Journal of Languages for Specific Purposes (Mar 2015)
ANGLICISMS IN ROMANIAN FASHION MAGAZINES. CASE STUDY – ELLE, HARPER’S BAZAAR, MARIE CLAIRE
Abstract
A growing segment of Romanian women are becoming passionate about fashion, therefore they are increasingly interested in fashion magazines and products. The incredible prevalence of English in Romanian media – both in written and spoken form – is at first shocking to a native English speaker. Phrases that seem to make no sense or that are not relevant to what they are attached to are seen everywhere: on t-shirts, as part of television advertisements, and in Romanian magazines. In this paper we assert that the English in Romanian media (fashion magazines) is more complicated than that; sometimes it is mainly decorative but it is able to communicate as well. Over the years, there have been many studies which dealt with anglicisms in Romanian, especially in science and information technologies. Yet, in spite of the growing number of English terms incorporated daily by the language of fashion, this has received less attention in lexicographic and terminological studies as compared to other areas, such as science and business. There are many reasons for which Romanian has not only adopted English words with new meaning and usage, but also incorporates other forms based on English patterns which users seem to consider more attractive or more accurate. More specifically, this paper analyses how English mixing contributes to self-distinction through fashion. We will analyse the Romanian language of fashion in three Romanian fashion magazines- ELLE, Harper’s Bazaar and Marie Claire -, which has for some time been using English words with different meanings, or even created Romanian words that look like and are pronounced like English words. The result of this study shows that these English mixings depend on the fashion-related quality of the selected magazines. The findings of this study imply that English is regarded as a ‘stylish language’ and that this general recognition leads to the acknowledgement of the prestigious status of English in Romania.
