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Calque
In linguistics, a '''calque''' () or '''loan translation''' is a word or phrase borrowed from another language by literal, word-for-word (Latin: "''verbum pro verbo''") or root-for-root translation.
For example, the common English language|English phrase "flea market" is a phrase calque that literally translates the French language|French "''marché aux puces''".[flea market. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000]
Going in the other direction, from English to French, provides an example of how a compound word may be calqued by first breaking it down into its component roots. The French "''gratte-ciel''" is a word-coinage inspired by the model of the English "skyscraper" — "''gratter''" literally translates as "to scrape", and "''ciel''" translates as "sky".
Used as a verb, "to ''calque''" means to loan translation|loan-translate from another language so as to create a new lexeme in the target language.
"''Calque''" itself is a loanword from a French noun, and derives from the verb "''calquer''" (to copy).[calque. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000] ''Loan translation'' is itself a calque of the German language|German "''Lehnübersetzung''".[Robb: German English Words germanenglishwords.com]
Proving a word is a calque sometimes requires more documentation than an untranslated loanword, since in some cases a similar phrase might have arisen in both languages independently. This is less likely to be the case when the grammar of the proposed calque is quite different from that of the language proposed to be borrowing, or the calque contains less obvious imagery.
English
From Chinese
- English ''brainwashing'' calques [brainwashing. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000] — usage via U.S. military during Korean War.
- English ''long time no see'' calques Chinese via Chinese Pidgin English[long time no see: Information and Much More from Answers.com][However, Online Etymology Dictionary says that the phrase is "imitative of [[American Indian languages|American Indian speech]]" and dates to 1900. http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=long]
- English ''look-see'' calques '''''or''''' (via pidgin English)
- English ''Face (social concept)|lose face'' calques [lose face - Definitions from Dictionary.com]
- English ''paper tiger'' calques [Online Etymology Dictionary]
[Novotná, Z., "Contributions to the Study of Loan-Words and Hybrid Words in Modern Chinese", ''Archiv Orientalni'', (Prague), No. 35 (1967), pp. 613–648. (In English; examples of loan words and calques in Chinese)][Novotná, Z., "Contributions to the Study of Loan-Words and Hybrid Words in Modern Chinese", ''Archiv Orientalni'', (Prague), No. 36 (1968), pp. 295–325. (In English; examples of loan words and calques in Chinese)][Novotná, Z., "Contributions to the Study of Loan-Words and Hybrid Words in Modern Chinese", ''Archiv Orientalni'', (Prague), No. 37 (1969), pp. 48–75. (In English; examples of loan words and calques in Chinese)]
From French
- English ''Adam's apple'' calques French ''pomme d'Adam''[Adam's apple. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000]
- English ''bushmeat'' calques French language|French ''viande de brousse''
- English ''by heart'' (or ''off by heart'') calques French ''par cœur''
- English ''Governor-General'' calques French ''Gouverneur Général''
- English ''free verse'' calques French ''vers libre''[free verse. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000]
- English ''old guard'' calques French ''Vieille Garde'' (the most senior regiments of the Imperial Guard of Napoleon I)[old guard. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000]
- English ''flea market'' calques French ''marché aux puces''
- English ''in one's prime'' (in the early days) calques French ''dans sa primeur''
- English ''marriage of convenience'' calques French ''mariage de convenance''[Lynch, Guide to Grammar and Style — N]
- English ''British New Wave|New Wave'' (artistic period) calques French ''French New Wave|Nouvelle Vague''[new wave. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000]
- English ''rhinestone'' calques French ''caillou du Rhin'' "Rhine pebble"[Online Etymology Dictionary]
- English ''wikt:staircase wit|staircase wit'' calques French ''l'esprit de l'escalier''
- English ''that goes without saying'' calques French ''cela va sans dire''[Foreign Words. Fowler, H. W. 1908. The King's English]
From German or Dutch
- English ''masterpiece'' calques either Dutch ''meesterstuk''[Online Etymology Dictionary] or German ''Meisterstück'' http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=masterpiece
From Dutch
- English ''pineapple'' calques Dutch ''sparappel''[Plant Info O-R]
