On English loanwords used in the 2017 French presidental and legislative elections coverage in the present-day periodicals (based on "L’Obs" news magazine)
The article focuses on English loanwords used for the 2017 French presidential and legislative elections coverage in the present-day French periodicals. Considering examples from «L’Obs» the main categories of loanwords have been determined, and their structural, semantic and functional features have been analyzed. English loanwords are not commonly used in the French elections coverage. The loanwords analyzed in the paper are mostly nouns and nominal phrases borrowed from British English or American English and used to name things and phenomena. To call readers’ attention the loanwords are often put in quotation marks. Many of the loanwords have been incorporated into French lexicon and have already entered French dictionaries. These loanwords are often related to sports thus showing a particular interest of the French for this field and proving the efficiency of sports metaphors in political discourse. Several set expressions consisting of adopted Anglicisms and French words have been found. The loanwords incorporated into the French language are clear for French readers, and do not interfere with the perception of information. Therefore, they are often used in a strong position, that is, in the titles and the first and the last paragraphs of the text performing a communication function. New loanwords and set expressions, both Anglicisms and Americanisms, have been found in the present-day French periodicals. These loanwords convey information and are explained using context and loan translation. The use of neologisms in French political discourse indicates that borrowing from English is a productive way of the French vocabulary enrichment.