Open Access‘Omg zo fashionably english’
Author(s) -
Hielke Vriesendorp,
Gijsbert Rutten
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
taal en tongval
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2215-1214
pISSN - 0039-8691
DOI - 10.5117/tet2017.1.vrie
Subject(s) - linguistics , american english , identity (music) , entertainment , sociology , psychology , gender studies , art , visual arts , aesthetics , philosophy
Although the influence of English on Dutch is mainly visible in a large number of lexical borrowings (De Decker & Vandekerckhove, 2012; Berteloot & Van der Sijs, 2002), a newly compiled corpus of chat conversations between Dutch young adults shows that some native speakers of Dutch codeswitch to English in their Dutch conversations and use English creatively. In this study this is explained as an identity practice for young gay men in a community of practice where non-heteronormative gay-celebratory identities are constructed, due to the connotations of English with the (always English-speaking) entertainment in which these speakers can find multidimensional, young, and ‘cool’ gay role models.