Þrjú rit um áhrif enskrar tungu á orðaforða 16 Evrópumála

Abstract

This book review looks at three works from 2001 and 2002, which together discuss the impact of English on 16 European languages in the second part of the 20th century one of which is Icelandic. Editor of all three books is Manfred Görlach. Ásta Svavarsdóttir and Guðrún Kvaran are responsible for the Icelandic material.

A Dictionary of European Anglicisms. A Usage Dictionary of Anglicisms in Sixteen European Languages (2001) covers approximately 1500 words and phrases of English origin. The microstructure is unconventional, and many users will probably find the book rather difficult to use. Compact dictionary entries, together with the necessary coordination of complicated material from 16 languages, appears to lead to confusing or even wrong results. However, despite some disadvantages, the book gives indications of the scale of English loanwords in Modern Icelandic.

An Annotated Bibliography of European Anglicisms (2002) covers research on loanwords from English in the languages in question. The Icelandic bibliography includes most or all studies of importance on the influence of English on Modern Icelandic.

English in Europe (2002) contains surveys of the influence of Eng- lish on each of the 16 languages. The Icelandic survey, the first of its kind for Icelandic, is among the longest articles in the book, and covers the subject matter to a very satisfactory degree.