Sorry, Democracy, and the Director: The Sociopragmatics of Foreign Borrowings and Facework in Burmese Communication
Year: 2025
Type: conference-paper
Abstract: This paper examines English loanwords in Burmese through a decolonial sociopragmatic lens. It argues that terms like "sir", "sorry", and "problem", adopted during the British colonial period, are not neutral borrowings but specialized tools for navigating power and performing politeness. Analyzing their use in hierarchical interactions, the study reveals how colonial-era linguistic impositions persist in modern facework and political discourse. By contrasting this with voluntary loanwords in Japanese, the paper demonstrates that the sociopragmatic function of borrowed lexicon is fundamentally shaped by historical power dynamics, offering a critical perspective on language and postcolonial identity in Myanmar.
Author: Dare, PhD, Richard
Institution: International Leadership Collège
Language: English
Subfield: Language and Linguistics
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7083580603
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