- English ''superconductor'' calques Dutch ''suprageleider''[Online Etymology Dictionary]
From German
- English ''antibody'' calques German ''Antikörper''[antibody. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000]
- English ''ball lightning'' calques German ''Kugelblitz''[''English in Europe'' by Manfred Görlach]
- English ''beer garden'' calques German ''Biergarten''[beer garden. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000]
- English ''concertmaster'' and ''concertmeister'' calque German ''Konzertmeister''[concertmaster - Definitions from Dictionary.com]
- English ''earworm'' calques German ''Ohrwurm''
- English ''flamethrower'' calques German ''Flammenwerfer''[Online Etymology Dictionary]
- English ''foreword'' perhaps calques German ''Vorwort'', which itself calques Latin ''præfatio'' (from ''præ-'' "before" plus ''fari'' "speak") "preface"[Online Etymology Dictionary]
- English ''heroic tenor'' calques German ''Heldentenor''[heldentenor - Definitions from Dictionary.com]
- English ''intelligence quotient'' calques German ''Intelligenzquotient''[Online Etymology Dictionary]
- English ''ice wine'' calques German ''Eiswein''
- English ''loan translation'' calques German ''Lehnübersetzung''
- English ''loanword'' calques German ''Lehnwort''[loanword - Definitions from Dictionary.com]
- English ''mercury vapor lamp|mercury/quicksilver vapor lamp'' calques German ''Quecksilberdampflampe''[German Loan Words in English M-Z]
- English ''Octoberfest'' calques German ''Oktoberfest''
- English ''overman'' and ''superman'' (i.e., self-transcending human) calque German ''Übermensch''[superman. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000]
- English ''power politics'' calques German ''Machtpolitik''
- English ''rainforest'' calques German ''Regenwald''[Online Etymology Dictionary]
- English ''standpoint'' (point of view) calques German ''Standpunkt''[standpoint. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000]
- English ''superego'' (formed from Latin ''super-'' "over, above" plus ''ego'' "I") calques German ''Überich'' "over-I"[Online Etymology Dictionary]
- English ''stormtroopers'' calques German ''Sturmtruppen''[storm trooper. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000]
- English ''subliminal'' (formed from Latin ''sub-'', "below", plus ''limin'' (genitive|gen. ''liminis'', "threshold") calques German ''unterschwellig'', "beneath the threshold"[Online Etymology Dictionary]
- English ''thought experiment'' calques German ''Gedankenexperiment''http://www.webster.com/dictionary/thought%20experiment
- English ''drainage divide|watershed'' calques German ''Wasserscheide''[Online Etymology Dictionary]
- English ''worldview'' calques German ''Weltanschauung''[worldview. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000]
- English ''world war'' calques German ''Weltkrieg''[Online Etymology Dictionary]
From Latin
- English ''commonplace'' calques Latin ''locus commūnis'' (referring to a generally applicable literary passage), which itself is a calque of Greek ''koinos topos''[commonplace. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000]
- English ''devil's advocate'' calques Latin ''advocātus diabolī'', referring to an official appointed to present arguments against a proposed canonization or beatification in the Catholic Church[devil's advocate. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000]
- English ''wisdom tooth'' calques Latin ''dēns sapientiae''[wisdom tooth. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000]
- English ''Milky Way'' calques Latin ''via lactea''[Milky Way. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000]
- English ''Rest in Peace'' calques Latin ''requiescat in pace''[RIP. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000]
- English ''in a nutshell'' calques Latin ''in nuce''[in a nutshell - Definitions from Dictionary.com][Pliny VII.21]
From Spanish
- English ''Nobility|blue-blood'' calques Spanish language|Spanish ''''[blue blood. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000]
- English ''moment of truth'' calques Spanish '''', which refers to the time of the final sword thrust in a bullfight.[moment of truth. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000]
From other languages
- English ''gospel'' calques Greek language|Greek ''evangelion'' (good news)[gospel. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000]
- English ''High King'' calques Irish language|Irish and Scottish Gaelic ''Ard Ri|Ard Ri/Ard Righ''
- English ''Backcountry'' calques Welsh language|Welsh ''cefn gwlad''
- English ''pea jacket'' or ''pea coat'' calques North Frisian language|North Frisian ''pijekkat''[Online Etymology Dictionary]
- English ''side-sword'' calques Italian language|Italian ''spada da lato'', referring to a versatile one-handed sword of 16th and 17th century Europe.
