In Linguistics , a ( Pronounced ) or '''loan translation''' is a phrase borrowed from another Language by literal word-for-word translation. For example, 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 . "Loan translation" is itself a calque of German ''Lehnübersetzung''.
The word is also used as a verb: ''to calque'' means to loan translate from another language to create a new Lexeme in the target language. The term comes from the French word ''calquer'', "to copy."
- English '' Superman '' or ''Overman'' calques German '' Übermensch ''
- English '' Standpoint '' calques German ''Standpunkt''
- English '' Worldview '' calques German ''Weltanschauung''
- English '' Antibody '' calques German ''Antikörper''
- English '' Thought Experiment '' calques German ''Gedankenexperiment''
- English '' Beer Garden '' calques German ''Biergarten''
- English ''yea-sayer'' calques German ''Jasager''
- English '' Assault Rifle '' calques German ''Sturmgewehr''
- English '' Side-sword '' calques Italian ''spada da lato'', referring to a versatile one-handed sword of 16th and 17th century Europe.
- English '' Commonplace '' calques Latin ''locus commūnis'' (referring to a generally applicable literary passage), which itself is a calque of Greek ''koinos topos''
- 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
- English '' Dog Days '' calques Latin ''diēs canīculāris''
- English '' Wisdom Tooth '' calques Latin ''dēns sapientiae''
- English '' Vicious Circle '' calques Latin ''circulus vitiōsus''
- English '' Milky Way '' calques Latin ''via lactea''
- English ''in a nutshell'' calques Latin ''in nuce''
- English ''foot'' in the sense of a ''unit of metrical verse'' (e.g. ''in the fourth foot of the verse...'') calques Latin ''pes'' which is used in both senses; the transferred use in Latin is itself a calque on Greek ''pous''.
- English '' Blue-blood '' calques Spanish ''sangre azul''
- English ''moment of truth'' calques Spanish ''el momento de la verdad''. This originally referred to the time of the final sword-thrust in a Bullfight .
- Latin ''compassio'' calques Greek ''sympathy''
- Latin ''insectus'' calques Greek ''entomos''
Examples of Romance language expressions calqued from foreign languages include:
- French ''lune de miel'', Spanish ''luna de miel'' and Portuguese ''lua-de-mel'' calque English '' Honeymoon ''
- French ''gratte-ciel'', Spanish ''rascacielos'' and Portuguese ''arranha-céus'' 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 German '' Kindergarten ''
- Mexican Spanish ''fritas francesas'' calques English '' French Fries ''
- Afrikaans ''aartappel'' calques French ''pomme de terre''
- Afrikaans ''hardeskyf'' calques English ''hard disk''
- Afrikaans ''kleurskuifie'' calques English ''colour slide''
- Afrikaans ''pynappel'' calques English ''pineapple''
- Afrikaans ''sleutelbord'' calques English ''keyboard''
- Afrikaans ''tuisblad'' calques English ''homepage''
- Afrikaans ''wolkekrabber'' calques English ''skyscraper''
- 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.
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")
- from French: ''влияние'' (French "influence")
- from French: ''впечатление'' (impression)
- from Latin: ''насекомое'' (insect, from Latin "insectum")
- from German: ''полуостров'' (peninsula, from German "Halbinsel")
- from French: ''трогать'' (verb "touch" as semantic calque in meaning of "touching the emotions")
- from Latin: ''современный'' (contemporary, from Latin "contemporarius")
- from Russian: ''velyke spasybi'' (a big thank you, Russian "bol'shoe spasibo")
- from Russian: ''neobxindnyj'' (necessary, Russian "neobxodimyj")
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