Categorization of Linguistic Borrowing: Haugen’s Model

Language contact is a phenomenon that emerges when groups of people speaking different languages seek to communicate with one another, and as a consequence, various linguistic phenomena transpire; and “borrowing” is one of them. Borrowing is generally defined as the transfer of language elements from one language to another. In this sense, borrowing is not only related to words, but also to various linguistic fields such as semantics, morphology and phonology. Therefore, researchers have attempted to develop various borrowing classifications by taking various parameters into consideration. The categories developed by researchers such as Bloomfield (1933), Betz (1949) and Haugen (1950, 1953) are the cases in this regard. Even though there are some different recent approaches, it is seen that they are based on Haugen (1950), who proposed a comprehensive categorization of borrowing based on the concepts of importation and substitution. Since the categorization in question is a borrowing classification that is commonly recognized, widely accepted and still utilized today, it is possible to say that it is a principal categorization. This categorization has some categories and subcategories such as lexical borrowing, loanword, hybrid borrowing, transferred borrowing and formation. In the present study, borrowing, the history of borrowing categories, major borrowing categories and basically the main features of Haugen's (1950, 1953) borrowing categories have been discussed. This study aims to contribute to the relevant literature on this specific subject.