In
linguistics, a 'calque' (
pronounced ) 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.
The common
English phrase "
flea market" is a phrase calque that literally translates the
French "''marché aux puces''"
[1]
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 "scrape", and "''ciel''" translates "sky".
Used as a
verb, "to ''calque''" means to
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").
[2] "
Loan translation" is itself a calque of the
German "''Lehnübersetzung''".
[3]
English
From Chinese
★ English ''
brainwashing'' calques
[4] — usage via
U.S. military during
Korean War.
★ English ''long time no see'' calques or (via
pidgin English)
[5]
★ English ''look-see'' calques or (via
pidgin English)
★ English ''
lose face'' calques
[6]
★ English ''
paper tiger'' calques
[7]
[1][2][3]
From French
★ English ''
Adam's apple'' calques French ''pomme d'Adam''
[8]
★ English ''
bushmeat'' calques
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''
[9]
★ English ''old guard'' calques French ''
Vieille Garde'' (the
Imperial Guard of
Napoleon I)
[10]
★ English ''
flea market'' calques French ''marché aux puces''
[11]
★ English ''in his/her prime'' (in the early days) calques French ''dans sa primeur''
★ English ''
marriage of convenience'' calques French ''mariage de convenance''
[12]
★ English ''
New Wave'' (artistic period) calques French ''
Nouvelle Vague''
[13]
★ English ''
rhinestone'' calques French ''caillou du Rhin'' "Rhine pebble"
[14]
★ English ''that goes without saying'' calques French ''cela va sans dire''
Teuto-Dutch
★ English ''
clinker'' calques either Dutch ''
Klinkaerd'' or German ''
Klinkärt''
[15]
★ English ''
underwrite'' calques either Dutch ''subscribere'' or German ''unterschrift''
[16]
★ English ''
subscribe'' and/or ''
Underwrite'' (formed from Latin ''sub-'', "below", and ''scribea'', "writing", "text") calque either Dutch ''subscribere'' and/or German ''unterschrift''
[17]
★ English ''
masterpiece'' calques either Dutch ''meesterstuk''
[18] or German ''Meisterstück''
[19]
From Dutch
★ English ''
Santa Claus'' calques Dutch ''
Sinnter Klaus''("Saint Ni-klaus")
[20]
★ English ''
pineapple'' calques Dutch ''Sparappel''
[21][22]
★ English ''
superconductor'' calques Dutch ''suprageleider''
[23]
★ English ''
brandy, brandywine'', calque
Dutch ''brandewijn''—'burnt wine'
[ Oxford English Dictionary, , , , Oxford University Press, 1989, ]
From German
★ English ''
alpenglow'' calques German ''Alpenglühen''
[24]
★ English ''
Alzheimer's disease'' calques German ''Alzheimer Krankheit''
[25]
★ English ''
apple strudel'' calques German ''Apfelstrudel''
[26]
★ English ''
antibody'' calques German ''Antikörper''
[27]
★ English ''
Arons tube'' calques German ''Aronssche Röhre''
[28]
★ English ''
automobile'' calques German ''Kraftwagen'' (lit. ''
Machinized wagon'')
[29]
★ English ''
backpack'' calques German ''
Rucksack''
★ English ''
backformation'' calques German ''Rückbildung'' (lit. "Back building")
''English in Europe'' by Manfred Görlach
★ English ''
ball lightning'' calques German ''Kugelblitz''
''English in Europe'' by Manfred Görlach
★ English ''
beer garden'' calques German ''Biergarten''
[30]
★ English ''
Braun tube'' calques German ''Braunsche Röhre''
[31]
★ English ''
cookbook'' calques German ''Kochbuch''
[32]
★ English ''
cobalt'' calques German ''Kobalt''
[33]
★ English ''
concertmaster'' and ''
concertmeister'' calque German ''Konzertmeister''
[34]
★ English ''
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, and
mad cow disease'' calques German ''Creutzfeldt-Jakob-Krankheit''
[35]
★ English ''
Diesel engine'' calques German ''
Dieselmotor''
[36]
★ English ''
