Pietilä, P. & O-P. Salo (eds.) 1999. Multiple Languages – Multiple Perspectives. AFinLA Yearbook 1999.
Publications de l’Association Finlandaise de Linguistique Appliquée 57. pp. 160–164.
LANGUAGE CONTACTS AS REFLECTED IN THE CHOICE OF THE VOCABULARY USED
IN NEWSPAPERS
Suliko Liiv, University of Tallinn
This article discusses the issue of language contacts, focusing on the influence of the English language on the choice of words in Estonian newspapers. The aim of the article is to analyse and classify different fields of life that use English words in newspapers, to determine what is the basis for the borrowings and how Estonians tend to treat the adopted words. English is a prestigeous language attractive especially for younger people; the older generation, however, does not favour the influence of the English language. More and more English loans have come into use.
Key words: language contacts, English and Estonian, newspaper language
1 INTRODUCTION
Linguists have become concerned with socially conditioned linguistic phenome-na, and social scientists have become more aware of the social nature of language (Giglioli 1976: 7). The history of the field is given concisely by R. Appel and P. Muysken (1988: 6–7):
“The roots of the linguistic study of language contact go back to the nineteenth century. William Dwight Whitney discusses the role of borrowing in language change. Hugi Schuchardt also documented a number of complex situations of language contact in publications from 1880 onward. In the wake of Schuchardt`s work a number of other linguists have continued to develop the linguistic study of language-contact phenomena. Works that present the first truly comprehensive view of language contacts date from the early 1950s, including Weinreich`s Languages in Contact (1953) and Haugen`s detailed study The Norwegian Language in America (1953).”
Discussing the reasons for studying language contact, we can recognize strong impulses both from social concerns and from developments in language studies. It is hoped that a thorough and impartial analysis of bilingual language behaviour will help to gain insight into the language problems of groups and individuals and thus support language planning and educational policies (Appel 1988: 4).
A large number of countries have become bilingual on a large scale in the last twenty years due to migration. In these communities more than one language is spoken. According to Appel and Muysken (1988: 5–6), the first historical situation of language contact is the linguistic archipelago: several mostly unrelated languages are spoken in the same ecosphere.
Sociolinguistically, these areas are characterized by extensive bilingualism, linguistically by widespread diffusion of words and elements of grammar from language to language. A good example of this situation is the former Soviet Union.
The second setting of language contact involves more or less stable borders between language communities with a different social status. One such border runs between the Romance and Germanic languages through Switzerland.
The third type of situation in which language contact occurs is the result of colonial expansion, where new varieties of languages resembling the original are created.
The fourth situation is in some sense the result of a reverse migratory movement: the influx of people from the post-colonial Third World societies into the industrial world. Another way in which different languages may influence each other and different varieties may become mixed up is through the process of borrowing. Whenever two languages are in contact, one is usually consi-dered more prestigious than the other, more logical and better able to express abstract thoughts (see Grosjean 1982:
120–123).
2 THE ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH WORDS USED IN ESTONIAN NEWSPAPERS
As Hachten (1987: xiii) has pointed out, the media of mass communication, along with the global telecommunication, are providing the essential linkages that make interaction and cooperation possible. Today, when English is one of the major world languages, most of the world’s news –
either by cable, radio, telex, or telegraph – is carried in English (Barber 1993: 234).
There is a considerable influence of English on the Estonian language at present. According to the information we get from the Telephone Directories, more than a half of the names of the firms and enterprises are of foreign (mainly English) origin. It is fairly common for languages to borrow words from some other languages, and it is quite logical that a joint venture chooses a name which both partners can pronounce and understand.
English is an important media language. The influence of English is well seen in Estonian newspapers; English words and phrases are well presented in advertisements. Language learners find newspapers motivating because they offer topical, relevant, and varied information.
Newspapers react very quickly to any changes in the development of the language. Many English borrowings have found their way into the Estonian language.
An analysis of the role of English in Estonian newspaper advertisements was carried out by a student of Tallinn Pedagogical University, Karita Sall, in her term paper (Sall 1997). The results of the research showed how freely English words are used in articles and advertisements. Language has been used in advertisements to shape a desired response – most typically some kind of “persuasion” (Stevenson &
Shaw 1984: 69). With their wide variety of text-types and language styles, newspapers are a good basis for language study. Newspapers also help you to share attitudes and to understand cultural values (Baddock 1984: 1).
However, people and countries differ in what they get from the news (Stevenson & Shaw 1984: 66). Newspapers are an excellent source of contemporary vocabulary.
