VON POWERFRAUEN BIS JUNK-FOOD-ESSERN: ANGLIZISMEN IN DER SPRACHE DEUTSCHER FRAUENZEITSCHRIFTEN
FROM POWERFRAUEN TO JUNK-FOOD-ESSER: ANGLICISMS IN THE LANGUAGE OF GERMAN WOMEN’S MAGAZINES

Summary/Abstract: This paper examines anglicisms in the language of German women’s magazines. Although a very common phenomenon in the German language, the term ‘anglicism’ is still not sufficiently determined, as the paper shows. The empirical analysis has shown that the English influence is significant, especially in borrowing nouns, less in borrowing adjectives and verbs. A semantic analysis of the anglicisms proves most words to belong to thematic fields such as fashion and beauty. Hybrid compounds, the so-called Mischkomposita, were examined more thoroughly. The 346 examples have shown that the orthographic, grammatical features and those regarding word formation follow the rules of the German language. Hyphenated compounds are the most common in our corpus, which could mean that most of them still are occasional formations, on their way to integration. As to the possible reasons for the abundant use of anglicisms in women’s magazines, we suggest stylistic and space saving motives. We also observed that recently, possibly due to the English influence, German compounds seem to be tending to hyphenation.

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