On the issue of formal assimilation of anglicism nouns in the genus category of the german language system and its national variants

Abstract

In the conditions of general globalisation, there is a massive consolidation of Anglicisms in all languages, including the German language with its national variants. The study of this process is topical and corresponds to modern priority scientific directions. Formal assimilation is an aspect of loaning foreign language material by a receptor language. It is this that allows foreign language material to gain a foothold in the system of the borrowing language. However, the German language we consider to be a receptor language, is not a monosystem formation due to its including of national variants. The German literary language is a potential abstract archsystem realised in three directions, sovereign systems of the German language (the German language of Germany, the Austrian and the Swiss varieties of the German literary language). The nature of the German language greatly influences the results of formal assimilation of borrowed material, since they will vary depending on the usage. Fluctuations in national variants arise both at the phonetic, lexical, grammatical, word-formation level, and can manifest themselves in relation to the processes of borrowing and Germanisation of foreign language material. This article studies and describes deviations and variations in the results of the formal assimilation of Anglicisms-nouns in the genus category, functioning in the national varieties of the German language of Austria and Switzerland in comparison with the German language of Germany. The acquisition of generic categorical meaning by borrowed units plays an important role in the German language system, since belonging to a certain grammatical gender is a mandatory and constant indicator of the part of speech “noun” and predetermines the further assimilation of the borrowed unit in the receptor language.