Moslih A. SAEID,
M.A. &Ph.D. student at Vienna University
Assistant Teacher at the, School of Basic Education, University of Duhok, Kurdistan
LANGUAGE CHANGE
AND THE PROCESS OF LEXICON BORROWING IN KURDISH
All living languages undergo change over a period of time, often so slow and
gradually that the speakers are not aware of the changes until long period has
passed. Changes take place in all areas of language: in pronunciation, in syntax, and
in lexicon. The area of lexicon change is the most visible one and could be observed.
One of the main reasons behind lexicon change in Kurdish is borrowing words from
other languages. The new words which come into Kurdish via process of borrowing
will be assimilated. The process of language change occurs when different
languages come to contact with each another.
The process borrowing is a natural phenomenon which occurs due to external and
internal factors. Borrowing in Kurdish is essentially a social phenomenon; social
factors like: religion, politics, Identity, and prestige play a considerable role in this
process, but it is mistake to consider them to be the only factors that let the speakers
of Kurdish language to borrow words from other languages. It’s worthwhile saying
that both elements of time and place also are influential on the process of lexicon
borrowing in Kurdish. In some periods of the history of the Kurdish language words
were borrowed from neighboring languages into Kurdish under certain
circumstances, and in other periods Kurdish linguists tried to liberate the Kurdish
language from foreign influence by replacing borrowed words by native Kurdish
words. By doing this, Kurdish linguists don’t deal with all borrowed words in the same
way; they think that European borrowed words seem to match the phonological
system of Kurdish better than Arabic borrowed words. The target of this paper is to
show how external factors influence Kurdish speakers and cause change of the
language.