2

This question is not the exact same as this question here,. Here, I want to ask if code mixing (if that's the right term) is affecting languages which are in contact with English.

E.g. Hindi is losing the honorific ji and that has (probably) happened after the contact with English.

Has this happened with other languages too?

Improve this question
4
  • I am not convinced that grammatical loans are at all common. Languages borrow lexical items; other features are usually due to their internal development, or extra-linguistic issues. In this case, "contact with English" comes together with contact with capitalism, and associated simplification of class relations. I would posit that the possibilities are, in decreasing order. 1. the loss of honorifics is due to an internal process of degrammaticalisation; 2. the loss is due to society in the background becoming less hierarchical; 3. The loss is due to English influence.
    – Luís Henrique
    Commented Oct 14, 2017 at 14:14
  • 1
    1 No , 2 definitely not 3 Yes, that's what my exact question is, does this influence applies to other languages as well? (Well, to convince you, aclweb.org/anthology/W14-3914 this is a paper on basically lexical but, also has a few borrowed grammatical constructs examples of code-mixing, which I have been through a lot of times and I know what it is like. The fact that I cannot give more examples off hand and can explain the phenomenon, but nonetheless observe it, made me ask the question.)
    – WiccanKarnak
    Commented Oct 14, 2017 at 18:20
  • 1
    Is it possible there's just regression to the mean? I don't know Indic, but in Europe and the Mediterranean tu was normal ca 2000 years ago, the T-V distinction started in courts half a millennium later, really became the continental norm 1000 to 500 years ago, but never really prevailed in some village dialects between people of the same social class.
    – Adam Bittlingmayer
    Commented Oct 15, 2017 at 6:06
  • @A.M.Bittlingmayer I am still looking that up, don't know about T-V distinction yet :) . Am a 12th grader now (we don't have linguistics as a subject till 12th, this is all out of my hobby)
    – WiccanKarnak
    Commented Oct 16, 2017 at 7:44

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
2

I'm not quite sure about this, but I would like to point out on a side note that English took some of its honorifics from France. Mr. is basically Monsieur and Mrs., Maistresse (mistress). So if you just want examples of mixed cultural honorifics, the English language itself is a good example of this.

Improve this answer
7
  • This is interesting fact Molly, but no i was not asking about : So if you just want examples of mixed cultural honorifics... is not what I was asking for. What I am asking though is : a) since English doesn't have a good system of honorifics (Mr. and Mrs. are universal and as you pointed out, there are borrowed) b) and since Hindi does have a better system of honorifics (if X > Y , Y would call X as X ji and many more) c) and since Hindi has undergone significant code-mixing with English in India d) and lastly Hindi's honorifics are losing ground now; is (d) a result of (c) ?
    – WiccanKarnak
    Commented Oct 16, 2017 at 0:30
  • I'm looking up examples right now, but here's one I've got so far: the Hindi-Persian mixing word for "uncle" is cacaa, and the Hindi-English mixing word is ankal. Apparently, one could either say "cacaa jaan" or ankal jii" (which uses the jaan/jii example you talked about), but not "cacaa jii" or "ankal jaan".
    – Molly Taylor
    Commented Oct 16, 2017 at 0:37
  • In this study, the opposite of what you're asking about seems to have happened: In all three extracts, every family member uses Korean words instead of English when calling, or addressing each other. [...] When the English-dominant son calls his daddy or mommy, he shifts to Korean each time he specifically calls A-p ah (Daddy) and Um-ma (Mommy) from his primary language. When calling his sister, he [...] does not follow the American way of calling each other by name within the same generation.
    – Molly Taylor
    Commented Oct 16, 2017 at 0:46
  • The sources, respectively: books.google.com/… polydromo.gr/pdf/Epistimoniko/ekpaideysh_goneis_/… I feel that last one is useful even though it comes to a different conclusion because, to understand a phenomenon, it's always important to study cases where that situation did not turn out as expected. Hope some of this helps!
    – Molly Taylor
    Commented Oct 16, 2017 at 0:46
  • Woah you have done quite a lot of research, for your Persian and Hindi examples I am sorry I didn't mention it earlier I am an Indian myself. cacca jii is perfectly accepted as it was the original form (i.e. before the mising happened) as for ankal jaan I am not sure but it is spoken quite often. cacaa jii is accepted in your source as well
    – WiccanKarnak
    Commented Oct 16, 2017 at 7:35

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.