Why Japanglish Won't Languish: A Morphosemantic Analysis of English Loanwords in Japanese

master's thesis

• Author: Marko Bucić
• Mentor: Janja Čulig (mentor)
• Committee member: Irena Zovko Dinković (predsjednik povjerenstva)
• Committee member: Marina Grubišić (član povjerenstva)
• Granter: University of Zagreb; Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences; (Department of English language and literature); Zagreb
• Defense date and country: 2023-02-22, Croatia
• Scientific / art field, discipline and subdiscipline: HUMANISTIC SCIENCES; Philology; Anglistics

Abstract

Starting from the mid-19th century, then increasing dramatically after the Second World War, the influx of English loanwords in Japanese has become a driving force behind the rapid lexical expansion of this East Asian language. Just as American cultural influence has pervaded every facet of Japanese society, the English language has transformed the landscape of both its vocabulary and grammar to the extent that Japanese today cannot be proficiently spoken without the use of English loanwords. One result of this prolonged language contact is the development of wasei-eigo, original Japanese expressions based on borrowed English-language words. This paper aims to describe how English lexemes and morphemes are introduced into Japanese, modified to suit their new linguistic environment, then used in various ways to create novel English-derived forms and meanings that are not present in Standard English, demonstrating morphological productivity beyond the Anglosphere.

• Keywords: English; Japanese; loanwords; lexical borrowing; wasei-eigo; morphological productivity
• Language: english
• URN:NBN: urn:nbn:hr:131:074660
• Study programme: Title: English Language and Literature (double major); specializations in: Linguistics, Literature and Culture, Translation, TEFL; Course: Linguistics; Study programme type: university; Study level: graduate; Academic / professional title: magistar/magistra engleskog jezika i književnosti (magistar/magistra engleskog jezika i književnosti)
• Type of resource: Text
• File origin: Born digital
• Access conditions: Open access
• Created on: 2023-02-24 19:08:54