新加坡式英语中闽南语借词chio bu的词汇化

The Lexicalization of Southern Min Dialect Loanwords in Singlish:—A Case Study of Chio Bu

语言区域内的语言接触带来语言变化。以chio bu一词词形和词义的演变例证新加坡式英语(Singlish)中闽南语借词逐渐褪去源语的词汇特征,具有英语词汇的特征。趋势分析结果显示chio bu在互联网时代的自媒体中活跃,地域色彩明显。语料库分析显示chio bu的使用日益让步于chiobu,在部分场合具备了英语数的形式;固化为单词,保留了名词性含义和特征,增加了英语前置定语的含义和特征;使用人群扩大,贬义的色彩弱化,增加了新语义成份。总之,闽南语借词通过借用强势语的语言特征获得更大的语言使用空间和更广泛的使用人群。

Language contact in a linguistic area triggers changes. The evolution of the Singlish word, chio bu, when examined morphologically and semantically, shows how the Southern Min dialect loanword forfeits its originally lexical features by adopting some English lexical features. A trend analysis finds that chio bu is medium active in we-media, and that it is closely connected with Singapore. A descriptive analysis of a mini-corpus online shows that 1) chiobu is more often used than chio bu, and the word gains grammatical number on some occasions; 2) chio and bu merge into one word maintaining nominal meanings and attributes and gaining meanings and attributes of the English pre-modifiers; 3) its derogatory sense is diminishing since it is used by a larger population, thus creating a new semantic element. The Southern Min dialect loanword gains more popularity with users by borrowing some linguistic features from the English language.