The Influence of German on the Lexicon of Palauan and Kosraean Author Stefan Engelberg University of Wuppertal Fachbereich A Gauss-Str. 20 D-42097 Wuppertal Germany
[email protected] http://www2.uni-wuppertal.de/FBA/germanistik/engelberg/welcome.html Abstract German loanwords are found in many languages in the South Pacific, in particular in those areas which were under German administration before WW I. The Austronesian languages in this area differ greatly with respect to the number of lexemes of German origin. The paper focuses on two languages of Micronesia, namely Palauan, with a comparatively high number of German loans, and Kosraean which had no German influence on its lexicon. The paper considers the balance of factors that contribute to the different loanword amounts. That German was taught in local schools for up to two decades did not, by itself, enhance borrowing from German. More weighty factors for the amount of borrowings from German are the length and strength of language contact with English and the use of German as a means of communication in particular settings in the years before WW I. Keywords Loanword, Language Contact, Second Language Learning, Language Teaching, Language Policy, Pidgin, Language Attitude, Palauan, Kosraean, German, English, Spanish. The Influence of German on the Lexicon of Palauan and Kosraean 2/20 1 Introduction Most of the languages spoken in Micronesia incorporated German loanwords into their lexicons. These borrowings go back to the two decades before WW I when large parts of Micronesia were under German administration, namely the Northern Marianas, the Caroline Islands, including the Palau Islands, the Marshall Islands and Nauru, leaving Guam and the Gilbert Islands (Kiribati) the only parts of Micronesia not administered by the Germans back then.