Enregisterment of English Borrowing as an Advertising “voice” in French Advertisements
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Enregisterment of English Borrowing as an Advertising “voice” in French Advertisements Antoinette Barffour ABSTRACT: The use of English Borrowings (EBs) in French ads remains awidespread practice. Through asystematic analysis of 175 French ads extracted from French news articles, this essay evaluates features of EBs usage, introducing the notion of enregisterment as an analytical framework. Specifically, the fourfold aim of this essay is to examine the frequency of EBs; the types and perceived meanings of EBs; the visual presentation and graphic integration of the EBs in the ads; and the extent of awareness among native French speakers regarding the use of EBs in French ads. Nearly 42% of ads reviewed contained EBs. Notably, borrowings were commonly associated with automobile-related products, constituting aleading domain where EBs were used to communicate desirable qualities such as efficiency, durability and novel technology (but perception varied as afunction of whether the product advertised was domestic or foreign). Typically, the ads used familiar or easily interpretable EBs that were often set off by graphic cues. The foregoing represents possible mechanisms of the enregisterment of EBs in the “voice” of French advertising. RÉSUMÉ: L’utilisation des emprunts àl’anglais (EA) dans les publicités françaises reste une pratique répandue. Àtravers une analyse systématique de 175 publicités en français, cet article fait une évaluation des caractéristiques des EA, susceptibles de créer une sorte de ‘enregisterment’ associé au langage publicitaire. Plus précisément, l’article apour but l’examen des quatre éléments suivants : la fréquence d’utilisation des EA dans les publicités françaises ; les types d’EA utilisés avec des produits spécifiques et les perceptions associées ; la représentation visuelle et l’intégration au niveau graphique des EA dans les publicités; le degré de sensibilisation des Français par rapport àl’utilisation des EA dans les publicités françaises. Près de 42% des publicités examinées ont utilisé des EA. Notamment, ces derniers étaient souvent associés àl’industrie automobile, en chef de file donc des produits où les EA étaient censés communiquer les qualités positives telles que l’efficacité, la durabilité et les nouvelles technologies (mais en variation selon que le produit annoncé était national ou étranger). Généralement, les publicités ont employé des EA qui sont familiers, souvent mis en relief àl’aide des astuces graphiques. Les éléments précédents représentent des mécanismes potentiels menant à‘enregisterment’ des EA caractérisant le langage de la publicité française. KEY WORDS / LES MOTS CLÉS advertising voice, English borrowings, enregisterment, French ads langage de publicité, emprunts àl’anglais, ‘enregisterment’, publicités françaises 1. INTRODUCTION To begin appropriately with adefinition of enregisterment, the theory of enregisterment entails a“process through which alinguistic repertoire becomes differentiable within alanguage as asocially recognized register of forms” (Agha, 2003, OPEN ACCESS
8 STUDIE ZAPLIKOVANÉ LINGVISTIKY 2/2021 p.231). For certain linguistic features to become identifiable within alanguage as being emblematic of the dialect or register of agroup or class of people, those features have to be perceptually linked with acertain sociocultural scheme separate from other variants (Johnstone et al., 2006; Johnstone, 2009). For example, the received pronunciation (RP), sometimes called the Queen’s English or BBC English, has become enregistered and thus indexes an accent that is socially valued. The accent has become recognized as the standardized British English accent that is mostly linked with the speech of the upper social class and educated elite. Alinguistic form has been enregistered once it comes to be interpreted and evaluated as being linked with away of speaking or register associated with apersonal or social identity (Agha, 2003; Silverstein, 2003; Johnstone et al., 2006; Johnstone, 2009). Enregisterment works in tandem with and is reinforced by commodification, the process through which alinguistic feature is considered simply as acommodity. Thus, both astandardized variety and dialectal varieties of agiven language may be commodified with each helping to sell specific items (Beal, 2009; Johnstone, 2009; Remlinger, 2009; Comeau & King, 2011; Picone, 2014, pp.144–145). For example, while the orthography of standardized American English may help sell dictionaries of the language, non-standardized forms may be more useful in selling slogan-emblazoned t-shirts (Eble, 2009; Picone, 2016, p.334). Of course, in the context of advertising, the language of advertisement does not represent adialect in atraditional sense which then gets enregistered through media and becomes recognized as aregional way of speaking. However, it seems the conventions associated with advertising language, including repeated use of English borrowings in the case of French advertising, may lead to enregisterment