Loan Translations

Loan Translations Loan Translations Loan Translations By Maeve Maddox Vocabulary borrowings from other languages take many forms, one of which is the loan translation or calque. The English word calque derives from French calquer â€Å"to trace.† It refers to a word or a phrase that has been translated word-for-word from its foreign origin. Because English is a Germanic language, it’s not surprising that we have numerous calques that originated as German expressions. Here are a few: superman from à ¼bermensch hang glider from Hngegleiter flamethrower from Flammenwerfer gummy bear from the product name Gummibrchen (little gummy bear) loanword from Lehnwort Intelligence Quotient (I.Q.) from Intelligenzquotient Rainforest from Regenwald Watershed from Wasserscheide World war from Weltkrieg Note: In Nietzschean thought, the à ¼bermensch is the ideal superior man of the future who transcends conventional Christian morality to create and impose his own values. The German word werfer (â€Å"thrower†) is used in sports to refer to the bowler in cricket and the pitcher in baseball. Here are some calques from the French: deaf-mute from sourd-muet free verse from vers libre rhinestone from caillou du Rhin Note: The historical term deaf-mute, â€Å"unable to hear or speak,† is now considered by some to be insensitive or derogatory; a replacement term is â€Å"hearing- and speech-impaired.† German also has Rheinkiesel which, like caillou du Rhin, means â€Å"Rhine-pebble.† Latin calques: Milky Way (the galaxy that contains Earth’s solar system) from via lactea â€Å"Rest in Peace† from requiescat in pace â€Å"in a nutshell† from in nuce Calquing goes both ways. Computing terms coined in English have been calqued into other languages. For example, French disque dur, carte mà ¨re, souris, and en ligne for English hard disk, motherboard, mouse, and online. Related post: Loanwords and Calques Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:How Many Tenses in English?3 Cases of Complicated HyphenationUsing "zeitgeist" Coherently