The present research attempts to analyse the use of English borrowings in Estonian newspapers. The object of the present paper lies in viewing areas English borrowings come from. The material of the research comprises the Estonian weekly “Eesti Ekspress”, the daily newspapers
“Postimees” and “Päevaleht”. The corpus of instances gleaned from these sources is 500.
The analysis of the collected material shows that the bulk of the English words used in our newspapers have been adopted from the following areas:
computers (fail, veeb, veebisait, kompuuter, e-mail, deskjet, displei, modem,
faks, onlain, skanner, desktop, laptop, computerland, laser, printer, monitor, häkker, etc.)
music (diskor, disko, hitt, kompakt disk, kantri, hevi, DJ, show, jazz, hi-fi, singel, pop muusika, instrument,etc.)
economy (fast food, junk food, marketing, diiler, teller, liising, mänedzher, kapital, agent, partner, boss, import, eksport, etc.)
travelling (tuur, cruise, transfer, check-in, kämping, skaut, transiit, motell, transport, etc.)
politics (spiiker, briifing, liider, meer, opositsioon, diskussioon, debatt, kompromiss, etc.)
sports (start, finish, jaht, skateboard, surfama, ralli, kross, rägbi, hoki, penalt, etc.)
clothes (sviiter, dzhemper, pullover, bleiser, shortsid, dzhiinsid, second hand, bodi, mokasiinid, etc.)
performing art (fänn, happening, muusikal, superstar, seriaal, bestseller, videoklipp, happy end, vestern, sponsor, hitt, etc.)
In the majority of cases the borrowings are based on either the spelling or pronunciation, e.g.:
the spelling : teller, modem, pub, jackpot, barman, fan-club, investor, make-up, workshop, superstar, second hand, happy end, transfer, check-in
the pronunciation: pleier, tuuner, taimer, singel, räpp, rokk, laiv, diidzei, disain, dzinn, imidz, häkker, hevi, meik, fail, skriining
There is a tendency to use more and more borrowings based on the pronunciation (61 %).
It is also possible to use Estonian native words instead of English borrow- ings, and many people prefer the latter (21 %, according to K.Sall), e.g.
air conditioner – õhuvärskendaja; jackpot – peavõit; CD – kompakt disk; desktop – lauaarvuti; laptop – sülearvuti; e-mail – e-post; fast food – kiirtoit; junk food – rämps toit; popcorn – paisterad, etc.
The increasing role of mass media stimulates the process of borrowing.
The relations between English borrowings and their Estonian equivalents could be seen in the light of the following classification:
1. English borrowings are used to denote a notion which does not exist in Estonian (web, computer, modem, online, printer, website, etc.)
2. English borrowings are used as synonyms to their one-word counterparts in Estonian (briefing, jeans, disc-jockey, bestseller, etc.)
3. English borrowings are used as one-word synonyms to their Estonian counterparts (serial, single, LP, etc.)
3 CONCLUSION
English is considered a prestigeous language and thus attractive for both local and foreign customers. Newspapers react quickly to the changes that take place in the society and this is well reflected in the choice of the vocabulary. Newspapers offer very topical information. Estonian newspapers use many English words, and the borrowings are mainly based on the spelling or pronunciation.
The extensive use of English words in computer business is obvious – there are simply no Estonian equivalents yet to every word connected with computers. The same goes with the words belonging to the field of music.
The attitude of younger people is favourable toward the use of English words in Estonian press, as they also use quite a few English words and expressions in their everyday speech; – the older generation does not favour the influence of the English language on their mother tongue, they are more concerned about the purity of their mother tongue.
As a result of the influence of the English language on our culture, the Estonian language has been enriched due to borrowings from English.
References
Appel R. & P. Muysken 1988. Language contact and bilingualism. London: Arnold.
Baddock B. 1984. Scoop! Newspaper materials for English language practice. Oxford, New York: Pergamon Press Ltd.
Barber, C. 1993. The English language: A historical introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Czamara A. 1993. Complex nominals in the process of borrowing from English into Polish in the lexical field of trade and service industry. Krakow.
Giglioli P. (ed.) 1976. Language and social context. London: Cox & Wyman Ltd.
Grosjean F. 1982. Life with two languages. An introduction to bilingualism. Harvard University Press.
Hachten W.A. 1987. The world news prism. Changing media, clashing ideologies. Iowa State University Press.
Sall K. 1997. The Role of the English language in the adverstisements of Estonian newspapers. Term paper (manuscript). Tallinn.
Stevenson R.L. & D.L. Shaw 1984. Foreign news and the new world information order.
Iowa State University Press.
