Culture · 6 pages · 12 min
How loanwords keep or drop their sounds
A borrowed word is rebuilt so it uses only the sounds and sequences the new language allows.
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From the opening
Loanwords keep sounds the borrowing language already has, and they repair sounds and sequences it does not allow. The repair may substitute a nearby sound, insert a vowel, or drop a consonant. The opening covers illegal clusters split or shrink, missing contrasts collapse into one sound, and stress and tone are reassigned.
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Inside
- Illegal clusters split or shrink
- Missing contrasts collapse into one sound
- Stress and tone are reassigned
- Many loans can add a new sound
- Where the idea stops applying
- A distinction worth keeping
Sources
- Loanword adaptation to the borrower's phonology
- Vowel insertion and sound substitution in borrowing