sky-scraper – небоскрёб people of good will – люди доброй воли Winter Palace – Зимний Дворец ship-building – кораблестроение, black – board – доска The war of red and white roses – Война белых и красных роз The United Nations Organization – ООН
Straw that broke the camel's back القشة التي قصمت ظهر البعير alqassha alathee qassamat dhahra al baeer . the straw that broke the back of the camel
Running dog calques Chinese: 走狗; pinyin: zǒu gǒu.Brainwashing calques simplified Chinese: 洗脑; traditional Chinese: 洗腦; pinyin: xǐ nǎo – usage via U.S. military during Korean War.Chop chop calques Cantonese Chinese: 快快; pinyin: kuài kuài, via Chinese Pidgin EnglishLong time no see calques Cantonese Chinese: 好耐冇見; Jyutping: hou2 noi6 mou5 gin3, via Chinese Pidgin EnglishLook-see calques Chinese: 看見; pinyin: kànjiàn or Chinese: 睇見; pinyin: (Cantonese) táigin(?) (via Chinese Pidgin English)lose face calques simplified Chinese: 丢脸; traditional Chinese: 丟臉; pinyin: diū liǎnPaper tiger calques simplified Chinese: 纸老虎; traditional Chinese: 紙老虎; pinyin: zhǐ lǎohǔAdam's apple calques pomme d'AdamBushmeat calques viande de broussedeaf-mute calques French sourd-muetBy heart (or off by heart) calques French par cœurGovernor-General calques Gouverneur GénéralFree verse calques vers libreOld guard calques Vieille Garde (the most senior regiments of the Imperial Guard of Napoleon I)Flea market calques marché aux pucesMarriage of convenience calques French mariage de convenanceNew Wave (artistic period) calques Nouvelle Vaguerhinestone calques caillou du Rhin "Rhine pebble"Staircase wit calques l'esprit de l'escalierthat goes without saying calques cela va sans direPoint of view calques point de vueForget-me-not calques ne m'oubliez pascrime of passion from crime passionnelJ. R. R. Tolkien used the name "Bag End" as a calque of "cul-de-sac," to poke fun at the British use of French terms.Masterpiece: probably translation of Dutch meesterstuk or German Meisterstück: Dutch meester and German Meister, master + Dutch stuk and German Stück, piece of work. (The Dutch translation of masterpiece is meesterwerk, the German translation is Meisterwerk.)Superconductor calques Dutch supergeleiderPineapple calques Dutch pijnappel, which calque French pomme de pinCookie calques Dutch koekjeAntibody calques AntikörperBall lightning calques KugelblitzBeer garden calques BiergartenConcertmaster and concertmeister calque KonzertmeisterEarworm calques OhrwurmFlamethrower calques FlammenwerferForeword perhaps calques Vorwort, which itself calques Latin præfatio (from præ- "before" plus fari "speak") "preface"Heroic tenor calques HeldentenorIntelligence quotient calques IntelligenzquotientLoan translation calques LehnübersetzungLoanword calques LehnwortOverman and superman (i.e., self-transcending human) calque ÜbermenschPower politics calques MachtpolitikRainforest calques RegenwaldStandpoint (point of view) calques StandpunktSuperego (formed from Latin super- "over, above" plus ego "I") calques Überich "over-I"Stormtroopers calques SturmtruppenSubliminal (formed from Latin sub-, "below", plus limin (gen. liminis, "threshold") calques unterschwellig, "beneath the threshold"Thought experiment calques GedankenexperimentWatershed calques WasserscheideWorldview calques German WeltanschauungScapegoat is a mistaken calque of עזאזל (Azazel) as ez ozel ( literally, "the goat that departs," hence "[e]scape goat"). The mistranslation is attributed to William Tyndale in his 1530 translation of the Bible.Commonplace calques locus commūnis (referring to a generally applicable literary passage), which itself is a calque of Greek koinos toposDevil's advocate calques advocātus diabolī, referring to an official appointed to present arguments against a proposed canonization or beatification in the Catholic ChurchWisdom tooth calques dēns sapientiaeMilky Way calques via lacteaRest in Peace calques requiescat in paceIn a nutshell calques in nuceBlue-blood calques sangre azulFifth column calques quinta columnaKiller whale from ballena asesina (killer whale)Moment of truth calques el momento de la verdad, which refers to the time of the final sword thrust in a bullfight.Gospel calques Greek εὐαγγέλιον (evangelion) (good news)Hotdish calques Scandinavian varmrett/varmrättLatin compassio calques Greek συμπάθεια (sympathia) "sympathy" (Latin: "suffering with", Greek: "suffering together")Latin deus ex machina calques Greek ἀπό μηχανῆς θεός (apo mechanēs theos") (Latin: "god out of the machine", Greek: "out of the machine, god")Latin insectus calques Greek ἔντομον (entomon) ("insect", from words meaning "to cut into" in the respective languages)Latin musculus "muscle" (= "common house mouse", literally "little mouse" from mus "mouse") calques Greek μῦς (mys) "muscle" (= "mouse")Latin magnanimus calques Greek μεγαλόψυχος (megalopsychos) (from words meaning "great-souled" in the respective 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 and Romanian luna de miere calque English honeymoonFrench gratte-ciel, Catalan gratacels, Spanish rascacielos, Portuguese arranha-céus, Romanian zgârie-nori and Italian grattacielo calque English skyscraperFrench sabot de Denver calques English Denver bootFrench jardin d'enfants, Spanish jardín de infancia and Portuguese Jardim de infância calque German Kindergarten (children's garden)Spanish baloncesto and Italian pallacanestro calque English basketballItalian pallavolo calques English volleyballFrench courriel (contraction of courrier électronique) calques English email (contraction of electronic mail)French disque dur calques English hard diskFrench carte mère calques English motherboardFrench eau de vie calques Latin aqua vitaeFrench en ligne calques English onlineFrench hors-ligne (literally: "out of line, off line") calques English offlineFrench haute résolution calques English high resolutionFrench haute tension calques English high voltageFrench disque compact calques English compact discFrench haute fidélité calques English hi-fi (high fidelity)French large bande calques English broadbandFrench modulation de fréquence calques English frequency modulation (FM)French média de masse calques English mass mediaFrench seconde main calques English second handFrench sortir du placard calques English to come out of the closetFrench surhomme calques German Übermensch (Nietzsche's concept)French souris calques English mouse (computer peripheral)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.French cor anglais (literally English horn) is a near-calque of English French horn. In English cor anglais refers to a completely different musical instrument.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) (nota in Standard Spanish)Also technological terms calqued from English are used throughout the Spanish-speaking world:
Spanish rascacielos calques English skyscraperSpanish tarjeta de crédito calques English credit cardSpanish alta tecnología calques English high technologySpanish disco compacto calques English compact discSpanish correo electrónico calques English electronic mailSpanish alta resolución calques English high resolutionSpanish enlace calques English link (Internet)Spanish ratón calques English mouse (computer)Spanish nave espacial calques English spaceshipSpanish en un momento dado calques Dutch op een gegeven moment (At a certain moment)Italian aria condizionata calques English air conditionedItalian fine settimana calques English week-endItalian ferrovia (railway: lit. "iron road") calques French Chemin de ferAfrikaans and Dutch
Afrikaans aartappel and Dutch aardappel calque French pomme de terre (English potato "earth apple")Afrikaans besigheid calques English businessAfrikaans e-pos calques English e-mailAfrikaans hardeskyf and Dutch harde schijf calque English hard diskAfrikaans klankbaan calques English sound trackAfrikaans kleurskuifie calques English colour slideAfrikaans sleutelbord calques English keyboardAfrikaans tuisblad calques English homepageAfrikaans wolkekrabber and Dutch wolkenkrabber calque German Wolkenkratzer (which itself calques English sky scraper).Fußball calques English "football", referring specifically to association footballTeddybär calques English teddy bearWolkenkratzer calques English skyscraperFlutlicht calques English floodlightDatenverarbeitung calques English data processingGroßmutter and Großvater calques French grand-mère and grand-pèreRundreise calques French tournéeFernsehen calques English television (from the Greek affix tele- "far" and Latin visio "sight")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"One of the early suggestions for an Icelandic translation of helicopter was þyrilvængja, twirling wings, a calque of the Greek helico-pteron. This was later replaced with þyrla.Danish børnehave and Norwegian barnehage calque German Kindergarten: barne = børne = Kinder = children; hage = have = Garten = gardenhjemmeside calques English home page.Danish hjerneflugt and Norwegian hjerneflukt (literally, brain