dollar'' calques German ''
Thaler'' (short for ''
Joachimsthaler'')
[37]
★ English ''
cross-dressing'' calques German ''Transvestismus''
[38]
★ English ''
flamethrower'' calques German ''Flammenwerfer''
[39]
★ English ''
foreword'' calques German ''Vorwort'', which itself calques Latin ''præfatio'' (from ''præ-" "before" plus ''fari'' "speak") "preface"
[40]
★ English ''
Geiger counter'' calques German ''Geigerzähler''
[41]
★ English ''
glitz'' calques German ''glitzerig'' (lit. "glittering")
[42]
★ English ''
glitzy'' calques German ''glitzern'' (lit. "glitters")
[43]
★ English ''
gramophone'' calques German ''Grammophon''/''Grammefon''
[44]
★ English ''
heroic
tenor'' calques German ''Heldentenor''
[45]
★ English ''
intelligence quotient'' calques German ''Intelligenz-quotient''
[46]
★ English ''loan translation'' calques German ''Lehnübersetzung''
★ English ''
loanword'' calques German ''Lehnwort''
[47]
★ English ''
Kris/Kriss Kringle'' calques German ''Christkindl'' (lit. "
Christ child")
[48][49]
★ English ''
masochism'' calques German ''Masochismus''
[50]
★ English ''
mercury/quicksilver vapor lamp'' calques German ''Quecksilberdampflampe''
[51]
★ English ''
microphone'' calques German ''Mikrophon''/''Mikrefon''
[52](Note:the German word for Microphone is now ''Sprechmuschel'')
★ English ''
overman'' and ''
superman'' (i.e., self-transcending human) calque German ''
Übermensch''
[53]
★ English ''
parentship/pregnancy test'' calques German ''Schwangerschaftstest''
[54]
★ English ''power politics'' calques German ''
Machtpolitik''
[55]
★ English ''
rainforest'' calques German ''Regenwald''
[56]
★ English ''realistic politics'' calques German ''
Realpolitik''
[57]
★ English ''
sports shoe'', and ''
athletic shoe'' calques German ''Sportschuh''
[58]
★ English ''
standpoint'' (point of view) calques German ''Standpunkt''
[59]
★ English ''
superego'' (formed from Latin ''super-'' "over, above" plus ''ego'' "I") calques German ''über-Ich'' "over-I"
[60]
★ English ''
stormtroopers'' calques German ''Sturmtruppen''
[61]
★ English ''
subliminal'' (formed from Latin ''sub-'', "below", plus ''limin'' (
gen. ''liminis'', "threshold") calques German ''unter der Schwelle'', "beneath the threshold"
[62]
★ English ''
submarine'' calques German ''
Unterseeboot'' (lit. "under-sea boat")
[63]
★ English ''
tank'' calques German ''
Panzerwagen'' (or ''
Panzer'', for short)(lit. "
armored wagon")
[64]
★ English ''
thought experiment'' calques German ''Gedankenexperiment''
[65]
★ English ''
watershed'' calques German ''Wasserscheide''
[66]
★ English ''
worldview'' calques German ''Weltanschauung''
[67]
★ English ''
world war'' calques German ''Weltkrieg''
[68]
From Latin
★ English ''
commonplace'' calques Latin ''locus commūnis'' (referring to a generally applicable literary passage), which itself is a calque of Greek ''koinos topos''
[69]
★ 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
[70]
★ English ''
wisdom tooth'' calques Latin ''dēns sapientiae''
[71]
★ English ''
Milky Way'' calques Latin ''via lactea''
[72]
★ English ''in a nutshell'' calques Latin ''in nuce''
[73]; see
★ class=wikiexternal target=_blank>.html Pliny VII.21
★ English ''
Saturday'' partially calques Latin ''Diēs Saturnī'' day of Saturn
[74]
Note: the Latin planetary names, as found in the names of the weekdays, in turn calque the Greek names, which calque the ancient Babylonian names (e.g. Friday, and the planet Venus, were named after
Freia. See
[75].)
From Spanish
★ English ''
blue-blood'' calques
Spanish ''sangre azul''
[76]
★ English ''moment of truth'' calques Spanish ''el momento de la verdad'' which refers to the time of the final sword thrust in a
bullfight.
