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Keywords:

Social Sciences, Linguistics, Language & Linguistics, borrowability, entrenchment, core vocabulary, Cognitive Linguistics, onomasiological variation, usage-based hypothesis, LEXICOSTATISTICS, 1601 Anthropology, 2004 Linguistics, Languages & Linguistics, 4401 Anthropology, 4704 Linguistics

Abstract:

It is often claimed in contact linguistics that core vocabulary is highly resistant to borrowing. If we want to test that claim in a quantitative way, we need both a quantitative measure of coreness and a method for quantifying borrowability. We suggest here a usage-based operationalization of coreness in terms of entrenchment, and of borrowability in terms of onomasiological success. Applying these measures in a corpus-based study on the use of English person reference nouns in Dutch, we show via a multivariate statistical analysis that there are indeed clear indications of an inversely proportional relationship between the success of the English nouns and the degree of coreness/entrenchment of the concept lexicalized by the loanwords. © John Benjamins Publishing Company.