Beyond Borrowing: Semantic Adaptation of Anglicisms in Serbian IT Terminology

АУТОР(И) / AUTHOR(S): Ana Radović Firat , Zorica Mladenović and Biljana Đorić   

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.46793/TIE26.513RF

САЖЕТАК /ABSTRACT:

This case study explores the semantic adaptation of Anglicisms in Serbian IT terminology, focusing on the ways in which English-derived terms are integrated, interpreted, and modified within a specialized linguistic context. The study examines the relationship between borrowed forms, their Serbian equivalents, and speakers’ spontaneous lexical choices. Adopting a mixed-methods case-study design, the research is based on questionnaire data collected from Serbian university students, who provided spontaneous lexical responses to fifteen frequently used IT Anglicisms. The analysis investigates the meanings, usage patterns, and semantic fields associated with these borrowed terms, approaching Anglicisms not merely as transferred lexical forms but as dynamic linguistic units whose meanings may change during their integration into the recipient language. The findings indicate that IT Anglicisms in Serbian do not merely function as replacements for missing lexical items. In many cases, they undergo semantic adaptation and acquire broader, more abstract, or context-specific meanings in comparison with their original English usage and corresponding Serbian equivalents. The study demonstrates that the integration of English IT terminology into Serbian represents not only a process of lexical borrowing but also one of semantic negotiation shaped by speakers’ professional experience and linguistic environment.

КЉУЧНЕ РЕЧИ / KEYWORDS: 

Anglicisms; Serbian language; IT terminology; semantic adaptation; lexical borrowings; semantic reinterpretation

ПРОЈЕКАТ / ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:

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