Tagalog borrows time expressions from Spanish and uses English for years, showcasing the complexities of language contact and loanwords.
Conlangers can add depth and realism to their constructed languages by considering the dynamics of loanwords and native terms.
Deep dives
Language Contact and Loanwords in Tagalog
Tagalog, a language spoken in the Philippines, showcases the complexities of language contact and loanwords. Despite having a native numeral system, Tagalog borrows time expressions from Spanish and uses English for years. This borrowing of entire numeral systems and segments of the vocabulary is a phenomenon that interests conlangers. Social situations, multilingual societies, technological advancements, and religious influences can all contribute to the borrowing of function words, technical terms, and liturgical terms. The borrowing of terms can also occur indirectly, such as Chinese borrowing Western scientific terms from Japanese. Considering the domains of vocabulary that might be borrowed wholesale, as well as the varying receptiveness of languages to loanwords, can enhance the development of conlangs.
Mixing Loanwords and Native Terms in Conlangs
When constructing conlangs set in the real world or a conworld, conlangers can mix borrowed terms with native terms to create linguistic diversity. While nouns are commonly borrowed, verbs tend to be borrowed less frequently. Historical and cultural factors can influence the openness of languages to loanwords, with some periods being more receptive and others focusing on creating native terms for everything. The example of English, a famously open language to loanwords, contrasts with languages like Chinese, which are less open. By considering the dynamics of loanwords and native terms, conlangers can add depth and realism to their constructed languages.
We didn’t get a full episode out this week, but George didn’t want to have a week with nothing at all, so he “reads”* the date in Tagalog, then goes on a ramble about loanwords a bit. Top of Show Greeting: Lingwa de Planeta Text of that date and time expression, for the curious: Ika-4 ng... Read more »
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