Runglish in Action: Anglicisms in the Bilingual Mental Lexicon

128

Abstract

This paper examines the functioning of some new Anglicisms in the bilingual mental lexicon which consists of Russian as L1 and English as L2, by means of the association experiment. English-based neologisms of today have a number of interesting features: they exist in abundance, they are used extensively and ubiquitously, many of these words are not subject to a single spelling standard. The (bilingual) mental lexicon is key to exploring the semantic structures used by individuals to form and express thoughts, as well as to study their lexical representations. Based on quantitative and qualitative analyses of the free and the controlled association tests, the article concludes that the well-developed bilingual identity, on the one hand, contributes to putting L2 vocabulary knowledge into practice; on the other hand, it prevents L2 lexemes from becoming part of the bilingual’s L1. Thus, it is possible to assume that the higher the level of English the less likely it is that certain English words will turn into Anglicisms. Besides, the bilinguals' use of Anglicisms is characterized by a shift in the meaning of the L1 lexemes towards the corresponding English words.

General Information

Keywords: mental lexicon, Anglicisms, association method, bilingualism

Journal rubric: Linguodidactics and Innovations.Psychological Basis of Learning Languages and Cultures.

Article type: scientific article

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17759/langt.2022090210

Received: 17.06.2022

Accepted:

For citation: Bovshik A.S., Gaivoronskaya S.O. Runglish in Action: Anglicisms in the Bilingual Mental Lexicon [Elektronnyi resurs]. Âzyk i tekst = Language and Text, 2022. Vol. 9, no. 2, pp. 91–100. DOI: 10.17759/langt.2022090210. (In Russ., аbstr. in Engl.)

References

  1. Goliguzova O.A. Formirovanie leksicheskih konceptov u pozdnih subordinativnyh bilingvov kak osnova ih dvujazychnoj kompetencii [Elektronnyi resurs]. Voprosy psiholingvistiki [Journal of Psycholinguistics], 2018. Vol. 4, no. 38, p. 150-162. URL: https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/formirovanie-leksicheskih-kontseptov-u-pozdnih-subordinativnyh-bilingvov-kak-osnova-ih-dvuyazychnoy-kompetentsii/pdf (Accessed: 15.04.2022)
  2. Zalevskaja A.A. Slovo v leksikone cheloveka: psiholingvisticheskie issledovanija. In A. A. Zalevskaja (ed.). 1990. Voronezh: Izd-vo Voronezh. un-ta, 204 p.
  3. Krongauz M.A. Russkij jazyk na grani nervnogo sryva. 2008. Moscow: Izdatel'stvo Ast, 229 p.
  4. Aitchison J. Words in the mind: An Introduction to the Mental Lexicon. 2003. Oxford: Blackwell, 223 p.
  5. Baker C., Prys Jones S. Encyclopedia of Bilingualism and Bilingual Education. 1998. Bristol: Multilingual Matters, 784 p.
  6. Crystal D. Words. words, words. 2006. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 215 p.
  7. Étiemble R. Parlez-vous franglais? 1964. Gallimard. 436 p.
  8. Frances W. Bilingual Semantic and Conceptual Representation Handbook of Bilingualism: Psycholinguistic Approaches / Ed. by Judith F. Kroll, Annette M.B. de Groot. 2005. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015, p. 251-268.
  9. Haspelmath M., Tadmor U. Loanwords in the World’s Languages: A Comparative Handbook / Ed. by Haspelmath M., Tadmor U. 2009. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 1081 pp.
  10. Jarema G., Libben G. The mental lexicon. Volume 2. No 1. 2008. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company, 147 p.
  11. Kuperman V., Jarema G., Libben G. The Mental Lexicon Polylogue. Polylogues on the Mental Lexicon: An exploration of fundamental issues and directions. 2010. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company, 1-23 pp.
  12. Odlin T. Cross-Linguistic Influence. Language Transfer: Cross-Linguistic Influence in Language Learning. Chapter 15. 1989. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 436-478, URL: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/content/BPL_Images/Content_store/WWW_Content/9780631217541/16Chap15.pdf (Accessed: 20.04.2022)
  13. Paivio A. Mental Representations. A Dual-Coding Approach. Oxford Psychology Series. 1990. No.9. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 322 p.
  14. Pavlenko A. New Approaches to Concepts in Bilingual Memory. Bilingualism. 2000. V.3, no. 1. P. 211-212.
  15. Soanes C., Stevenson A. Oxford Dictionary of Current English. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006. 1074 p.
  16. Stemmer B., Harry A. Whitaker Handbook of the Neuroscience of Language. 2018. New York: Academic Press, 505 p.
  17. Thomason S.G. Language contact: An Introduction. 2001. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press,. 320 p.
  18. Zareva A. Structure of the second language mental lexicon: how does it compare to native speakers’ lexical organization? Second Language Research. 2007. V.23, no. 2, p. 123–153. URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/43103733 (Accessed: 27.04.2022)

Information About the Authors

Aleksandr S. Bovshik, PhD in Philology, Associate Professor, Moscow State University of Psychological and Education (MSUPE), Moscow, Russia, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9482-5449, e-mail: bovshikas@mgppu.ru

Svetlana O. Gaivoronskaya, BA in Linguistics, a graduate student of Department of Language Education and Intercultural Communication, Moscow State University of Psychology and Education (MSUPE), Moscow, Russia, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2658-7826, e-mail: gaivoronskaya.light@gmail.com

Metrics

Views

Total: 593
Previous month: 18
Current month: 25

Downloads

Total: 128
Previous month: 6
Current month: 5