The aim of this book has been to provide a linguistic description of borrowings in informal American English and to serve as a practical resource documenting this type of language. These foreign-origin expressions, comprising both slang and colloquialism, constitute a vibrant sociolinguistic phenomenon resulting from language contact, and function as an important yet rarely discussed lexical contribution to American English. Their significance stems from the sociolinguistic significance of informal language in the United States, the strong presence of borrowings in American speech reflecting the immigrant nature of the country and the growing role of ethnic minorities, as well as the increasingly common use of this type of lexicon among larger segments of American society.

Borrowings in informal American English come from various languages. Unsurprisingly, Spanish has contributed the most expressions, accounting for almost half of the entire database. Borrowings from Yiddish are the second most frequent group, followed by a few other key language donors and numerous lesser donors. Interestingly, some expressions are a result of borrowing from two donor languages; still others are the result of pseudo-borrowing, a playful imitation of a foreign language. In general, findings corroborate the common perception that the top contributor of borrowings in informal American is Spanish, but they also reveal a few unexpected contributors whose whose impact on informal American English is pronounced.

Informal borrowings are defined as expressions taken from a foreign language and used in informal American English. They conform to the traditional typology of borrowings and include such main types as loanwords and loan translations, but there are other finer distinctions, much as there are certain terms often confused with borrowings, such as code switches or nonce borrowings. Informal language, in turn, refers to a type of vocabulary which is stylistically “lower” than the standard language and “below” the formal and neutral registers on the formality scale. It includes two subsets: colloquialism, which is composed of moderately informal and casual expressions, and slang, which is composed of highly informal and unconventional expressions, strongly linked with a sociocultural context. Again, there are numerous similar terms to account for this type of lexicon, but their semantic scopes are different.

Informal borrowings can be classified according to several criteria. As for the typology by borrowed material, one can distinguish loanwords, which are the most frequent in the database, followed by other types, including loanblends and loan translations. As for typology by part of speech, the majority are nouns, followed by adjectives and verbs, which is consistent with the part-of-speech distribution patterns found in noninformal borrowings; however, there are a few surprises. As for assimilation, one can distinguish partially assimilated borrowings, which are most frequent, followed by fully assimilated and unassimilated expressions. As for modification, unmodified borrowings are the most frequent, followed by partly modified and highly modified ones. There are many more criteria proposed in the text.

Borrowings in informal American English exhibit various modifications. Phonological changes involve the modification of their pronunciation to conform to the phonological rules of American English. Orthographical changes feature the change in spelling of borrowed expressions, with various stages of respelling or other modifications. Morphological changes include addition or removal of lexical material via standard wordbuilding processes such as lengthening or shortening. Semantic changes involve figuration and accompanying semantic shifting. Grammatical changes involve conversion in the part of speech. Finally, stylistic changes involve modification in the original register of informal borrowings which may shift their stylistic status in American English; while most borrowings exhibit no such change and retain their informal status, there are several exceptions.

Informal borrowings constitute an important linguistic phenomenon, yet they remain underrepresented in scholarly literature. This book is to remedy the situation. Drawing from the methodological framework of documentary linguistics and sociolinguistics, it relies on lexical material from a large database of citations from diverse sources – including spoken utterances, films and TV shows, print, and social media – to ensure authenticity and representativeness. Much space is devoted to the presentation, explanation, interpretation, and illustration of language data; the format of description is designed to be extensive, covering a wide range of themes which allow an examination from various perspectives. The description is amply supported throughout the text with usage examples that illustrate linguistic patterns, show the sociocultural context in which they are used, and attest to the very existence of these expressions.

Informal borrowings are used for several reasons. They are used to name things, providing alternative synonyms for things already named in English but also names for things yet to be named. More often, however, they are used instead of standard English to communicate additional information that is social, psychological, rhetorical, or cultural in nature. The social function involves group solidarity and social distancing. The psychological function includes expression of emotions via a repertoire of expressions for a variety of emotional states and emotive labels. The rhetorical function includes informality, conciseness, forcefulness, wordplay, and small talk. The cultural function involves expressing cultural identity and stylization; while expressing cultural identity is often the reason for using such expressions, stylization is another phenomenon accounting for their common use among larger segments of American society.

The aim of this book is to provide a linguistic description of borrowings in informal American English and to serve as a practical resource documenting this type of language. These foreign-origin expressions, comprising both slang and colloquialism, constitute a vibrant sociolinguistic phenomenon resulting from language contact, and function as an important yet rarely discussed lexical contribution to American English. Their significance stems from the sociolinguistic significance of informal language in the United States, the strong presence of borrowings in American speech reflecting the immigrant nature of the country and the growing role of ethnic minorities, as well as the increasingly common use of this type of lexicon among larger segments of American society.

Informal borrowings can be divided into three main thematic types: core, culture-specific, and miscellaneous. The core themes, shared with those in general informal language, make up the majority of borrowings and include such themes as evaluative categorization, the human body, sex, and intoxication. The culture-specific themes, inherent to immigrants and minorities, include borrowings connected with minority experiences but also racial discrimination and geography viewed from their perspective. The miscellaneous themes, constituting an all-inclusive collection, include as many as 150 themes grouped under several superordinate divisions. Their diversity and size illustrates the thematic scope of informal borrowings and demonstrates that they are not a marginal part of lexicon but can be used to refer to numerous aspects of human experience.