Loanwords.Pdf

Introduction Survey Loanword Comprehension Purpose: Participant information: Meaning of ‘Focaccia’ vs. Years Living in Canada 80 • To survey native Canadian English (C.E.) speakers and non-native English • 166 total participants between the ages of 18-65, with a mean age of 21 speakers to compare comprehension and use of international lexical items • 72% are female, 28% are male, and 1% identified as other 60 • 120 participants reported English as a first language, and 46 reported a Flat bread 40 Hypotheses: native language other than English A sandwich 1. Native Canadian English speakers will correctly define more loanwords • Participants include native speakers of 15 different languages other than % correct 20 I don't know English, and non-native speakers of an additional 10 languages than non-native speakers. 0 • The languages most commonly spoken or studied by participants are 2. Native Canadian English speakers will use loanwords more frequently 0-2 2-5 5-10 10-15 Entire life than non-native speakers. represented in the word cloud below • % of correct loanword identification increases, and % of ‘I don’t know’ Fluency of Non-native Speakers Methods: decreases with years spent living in Canada. Loanword comprehension could Is English your native result from increased exposure to multiculturalism in Canada language? 60 50% • Selected 16 loanwords from 8 language 50 families (Arabic, Chinese, French, 41% German, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, and Semantic Shift No 40 Spanish); many were food-related What exactly is sushi, anyway? 28% % 30 • Surveyed the recognition, use, and • Native C.E. speakers correctly defined sushi only 44% of the time (and 94% 20 comprehension of international Yes lexical items between native C.E. of them use it), while non-native speakers did so 70% of the time 72% 10 7% • The correct definition was chosen by all native Japanese speakers (the 2% and non-native speakers word’s language of origin), all native English speakers who speak or study 0 • Examined language proficiency Japanese, all Mandarin speakers, and over half of Cantonese speakers Native/near-native Fluent Intermediate Basic and time spent living in Canada • We hypothesize that the number of incorrect responses made by native C.E. speakers is due to semantic shift, and that the meaning of the word has narrowed from ‘rice topped with seafood or vegetables’ to ‘raw fish’ Results What does the word ‘sushi’ mean? 80 Languages most often 70% 1. Mean Percentage of 2. Mean Percentage 70 borrowed from by native Use of the Word ‘Sushi’ Raw fish Correct Loanword Definitions of Loanword Use 60 Canadian English 50 47% 44% speakers, from Use 'sushi' Do not use 'sushi' Rice topped with 100 100 % 40 seafood/vegetables bottom to top. 100 94% 96% 30 22% Japanese cuisine ‘Déjà vu’ was used 85% 20 9% 9% most frequently in 80 75% 80 76% 10 0% 0% I don't know both native and 80 68% 0 non-native Native speakers Non-native speakers vocabularies 60 60 60 % % % Conclusion 40 40 40 • Hypothesis 1 was proven correct. On average, native speakers of C.E. correctly defined loanwords 85% of the time, and non-native English speakers chose the correct definition 75% of the time 20 20 20 • Hypothesis 2 was also proven. Based on the average across all loanwords, native Canadian English speakers reported more frequent usage than non- 6% 4% 0 0 native speakers, with rates at 76% and 68%, respectively 0 • Finally, our findings on loanword usage and comprehension support the idea Native Non-native Native Non-native Native speakers Non-native speakers speakers speakers speakers speakers of a growing international lexicon in Canadian English .

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