FOREIGNER TALK

Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language | 1998 | 659 words | Copyright

FOREIGNER TALK. A term in LINGUISTICS and language teaching for the conventionalized and simplified kind of language used by many native speakers with foreigners who cannot speak their language, such as (with exaggerated pointing gestures) Me help you, Yes? for I am going to help you; is that all right? It has a simple or non-existent morphology, more or less fixed word order, simple syntax, a small number of grammatical words, and little or no use of the copula: a complex sentence such as I haven't seen the man you're talking about could be reduced and simplified as I no see man you say or That man you talk I not see. Compare BABY TALK, TEACHER TALK.

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TOM McARTHUR. "FOREIGNER TALK." Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language. 1998. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

TOM McARTHUR. "FOREIGNER TALK." Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language. 1998. Encyclopedia.com. (February 10, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O29-FOREIGNERTALK.html

TOM McARTHUR. "FOREIGNER TALK." Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language. 1998. Retrieved February 10, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O29-FOREIGNERTALK.html

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