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hobson-jobson
Sep. 29th, 2011 07:18 amhobson-jobson (HOB-suhn-JOB-suhn) - n., a word or phrase borrowed by one language from another and modified in pronunciation to fit the set of sounds the borrowing language typically uses; the act of said borrowing-and-alteration.
Examples given in dictionaries include English hoosegow from Spanish juzgado, and the word itself, an Anglo-Indian alteration dating to the 1630s of Arabic yā Ḥasan, yā Husayn, a Shia lament during the Muharram procession. In studying Japanese, I see a lot of these: purezento for present, kurisumasu for Christmas, and so on.
---L.
Examples given in dictionaries include English hoosegow from Spanish juzgado, and the word itself, an Anglo-Indian alteration dating to the 1630s of Arabic yā Ḥasan, yā Husayn, a Shia lament during the Muharram procession. In studying Japanese, I see a lot of these: purezento for present, kurisumasu for Christmas, and so on.
---L.
