The Semantic Evolution Of The Turkish Borrowings Preserved In The Actual Speech Of The Algerian Western Cities: Collection And Study

Résumé: Much has been said about the linguistic aspect of the Turkish borrowings in the speech of Algeria, but few studies dealt with their semantic evolution within the Algerians’ speeches. The Turkish-Algerian relations are deeply rooted in history and researchers in this field have recorded more than 623 loan words that were used in 1887. This paper is devoted to the meaning(s) rather than the morphology or syntax of these words as they are today. Our aim is to shed light on the different semantic aspects of these loan-words in the Algerian Western Cities. Since the tension between these two linguistic systems is at the heart of a competition: Turkish borrowings versus the Arabic words that may replace them. Thus, is there a way to replace these loan-words by their Arabic equivalents? Do the borrowings have a socio-cultural scope? Does the use of these words in their actual meaning reflect a socio-cultural status as it is the case with French, or just an affective role? Finally, I will demonstrate that the populations of the west are very attached to their linguistic heritage as a sign of belonging and an emotional marker rather than just a means of communication.

Publié dans la revue: مجلة العبر للدراسات التاريخية و الاثرية في شمال افريقيا