in the public imagination, creating the same kind of recognizable voice that helps sell products. While purist punditry targeting English has been longstanding, beginning famously with Etiemble (1964), an account of the plausibility of enregisterment associated with advertising language in French is heretofore lacking in the published literature. Hence, this study attempts to enhance and systematize the understanding of how English borrowings operate in French and does so by expanding and enlisting the notion of enregisterment, showing how English insertions become indexical of aparticular kind of discourse or “voice” associated with positive values in relation to French advertising. In order for English borrowings to lend themselves to aprocess of enregisterment, it is important to recognize the backdrop of multiple vectors that have contributed to the appeal of the English language and its resultant commoditization at an unprecedented level. The status of English is of course linked partly to the population of its native speakers, representing an economic powerhouse in its own right. Subsequent American dominance on the world stage as amilitary and economic superpower after World War II, coinciding with its growth and expansion in communication technology, has led to the spread in tandem with aheightened awareness of the English language and American culture in away that has conferred prestige on both (Wise, 1997). Hence, English has become avaluable commodity worldwide not only due to its international status as alingua franca (Tan & Rubdy, 2008), but also due to non-utilitarian motivations. Based on perceived technological achievement OPEN ACCESS
ANTOINETTE BArffOUr 9 coupled with the cultural prestige of post-World War II American society, English began to be emblematic of advancement and gained the potential to trigger positive reactions among different populations, such that the use of English appeals to many consumers. Indeed, American imagery and English borrowings have been prominent features in French ads up to the present. Martin (2002, 2007) argues that the mere presence of English in ads associates the product with positive images such as modernity and quality. The presence of English imbues aproduct with both social and economic value, which may be extended to products advertised with English borrowings. In most cases, ad copywriters exploit the prestige status to promote and increase consumption even in countries where English is not used in everyday discourse ( Friedrich, 2002; Martin, 2006; Kasanga, 2010). In some cases, available French equivalents exist but are not used, plausibly to lend an air of prestige to the product being advertised, which is then transferred to the potential consumer who wants to self-project as modern or global in outlook. The younger generation who desires to identify with modernity and globalization is more inclined to use English borrowings and to have apositive attitude toward their usage in ads. The expressions c’est too much, c’est tout meuch (Kramsch, 2014) and the use of neologisms such as nexter, must-have, over-size (Fridrichova-Mudrochova, 2018) have all been associated with young French speakers’ ways of speaking. Ad copywriters will thus not hesitate to include these words and expressions in French ads. On the other hand, it is important not to lose sight of the fact that, in many cases, the presence of English has been associated with simple need, rather than prestige. In other words, English borrowings are used to fill alinguistic gap due to insufficient lexical options to convey information, particularly in specialized domains (Winford, 2003). Most of the borrowings (90%) and new creations found in the body of the ad copies, especially those used in association with automobiles, did not have French equivalents; park assist, ecoboost (fuel economy and power) are examples of this. It is worth mentioning that the rate at which media and advertising have evolved over the past decades, leading to more exposure to English, has led to more efforts undertaken by French language officials to reduce especially the English influence on the French language. The 1994 Toubon Law, which expanded on the 1975 Bas-Lauriol Law, is acase in point. The law regulates the use of foreign language in official domains including commercial contexts, where the use of foreign terms is banned unless French equivalents do not exist, in which case aFrench translation would be required. To that effect, aterminological commission in France (Commission Générale de terminologie et néologie) is charged with the task of creating new terms to replace foreign words that designate new concepts. Replacing English borrowings appears to have gained much attention due to the pervasiveness of the use of English in French through media and advertisements. The Journal Officiel and Le Grand Dictionnaire Terminologique (GDT), which constitute publications of terminological commissions in France and in Québec (L’Office Québécois de la langue française), contain new terms coined by the commissions to replace foreign borrowings. Determining the effectiveness of these initiatives remains another research question beyond the scope of this study. However, it is undeniable that in France, ad copywriters employ different strategies to evade the requirements of Toubon Law and still use English borrowings. OPEN ACCESS
