Hyperforeignism

A hyperforeignism is a type of hypercorrection where speakers identify an inaccurate pattern in loanwords from a foreign language and then apply that pattern to other loanwords (either from the same language or a different one).^[1] This results in a pronunciation of those loanwords which does not reflect the rules of either language.^[2] For example, the ⟨n⟩ in habanero is pronounced as [n] in Spanish, but English-speakers often pronounce it as /nj/, as if the word were spelled habañero.^[3]

Hyperforeignisms can manifest in a number of ways, including the application of the spelling or pronunciation rules of one language to a word borrowed from another.^[4]

Intentional hyperforeignisms can be used for comedic effect, such as pronouncing Report with a silent ⟨t⟩ in The Colbert Report or pronouncing Target as /tɑːrˈʒeɪ/ tar-ZHAY, as though it were an upscale boutique.^[5] This form of hyperforeignism is a way of poking fun at those who earnestly adopt foreign-sounding pronunciations of pseudo-loanwords.^[6]

English

Examples:

• parmesan (from French [paʁməzɑ̃]), sometimes as /ˈpɑːrməʒɑːn/ in US English.^[7]
• Mandarin Chinese names like Beijing (with [tɕ], which sounds like [dʒ] to English speakers) with /ʒ/: /beɪˈʒɪŋ/.^[2][8]

Dutch words

French words

A number of words of French origin feature a final ⟨e⟩ that is pronounced in English but silent in the original language. For example, the noun cache is sometimes pronounced /kæʃeɪ/, as though it were spelled either ⟨cachet⟩ (meaning "seal" or "signature") or ⟨caché⟩ (meaning "hidden"). In French, the final ⟨e⟩ is silent and the word is pronounced [kaʃ]. The word cadre is sometimes pronounced /ˈkɑːdreɪ/ in English, as though it were of Spanish origin. In French, the final ⟨e⟩ is silent [kadʁ] and a common English pronunciation is /ˈkɑːdrə/.^[9]

Legal English is replete with words derived from Norman French, which for a long time was the language of the courts in England and Wales. The correct pronunciation of Norman French is often closer to a natural contemporary English reading than to modern French: the attempt to pronounce these phrases as if they were modern French could therefore be considered to be a hyperforeignism. For example, the clerk's summons "Oyez!" ("Attention!") is commonly pronounced ending in a consonant, /s/ or /z/.^[10]

A common pattern is pronouncing French loanwords without a word-final /r/, as with derrière, peignoir, and répertoire^[11] - a normal pronunciation in both Canadian and Acadian French vernacular of North America. In Metropolitan French /r/ is optional as a word ending, whereas the vowel just in front of it is always long, contrasting with vowels being almost always short in word-ending positions.^[12]

Another common pattern, influenced by French morphophonology, is the omission of word-final consonants. Hyperforeign application of this tendency occurs with omission of these consonants in words with final consonants that are pronounced in French. This occurs notably in the term coup de grâce, in which some speakers omit the final consonant /s/, although it is pronounced in French as [ku də ɡʁɑs]; omitting this consonant instead sounds like coup de gras, meaning a nonsensical "blow of fat."^[9][13] Other examples of this include Vichyssoise.^[9]

Speakers of American English typically pronounce lingerie /ˌlɒndʒəˈreɪ/.^[9]

Hindi words

The ⟨j⟩ in the name of the Taj Mahal or raj is often rendered /ʒ/, but a closer approximation to the Hindi sound is /dʒ/.^[2]

Italian words

The ⟨g⟩ in Adagio may be realized as /ʒ/, even though the soft ⟨g⟩ of Italian represents an affricate [dʒ].^[2]

Patrizia Giampieri observed that many pseudo-English words can be found in Italian, such as autostop (hitch-hike) and flipper (pinball machine).^[14] Perception of English as a prestige language among some Italian speakers may explain the popularity of hyperforeign vocabulary items such as these.^[15]

Mandarin Chinese words

Russian words

Because the Russian loanword dacha (дача [ˈdatɕə]) looks like it could be German, the pronunciation /ˈdɑːxə/, with a velar fricative, shows an attempt at marking a word as foreign, but with a sound not originally present in the source word.^[16]