Latin
- Latin ''compassio'' calques Greek ''sympathia'' "sympathy" (Latin: "suffering with", Greek: "suffering together")
- Latin ''insectus'' calques Greek ''entomos'' ("insect", from words meaning "to cut into" in the respective languages)[''Webster's Third New International Dictionary'']
- Latin ''musculus'' "muscle" (= "common house mouse", literally "little mouse" from ''mus'' "mouse") calques Greek ''mys'' "muscle" (= "mouse")
- Latin ''magnanimus'' calques Greek '''μεγαλοψυχος''' (''megalopsychos'')
- Lat. root ''magnus'' = Gr. '''μεγαλος''' (''megalos'') = "great; large"
- Lat. root ''animus'' = Gr. '''ψυχη''' (''psychē'') = "soul"[http://medicalsciences.med.unsw.edu.au/somsweb.nsf/resources/histology02/$file/AnatomyGlossary2004_V2.pdf]
Romance Languages
Examples of Romance language expressions calqued from foreign languages include:
- French ''lune de miel'', Catalan ''lluna de mel'', Spanish ''luna de miel'', Portuguese ''lua-de-mel'', Italian ''luna di miele'' and Romanian ''luna de miere'' calque English ''honeymoon''
- French ''gratte-ciel'', Catalan ''gratacels'', Spanish ''rascacielos'', Portuguese ''arranha-céus'', Romanian ''zgârie-nori'' and Italian ''grattacielo'' calque English ''skyscraper''
- French ''sabot de Denver'' calques English ''Denver boot''
- French ''jardin d'enfants'', Spanish ''jardín de infancia'' and Portuguese ''Jardim de infância'' calque ''Garden of Infants/children'', from German ''Kindergarten'' (children's garden)
- Spanish ''baloncesto'' and Italian ''pallacanestro'' calque English "basketball"
French
- French ''courriel'' (contraction of ''courrier électronique'') calques English ''email'' (contraction of ''electronic mail'')
- French ''disque dur'' calques English ''hard disk''
- French ''bienvenue'' calques English ''welcome (as if 'well' + 'come'. Eng. 'welcome' is an alt. of O.E. willcyme, willcuma — desired arrival)''
- French ''carte mère'' calques English ''motherboard''
- French ''en ligne'' calques English ''online''
- French ''haute résolution'' calques English ''high resolution''
- French ''disque compact'' calques English ''compact disc''
- French ''haute fidélité'' calques English ''hi-fi (high fidelity)''
- French ''large bande'' calques English ''broadband''
- French ''modulation de fréquence'' calques English ''frequency modulation'' (FM)
- French ''média de masse'' calques English ''mass media''
- French ''surhomme'' calques German ''Übermensch'' (Nietzsche's concept)
- French ''OVNI'' (Objet Volant Non Identifié) calques English ''UFO'' (Unidentified Flying Object)
- In some dialects of French, the English term "weekend" becomes ''la fin de semaine'' ("the end of week"), a calque, but in some it is left untranslated as ''le week-end'', a loanword.
Spanish
Many calques found in Southwestern US Spanish, come from English:
- Spanish ''escuela alta'' calques English ''high school'' (''secundaria'' or ''escuela secundaria'' in Standard Spanish)
- Spanish ''grado (de escuela)'' calques English ''School grades (US)|grade (in school)'' (''nota'' in Standard Spanish)
See also: Spanglish.
Also technological terms calqued from English are used throughout the Spanish-speaking world:
- Spanish ''tarjeta de crédito'' calques English ''credit card''
- Spanish ''alta tecnología'' calques English ''high technology''
- Spanish ''disco compacto'' calques English ''compact disc''
- Spanish ''correo electrónico'' calques English ''E-mail|electronic mail''
- Spanish ''alta resolución'' calques English ''high resolution''
- Spanish ''enlace'' calques English ''link (Internet)''
- Spanish ''ratón'' calques English ''Mouse (computing)|mouse (computer)''
- Spanish ''en un momento dado'' calques Dutch ''op een gegeven moment''[Cruijff de film]
Germanic Languages
Afrikaans and Dutch
- Afrikaans ''aartappel'' and Dutch language|Dutch ''aardappel'' calque French ''pomme de terre'' (English ''potato'' "earth apple")
- Afrikaans ''besigheid'' calques English ''business''
- Afrikaans ''e-pos'' calques English ''e-mail''
- Afrikaans ''hardeskyf'' and Dutch ''harde schijf'' calque English ''hard disk''
- Afrikaans ''klankbaan'' calques English ''sound track''
- Afrikaans ''kleurskuifie'' calques English ''colour slide''
- Afrikaans ''pynappel'' calques English ''pineapple'' calques French ''pomme de pin''
- Afrikaans ''sleutelbord'' calques English ''keyboard''
- Afrikaans ''tuisblad'' calques English ''homepage''
- Afrikaans ''wolkekrabber'' and Dutch ''wolkenkrabber'' calque English ''skyscraper''
German
- ''Fernsehen'' from "television"
- ''Fernsprecher'' from "telephone"
- This term, as well as the corresponding ''fernsprechen'' (verb: ''to telephone'' so.), has been on the retreat in recent years in favor of (orthographically normalized) ''Telefon''.
