What is borrowing in sociolinguistics?

Answer 1

when one language is using a word from another language.

In Sociolinguistics 'Borrowing' refers to 'copying'. It has four important characteristics:

i. Borrowing of Easily Detachable Elements: Such elements can easily be picked out of their parent language without carrying over any additional properties along with them. For example, the names of the food items like Pizza, pudding, burger etc are much used in Urdu language also.

ii. Borrowing After Modification: A few items are borrowed after a little modification in them in order to make them adjustable in the new language. For example, English borrowed Urdu Orderly Lantern

iii. Borrowing of the compatible Items: Some times a dominant structure of a language is borrowed. The borrowed structure is not new to the borrowing language either, though only in limited use. Since the room for compatibility is already present, the new structure gets easily assimilated in the borrowing language e.g. French language unusually places Adj after the noun like: Un visage blanc The face white. But the people living close to the border of Germany usually place the Adjective in the pre modifying slot. This change occurred because in French language the structure readily existed but in a very few expressions like 'le petit garcon' (a small boy) ' la jollyie femme (the pretty woman)

iv. Minimal Adjustment: Two neighboring languages usually influence each other. But this influence is not established in a day. The mutual borrowing takes place only in small dozes. One doze paves the way for a series of more dozes. But no 'big leap' ever occurs in the borrowing process.