Microsoft Word 81843-1179932786- mstyblo thesis0516

DATAANALYSIS

Overview

This chapter presents the data collected and uses graphs to highlight the propertiesthatwillbeimportantfortheanalysis.EachEnglishloanwordanditsRussiancounterpart(s) is analyzed within the context of the adjectives that they most frequentlycollocatewith.Thedata collectedfromthe Russian NationalCorpusshows whichadjectives appear with each noun, and how many times each adjective-noun combinationoccurs.The frequencies of the most prevalent adjective-noun combinations, or semanticcontexts, are shown for each English loanword and its Russian counterpart.This data iscollected in a table and displayed in a graph, so that the semantic contexts of loanwordsandcounterparts areeasyto compare.

Each loanword-counterpart(s) group is analyzed, with attention paid to adjectivesthat frequently collocate with the loanword butnot the counterparts, or the converse.Such adjectives are grouped and analyzed according to their meaning, their qualitative orrelational nature, and their emotional connotation.Then, depending on the presence orabsence of such adjectives, the degree of overlap in meaning between the loanword andthe counterpart is determined.For example, if both the loanword and the counterpart arefrequently found in the same semantic context (the same group of adjectives), then theiroverlap in meaning is nearly complete (Figure 1a).On the contrary, if the loanword isfrequentlyfoundwithadjectivesthatarenotfoundwiththecounterparts(Figure1b),or
theloanwordisfoundonlywithasubsetofthecounterpart’sadjectives(Figure1c),thentheiroverlap in meaning is not complete.

a) b) c)

–loanword –counterpartA,B,C…D–adjectives
Figure1–Meaningoverlapof LoanwordsandCounterparts
If we further analyze any outlying adjectives (B, F,G and H in Figure 1b, and AandDinFigure1c)andwefindthattheyallhaverelatedmeanings(politicalforexample) then we can say that the loanword in question has acquired a niche meaning.Ifthis niche meaning is a part of the original loanword meaning, then this is evidence thatsemanticconcretizationorsemanticnarrowinghastakenplace.Thisprocessiscompleted for each loanword-counterpart(s) group, and based on the analysis of theirsemantic context and the degree of overlap in meaning a prediction is made whether ornot the loanword has an increased chance of survival in the lexical competition with itscounterpart.Usually,iftheloanworddoesnotfullyoverlapinmeaningwithitscounterpartorhasundergonesemanticconcretization,thenitschancesinlexical
competitionaremuchbetter,becauseitisnotcompetingfortheexactlysamelexicalslotasits counterpart (Thomason 2001:88-89).