linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...

, an etymological calque is a lexical item

calque In linguistics, a calque () or loan translation is a word or phrase borrowed from another language by literal word-for-word or root-for-root translation. When used as a verb, "to calque" means to borrow a word or phrase from another language ...

d from another language by replicating the

etymology Etymology ( ) is the study of the origin and evolution of words—including their constituent units of sound and meaning—across time. In the 21st century a subfield within linguistics, etymology has become a more rigorously scientific study. ...

of the borrowed lexical item although this etymology is irrelevant for the meaning being borrowed. Zuckermann, Ghil'ad (2003),

Language Contact and Lexical Enrichment in Israeli Hebrew ''Language Contact and Lexical Enrichment in Israeli Hebrew'' is a scholarly book written in the English language by linguist Ghil'ad Zuckermann, published in 2003 by Palgrave Macmillan. The book proposes a socio-philological framework for the an ...

Palgrave Macmillan Palgrave Macmillan is a British academic and trade publishing company headquartered in the London Borough of Camden. Its programme includes textbooks, journals, monographs, professional and reference works in print and online. It maintains offi ...

. /

/ref> Most calques are ''not'' etymological. For example, the English compound ''

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

'' was calqued, conventionally, into

Standard Chinese Standard Chinese ( zh, s=现代标准汉语, t=現代標準漢語, p=Xiàndài biāozhǔn hànyǔ, l=modern standard Han speech) is a modern standard form of Mandarin Chinese that was first codified during the republican era (1912–1949). ...

as 篮球 ''lánqiú'', which means "basketball". The lexical item 篮球 ''lánqiú'' consists of 篮 ''lán'' "basket" and 球 ''qiú'' "ball". Therefore, ''lánqiú'' is a calque. On the other hand, the English compound ''

hotdog A hot dog is a grilled, steamed, or boiling, boiled sausage served in the slit of a partially sliced Hot dog bun, bun. The term ''hot dog'' can also refer to the sausage itself. The sausage used is a wiener (Vienna sausage) or a frankfurter (F ...

'' was etymologically calqued into

as 热狗 ''règǒu'' "hotdog". The Chinese lexical item 热狗 ''règǒu'' "hotdog" consists of 热 ''rè'' "hot" and 狗 ''gǒu'' "dog", and is thus an etymological calque of the English lexical item ''hotdog''. Those making the calque (as well as Chinese speakers) are completely aware that when they eat a 热狗 ''règǒu'' "hotdog" they do ''not'' eat dog meat. Nonetheless, they chose to retain the English etymology within the Chinese

neologism In linguistics, a neologism (; also known as a coinage) is any newly formed word, term, or phrase that has achieved popular or institutional recognition and is becoming accepted into mainstream language. Most definitively, a word can be considered ...

. Therefore, ''règǒu'' is an etymological calque.

Examples

Standard Chinese

The etymology of the English lexical item

cocktail A cocktail is a mixed drink, usually alcoholic beverage, alcoholic. Most commonly, a cocktail is a combination of one or more liquor, spirits mixed with other ingredients, such as juices, flavored syrups, tonic water, Shrub (drink), shrubs, and ...

is maintained and visible within the Chinese etymological calque 鸡尾酒 ''jīwěijiǔ'' "cocktail". The Chinese lexical item 鸡尾酒 ''jīwěijiǔ'' "cocktail" means literally "chicken tail alcohol", and is thus an etymological calque of the English lexical item ''cocktail''.

Israeli Hebrew

Hemda Ben-Yehuda’s 1904 neologism אופנה ' "fashion" is an etymological calque - deriving from אופן ' "mode" – of the internationalism ''móda'' "fashion" (e.g. ''moda'' in

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

), which can be traced back to the Latin lexical item ''modus'' "mode".

References

Calque In linguistics, a calque () or loan translation is a word or phrase borrowed from another language by literal word-for-word or root-for-root translation. When used as a verb, "to calque" means to borrow a word or phrase from another language ...

Word coinage Neologisms Lexicology Terminology Linguistic morphology Language contact {{historical-linguistics-stub

Examples

Standard Chinese

Israeli Hebrew

See also

References