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Article published In: Diachronica
Vol. 38:4 (2021) ► pp.565–600

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Loanwords vs relics

A new method in lexical borrowing studies exemplified by Yiddish-Slavic language contact

ORCiD logo with link | University of Warsaw
 | University of Warsaw
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Available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC) 4.0 license.

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Published online: 15 March 2021
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https://doi.org/10.1075/dia.19047.gel
Abstract
One of the major issues in historical and contact linguistics is how to distinguish between inherited and acquired vocabulary in a given language: both traditional historical linguistics and modern contact linguistics are in this respect eventually forced to resort to inferences. The aim of this paper is to propose a diagnostic test to aid in the identification of putative substratum relics in the lexicon. The method for this test consists in juxtaposing and comparing word families in the source and recipient language. We use the example of Yiddish-Slavic language contact, in which contact-induced changes are still relatively transparent. We employ wordnets – digital networks of lexical entities connected by lexico-semantic relations – in order to visually “map” lexical and semantic relations of transferred lexemes within the recipient language onto the source language. The method allows us to combine contemporary empirical data with historical analysis.
Zusammenfassung
Lehnwörter oder Relikte: Eine neue Methode in der Lehnwortforschung veranschaulicht am Jiddisch-Slawischen Sprachkontakt
Eine der zentralen Fragen der historischen Sprachwissenschaft sowie der Kontaktlinguistik ist die Unterscheidung zwischen ererbtem und erworbenem Wortschatz einer Sprache. In dieser Hinsicht sind beide Disziplinen letztendlich gezwungen, auf Mutmaßungen zurückzugreifen. Ziel dieses Beitrags ist es, eine neue Methode vorzuschlagen, die bei der Identifizierung vermeintlicher Reliktwörter aus der ehemaligen Substratsprache hilft und diesbezügliche Behauptungen untermauern soll. Wir untersuchen diese Frage am jiddisch-slawischen Sprachkontakt, bei dem kontaktbedingte Sprachveränderungen noch relativ gut sichtbar und transparent sind. Hierfür verwenden wir die Mapping-Methode, die auf der Projizierung der lexikalisch-semantischen Relationen eines übernommenen Wortes in der Nehmersprache auf dieselben in seiner Gebersprache beruht. Dies geschieht mit Hilfe von Wordnets, digitalen Netzwerken lexikalischer Entitäten, die durch lexikalisch-semantische Relationen verbunden sind. Diese Methode erlaubt es, empirische Daten aus zeitgenössischen Quellen mit historischer Analyse zu kombinieren.
Résumé
Les emprunts vs les survivances: Une nouvelle méthodologie dans les études sur les emprunts lexicaux à l’exemple du contact linguistique yiddishslave
En linguistique historique et en linguistique de contact une des questions les plus importantes concerne la distinction entre le vocabulaire hérité et le vocabulaire emprunté. Pour répondre à cette question, la linguistique historique traditionnelle aussi bien que la linguistique de contact moderne se réfèrent aux inférences. Le présent article propose une nouvelle méthodologie afin d’identifier des survivances observées dans le lexique et qui va corroborer nos conclusions. Notre étude concerne le contact linguistique yiddish/slave, dans lequel les changements sont relativement transparents et clairs. Dans notre analyse, nous nous servons de la méthodologie du mapping des relations lexicales et sémantiques des lexèmes transférés se trouvant dans la langue réceptrice jusqu’à la langue source en utilisant des wordnets, c’est-à-dire des réseaux numériques de données lexicales reliées entre elles par des relations lexicosémantiques. Cette méthodologie permet d’associer les données empiriques tiréesde sources contemporaines avec une analyse historique linguistique.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Yiddish-Slavic language contact
  • 3.Methods: The diagnostic test
    • 3.1Terminology and data collection
    • 3.2The diagnostic test
      • 3.2.1Working hypothesis
      • 3.2.2Procedure
        • a.Semasiological analysis
        • b.Collocational analysis
        • c.Derivational analysis
        • d.Onomasiological analysis
    • 3.3Limitations of the test
  • 4.Results
    • 4.1Semasiological analysis
    • 4.2Collocational analysis
    • 4.3Derivational analysis
    • 4.4Onomasiological analysis
    • 4.5Verification
      • 4.5.1Testing on a sample Polish loanword candidate in Yiddish
      • 4.5.2Testing on Slavic relics in German
  • 5.Discussion
    • 5.1Cross-linguistic mapping – a new proposal for lexical borrowing studies
    • 5.2Limitations of mapping as a method
      • 5.2.1Material limitations
      • 5.2.2Technical limitations
      • 5.2.3Lexicological limitations
  • 6.Conclusions
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • Abbreviations and other markers
  • References
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