Structural Borrowing

Abstract

STRUCTURAL BORROWING: A CASE STUDY OF THE INFLUENCE OF FRENCH ON GERMAN

Natural languages are constantly in a state of flux. The factors which motivate innovations in a language can, in broad terms, be classified as language-internal and language-external factors. The latter can furthermore be subdivided into those internal to a particular language community and those external to it. The tendency toward greater structural simplification of a language is an example of language-internal factors. Language external factors, which are internal to a particular language community, emanate from the role of a language as a means of communication within the society. Languages change in the course of the interaction between social classes and in the course of the transmission of the language system from generation to generation. Changes brought about by factors external to the language community are rooted in historico-geographical factors. Some of such factors, as pointed out by Chen (1972) are invasions, wars, migration, commercial traffic, intermarriage, proximity, bilingualism and borrowing. Borrowing from one language to another more readily takes place with lexical items than with the structure. An explanation for this fact can be found in Suchsland's (et al) (1976:610) suggestion that the semantic component of the language system and the lexicon are most closely linked with the development of society: "Am unmittelbarsten sind die semantischen Komponente des Sprachsystems und das Lexikon mit der Gesellschaftsentwicklung verbunden. Die materielle und geistige Entwicklung der Gesellschaft manifestiert sich in neuen Bewußtseinsinhalten und strukturen, für die neue Bezeichnungen gebildet oder schon vorhandene Wörter in neuer Bedeutung verwendet werden."