Jovanka Lazarevska-Stanchevska

The Rise of Invisible Anglicisms: The Case of the Macedonian Language

Introduction

The rise of invisible anglicisms: the case of the macedonian language. Explore the rise of invisible Anglicisms in the Macedonian language. This research identifies criteria to detect calques, hybrids, and semantic loans, revealing their impact on anglicization.

Abstract

The main focus of the research is to determine criteria that will help identify invisible or partly invisible Anglicisms in the Macedonian language. The paper analyzes calques such as hate speech – говор на омраза, hybrids like online teaching - онлајн настава and semantic loans such as cookies - колачиња. The analysis is performed by contrasting grammatical and stylistic characteristics of the expressions in the source and target language and also by examining the lexical fields in which Anglicisms occur. It relies on a corpus of field-collected Anglicisms: direct borrowings, loan translations, hybrids and semantic loans. The research suggests that anglicization of the Macedonian language is to a great extent a result of the increase of the number of loan translations that prevail in the language in spite of their invisibility.   KEY WORDS • Anglicisms; loan translation; calques; hybrids; semantic loans.

Review

This paper addresses a highly pertinent and fascinating area within contact linguistics: the identification and analysis of 'invisible' Anglicisms. The chosen focus on the Macedonian language provides a valuable case study, as many studies on Anglicization tend to concentrate on more widely spoken European languages. The central aim, to establish criteria for identifying these subtle forms of linguistic borrowing, is both ambitious and crucial for a comprehensive understanding of language change and influence, moving beyond overt lexical transfers to more integrated and less immediately recognizable forms. The methodology outlined appears robust and multifaceted. The authors propose to analyze various types of Anglicisms, including calques (e.g., *hate speech – говор на омраза*), hybrids (*online teaching - онлајн настава*), and semantic loans (*cookies - колачиња*). The analytical approach involves a comparative examination of grammatical and stylistic characteristics between the source (English) and target (Macedonian) languages, complemented by an investigation into the lexical fields where these Anglicisms emerge. This dual approach, supported by a corpus of field-collected data encompassing different borrowing types, promises a thorough and nuanced analysis, particularly for uncovering the 'invisibility' factor. The research culminates in a significant finding: the anglicization of Macedonian is largely driven by an increase in loan translations, which exert a considerable influence despite their inherent invisibility. This insight is particularly valuable as it sheds light on the less obvious mechanisms of language contact and change, suggesting that the true extent of English influence might be underestimated if only direct borrowings are considered. The criteria developed and the in-depth analysis of these subtle forms of Anglicisms offer a substantial contribution to both the theoretical understanding of linguistic borrowing and practical efforts in language description and potential language planning for Macedonian.

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