by Catherine Haugen Wroldsen
We borrow words from languages all the time. Especially when we don’t have the phrases or words for it. Young people in Norway adopt more and more in their daily communication. Why is this happening? Does it affect the language in a positive or negative way? And does this also happen in Hong Kong?
Numbers from the Norwegian language council tells that there have been an increase the last 50 years of English adopted words. Just from 1953 to 2000 the Norwegian dictionary increased from 6,5 % English words to 9 %.
Borrowing words and alarms ringing
The Norwegian language council writes that the English language have today received a position as contributor of new words and phrases in Norwegians daily speech. English words and phrases are used even though there is a Norwegian translation. People also think it has a dark future for the Norwegian language, but a lot of the English borrowed words has an expiration date.
- Over time we have seen that the writing method kviss have taken root next to the English form quiz, explains Gisle Andersen. – and if a word becomes well established, it will find its way into the dictionary, as the case with quiz, kviss.
Gisle Andersen is a professor at the Norwegian School of Economics. He is the head of the language council´s professional advisory group for norming and language observation, which proposes writhing methods and inflectional forms in Bokmål and Nynorsk.
- Wherever the need for communication do not indicate the use of English or any other foreign language, Norwegian must feel like the only natural language choice. Only in that moment where English is used without it being necessary, the alarm bells should start ringing. Writes Gjert Kristoffersen a professor in Nordic linguistics, at the University in Bergen, in an article for the Norwegian paper Aftenposten.
Learn more by clicking here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=6&v=b1fc7NXdZ7g&feature=emb_logo
The students of HKBU
Liu Po Kwan aka Katie is a local student at Hong Kong Baptist University and she explains how she use English in her daily speech.
- I use “hello”, “happy birthday” and “goodbye”. When I speak Cantonese I usually ad some English words in the sentence. We will directly translate the Chinese word into English, but the English word it does not mean the same. For example; add oil.
“Orig. and chiefly Hong Kong English. Add oil!: expressing encouragement, incitement, or support: go on! Go for it!”. As written in the Oxford English Dictionary.
Do you think English is affecting the language positively or negatively?
- I would say it is positive. Because Cantonese is the language in Hong Kong and Hong Kong is a place where western and Chinese culture is mixed. So, speaking in that way I think we are representing our culture.
Cody Cheung, a local student at Hong Kong Baptist University explains how she use English in her daily life.
- We don’t say canteen in Chinese, most of the time we use both languages in our daily conversation.
Do you think English is affecting the language positive or negative?
- We have two official languages in Hong Kong, so we just use them both because it is a necessary thing for us to use in our daily life.
The digital community
Pop culture and social media have a bigger impact now than ever before. Easier access to internet is affecting in some way how we talk and communicate. We do as they do. The English and American influence is around us every day. Celebrities update us with their daily life on social medias like Instagram or snapchat and movies are usually from America with the main language set to English.
- Social media is a bigger part of a bigger picture where, in a completely different way than ever before, we are a part of something global, or more precise American dominated culture. Culture and media community where English in a big part works as a common language. For some Norwegians who grow up today, English is a natural part of their everyday which they encounter in many areas of the digital community. Explains Erlend Lønnum, senior adviser at the Norwegian language council.
Languages are going extinct
National Geographic is mentioning in their article, The Race to Save the World´s Disappearing Languages, that one language dies every two weeks. They are interviewing Wikitounges who is a volunteer organization who is expanding access to language revitalization. They record and document languages around the world and publish them online, so they are available for others.
They predict that within the next five years around 500 languages could disappear.
Read more here: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2018/04/saving-dying-disappearing-languages-wikitongues-culture/
Fact box
- English is a west Germanic language
- It is the official language in 67 countries
- Pangram – a sentence that contains every letter in the language; The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog
- Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis – is the longest word in English
Language Culture and Society in Hong Kong (and beyond) 