Kowalczyk’s research monograph is the first comprehensive study in book form with a particular focus on informal borrowings, i.e. expressions taken from a foreign language and used in informal speech. Previous research is usually limited to the analysis of borrowings from individual donor languages and their general use and adaptation in the recipient language, without taking informal use into account. Kowalczyk’s study provides a detailed account of borrowings from various donor languages that have become common in informal American English, including expressions such as bimbo and shtick. The linguistic documentary evidence was collected from a large database of quotations including a variety of contemporary sources such as film, television, literature and the press. The study is based on established methodological approaches from documentary linguistics, especially slang lexicography, and sociolinguistics. The borrowings under scrutiny are analyzed from different perspectives, ranging from the underlying terminology to classify loan influences, relevant donor languages, their linguistic changes over time to their socio-cultural functions. The book also includes a comprehensive alphabetical glossary with about 1,200 lexical units, the meaning of which is reflected in 5,500 examples of use (pp. 147–301).
Kowalczyk’s research monograph is divided into seven chapters. Chapter 1 (‘Foundations’, pp. 5–21) is the first of two introductory chapters. It provides an overview of the state of research on borrowings and informal English. In addition, the main research methods developed for the study are presented, as well as a description of the linguistic data used. The methods used in data collection range from audio recordings and notes to analysis of the data available in language corpora.
The second introductory chapter (‘Terms’, pp. 22–44) defines the linguistic terminology used, including borrowings and informal language. It discusses existing traditional typologies for classifying loan influences, including essential types such as loan translation and semantic loan. It also addresses language contact phenomena other than lexical borrowing, including code switching. The second chapter also introduces and defines informal language with its two main subcategories: colloquialism and slang. Related terms such as non-standard and jargon are also covered.
The focus of the third chapter (‘Donors’, pp. 45–59) is on the various donor languages of the borrowings that have been adopted into informal American English. As might have been expected, most of these expressions come from Spanish. The results presented in this book thus confirm the widespread assumption that Spanish is the primary donor language in informal American English. Kowalczyk also points out that some of the borrowings considered have a complex etymology, i.e. they were influenced by more than one language (e.g. Yiddish and German). Furthermore, the third chapter presents some cases of pseudo-borrowing, which is the creation of a word that looks as if it was borrowed from a foreign language but does not appear in it.
The fourth chapter (‘Types’, pp. 60–78) focuses on the classification options for informal borrowings. A distinction is made between the types of borrowing that occur most frequently in the language data set examined and other, less common categories of loan influences. Kowalczyk mainly distinguishes between partially assimilated expressions, the most common category, and fully assimilated and unassimilated borrowings. The fourth chapter also proposes a series of criteria to evaluate the borrowed material studied according to its degree of modification, its frequency, its register and the degree of its impact (social and/or emotional), including borrowings considered vulgar.
The focus of the fifth chapter (‘Changes’, pp. 79–105) is on the modifications that borrowings show in informal English after their introduction. These changes affect the phonological, orthographic, morphological and stylistic levels. Within the different linguistic levels, a distinction is made between related subcategories. Examples of informal borrowings that show semantic changes, for instance, include the use of figurative language (metaphor and metonymy) and several additional developments. Stylistic changes, on the other hand, concern borrowings that were originally limited to informal registers and became more widespread/neutral over time.
The sixth chapter (‘Functions’, pp. 106–20) examines the reasons that might account for the use of informal borrowings in American English. For example, Kowalczyk points out that they are often used in place of standard English to convey additional social, cultural, rhetorical or cultural information, including the pursuit of familiarity or solidarity with a particular group of speakers, or due to the expression of emotion and the use of a specific linguistic repertoire to indicate cultural identity.
The seventh chapter (‘Themes’, pp. 121–40) considers the various semantic fields and areas of life in which informal borrowings can be found in American English, ranging from sex to the human body and intoxication. A distinction is made between core themes that relate to general informal American English and culture-specific themes that are associated with minority groups and immigrants and are therefore often linked to the experiences of the respective speakers, including prejudice and xenophobia. A third category includes a variety of different topics that cover a wide thematic spectrum, such as people and society, money, commerce and employment, arts, entertainment and media. The book ends with a detailed conclusion and a summary of the research results (see pp. 141–6).
As already mentioned, little or no attention has been paid to informal borrowings in existing studies. This book offers two advantages. On the one hand, it provides a detailed linguistic account of borrowings in informal American English, including colloquialisms and slang, thus filling a significant research gap. On the other hand, it can be used as a practical frame of reference that illustrates typical language use in different social and cultural contexts. The results presented are based on a comprehensive evaluation of language documentary evidence from a plethora of sources such as films, television and social media to describe authentic language use in American English.
The number of borrowings in informal language reflects the status of the United States as a country of immigration, influenced over time by numerous languages that have left their mark in the form of foreign language expressions, particularly in spoken English. As Kowalczyk herself emphasizes in her conclusion, the presence of colloquial borrowings in different contexts points to the growing importance of informal language use in America, which continues to be researched in a variety of ways (see pp. 141–6).
