Monday, November 26, 2012

Italian writer warns of English invasion

Andrea Camilleri is a literary celebrity in Italy. And he's best known abroad for his novels featuring his brilliant fictional creation, the Sicilian detective, Inspector Montalbano.

But the author is worried about the health of the language in which he works. Speaking earlier this week he took issue with the country's politicians for peppering their speeches with English words and phrases. Terms like 'welfare', 'governance', 'devolution', and even 'election day'.

The author said that Prime Minister Mario Monti was a leading offender. And it's true that Mr Monti does indeed frequently reach for...

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One result of close contact between languages is the borrowing of words and phrases. For example, English has borrowed many words from French and German throughout history. Nowadays, English is used for many reasons by many people and one result is that some English words and phrases are being mixed with local languages. Do you think it is a problem?

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