Loan words and the borrowing process in two Ateso dialects

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Periodical article

Title:	Loan words and the borrowing process in two Ateso dialects
Authors:	Scotton, Carol M. Okeju, John
Year:	1975
Periodical:	Journal of the Language Association of Eastern Africa
Volume:	3
Issue:	1
Pages:	27-48
Language:	English
Geographic terms:	Uganda Kenya
Subjects:	Teso language loan words
Abstract:	This paper questions a) the emphasis in most discussions of linguistic borrowing and b) the most common methods used to detect borrowings. The importance of considering the borrowing process itself as well as the borrowed words is stressed. The Ateso (an East African language spoken in Uganda and in western Kenya) data show that most loans into any language will probably be nouns standing for new concepts or ideas. However, it was also found that, given a sufficiently strong cultural contact with another language group, speakers of a language may borrow various core vocabulary items. This is the case with those Ateso dialects which are relatively removed from the influence of any greater Ateso culture and for which other cultures instead are determining factors. Ref., notes, appendix.