10 STUDIE ZAPLIKOVANÉ LINGVISTIKY 2/2021 For example, le GDT proposes the term coussin (de sécurité) gonflable for airbag and criticizes the word’s continuous use in France. The frequent use of airbag has been recorded multiple times in previous studies on English borrowings in French (Martin, 2007; Ruellot, 2011; Barffour, 2016). Ad writers do not consider its use to cause any intelligibility concerns since it has become familiar to the French and assimilated into the French language by repeated exposure (Ruellot, 2011). The term also appears to have been copyrighted, making it possible for ad copywriters to successfully evade Toubon Law (1994), which would require the use of the French translation coussin gonflable de protection (Martin, 2007). As acorollary, the use of English borrowings in French has also been associated, to an extent, with certain structural propensities characterizing the two languages. Picone (1992) asserts that the synthetic approach to word-building, which is atendency of English, predisposes the language for easy lexical creations of asynthetic nature to meet the contemporary accelerated demand for product nomenclature, in contrast to the traditionally analytic nature of French word-building. The resulting dynamic is, on the one hand, borrowings of nomenclature from English, and on the other hand, imitative non-traditional liberties taken in the generation of French nomenclature (see Barffour & Picone, 2019; Barffour, 2020). In the present study, the focus will be on the former, that is, on borrowings from English. As we have explained, these borrowings may be linked to prestige or need or both; indeed, both remain operational in French, as evidenced by the results presented in this study. The complexity of reasons for the continuous use of English borrowings in French makes the current study significant. However arrived at, the resultant enregisterment of English borrowings in the language of French advertising, it is asserted, helps explain their continued pervasive use in French ads. Therefore, the main goal of this study, which builds upon and extends the scope of aprior study (Barffour, 2016), is to explore the enregisterment of English borrowings in the contemporary French advertising “voice”. To do so, it is necessary to examine the frequency of usage, the types of borrowings used with specific products and their presumed intended social meanings, that is, the social semiotics associated with their usage (Halliday, 1978), and the visual representation of the borrowings in French ads. It is also crucial to assess the extent of awareness among native French speakers regarding the use of English borrowings in French ads. By way of summary, the specific research questions follow: (1) What factors facilitate the enregisterment of English borrowings as afeature associated with the “voice” of advertising? a. How frequently are English borrowings used? b. What types of English borrowings are used? c. What products are often advertised with English borrowings? d. How are English borrowings presented and integrated into the French ads? (2) What perceptions on the part of native French speakers reflect the enregisterment of English borrowings as afeature associated with the “voice” of advertising? a. What proportion of native French speakers are aware of the frequent use of the English borrowings? OPEN ACCESS
ANTOINETTE BArffOUr 11 b. How do they socially circumscribe the products advertised with English borrowings? The next sections present the methodology, results and analyses, and the concluding remarks for the current study. In the methodology section, the data source, the data collection procedure and study participants are presented. The results section presents, analyzes, and discusses advertising strategies associated with the use of English borrowings that could lead to an enregisterment of English borrowings in French ads. The results section also examines native French speakers’ level of awareness of English borrowings’ usage and discusses how such awareness may reinforce enregisterment. The section ends with the strengths and limitations of the study. The conclusion provides asummary of how further enregisterment studies may be conducted to enhance the exploration of this question. 