Identification of borrowings by urban speakers of Guinean Pular

Abstract

The paper describes pilot research conducted among Guinean Pular speakers. The aim of the research was to distinguish the factors, which enable the speakers to identify borrowed lexemes. A list of various lexemes was provided to several selected speakers of different Pular variations. The list included three groups of lexical borrowings, scaled by their adaptation level to the Pular system. The source languages of the borrowings were also different, as well as the types of borrowings (core / cultural). The speakers had to mark the lexemes that were, in their opinion, borrowed, and, if possible, provide a Pular alternative. Some conclusions drawn from the questionnaires were expected, for example, the borrowings from French, which is highly pragmatic language, were identified without exceptions. On the other hand, the unexpected conclusions included the fact that the level of education had no correlation with the ability to identify borrowings. Also the exact correlation of a lexeme’s adaptation level and its identifiability has been established.