Lexical Enrichment in Hadiyyisa

Abstract

The present study attempted to describe lexical enrichment in one of the Highland East Cushitic languages, Hadiyyisa. Instructors from Wachemo University and Hossana College of Teachers Education took part in this study. The data was collected and analyzed using a qualitative methodology. The main tool for data gathering was document analysis, though key informant interviews and questionnaires were used in complementing the former. The findings showed that language-internal and external resources were extensively employed as strategies of lexical enrichment in Hadiyyisa. For lexical enrichment in the language, semantic transfer and compounding were the most common methods, whereas abbreviation and blending were less common. When it comes to language-external means, borrowing and loan translation were the most productive ways of enrichment in Hadiyyisa. Hadiyyisa did not have unmodified borrowing since the language borrowed terms with adaptations. Hadiyyisa relied on foreign languages such as English, Arabic, French, and Italian for source languages rather than Ethiopian languages, including related Cushitic languages. The majority of the European loanwords entered Hadiyyisa via Amharic, and the loan translations in Hadiyyisa came from English and Amharic as source languages. It is imperative that unnecessary borrowings should be avoided and native Hadiyya words should be substituted in relation to lexical expansion. Furthermore, standardization is in order for the observed concurrent use of loanwords and their native counterparts in Hadiyyisa.