2. METHODOLOGY The study draws on data collected between 2010–2015 which assessed the nature of English borrowings in French print media and ads, and the perceptions of native French speakers from France toward such usage (Barffour, 2016). The use of mass media as the data source for the original study, and for the present extension of it within the framework of enregisterment, is deemed appropriate and necessary because the media (and Internet) represent the dominant domain where English has had the most influence (Picone, 1996; Wise, 1997; Winford, 2003). The journals examined were selected due to their focus and electronic availability. The selected journals were deemed appropriate since they are representative of the different domains of French society and thus expected to provide arepresentative sample of English borrowings. They include Les Inrocks (cultural journal, predominantly about music and cinema), La Croix (focuses on religious news and events related mostly to the Catholic faith), Le Figaro Quotidien (focuses on general local and foreign news), and Paris Match (focuses on news related to celebrity lifestyle). Within the given time span, three publication years were randomly selected for each journal with three issues chosen from each daily newspaper (La Croix and Le Figaro Quotidien) and one issue from each magazine (Paris Match and Les Inrocks). The latter selection approach was taken to ensure areview of acomparable quantity of writings across the four journals. As an illustration, one magazine’s issue corresponded to approximately three issues from the daily newspapers. Atotal of 24 journal issues were selected for analysis, spanning the years 2010–2015. To extract English borrowings in advertisements, we focused on the first 23 pages of each issue. The 23 pages were selected to ensure uniformity since 23 was the smallest number of pages applicable to all previously selected journal issues. Both full-page and small ads which appeared on the selected pages were considered. In total, 37 ads were retrieved from La Croix, 84 from Le Figaro Quotidien, 30 from Paris Match and 22 from Les Inrocks. In order to better analyze the visual representation of the ads in the current study, other journals were sometimes considered in order OPEN ACCESS
12 STUDIE ZAPLIKOVANÉ LINGVISTIKY 2/2021 to locate an identical ad in asource that had aclearer image. In the event that an ad published in the selected journals also appeared in adifferent journal, such as L’Express, the ad with the better visual quality was used. In order to argue that apossible enregisterment of English borrowings has taken or is taking place, asystematic review of the 175 French ads appearing in the 24 issues was done manually. The goal of the review was to examine the frequency of English borrowings, the type of English borrowings used with specific products, and the representation of the English borrowings in the French ads. To assess the status of the borrowings (in terms of origins and to attempt to gage the level of assimilation), dictionaries including Le Petit Robert (Robert, Rey-Debove & Rey, 1995), Le Dictionnaire des anglicismes (Rey-Debove & Gagnon, 1984) and the Oxford English Dictionary (Simpson & Weiner, 1989, for etymological origins only) were consulted. The second part of the current study examined native French speakers’ level of awareness of apossible voice in French ads due to the use of English borrowings. To explore this question, the present study draws on the collected data (Barffour, 2016) concerning native speakers’ opinions and perceptions toward the use of English in French. The data was collected from 41 native French speakers from France, between ages 21 and 71, who completed aquestionnaire that consisted of both open and closed types of questions, focusing on different domains of English usage in French. Participants were invited to participate in the survey through Facebook and through personal contacts. The survey was made available for aperiod of about two months to give ample time for volunteers to respond. (Adetailed description of the methodology has been reported in Barffour (2016, 2020).) In an attempt to develop the perceptional part of the present study regarding native French speakers’ level of awareness of the use of English in French ads, two main questions in the questionnaire were considered appropriate. In the first main question, native French speakers were asked to indicate the level of frequency with which they see English words or expressions in French ads. The participants in the study were asked to indicate the degree of frequency as follows: always, often, sometimes, rarely and never. In the second main question considered in this study, participants were asked to imagine attributes or “images” that they associated with the products advertised with English borrowings. The specific questions are presented below: 1. Indiquez le degré de fréquence auquel vous remarquez des mots ou expressions de langue anglaise dans les publicités publiées dans les magazines et journaux français.1 Le degré de fréquence comprend toujours, souvent, parfois, rarement, jamais.2 Êtes-vous surpris(e) de votre choix ci-dessous ? Oui ____ Non ___3 Veuillez expliquer la raison de votre choix.4 1 Indicate the degree of frequency with which you notice English words or expressions in French ads published in French magazines and newspapers. 2 The degree of frequency is always, often, sometimes, rarely and never. 3 Was your answer surprising to you? Yes _____ No______ 4 Please explain your choice. OPEN ACCESS
