Something Borrowed | Constantino Giaquinto | TEDxIBEuropeanSchool

Quick Overview

Constantino Giaquinto argues that the rapid, untranslated borrowing of English loan words into Georgian, such as the word "inclusi," creates significant comprehension gaps in civic discourse, particularly excluding elderly and rural populations, and advocates for the restoration of institutional mechanisms to create localized, understandable translations.

Key Points: A child misunderstood the English loan word "inclusi" to mean only a person in a wheelchair, highlighting confusion caused by concepts not properly translated into Georgian. English shows an "almost vertical line" on the lexical borrowing chart, indicating a "very high pace of lexical borrowing over a very short period of time" compared to Arabic, Persian, Turkish, and Russian. Linguists suggest it should take two to three generations (75 to 100 years) for natural language absorption, and anything faster leads to comprehension gaps. Discussions on critical topics like femicide prevention use English loan words almost exclusively, exemplified by a document where the only Georgian word was "da" (and), leaving rural and elderly populations excluded from civic discourse. Giaquinto suggests restoring institutional mechanisms, citing the defunct Georgian State Language Department's technical dictionary, and points to Latvia, Lithuania, and Iceland as models for promoting native terms. Populist groups exploit the influx of foreign words, portraying them as markers of "foreign influence and donor-driven agendas," which positions progressive ideas as dangers to national identity. The speaker warns that failing to localize words like "scrolling" or "location" means missing the opportunity to teach children Georgian equivalents like "orgili" or "orna" and hinders broader societal participation.

Context: Constantino Giaquinto, who grew up bilingual with a Georgian mother and American father, shares his experience moving to Georgia for high school where he noticed significant linguistic disconnects when English civic and political terminology was imported directly into the Georgian language. Georgia has a unique, non-Indo-European language and has historically dealt with lexical borrowing, but the current pace of English influx is creating problems for communication across different demographics.