Incorporating articles into nouns when borrowing

[pne]

Amy's word for "sock" is, roughly, "asha"—which, I think, comes from "a sock".

Reminds me a bit of the way some pidgins incorporate what used to be a definite article or an adjective right into the noun when borrowing, e.g. lanmè < la mer or Bondyé < bon Dieu (Haitian Creole < French).

A similar effect involving the boundary between words is seen in the English words "adder" (the snake), which is now "an adder" but used to be "a nadder" (compare German "(Ringel)natter").

Comments

Re: Maltese

[emilyzilch.livejournal.com]

Also happened in Sudanese Arabic - al-alme "water".