ANTOINETTE BArffOUr 13 2. Quelles images associez-vous immédiatement aux produits dans les publicités françaises qui utilisent quelques mots ou expressions anglais ? Veuillez sélectionner des images au-dessous des produits locaux et importés : branché, moderne, prestigieux, sophistiqué, ouverts aux autres cultures, contraire àla culture française antipatriotique, de meilleure qualité, de qualité inférieure, inutile, ridicule, envahissant.5 The characteristics provided for respondents consisted of commonly imagined attributes associated with products advertised with English as well as those documented in previous studies (Kachru, 1986; Takashi, 1990; Picone, 1996; Martin, 1998, 2002; Ruellot, 2011; Barffour & Picone, 2019). Note in Tables 1 and 3 that the number of respondents for each question included in the questionnaire differs from the total number of participants in the study. This is because some participants chose not to answer all questions. Results for the questions above are presented in Table 1 arrayed in accordance with the Likert scale used. 3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 3.1 WHAT fACTOrS fACILITATE THE ENrEGISTErMENT Of ENGLISH BOrrOWINGS AS AfEATUrE ASSOCIATED WITH THE “VOICE” Of ADVErTISING? 3.1.AHOW frEQUENTLY ArE ENGLISH BOrrOWINGS USED? The data for the current study suggests that English borrowings contribute to the enregisterment of an advertising voice in several ways. First, the use of English borrowings continues to be pervasive in French ads at ahigh frequency rate. Nearly 42% of all French ads reviewed (175) contained English borrowings. Out of the total number of French ads, 30% consisted of automobile related ads, which hence constitute aleading domain that appears to be lending itself to making English borrowings more visible. The frequent exposure and usage may represent an initial step toward possible enregisterment. Considering the percentage of English borrowings identified in the French ads (at least one borrowing in nearly 42% of ads reviewed), and the continuous work of the terminological commission in France, it will be worthwhile to examine other motivations for the use of English borrowings in order to understand this paradox (see Barffour, 2021). 5 What images do you immediately associate with products in French advertisements that use some English words? Please select images from the lists provided under local and imported products: fashionable (trendy), modern, prestigious, sophisticated, open to other cultures, contrary to French culture, antipatriotic, better quality, inferior quality, useless, ridiculous, invading. OPEN ACCESS
14 STUDIE ZAPLIKOVANÉ LINGVISTIKY 2/2021 3.1.B WHAT TYPES Of ENGLISH BOrrOWINGS ArE USED? Secondly, the choice of English borrowings used in the ads represents apotentially significant factor in facilitating enregisterment. English borrowings were categorized under simple and compound nouns (45%), brand/product names and slogans (32%) and other (23%). Although the level of integration and familiarity of borrowings depends on several factors, 90% of the borrowings (excluding sentences) appeared to be familiar or easily interpretable words that typically do not pose intelligibility issues for native French speakers. Examples of the borrowings identified in this study include cool, cute, design, streaming, now, open, parking, relax, shopping, le management, en clics, scanner, tablette, managers, le week-end, e-mail, E-club, business, briefings, and kit. The majority (54%) of the borrowings were located in the descriptive text of the ad (i.e., the body of the copywriting), and in small print. Thus, these borrowings were not mainly intended as attention-getters. Nonetheless, the significant number (46%) of borrowings which appeared to have been positioned visibly cannot be overlooked. The latter, mostly in headlines, in large print, slogans, brand and product names as well as in signature lines, were found to be prevalent in previous studies (Martin, 2006, 2007; Ruellot, 2011). Borrowings in the body of the copy may indicate that they are used based on need, to fill alinguistic lacuna in the French language, but it can still be argued that they have become codified or “standardized” in the French ad discourse. In Fridrichova-Mudrochova’s (2018) study, which explored the level of knowledge and frequency of the use of Anglicisms in fashion, native French speakers identified established Anglicisms recorded in Le Petit Robert such as brushing, (re)booster and blush as those they understand and use the most. As aresult, it will not be surprising for established or commonly used borrowings to be used in ads intended for this audience. Other expressions and slogans documented include way of life, new thinking, new possibilities, and more “adapted” expressions such as air conditionné. These are borrowings that may require no or minimal interpretation due to the familiarity of the English words used in the expressions. In the two ads included, the borrowings economy (Figure 2) and bye bye (Figure 1) were likely deemed exploitable by copywriters because they would be understood by the targeted audience. The word economy, acognate, and bye bye, avery informal word, create virtually no hindrance to understanding for native French speakers from France. The borrowings reflect and