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Englishisation

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An amalgamation of the flags that represent America and Britain, the two countries at the forefront of spreading English across the world.

Englishisation refers to the introduction of English-language influences into other languages. English, as a world language, has had a very significant impact on other languages, with many languages borrowing words or grammar from English or forming calques based on English words.[1] Englishisation is often paired with the introduction of Western culture into other cultures,[2] and has resulted in a significant degree of code-mixing of English with other languages as well as the appearance of new varieties of English.[3][4] Other languages have also synthesised new literary genres through their contact with English,[5] and various forms of "language play" have emerged through this interaction.[6] Englishisation has also occurred in subtle ways because of the massive amount of English content that is translated into other languages.[7]

Englishisation first happened on a worldwide scale because of the spread of the British Empire and American cultural influence, as the English language historically played a major role in the administration of Britain's colonies and is highly relevant in the modern wave of globalisation.[8][9][10] One of the reasons for Englishisation is because other languages sometimes lacked vocabulary to talk about certain things, such as modern technologies or scientific concepts.[11] Another reason is that English is often considered a prestige language which symbolises or improves the educatedness or status of a speaker.[12]

In some cases, Englishisation clashes with linguistic purism or the influence of other prestige languages,[13] as is the case with the contested Hindustani language,[14] which in its Englishised form becomes Hinglish, but which some seek to instead Sanskritise or Persianise in part as a reaction to the colonial associations of the English language within South Asia.[5][15]

Around the world

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Africa

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Pidgin Englishes are common throughout Africa, such as West African Pidgin English.[16][17]

Swahili, which is common in the former British colonies of East Africa, has been intentionally Englishised in order to allow for more conversation around modern technologies and concepts.[18]

Americas

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The Spanish language, which is widespread in the Americas, typically received loanwards from British English (often through French) until the 1950s, when American English's influence became more prominent.[19]

Northern America

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A sign in Miami using the English word free instead of the Spanish gratis.

Spanish as spoken in the United States has significant amounts of English influence, dating back to the early 19th century and America's southwestern territorial expansion into Mexico.[20]

Latin America and the Caribbean

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English influences are common in Puerto Rican Spanish, due to the Americanisation of the island since the turn of the 20th century.[21]

Asia

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East Asia

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Pinyin, a Romanisation scheme, has aided Chinese speakers in learning English.[22]

Both Japanese and Korean have borrowed many words from English.[23] In Japan, English words are often used in a "decorative" manner to make a message look more modern.[24]

In China, English vocabulary had a minimal influence on local languages, with new words often being coined to replace historical English loanwords. This is due in part to the Chinese writing system, which favours words which can be broken down into meaningful components.[25] An exception to this is Hong Kong Cantonese, which has many words from English due to British rule in the city until 1997.[26] Taiwan also tends to borrow more words directly from English.[25] However, English grammar did have an influence on Chinese due to the amount of material being translated between the two languages during the Westernisation of China.[27]

South Asia

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A poster for the 1943 Bollywood film Kismet, which features the movie's name written in three different alphabets: Roman, Devanagari, and Urdu scripts. (in Hunterian: qismat)

English has been accepted in South Asia to some extent because of its neutrality i.e. its lack of association with any ethnic group in the region. It has played a significant role in enabling migration within the Indian subcontinent, and contributes a major share of the vocabulary used in more technical fields;[28][29][30][31] even when Sanskrit words have been created to replace English words, they are often calqued off of English words.[32][33][34]

Due to the nature and long duration of British rule in India, some of the English words used are of military origin or are now obscure in the rest of the English-speaking world.[35]

Southeast Asia

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The English language has had a significant influence on Tagalog since the 1898 American acquisition of the Philippines.[36]

West Asia

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English has had a growing presence in the Middle East due to the need for locals to interact with expatriate workers.[37] Modern Standard Arabic has been noted for incorporating new speech reporting styles (ways of quoting other people's words) due to Englishisation.[38] The Turkish language has become more open to English influences due to Turkey's Westernisation in the early 20th century and adoption of the Latin alphabet.[39]

Because English is among the most common languages in Israel, it has also influenced Modern Hebrew,[40] though it has less presence in the Arab areas.[41] English's role in Israel became more prevalent with the 1967 Six-Day War and later cultural Americanisation.[42]

Europe

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The initial spread of the English language took place with continental Europeans who conquered England. England then spread the language through the rest of the British Isles, sometimes through conquest.[43]

