Semantic Change of Hijab, Halal and Islamist from Arabic to English

This paper explores the interrelationship between culture, language and communication. English has established a position for itself as widely spoken in world many aspects of people’s lives regardless race, creed or religion . Many Islamic specific terms have been borrowed into result continuous contact Muslims English-speaking communities. study analyzes semantic change three commonly used by speakers daily life: hijab, halal, Islamist, their definitions dictionaries. It aims to investigate explore associated meanings both dictionaries use. The were compared two reliable dictionaries, Collins Dictionary (CED) Oxford Learner’s (OLD). A well-known Arabic dictionary, Al Mu‘jam Alwasıt (AAD), was reference original meaning. Intelligent Web corpus (iWeb) provide information on use examined language, words they collocate with. adopts framework data analysis. Findings research suggest that all undergone changes, new do not include extra levels social religious language. In particular, term Islamist developed negative connotations. Language strong influence connotations culture-specific terms. Keywords: terms; Semantic change; Meaning connotations; Cross-culture loanwords