Recent Borrowings into English: A Comparison between Japanese and Spanish loanwords

Real 1 Felipe A. Real H. Professor Paula Jullian LET029I-1 Lexical Semantics 10 July 2009 Recent Borrowings into English: A Comparison between Japanese and Spanish loanwords

Introduction One of the most relevant and interesting aspects of the English language is its “two-layer” composition: i.e. we can intuitively spot two large groups in the English lexicon: “the native stock of words and the borrowed stock of words” (Correli). This piece of research is concerned with the latter and inside that area, I will explore the presence of Japanese and Spanish, the languages ranking 2 and 5, respectively, in the order of borrowings into English. This exploration will be carried out through a quantitative comparison between various lexical items identified as “borrowings” from both languages, in the 1969-1986 period according to the Oxford English Dictionary in its Second Edition of 1992. In addition, the comparison will contrast the relative number of historical entries in nouns and adjectives borrowed from Japanese and Spanish

Theoretical background Garland Cannon, researcher of the Texas A&M University, has led the research on English borrowings from Asian languages and Spanish in the last 30 years. His works include publications on languages such as Japanese, Chinese, Malaysian, Arabic, German, and Spanish, and he has often worked as advisor and researcher on dictionaries such as Chambers English

Real 2 Dictionary, Collins Dictionary of the English Language, and the Concise Oxford Dictionary of Current English. As a result, I will base my research on Cannon’s 1994 article on “Recent Japanese Borrowings into English” and his 1993 article on “Recent Spanish-Based Items in English”. Loanwords or borrowings are “words taken from another language and modified according to the patterns of the receiving language” (Correli) [my italics]. The second part of the definition is one of the relevant criteria in order to recognize whether a semantic item has truly been borrowed or is just in the process of becoming a borrowing. This is what Cannon refers to as the “requirement of direct transmission plus the onomastic and historical principles” (373). In this sense, apart from the grammatical/morphological modification in the receiving language, it is equally important to have a change in the pronunciation of the word — according to the phonological restrictions of the receiving language — and a consistent use of the word, historically. All these criteria configure a standing point from which we can and rigorously distinguish if it is a borrowing or not. Now, why are Japanese and Spanish so relevant in the field of English borrowings? Japanese, according to a comparison between 2 dictionaries — 6,000 Words and Barnhart — is the relative third source of borrowing of the English language (Cannon and Mendez 24), only superseded by French and Latin. Its more important areas of transfer into English are “swords or daggers, food or drink, martial arts, business and currency” (Cannon 1993). More importantly, the burgeoning increase in technological advances — which are largely contributed by Japanese culture more than by any other culture —, together with “Japan’s economic and cultural ascendancy since World War II” (Cannon and Mendez 26), position Japanese as an ever-increasing source of borrowings for English language.

Real 3 Spanish, on the other hand, has been an historical source of loanwords for English. In America, being geographical neighbors with Mexico to the south, the borrowings have been a natural consequence of the cultural contact. In time—especially after World War II—the economical boom engendered a burgeoning immigration from Mexico to the United States, which resulted in a progressive incorporation of words from Spanish into the English language. In statistical terms, Cannon and Mendez in 1979 place Spanish as the 5th ranked source of borrowings for English, superseded by Italian, Japanese, Latin and French. According to the same researchers, Spanish largest subject areas include “politics, food or drink, occupations or status, sociology” (377). Now, the distribution according to word class shows that Spanish contributes with nouns (88.2%), adjectives (11.1%) and adverbs (0.7%) to the English lexicon, whereas Japanese contributes with nouns (91%), adjectives (8.2%), adverbs (0.4%) and others (0.4%) (Cannon and Mendez 381).These percentages refer to the total amount of borrowings from each language, divide in the corresponding word classes, and will be used as references in my research.

Methodology

Introduction: General methodological concerns This research is led by two main general guidelines: namely, to describe the lexical items studied, in some way updating and revising Cannon’s work on the area and to try to make a research as thorough and rigorous as possible

Real 4 Methodology of this paper The methodology of this paper will be to analyze, through a quantitative account, the amount of borrowing from Japanese and Spanish in the period 1969-1986. This period is of special importance since it covers from the beginning of the space career to the last years of communist government in Russia. Furthermore, 1986 is the last year of corpus included in the Oxford English Dictionary, Second Edition.

Description of sample The sample used in this research corresponds to the results obtained through the “Advanced Search” tool of the CD-Rom edition of the Oxford English Dictionary. In this sense, the criteria for search included the agreed abbreviations for recognized Japanese (Jap.) and Spanish etymology (Sp.). Also, this tool enables the activation of only certain word classes, such as noun, adjectives, etc. Finally, it allows for a mode that sorts results according to the date of the entry, which was obviously used in this research.

Description of data collected The data collected corresponds to the lexical items from the period 1969-1986, in both quantity and the leading entry—according to the OED—that presents a Japanese and/or Spanish etymology. They are differentiated by year, and the main entry lists are included as an Appendix at the end of this paper.