Spanish words

The digraph ⟨ch⟩ of Spanish generally represents [tʃ], similar to English ⟨ch⟩. Hyperforeign realizations of many Spanish loanwords or proper names may substitute other sounds. Examples include a French-style [ʃ] in the surname Chávez and in Che Guevara, or a German-influenced [x] or Ancient Greek-influenced [k] in machismo.^[2] The ⟨z⟩ in the Spanish word chorizo is sometimes realized as /ts/ by English speakers, reflecting more closely the pronunciation of ⟨z⟩ and ⟨zz⟩ in Italian and Italian loanwords in English. This is not the pronunciation of present-day Spanish, however. Rather, the ⟨z⟩ in chorizo represents [θ] or [s] (depending on dialect) in Spanish.^[17]

Other languages

Polish

Norwegian

In Norwegian, like in Swedish, entrecôte can be pronounced without the final [t]. This might also happen in pommes frites (french fries), and the [z] is often removed in the pronunciation of Béarnaise sauce.^[18]

Russian

Modern Greek

Several varieties of Greek, such as that spoken in Tyrnavos, may retain front rounded vowels in Turkish loanwords, e.g., dʒüdʒés 'dwarf,' from Turkish cüce.^[19]

See also

• Metal umlaut

References

Notes

1. Janda, Joseph & Jacobs (1994), p. 74.
2. Wells (1982), p. 108.
3. "Habanero". Merriam-Webster. under "Variants of Habanero". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016.
4. Janda, Joseph & Jacobs (1994), p. 72.
5. Muy, Ylan Q. (21 June 2006). "Where Target Is Always 'Tar-zhay'". The Washington Post. Retrieved 27 September 2011.
6. Janda, Joseph & Jacobs (1994), p. 73.
7. "Parmesan, adj. & n." Oxford English dictionary. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/OED/4470914647. Retrieved 2025-05-14.
8. Janda, Joseph & Jacobs (1994), p. 80.
9. Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage (revised ed.). Merriam-Webster. 1994. p. 516. ISBN 0-87779-132-5.
10. "Definition of oyez in English". Oxford Dictionaries. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016.
11. Janda, Joseph & Jacobs (1994), p. 75.
12. With the notable exception of pronouns/possessives on/mon/ton/son but not nouns ton/son; as there are no words ending in -onr(e), those 4 cases cannot cause ambiguity.
13. Janda, Joseph & Jacobs (1994), p. 76.
14. Giampieri, Patrizia (2013), "A taxonomy of English hyperforeignisms and borrowings in the Italian language: when communication breakdown occurs." pp. 7-8
15. Giampieri, Patrizia (2013), "A taxonomy of English hyperforeignisms and borrowings in the Italian language: when communication breakdown occurs." p. 7
16. Janda, Joseph & Jacobs (1994), pp. 72, 75.
17. Quinn, Sue (13 February 2014). "Mispronounced food words: can you say chorizo?". The Guardian. Guardian News and Media. Archived from the original on 14 May 2016.
18. Entrekå med påmm fri og bærné, takk - K7 Bulletin (Norwegian)
19. Joseph, Brian D. (2019), "The Greek of Ottoman-era Adrianoupolis." In book The Morphology of Asia Minor Greek. p. 321

Bibliography

• Giampieri, Patrizia (2013), "A taxonomy of English hyperforeignisms and borrowings in the Italian language: when communication breakdown occurs."
• Janda, Richard D.; Joseph, Brian D.; Jacobs, Neil G. (1994), "Systematic hyperforeignisms as maximally external evidence for linguistic rules", in Lima, Susan; Corrigan, Roberta; Iverson, Gregory (eds.), The Reality of Linguistic Rules, Studies in Language Companion Series, vol. 26, John Benjamins Publishing, pp. 67–91, ISBN 902728203X
• Joseph, Brian D. (2008), ‘On some hyperadaptations in Greek and in Greece’, in MGDLT 3: Proceedings of the 3rd Conference on Modern Greek Dialects and Linguistic Theory. Ed. Mark Janse, Brian D. Joseph, & Angela Ralli. Lefkosia: University of Cyprus.
• Joseph, Brian D. (2019), ‘The Greek of Ottoman-era Adrianoupolis’, in The Morphology of Asia Minor Greek: Selected Topics. Ed. Angela Ralli. Leiden: Brill, 2019, pp. 315-32.
• Wells, John Christopher (1982), Accents of English: An Introduction, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-29719-2