided appropriate credit is given to the original author(s) and source. Authors are permitted to enter into separate agreements for non-exclusive distribution of the published version (e.g., post to a repository or publish in a book), with acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