- ''Fußball'' from "football", referring specifically to association football
- German ''Teddybär'' calques English teddy bear
Icelandic
- Icelandic ''rafmagn'', "electricity," is a half-calqued coinage that literally means "amber power."
- ''raf'' translates the Greek root '''ηλεκτρον''' (''elektron''), which means "amber"
- ''magn'', "power," is descriptive of electricity's nature but not a direct calque from the source word "electricity"
Norwegian
- ''barnehage'' (kindergarten) calques German ''Kindergarten'' (''Kind'' "child", ''Garten'' "garden")[Søk i elektroniske ordbøker]
- from ''barn'' (child) and ''hage'' (garden).
- ''hjemmeside'' calques English ''home page''[Søk i elektroniske ordbøker]
- From ''hjem'' (home) and ''side'' (page).
- ''hjerneflukt'' (brain drain) calques English ''brain drain''.[Søk i elektroniske ordbøker]
- From ''hjerne'' (brain) and ''flukt'' (escape, flight).
- ''idiotsikker'' (foolproof) calques English "foolproof"[Ordnett.no - Ordbok]
- from ''idiot'' (idiot, fool) and ''sikker'' (safe, secure)
- ''loppemarked'' (flea market) calcques English ''flea market'' and French ''marché aux puces'' ("market with fleas")[Søk i elektroniske ordbøker]
- From ''loppe'' (flea) and ''marked'' (market).
- ''mandag'' (Monday), from Old Norse ''mánadagr'' ("moon day") calques Latin ''dies lunae.''[Ordnett.no - Ordbok] The name of every day of the week, except ''lørdag'' (Saturday), are loan-translations from Latin.
- ''overhode'' (head of a family, chief) calques German ''Oberhaupt'' (''ober'' "over", ''Haupt'' "head")[Ordnett.no - Ordbok]
- From ''over'' (over) and ''hode'' (head).
- ''samvittighet'' (conscience) calques Latin (through Low German) ''conscientia'' (''com'' "with", ''scire'' "to know")[Søk i elektroniske ordbøker]
- From ''sam-'' (co-) and ''vittig'' (today meaning "funny" but which stems from Low German, where it meant "reasonable", related to "vite" (to know) and English "wit".)
- ''tenåring'' (teen, teenager), is from Swedish ''tonåring'', which calques English ''teenager''.[Søk i elektroniske ordbøker]
Slavic languages
Macedonian
- Macedonian ракопис (''rakopis'') calques Latin-derived 'manuscript' and 'handwriting':
- Mac. root рака (''raka'') = Lat. manus = 'hand'
- Mac. root пис- (''pis-'') = Lat. scribo = 'to write'
- Macedonian правопис (''pravopis'') calques Greek-derived 'orthography':
- Mac. root право (''pravo'') = Gr. ορθός (''orthos'') = 'correct';
- Mac. root пис- (''pis-'') = Gr. γράφειν (''graphein'') = 'to write'
- Macedonian православие (''pravoslavie'') calques Greek-derived 'orthodoxy':
- Mac. root право (''pravo'') = Gr. ορθός (''orthos'') = 'correct';
- Mac. root славие (''slavie'') = Gr. δοξα (''doxa'') = 'glorification'
In more recent times, the Macedonian language has calqued new words from other Prestige dialect|prestige languages including German language|German, French language|French and English language|English.
