journal of linguistic studies

ANGLICISMS IN THE MONTENEGRIN LANGUAGE
WITHIN COMPUTER CONTEXT
IGOR IVANOVIĆ
University of Montenegro, Podgorica, Montenegro
iggybosnia@gmail.com
ABSTRACT
This paper deals with acquisition of lexical elements from English into
Montenegrin. The scope of our analysis is limited to computer-related discourse
where the abovementioned acquisition in the Montenegrin language is the most
obvious one. The paper is methodologically and conceptually based on the Anglicism
adaptation theory of Rudolf Filipović. The main portion of our paper deals with the
corpus analysis, where we have given statistical overview of translated, adopted and
model words. Additionally, we will offer general statistics related to the current
situation in the Montenegrin language when it comes to the frequency of Anglicisms
from the computer-related discourse.
Keywords: Anglicisms; Lexical Borrowing; Computer Discourse; Contact Linguistics
1. INTRODUCTION
Information revolution took place in the 20 th century and directed the world into a
new dimension which will be of essential importance for its further development.
Furthermore, the revolution “deleted” most of the elements that were not in accordance to
its maxims, and accordingly, promoted elements that were in line to its principles. It has
introduced new standards, and all of the abovementioned changes were put forward
through the most prominent tools of the revolution: Internet (i.e. computers). It has also
created an “independent”, virtual reality with its own rules.
All of these observations are fully applicable to the linguistic reality, and their impact
on different languages is more than clear. As we have already stated, the new reality is set
into motion, and that requires a number of new words which will be used in order to
mirror the new reality. Since most of this reality is taking place in English speaking
countries, consequently, we are witnesses to the surge of lexical elements originating
from English. Numerous English words were created (and still are) and they spread
throughout the world together with the products bearing such words as their names.
Through their daily use (computers, mail, attachments), they have become an inextricable
part of our languages.
Our paper is based on the hypothesis the Montenegrin language has acquired a large
number of lexical elements directly related to the field of computers. Some of these
elements went through the process of primary of secondary adaptation, and a part of them
remained in the form of model word.
In the context of such an extensive acquisition the following observations are hard to
believe in. The first observation is related to the fact the influence of English on other
languages, prior to 1900, was a relatively moderate one (Sapir 1921):
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