World Englishes, Vol. l l, No' 2/3' pp' 195-215' 1992' Print€d in Great Br¡tain' 0883-2919/92 $5.00 + 0.00 @ 1992 Pergamon Press Ltd t Discourse functions and pragmat¡cs of mixing: advertising across cultures TEJ K. BHATIA* INTRODUCTION The aim of this paper is to examine the role of English in print advertising at the global level. Toward this goal a typology of the mixing of English in Asian and European languages is presented. In addition to examining the formal properties of mixing, the discourse functions of mixing are also analyzed. This cross-linguistic study goes on to argue that the pattern of mixing, even multiple mixing, is not a phenomenon restricted to the languages of the developing nations which are undergoing the process of modernization. European languages such as French, Italian and Spanish also reflect the same pattern to some extent. Not only this, but what is more interesting is the fact that some languages, such as Japanese and Chinese, which are not very receptive to foreignism, have yielded to influence from English that goes beyond the phenomenon of linguistic borrowing. What is even more intriguing is that English has begun to penetrate those discourse domains which were once guarded fiercely by the twice world language French' HYPOTHESES The universality of language mixing and the global power of English are tested by examining the following set of hypotheses: (l) Only those languages which are historically receptive to the phenomenon of linguistic borrowing/foreignism are likely to permit mixing from English. I will call these languages ,open, languages. On the other hand, the languages which exhibit a history of resistance to linguistic borrowing are viewed as guardians of linguistic purity (which I will term 'closed' languages) and will not tolerate mixing from English. <i> lt mixing is permitted at all either by open or closed languages, it will be restricted to those discourse domains which are traditionally held by English. English mixing is unlikely to make its way into those domains which are held by absorbing languages for a long time. For example, English is viewed as a language of science and technology while French, on the other hand, is traditionally viewed as the language of romance, sophistication and fashion. Therefore, if at all French begins to show receptivity to English mixing, it will be restricted to topics of science and technology, and areas such as perfume and fashion advertising will be seen as an unnatural place for English mixing to occur. If the above two hypotheses turn out to be wrong, this will demonstrate the enormous global power of English and will at the same time provide insights into the universals of advertising and language mixing. In addition, it will shed some light on the process of global discourse. The main assumption is that language mixing is not just random (one-time *Linguistic Studies Program, 316 HBC, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY 13244' USA' 1 195