reinforce the now conventional trend of continuously selecting familiar English words for inclusion in French ads. Even familiar or easily interpretable borrowings such as economy and bye bye, as illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, can still function as attentiongetters, by virtue of visually flagging or signaling their prominence (unlike most borrowings identified in other ads). By virtue of continuous exposure to familiar borrowings, either used as part of the body of the copywriting or made prominent to grab attention, consumers become accustomed to aparticular communicative style or “voice” and associate it with advertising. In turn, the voice associated with the language of advertising can tend toward the creation or maintenance of stylistic enregisterment. OPEN ACCESS
ANTOINETTE BArffOUr 15 3.1.C WHAT PrODUCTS ArE OfTEN ADVErTISED WITH ENGLISH BOrrOWINGS? Furthermore, agood amount of English borrowings documented in this study were identified in automobile related ads (23 out of the 72). Due to the technicality of such borrowings, it is less likely that consumers would question such usage, especially if ready French equivalents do not exist or have little currency, as is mostly the case in the automotive domain. The frequency with which such borrowings appear in this domain seems to indicate that the targeted audience is accustomed to discourse seasoned with English and is expected to understand. The more French consumers notice English borrowings displayed daily in automobile ads, the more they associate certain attributes with these products. To elaborate on the idea just mentioned, English borrowings seem to link products with aparticular social meaning ( Halliday, 1978). The presence of English borrowings is expected to imbue the advertised products with some value that appeals to both local and international audiences. No doubt, this notion is related to the status of English as alanguage of international communication, as well as the economic and technological power associated with the Anglophone world, especially the United States. This is exemplified in the ads in Figures 1 and 2. The borrowings economy and bye bye both have equivalents in French (économie and au revoir respectively). Hence, they are certainly not used out of necessity and the motivation for their inclusion must have another explanation. The most plausible one is that English is emblematic of modernity, practicality and sophistication, thereby imbuing the advertised products with these same qualities. For the same reason, English may crowd its way into brand names, descriptives and slogans: smart, smart fortwo electric and open your mind (Figure 1). Other English borrowings identified in other French ads related to the automobile in the current data (but not featured here with illustrations) include Efficiency, CREATIVE TECHNOLOGIE, Dynamic Assist, EcoBoost and BlueMotion. The choice of these borrowings is most reasonably explained as an attempt to consistently convey positive values, hence positioning the targeted consumer to favor these products for their imagined high quality and technological advancement. Indeed, all three major French automobile manufacturers (Peugeot, Renault, and Citroën) identified in the corpus of ads chose to include English in their advertisements. Although other reasons, such as necessity (as in maintaining brand identity, intelligibility, see Barffour, 2021) can contribute to the use of English in French ads, the driving motivation arguably aligns with general perceptions about the positive values that are thereby conjured (ibid.), resulting in the enregisterment of an advertising voice having English borrowings as one of its features. As observed by Johnstone (2009) and others, enregisterment and commodification tend to go together and reinforce each other. The status of the English language, especially due to the popularity of American culture, has positioned English as aviable commodity in the marketplace. Hence, the use of English borrowings has become enregistered as aparticular voice in French ads used purposely to achieve amarketing value. OPEN ACCESS
22 STUDIE ZAPLIKOVANÉ LINGVISTIKY 2/2021 English borrowings may be partly or wholly offset in relation to domestic products in particular, to the extent that the continuous use of English in French ads is perceived as potentially having anegative impact on the integrity or status of the French language and culture. In other environments, products advertised with English have been viewed similarly as contrary to native culture and as invasive (Kachru, 1986; for French, see also Barffour, 2021). Considering the explanations given by native French speakers (Table 2), the use of English borrowings in French ads is perceived as partly driven purely by the function of English as an international language, but this appears to work in tandem with the frequently cited images of efficiency or quality (except in some cases when used in association with domestic products, as noted). Indeed, the very nature of English as aglobal language is hard to disentangle from the usually positive attributes such as some of the ones cited, namely fashionable and open to other cultures. In addition, other imagined attributes designated by native French speakers, such as modern, prestigious and sophisticated, appear to reinforce adiscernable enregisterment of English borrowings as afeature of the voice of French advertising, leading to the continuous use of English borrowings in French publicity. 