Some languages in Europe, such as some of the Scandinavian languages, have been prone to significant Englishisation, while other languages, such as Icelandic, have tended towards linguistic purism.[44] The similarity and long-standing history of English having connections with Western European languages has played a role in its modern-day influence on them,[45][46][47] and has resulted in altered interpretations of English words in some cases.[48] Englishisation has occurred to some extent particularly in the business and finance-related vocabularies of various European languages.[49] Some impacts of Englishisation have worn off over time, as Englishisation sometimes takes place in a way that is too "trendy" and which does not become well-absorbed into a given language.[50]

There is also research around the increasing usage of English in European universities.[51]

Oceania

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Several English-based creoles were formed in Oceania during the colonial period, with even the English spoken in British colonies such as Australia and New Zealand mixing with local languages. In modern times, the appeal of Australia and New Zealand has served to bolster the English language in the region.[52]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Bolton, Kingsley; Kachru, Braj B. (2006). World Englishes: Critical Concepts in Linguistics. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-0-415-31509-8.
  2. ^ Shibata, Ayako (2009). "Englishization in Asia: Language and Cultural Issues". Asian Englishes. 12 (2): 84–87. doi:10.1080/13488678.2009.10801262. ISSN 1348-8678. S2CID 154078463.
  3. ^ Bolton, Kingsley; Kachru, Braj B. (2006). World Englishes: Critical Concepts in Linguistics. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-0-415-31509-8.
  4. ^ Chapelle, Carol A., ed. (2013-01-30). The Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics (1 ed.). Wiley. doi:10.1002/9781405198431.wbeal0550.pub2. ISBN 978-1-4051-9473-0. S2CID 236410953.
  5. ^ a b Kachru, Yamuna; Nelson, Cecil L. (2006-04-01). World Englishes in Asian Contexts. Hong Kong University Press. ISBN 978-962-209-755-1.
  6. ^ Rivlina, Alexandra A. (2019-11-27), Nelson, Cecil L.; Proshina, Zoya G.; Davis, Daniel R. (eds.), "Bilingual Language Play and World Englishes", The Handbook of World Englishes (1 ed.), Wiley, pp. 407–429, doi:10.1002/9781119147282.ch23, ISBN 978-1-119-16421-0, S2CID 213855655, retrieved 2023-10-29
  7. ^ Kruger, Alet; Wallmach, Kim; Munday, Jeremy (2011-06-16). Corpus-Based Translation Studies: Research and Applications. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4411-8919-6.
  8. ^ Tam, Kwok-kan (2019), Tam, Kwok-kan (ed.), "Introduction: Englishization and the New Asian Subjectivity", The Englishized Subject: Postcolonial Writings in Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia, Singapore: Springer, pp. 1–13, doi:10.1007/978-981-13-2520-5_1, ISBN 978-981-13-2520-5, S2CID 159222176, retrieved 2023-10-29
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  10. ^ Khan, Mansoor Ahmed. "The Future of English by David Graddol". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  11. ^ Schneider, Edgar W. (2014). "New reflections on the evolutionary dynamics of world Englishes". World Englishes. 33 (1): 9–32. doi:10.1111/weng.12069. ISSN 0883-2919.
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  18. ^ Kishe, Anne J. (1994). "The Englishization of Tanzanian Kiswahili". World Englishes. 13 (2): 185–201. doi:10.1111/j.1467-971X.1994.tb00306.x. ISSN 0883-2919.
  19. ^ Penny, Ralph John (2002-10-21). A History of the Spanish Language. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-01184-6.
  20. ^ "The influence of English on U.S. Spanish: Introduction - ProQuest". www.proquest.com. Retrieved 2024-11-08.
  21. ^ DesRochers, Aly. "Research Guides: Yo Soy (I am): The Historical Trajectory of Language in Puerto Rico: English Language Influence". guides.loc.gov. Retrieved 2024-11-08.
  22. ^ Dong, Shuyang (2023-10-31). "The Influence of Pinyin on English Learning and the Way to Learn Phonetic Symbols Correctly to Avoid the Adverse Effect of Pinyin". Atlantis Press: 436–442. doi:10.2991/978-2-38476-126-5_51. ISBN 978-2-38476-126-5. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  23. ^ Yoneoka, Judy (2005). "The Striking Similarity between Korean and Japanese English Vocabulary: — historical and linguistic relationships —". Asian Englishes. 8 (1): 26–47. doi:10.1080/13488678.2005.10801153. ISSN 1348-8678.