- Macedonian натчовек (''natčovek'') = calques German-derived 'overman' (''Übermensch'')
- Mac. root над- (''nad-'') = Ger. über = 'over'
- Mac. root човек (''čovek'', man) = Ger. mensch = 'people'
- Macedonian облакодер (''oblakoder'') = calques English ''skyscraper'':
- Mac. root облак (''oblak'', cloud)
- Mac. root дере (''dere'', to flay)
- Macedonian клучен збор (''klučen zbor'') = calques English ''keyword'':
- Mac. root клуч (''kluč'', key)
- Mac. root збор (''zbor'', word)
Some words were originally calqued into Russian language|Russian and then absorbed into Macedonian, considering the close relatedness of the two languages. Therefore, many of these calques can also be considered Russianisms.
Russian
The poet Aleksandr Pushkin (1799–1837) was perhaps the most influential among the Russian literary figures who would transform the modern Russian language and vastly expand its ability to handle abstract and scientific concepts by importing the sophisticated vocabulary of Western intellectuals.
Although some Western vocabulary entered the language as loanwords — e.g., Italian ''salvietta'', "napkin," was simply Russified in sound and spelling to салфетка (''salfetka'') — Pushkin and those he influenced most often preferred to render foreign borrowings into Russian by calquing. Compound words were broken down to their component roots, which were then translated piece-by-piece to their Slavic equivalents. But not all of the coinages caught on and became permanent additions to the lexicon; for example, любомудрие (''ljubomudrie'') was promoted by 19th-century Russian intellectuals as a calque of "philosophy," but the word eventually fell out of fashion, and modern Russian instead uses the loanword философия (''filosofija'').
- Russian любомудрие (''ljubomudrie'') calqued Greek-derived 'philosophy':
- Russ. root любить (''ljubit' '') = Gr. φιλεῖν (''filein'') = 'to love';
- Russ. root мудрость (''mudrost' '') = Gr. σοφία (''sofia'') = 'wisdom'
- Russian зависимость (''zavisimost' '') calques Latin-derived 'dependence':
- Russ. root за (''za'') = Lat. ''de'' = 'down from'
- Russ. root висеть (''viset' '') = Lat. ''pendere'' = 'to hang; to dangle'
- Russian полуостров (''poluostrov'') calques German ''Halbinsel'', both meaning 'peninsula':
- Russ. root полу- (''polu-'') = Ger. ''halb'' = 'half; semi-'
- Russ. root остров (''ostrov'') = Ger. ''Insel'' = 'island'
- Russian детский сад (''detskij sad'') calques German ''Kindergarten'', both literally suggesting 'children's garden'
Ukrainian
- '''велике спасибі''' (''velyke spasybi'') calques Russian '''большое спасибо''' (''bol'shoe spasibo''), both literally "a big thank-you"
Greek
- ''Διαδίκτυο'' from English Internet
- ''Τηλεόραση'' from Television
Finnish
Since Finnish, a Finno-Ugric language, differs radically in pronunciation and orthography from Indo-European languages, most loans adopted in Finnish either are calques or soon become such as foreign words are translated into Finnish. Examples include:
- from Greek: ''sarvikuono'' (rhinoceros, from Greek "rinokeros"),
- from Latin: ''viisaudenhammas'' (wisdom tooth, from Latin "dens sapientiae"),
- from English: ''jalkapallo'' (English "football", specifically referring to association football),
- from English: ''koripallo'' (English "basketball"),
- from English: ''kovalevy'' (English "hard disk"),
- from French: ''kirpputori'' (flea market, French "marché aux puces"),
- from German: ''lastentarha'' (German "Kindergarten"),
- from German: ''panssarivaunu'' (German "Panzerwagen"),
- from Swedish: ''moottoritie'' (highway, from Swedish "motorväg"),
- from Chinese: ''aivopesu'' (brainwash, from Chinese "xi nao"),
- from Spanish: ''siniverinen'' (blue-blooded, from Spanish "de sangre azul")
Hebrew
When Jews make an aliyah to Israel, they sometimes change their name to a Hebrew calque. For instance, Imi Lichtenfield, founder of the martial art Krav Maga, became Imi Sde-Or. Both last names mean "light field".
- ''mesilat barzel'' (railway) from German ''Eisenbahn''
- ''iton'' (newspaper) from German and Yiddish ''zeitung''
- ''tappuach adamah'' (potato) from French ''pomme-de-terre''
- ''gan yeladim'' from German ''Kindergarten''
- ''kaduregel'' (כדורגל) (football, specifically association football) from English ''football''
See also
- Anglicism
- Germanism
- Cognate
- Loanword
- Metatypy
- Semantic loan
References
External links
- EtymOnline
- Merriam Webster Online
Category:Historical linguistics
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