Dr Laila Abdel Aal Alghalban
DID you know that your speech is a stunning cultural and linguistic cocktail, an incredible mosaic of words and structure of diverse origins, all harmoniously functioning together to paint your speech landscape? Linguistic borrowing is a universal process; no language is immune from it; intercultural contact has made it inevitable. Linguistic purity is a rarity or a myth. The issue of linguistic borrowing is incredibly polarising; it has long triggered much debate and a row between borrowing enthusiasts who believe that borrowing is an asset for enriching languages on the one hand and pessimists or purists who argue that borrowing is a real threat to languages as over- borrowing could rob them of their identities. In Egypt as well as the Arab world, the issue has raised deep anxiety and fear over the obsession with loanwords and code switching on an unprecedented scale even in the presence of Arabic equivalents, a matter that merits a critical discussion.
Why borrowing?
The extent to which languages rely on borrowing from others depends on power relationship and the degree of influence each language has. Generally, borrowing thrives in the time of civilisation decay. When people stop making intellectual and material achievements and innovations their language stops producing or donating new vocabulary. Borrowing, then, becomes the alternative, to cope with the new reality. Historically, what causes a language to prevail and donate to other languages is the power of its speakers culturally, militarily and economically. Some domains like science, technology, fashion and economy, by their very nature, rely more heavily on loanwords than others. The full or partial adaptation of loanwords into recipient languages is driven by many sociolinguistic factors, on top of which are the urgent need to borrow words for objects and concepts not found in the recipient languages and cultures, technically termed ‘lexical gaps’, and social prestige.
English: The biggest borrower and donor
English is an amazing example of how borrowing, back and forth, is culturally and linguistically rewarding. When the Normans invaded England in 1066, French replaced the English language in almost all domains; the cultural, political and religious elites swiftly shifted to French for social mobility. That was the dark age of English, which was only used by poor classes. English borrowed thousands of words from French and Latin, a matter that enriched the language like never before. However, English was lucky; it made a strong comeback, after wars between England and France that spanned 100 years. Ever since, interestingly and ironically enough, English has become the primary donor of words to French, despite the extraordinary efforts of the members of the French Academy ‘Académiefrançaise’ to keep the language pure, supported by fans of the French language, who are metaphorically called the linguistic police. All attempts to purify languages have historically proven unsuccessful.
Why the panic over linguistic borrowing?
The vast majority of the English vocabulary has been borrowed from nearly all of the world’s languages. The words adapted coherently integrate into the English language dictionary after undergoing a process of natuarlisation to fit into the phonological, morphological and grammatical system of the English language. Eventually, they become English, rather than a threat. Excessive rejection of foreign vocabulary may lead to the isolation and marginalisation of languages.
Unworkable protective linguistic measures
Learning foreign languages at a young age cannot be accused of littering native languages with loanwords. In many countries around the world, children learn several languages simultaneously without thinking that they speak different languages. Borrowing foreign vocabulary or teaching foreign languages to children is never to blame and protective linguistic measures of the language have historically proved to be unworkable.
Social incubation
What would the Academy of Language, the National Centre for Translation, and other cultural bodies do to curb the torrent of loanwords pumped into our language every day? Certainly, there should be societal assistance. The French Academy, for instance, has made spotting foreign words and providing the French equivalents a public mission, urging everyone, especially young people, to participate in a bid to enhance interest in the national language. Without this synergy, the efforts of the institutions will not bear fruit in creating the social incubation that promotes the native language equivalents so as to be attractive to new generations.
Balanced language interaction
The obsession with lexical borrowing comes within our infatuation with all foreign clothing brands, food, arts, literature, behaviour, ideas and values. It is associated with opportunities for a better future, social indexicality and mobility. And when the historical conditions to come up with intellectual contribution and innovations for human civilisation by adhering to science are set right, and when we put trust in our cultural legacy and refine it, Arabic will turn into a donor language. This will give way to a more balanced language interaction.
The reluctance of many parents to encourage their children to master Arabic reading or writing, the growing tendency to write Arabic in Latin letters among young people, and the low quality of media content must be addressed. This is the primary step towards creating the healthy linguistic environment to make borrowing an asset, rather than a threat.
Easier said than done
Of course, this definitely is easier said than done. It requires so much work, officially and communally. Finally, linguistic borrowing is a universal phenomenon and we have to understand its dimensions and take it as an opportunity to enrich languages and promote their vitality.
By Dr Laila Abdel Aal Alghalban
Professor of Linguistics
Faculty of Arts
Kafr el-Sheikh University
Email: [email protected]