[77]
From other languages
★ English ''
gospel'' calques
Greek ''evangelion'' (good news)
[78]
★ English ''
High King'' calques
Irish and
Scottish Gaelic ''
Ard Ri/Ard Righ''
★ English ''
pea jacket'' or ''
pea coat'' calques
North Frisian ''pijekkat''
[79]
★ English ''
side-sword'' calques
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''
★ Latin ''musculus'' "muscle" (= "common house mouse", literally "little mouse" from ''mus'' "mouse") calques Greek ''mys'' "muscle" (= "mouse")
★ Latin ''magnanimus'' calques Greek 'μεγαλοψυχος' (''megalopsuchos'')
★
★ Lat. root ''magnus'' = Gr. 'μεγαλος' (''megalos'') = "great; large"
★
★ Lat. root ''animus'' = Gr. 'ψυχη' (''psuchē'') = "soul"
[80]
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'' abd Romanian ''luna de miere'' calque English ''
honeymoon''
★ French ''gratte-ciel'', Catalan ''gratacels'', Spanish ''rascacielos'', Portuguese ''arranha-céus'' 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)
French
★ French ''courriel'' (contraction of courrier électronique) calques English ''
email'' (electronic mail)
★ French ''disque dur'' calques English ''
hard disk''
★ 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 ''
grade (in school)'' (''nivel'' in Standard Spanish)
★ Spanish ''colegio'' calques English ''
college'' (''universidad'' in Standard Spanish; ''colegio'', in standard Spanish, is synonymous with ''escuela'' and means
school)
★ Spanish ''librería'' calques English ''
library'' (''biblioteca'' in Standard Spanish; ''librería'' in Standard Spanish means ''bookshop'')
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 ''
electronic mail''
★ Spanish ''alta resolución'' calques English ''
high resolution''
★ Spanish ''enlace'' calques English ''link (Internet)''
★ Spanish ''sitio web'' calques English ''
web site''
★ Spanish ''página web'' calques English ''
web page''
★ Spanish ''ratón'' calques English ''
mouse (computer)''
Germanic Languages
Afrikaans and Dutch
★
Afrikaans ''aartappel'' and
Dutch ''aardappel'' calque French ''pomme de terre'' ("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"
The latter, as well as the corresponding ''fernsprechen'' (verb: ''to [tele]phone'' [so.]), has been on the retreat in recent years in favor of (orthographically normalized) ''Telefon''.
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"
Slavic languages
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. 'φιλειν' (''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"
★ 'необхідний' (''neobkhidnyj'') calques Russian 'необходимый' (''neobkhodimyj''), both meaning "necessary"
Finnish
★ Germanic passive agent marker — There is no passive voice in
Finnish, but an impersonal, where the agent is never mentioned. Due to the influence of
Germanic languages, the word ''toimesta'' "from the action" has been constructed in order to mention the agent, i.e. to function like the word "by". (It is impossible to translate the word "by" itself, because there is no direct equivalent.) For example, "Lentokonetta lennetään ohjaajan toimesta", approximately "The plane is being flown, from the action of the pilot." This is grammatically incorrect, but used abundantly in legal documents and sloppy translations.
★
Swedish future marker ''kommer att'' or German ''werden'' calqued as ''tulla + (verb in
third infinitive illative)'' — There is no
future tense in Finnish, and the calque is produced by translation from Swedish and German. Note that the verb ''tulla'' takes up the inflection, and is to be placed into the appropriate tense and person. The calque corresponds to English "is going". For example, ''tullaan muuttamaan'' "is going to be changed". This is considered incorrect grammar, but perfectly understandable and found in translations, political speech and even in legal documents..
★ English ''you''-impersonal calqued; e.g. ''sä et elä jos sä et syö'' is word-for-word "you don't live if you don't eat", unlike the native ''Syömättä ei elä''. Note that this phenomenon is not always traceable to English. Here contraction ''sä'' of spoken language is used instead of the ''sinä'' of written language..
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. Examples include:
★ from Greek: ''sarvikuono'' (rhinoceros, from Greek "rinokeros"),
★ from Latin: ''viisaudenhammas'' (wisdom tooth, from Latin "dens sapientiae"),
★ 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
★ ''tappuach adamah'' (potato) from French ''pomme-de-terre''
★ ''gan yeladim'' from German ''Kindergarten''
★ ''chashmal'' for "electricity" from Greek ''ēlektron'' (amber)
See also
★
Anglicism
★
Germanism
★
Cognate
★
Loanword
★
Metatypy
★
Semantic loan
References
1. 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)
2. 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)
3. 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)
External links
★
EtymOnline
★
Merriam Webster Online
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