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Neighbors and Lexical Borrowings

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 March 2026

Carol Myers Scotton  and
John Okeju
Carol Myers Scotton
Affiliation:
University of Nairobi
John Okeju
Affiliation:
Bishop Kitching College, Uganda
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Abstract

Even with the recent interest in correlating linguistic performance with sociological variables, the tendency in discussions of lexical borrowing is to focus on the words themselves and to ignore the process. This paper argues that the process of borrowing determines what is borrowed. Most borrowings may well be nouns for items new to the borrowing language. However, given sufficiently pervasive cultural contact, speakers may borrow certain types of core vocabulary items in great numbers. Data to support these contentions come from a study of the dialects of Ateso, an East African language.

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Language , Volume 49 , Issue 4 , December 1973 , pp. 871 - 889
Copyright
Copyright © 1973 by Linguistic Society of America

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