Make mine burakku

Abstract

If a language has contact with another language, there is a distinct possibility that language will make use of loan words from the language with which it has contact. All ·languages appear to do this, although not all do this to the same extent. There are a number of reasons why a language would use a loan word. There are also a number of reasons why a language would not. In general, it is the case that when a foreign item or concept is introduced into a culture, there is the possibility that that item will retain its original name, with a significant change in phonological (and possibly morphological) features. If we consider the case of English, we see numerous examples of this in recent years. Many Americans eat kimchi, sukiyaki (pronouneced/ suwkiyreki/) , goulash, borst, pulgogi, halupkis, pie a la mode, and eclairs. Not all at the same meal, of course. Many Americans can talk semi-intelligently about karate (pronounced/klnihtiy I), judo, sumo, or even tekwando. Many also know about haiku, kabuki, and noh. Even if the foreign concept is not entirely alien, the original name may be kept if there is something significant about it: thus, American~ freely talk about sputniks, even though we have the word satellite at our disposal.