Introduction

Abstract

This special issue investigates “hidden” or “invisible” Anglicisms—contact-induced items whose English origin leaves no overt orthographic or phonological trace—across nine recipient languages (German, Danish, Italian, Greek, Japanese, Polish, Czech, Macedonian, Slovenian). Moving beyond the traditional focus on visible loanwords, the contributions demonstrate how English influence operates through loan translations (calques), semantic loans, and hybrid formations that challenge rigid borrowing taxonomies. Several papers address the methodological problem of recognition and propose gradable models, including an “invisibility scale”, while others trace structural copying in morphosyntax (e.g., new premodification patterns and valency shifts). The volume also foregrounds cultural transfer, extending the notion of hidden Anglicism to discourse practices and even visual/gestural borrowing, and complements linguistic description with distributional and perceptual evidence. Together, the studies map global trends in Anglicization and refine tools for analysing largely unnoticed English-based change.