Much importance is placed on presenting, evaluating and illustrating the borrowings examined from different perspectives. In the analysis, the linguistic data is illustrated using representative examples that show typical linguistic patterns as well as the most common socio-cultural contexts in which they are usually embedded. The borrowed expressions are analyzed from different perspectives, including typological, semantic, morphological, pragmatic or thematic aspects.
The methodological framework of documentary linguistics and sociolinguistics, which implies the collection and analysis of a comprehensive data set of lexical expressions, makes it possible to demonstrate, through illustrative examples of use, the authentic language use typical of informal American English. The extensive glossary is of particular practical use. It consists of almost 1,500 lexical entries, each containing a definition in Standard English, usage examples, grammatical and etymological information, and a range of contextual usages, including references to the relevant sources.
The analysis is also diverse in that terminology, donor languages, types of borrowing and their changes on several linguistic levels as well as their functions and semantic fields are examined. Key findings from the study include: Spanish borrowings make up almost half of the total data set, with the vast majority of these borrowed from Mexican Spanish. Borrowings from Yiddish form the second largest group and account for a third of the entire data set. Other important donor languages to informal American English include Dutch, Japanese and Chinese, as well as German, French and Italian. Examples of comparatively minor donor languages that contribute to informal American English in the form of new expressions include Russian, Arabic and some African languages (e.g. Wolof). The lack of borrowings from languages such as Armenian or Norwegian is one of the unexpected findings, considering their historical use by large diasporas/communities in the United States (see chapter 3, pp. 45–59).
In addition, the present study convincingly shows that borrowings in informal American English can be categorized according to several main aspects and that there is a relationship between the type of loan influence and the donor language. For example, most loan blends can be traced back to Dutch, German and Yiddish. As far as classification by register is concerned, most borrowings in informal American English are slang terms, usually derived from Spanish or Yiddish (see chapter 4, pp. 60–78).
Kowalczyk knows how to clearly show that borrowings in informal American English are often subject to variations at different language levels. For example, in some cases orthographic modifications indicate regional differences in native languages, as is often the case with Yiddish. With regard to stylistic changes, an important finding is that the majority of borrowings examined tend to retain their informal status (see chapter 5, pp. 79–105).
The comprehensive analysis of the borrowings according to their function is particularly original. For example, Kowalczyk points out that the rhetorical function includes several different aspects such as informality, wordplay and small talk. The cultural function includes essential motivations such as the pursuit of cultural identity (see chapter 6, pp. 106–20). By dividing the borrowings into different themes, the reader gains a comprehensive overview of the complex semantic fields in which foreign-derived, informal expressions can be found in American English. What is particularly interesting is that within the group of culture-specific topics related to immigrants and minority groups, expressions that reveal minority experiences and perceptions are particularly common (see chapter 7, pp. 121–40).
Kowalczyk’s research monograph contains further interesting results and original ideas. Yet there are also a few points of criticism that will be presented below. Kowalczyk points out that Yiddish, once spoken by the majority of European Jews, is, along with Spanish, the most influential donor of several hundred informal borrowings in American English. Most of them were first documented in American usage in the twentieth century, when significant numbers of Jewish immigrants fled to the United States due to persecution in European countries. Since Yiddish plays such an important role in American English from a sociocultural perspective, it is all the more surprising that Kowalczyk does not mention the research of Sarah Bunin Benor, one of the leading experts in the field of Jewish English, considering Yiddish elements in American usage. In a series of studies, Benor concludes, based on extensive research, that expressions derived from Yiddish are used to create ethnolinguistic repertoires. The term refers to ‘a fluid set of linguistic resources that members of an ethnic group may use variably as they index their ethnic identities’, ‘the arsenal of distinctive linguistic features available to members of a given group’ (Benor Reference Benor2010: 160–2). Benor (Reference Benor2010: 160) points out that typical linguistic features include lexical and discourse-specific features, but also phonological, prosodic and additional features. No mention is made by Kowalczyk of Benor founding the HUC-JIR Jewish Language Project, including a website where a Jewish English lexicon is searchable online. The discussion and reflections on Benor’s scholarly work, findings and theories could have strengthened the sociolinguistic argument presented in Kowalczyk’s book, particularly with regard to the function of informal borrowings among immigrant and minority groups.
Despite these criticisms, Kowalczyk’s study is insightful in many ways and could serve as a basis for further research on borrowings and informal language. It can certainly serve as a catalyst for further study on a topic that has so far been neglected in academic discussion. With her study, Kowalczyk also makes the justified claim that, in addition to important linguistic insights, it also implies pedagogical issues that go beyond the subject matter (see the conclusion chapter, pp. 141–6). The sociolinguistic findings of the study, which also interpret linguistic variation in the context of cultural diversity, could also help raise awareness of socio-cultural diversity in different contexts and situations, including teaching English as a foreign language.