3.3 STrENGTHS AND LIMITATIONS The main goal of this study was to explore possible enregisterment of English borrowings in French ads as afeature of an advertising “voice” and the way in which certain perceptions of native French speakers reflect and enforce such enregisterment. The study has been exploratory in nature, focusing on limited data in an attempt to formulate apreliminary response to the research questions. Hence, absolute generalizations cannot be made. Nevertheless, this is anovel study that attempts to examine asociolinguistic phenomenon, enregisterment, and extend its boundaries by applying it in the domain of French advertising. To the extent that the study has presented some initial evidence in support of possible enregisterment of English borrowings, it has the potential to build momentum for additional larger studies in this new domain. 4. CONCLUSION The findings from this study are consistent with previous studies, which showed that the use of English in French advertising tends to evoke aperception of desirability. It is therefore plausible that the use of English borrowings in French ads represents amarketing strategy to make certain products more appealing to French consumers. Nevertheless, since this is amarket, other factors, such as delivering consistency, may be at play. Unlike previous studies, the current study also examined evidence of the enregisterment of this practice by assessing the awareness among native French speakers from France. Overall, the data suggest that there is substantial awareness among native speakers regarding the use of English borrowings in French ads. The current analysis does not permit the quantification of the extent to which this OPEN ACCESS
ANTOINETTE BArffOUr 23 awareness further reinforces the continuing use of English borrowings in French ads; additional studies are needed to explore this question. However, the findings in this study shed light on mechanisms which may be facilitating the enregisterment of English borrowings in French ads. These include the frequency with which English borrowings are encountered in ad copywriting; the use of familiar or easily interpretable English borrowings; and the use of visual strategies giving the borrowings more visibility and prominence, all of which converge to imbue the borrowings with desirable positive values, leading to the creation of an enregisterable feature of an advertising voice recognized by speakers. Additional studies are needed to assess the full impact of the factors proposed here, as well as others yet to be determined, on the process of enregisterment. Acknowledgements Many Thanks to Dr. Michael Picone, The University of Alabama, who proofread this paper. Disclosure statement We have no conflict of interest to declare. REFERENCES Agha, A. (2003). The social life of cultural value. Language and Communication, 23(3–4), 231–273. https://doi.org/10.1016/ S0271-5309(03)00012-0 Barffour, A. (2016). Astudy of English loanwords in French written texts and advertisements and the perceptions and attitudes of the francophone readership. Doctoral Dissertation. University of Alabama. Available from https://ir.ua.edu/ handle/123456789/2685. Barffour, A. (2020). Frequency and nature of Anglicisms in written French advertisements: Areview of ads in French journals. International Journal of Humanities and Cultural Studies, 7(1), 1–13. Barffour, A. (2021). English borrowings in French print media: Attitudes and perceptions of native speakers of French from France. The International Journal of the Linguistic Association of the Southwest. Barffour, A., & Picone, M.D. (2019). Anglicisms in written French mass media: Frequency, nature and impact on the French lexicon. Southern Journal of Linguistics, 43(1), 1–24. Beal, J.C. (2009). Enregisterment, commodification, and historical context: ‘Geordie’ versus ‘Sheffieldish’. American Speech, 84(2), 138–156. https://doi. org/10.1215/00031283-2009-012 Comeau, P., & King, R. (2011). Media representations of minority French: Valorization, identity, and the Acadieman phenomenon. Canadian Journal of Linguistics / La revue canadienne de linguistique, 56(2), 179–202. https://doi.org/10.1017/ S0008413100003133 Eble, C.C. (2009). French in New Orleans: The commodification of language heritage. American Speech, 84(2), 211–215. https://doi. org/10.1215/00031283-2009-016 Etiemble, R. (1964). Parlez-vous franglais? Gallimard. Fridrichova-Mudrochova, R. (2018). The perception of fashion Anglicisms in contemporary French— results of aquestionnaire survey. XLinguae, 11, 195–205. https://doi.org/10.18355/XL.2018.11.01XL.17 Friedrich, P. (2002). English in advertising and brand naming: Sociolinguistics OPEN ACCESS
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