  24. ^ Jozuka, Emiko (2020-02-26). "When languages collide: How Japanese and English merged to create a new language". CNN. Retrieved 2024-05-01.
  25. ^ a b Zhang, Liulin (2024-01-03). "On the Chinese resistance to lexical borrowing: a writing-driven self-purification system". Humanities and Social Sciences Communications. 11 (1): 1–9. doi:10.1057/s41599-023-02556-3. ISSN 2662-9992.
  26. ^ "Hongkongers mix English and Cantonese into new language, Kongish". South China Morning Post. 2016-01-21. Retrieved 2024-10-29.
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  28. ^ Cheshire, Jenny (1991-04-26). English around the World: Sociolinguistic Perspectives. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-316-58235-0.
  29. ^ Rauch, Irmengard; Carr, Gerald F. (2018-02-19). Linguistic Method: Essays in Honor of Herbert Penzl. Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. ISBN 978-3-11-081566-5.
  30. ^ Hodges, Amy; Seawright, Leslie (2014-09-26). Going Global: Transnational Perspectives on Globalization, Language, and Education. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4438-6761-0.
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  32. ^ Hock, Hans Henrich (1992). "A note on English and modern Sanskrit". World Englishes. 11 (2–3): 163–171. doi:10.1111/j.1467-971X.1992.tb00061.x. ISSN 0883-2919.
  33. ^ Revisiting the Making of Hindi as a ‘National’ Language Ganpat Teli, M.Phil.
  34. ^ D'Souza, Jean (1987). "English in India's language modernization". World Englishes. 6 (1): 63–70. doi:10.1111/j.1467-971X.1987.tb00177.x. ISSN 0883-2919.
  35. ^ "English explodes in India - and it's not just Hinglish". BBC News. 2014-06-30. Retrieved 2024-11-24.
  36. ^ "On the Influence of English on the Tagalog Language | The Archive". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  37. ^ Hewish, Tim (2014). Old friends, new deals : the route to the UK's global prosperity through international networks. London : Institute of Economic Affairs. p. 67.
  38. ^ Al-Wahy, Ahmed Seddik (2021-08-01). "The influence of English on Modern Standard Arabic speech reporting styles: A corpus-based study". Lingua. 259: 103084. doi:10.1016/j.lingua.2021.103084. ISSN 0024-3841.
  39. ^ Zok, David (2010). "Turkey's Language Revolution and the Status of English Today". The English Languages: History, Diaspora, Culture. 1. ISSN 1929-5855.
  40. ^ The Impact of English on Modern Hebrew Shabtai A. Teveth
  41. ^ Shohamy, Elana (2014). "The Weight of English in Global Perspective: The Role of English in Israel". Review of Research in Education. 38: 273–289. ISSN 0091-732X.
  42. ^ Foreign Influences on Modern Hebrew Angelika Adamczyk
  43. ^ Northrup, David (2013), Northrup, David (ed.), "The Language of the British Isles", How English Became the Global Language, New York: Palgrave Macmillan US, pp. 27–47, doi:10.1057/9781137303073_2, ISBN 978-1-137-30307-3, retrieved 2024-11-25
  44. ^ Filipović, R. (1977-01-01). "English Words in European Mouths and Minds". Folia Linguistica. 11 (3–4): 195–206. doi:10.1515/flin.1977.11.3-4.195. ISSN 1614-7308. S2CID 145280920.
  45. ^ Furiassi, Cristiano (2012). "The Anglicization of European Lexis": 1–366. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  46. ^ Rosenhouse, Judith; Kowner, Rotem (2008-05-22). Globally Speaking: Motives for Adopting English Vocabulary in Other Languages. Multilingual Matters. ISBN 978-1-78309-153-9.
  47. ^ Görlach, Manfred (2001). A Dictionary of European Anglicisms: A Usage Dictionary of Anglicisms in Sixteen European Languages. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-823519-4.
  48. ^ Görlach, Manfred (2002-05-23). English in Europe. OUP Oxford. ISBN 978-0-19-158069-7.
  49. ^ Anglemark, Linnéa; John, Andrew (2018). "The Use of English-Language Business and Finance Terms in European Languages". International Journal of Business Communication. 55 (3): 406–440. doi:10.1177/2329488418768698. ISSN 2329-4884. S2CID 158407633.
  50. ^ Görlach, Manfred (2002-05-23). English in Europe. OUP Oxford. ISBN 978-0-19-158069-7.
  51. ^ Hultgren, Anna Kristina (2014-06-01). "English language use at the internationalised universities of Northern Europe: Is there a correlation between englishisation and world rank?". Multilingua - Journal of Cross-Cultural and Interlanguage Communication. 33 (3–4): 389–411. doi:10.1515/multi-2014-0018. ISSN 1613-3684.
  52. ^ Da Silva, Diego Barbosa 1 1 National Archives of Brazil (AN) (2019). "Language Policy in Oceania: In the Frontiers of Colonization and Globalization": 327–356. doi:10.1590/1981-5794-1909-4. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)