The vocabulary of fashion – linguistic tendencies Cover Image

Les anglicismes récents dans le vocabulaire français de la mode
The vocabulary of fashion – linguistic tendencies

Author(s): Barbara Cynarska-Chomicka
Subject(s): Language and Literature Studies
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego

Summary/Abstract: In the French language of fashion, the number of foreign borrowings, especially from English, is rapidly increasing. Some of them, describing new styles, cuts, types of clothing or materials are indispensable, but most of them could be effortlessly substituted with French equivalents. Most often their usage has a ludic character. They acquire unique connotative values, which the analogous French terms lack. The brevity of the English terms is also an important factor in their favour. Borrowings sometimes fulfill the same grammatical function as in the language of their origin, but often the noun takes on the role of the adjective or the other way round. There are also verbs used as nouns or adjectives, which proves that this phenomenon does not occur merely in order to fill lexical blanks. A decisive factor influencing vocabulary is the worldwide popularity of the culture of English speaking countries.

  • Issue Year: 2011
  • Issue No: 11
  • Page Range: 75-82
  • Page Count: 8
  • Language: French