Definition:
A compound in English (for example, superman) that literally translates a foreign expression (German Übermensch), word for word. Also known as calque.
See also:
Examples and Observations:
- "When we borrowed the French word decalcomanie as decalcomania (and later shortened it to decal; the original French word, itself a compound, contains the morpheme calque), we simply took it over in one piece and naturalized it by means of an English pronunciation. But when we took over the German word Lehnwort we actually translated its two morphemes into English and loanword resulted. In early English, especially before the Norman Conquest, borrowings were far less common than today, and calques far more so. . . .
"The verb bad mouth . . . is a calque or loan translation: it seems to come from Vai day ngatmay (a curse; literally, 'a bad mouth'). . . .
"New World Spanish has composed a number of loan translations or calques on English models, such as luna de miel (honeymoon), perros calientes (hot dogs), and conferencia de alto nivel (high level conference)."
(W.F. Bolton, A Living Language: The History and Structure of English. Random House, 1982) - "Whiskey is 'water of life,' etymologically speaking. The term is short for whiskybae, which is another spelling of usquebaugh, from Gaelic uiscebeatha, meaning 'water of life.' In Scotland and Ireland, whisky/whiskey is still called usquebaugh.
"This is a loan translation from Latin aqua vitae, literally 'water of life.' A dry spirit from Scandinavia is called aquavit. Russian vodka is water, too, from Russian voda (water). Finally, there's firewater, a literal translation of Ojibwa (an Algonquin language) ishkodewaaboo."
(Anu Garg, The Dord, the Diglot, and an Avocado or Two. Plume, 2007)
Also Known As: calque