Data Analysis

Real 5 Specific data analysis procedures The entries were sorted according to the etymology of the word—whether it was Japanese or Spanish—and the word class: in this case, nouns and/or adjectives. Afterwards, the entries were arranged according to the year of possible inclusion into the English language. Finally, the entries from 1969 to 1986 were selected and counted, in order to create a quantitative model. The complete results are included in the Appendix to this paper. In the following sections, charts are used for the sake of easier exposition and analysis.

Main Findings In the case of nouns borrowed from Japanese and Spanish into English, I found the following: Japanese and Spanish (Nouns) Borrowings in English

Spanish 50%

50%

Japanese

In the period from 1969 to 1986, the OED includes entries for 25 Japanese nouns borrowed into English—such as “nunchaku” (two hardwood sticks joined together by a strap), “ramen” (quick-cooking Chinese noodles) and “karaoke” (a form of entertainment, originating in

Real 6 Japan, in which a person sings the vocal line of a popular song to the accompaniment of a prerecorded backing tape, and the voice is electronically amplified through the loudspeaker system for the audience). Spanish, on the other hand, also included 25 entries in the abovementioned period, including entries such as “Senderista” (a member of the revolutionary Peruvian guerrilla organization Sendero Luminoso), “maquiladora” (In Mexico, a factory or workshop owned by a foreign company, which employs low-cost local labour to assemble goods) and “desaparecido” (any of the many people who disappeared in Argentina during the period of military rule). This situation creates a clear tie between two languages. However, there were 10 entries that have no clear entry date into the language. Now, if we do consider the “unknown date” data, we have supremacy of Spanish over Japanese, regarding noun loanwords. This situation is reflected in the following chart: Japanese and Spanish + Unknown Date (Nouns) Borrowings in English

Spanish + Unknown Date

42% 58%

Japanese

Now, the historical data—considering the total number entries for each language in the OED—gives a somehow different overall state. The historical total for Japanese includes 356 entries, whereas the Spanish historical total is an impressive 4,695 entries. This situation is reflected in the following chart:

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Japanese and Spanish Historical Total (Nouns) Borrowings in English

7% Spanish Historical Total Japanese Historical Total 93%

The case of adjectives is similar, although the differences are more poignant. Japanese has contributed with only two adjectives to English in the period 1969-1986—the cases of “ibotenic” (an isoxazole, C5H6N2O4H2O, found in certain mushrooms of the genus Amanita, discovered by a Japanese) and “gaijin” (of or relating to a gaijin; foreign, alien). Furthermore, Japanese contributes with only eleven adjectives in the historical total. The case of Spanish, on the other hand, the situation is very different. Spanish contributes with seven adjectives in the period 1969-1986, including adjectives such as “pintoresque” (forming a suitable subject for a painting) and “gonzo” (bizarre, crazy; far-fetched). This historical total, however, rises to 964 entries. All these results are reflected in the next graphs:

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Japanese and Spanish (Adjectives) Borrowings in English

22% Spanish Japanese 78%

Japanese and Spanish (Adjectives) Historical Total Borrowings in English

1% Spanish Historical Total Japanese Historical Total 99%

Conclusions and Implications The results concord, at least in the case of nouns, with the data gathered by Cannon and Mendez. Japanese and Spanish nouns compete very closely in the amount of entries borrowed into English, at least in the period 1969-1986, although the differences escalate considerably when considering the historical total of borrowing of each language.

Real 9 The case of adjective loanwords, on the other hand, is somehow a surprise. Although Cannon and Mendez found differences between Japanese and Spanish—favoring Spanish—they were never as outstanding as the ones I found. Moreover, if we consider the historical aspect, the differences are almost insurmountable and Japanese turns into only a small contributor to English.

Further studies’ propositions It is clear that this research lacks the massive scope and media used by Cannon and others in their studies. However, it was my intention to make a small research that can show the interesting competition and the various stages and difficulties in the process of borrowing. When can a word be designed as borrowed? When it appears on dictionaries? When layman do recognize it as foreign but still they use it? All these intricacies sum up and create an extremely difficult panorama for the researcher. Therefore, researchers are faced with a number of difficult decisions, in which finally one has to choose between the lesser of two evils. It will be of course, extremely interesting to read a research on this area made with resources and time, that could discern the really “new” trends in English borrowings.

Real 10 Works Cited Cannon, Garland. “Recent Japanese Borrowings into English”. American Speech 69. 1994: 373397. Cannon, Garland and Beatrice Mendez Egle. “New Borrowings in English”. American Speech 54. 1979: 23-37. Correli, Linda. “Brief Etymological Review of the English Word-Stock”. Kemmer, Suzanne. “A Brief History of English, with Chronology”. “Various entries”. The Oxford English Dictionary. 2nd ed. CD-ROM. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1992.