False Borrowings and False Anglicisms: Issues in Terminology

The worldwide phenomenon of false borrowings mirrors the creative potential of languages in contact. However, despite the fact that studies on false borrowings in general and false Anglicisms in particular have been growing in number, their specific treatment has not received adequate attention yet; in fact, it is not possible to find univocal and unambiguous terminology in the existing literature since many different terms are used for their identification. At present, the bulk of the literature has been written in English, but terminological ambiguity is also evident in non-English linguistic traditions. This article aims at presenting a survey of the literature on false borrowings from a supposed donor language into a likewise supposed recipient language; terminological issues are highlighted by analysing 269 academic publications from 1929 to 2014.