flight) calque English brain drain.Danish idiotsikker calques English "foolproof".loppemarked calques French marché aux puces (flea market, itself a calque from the French).mandag (Monday), from Old Norse mánadagr ("moon day") calques Latin dies lunæ.Danish overhoved and Norwegian overhode (head of a family, chief) calques German Oberhaupt (ober "over", Haupt "head").Danish samvittighed and Norwegian samvittighet (conscience) calques Latin (through Low German) conscientia (com "with", scire "to know").From sam- (co-) and vittig (today meaning "funny" but which stems from Low German, where it meant "reasonable", related to "vite" (to know) and English "wit".)Norwegian tenåring calques English teenager: femten = fifteen, åring = annual harvesttonåring calques English teen-ager: femton = fifteen, åring = annual harvestskyskrapa calques skyscraper.Serbian 'misliti izvan kutije' calques English 'to think outside of the box':Sr. 'misliti' = Eng. 'to think'Sr. 'izvan' = Eng. 'outside'Sr. 'kutija' = Eng. 'box'Macedonian ракопис (rakopis) calques Latin-derived 'manuscript' and 'handwriting':Mac. root рака (raka) = Lat. manus = 'hand'Mac. root пис- (pis-) = Lat. scribo = 'to write'Macedonian правопис (pravopis) calques Greek-derived 'orthography':Mac. root право (pravo) = Gr. ορθός (orthos) = 'correct';Mac. root пис- (pis-) = Gr. γράφειν (graphein) = 'to write'Macedonian православие (pravoslavie) calques Greek-derived 'orthodoxy':Mac. root право (pravo) = Gr. ορθός (orthos) = 'correct';Mac. root славие (slavie) = Gr. δοξα (doxa) = 'glorification'In more recent times, the Macedonian language has calqued new words from other prestige languages including German, French and English.
Macedonian натчовек (natčovek) = calques German-derived 'overman' (Übermensch)Mac. root над- (nad-) = Ger. über = 'over'Mac. root човек (čovek, man) = Ger. mensch = 'people'Macedonian облакодер (oblakoder) = calques English skyscraper:Mac. root облак (oblak, cloud)Mac. root дере (dere, to flay)Macedonian клучен збор (klučen zbor) = calques English keyword:Mac. root клуч (kluč, key)Mac. root збор (zbor, word)Some words were originally calqued into Russian and then absorbed into Macedonian, considering the close relatedness of the two languages. Therefore, many of these calques can also be considered Russianisms.
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. φιλεῖν (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 совпадение (sovpadenije) calques Latin-derived 'coincidence':Russ. prefix со- (so) = Lat. co- = 'in; with; together'Russ. prefix в- (v) = Lat. in- = 'in; into'Russ. root падать (padat' ) = Lat. cidere = 'to fall'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'Διαδίκτυο from English InternetΠοδόσφαιρο from English "football", referring specifically to association footballΤηλεόραση from Televisionuisce beatha calques Latin aqua vitae – The English word whiskey is actually derived from this phraseSince Finnish, a Uralic language, differs radically in pronunciation and orthography from Indo-European languages, most loans adopted in Finnish either are calques or soon become such as foreign words are translated into Finnish. Examples include:
from Greek: sarvikuono (rhinoceros, from Greek ρινόκερος "rinokeros"),from Latin: viisaudenhammas (wisdom tooth, from Latin "dens sapientiae"),from English: jalkapallo (English "football", specifically referring to association football),from English: koripallo (English "basketball"),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: pesukarhu (raccoon, from Swedish "tvättbjörn" and ultimately German "Waschbär"),from Swedish: moottoritie (highway, from Swedish "motorväg" and ultimately German "autobahn"),from Chinese: aivopesu (brainwash, from Chinese "xi nao"),from Spanish: siniverinen (blue-blooded, from Spanish "de sangre azul")When Jews make aliyah to Israel, they often Hebraize their surnames. One approach to doing so was by calque from the original (often German or Yiddish) surname. For instance, Imi Lichtenfield, founder of the martial art Krav Maga, became Imi Sde-Or. Both last names mean "light field". For more examples and other approaches, see the article on Hebraization of surnames.
mesilat barzel (obsolete term for railway) from German Eisenbahn (iron track); "sach-rachok" (obsolete term for telephone) from German "Fernsprecher" (itself a calque from Greek "telephone")"zarkor" (searchlight) from German "Scheinwerfer" (light-thrower=>zorek-or, contracted to "zarkor")iton (newspaper) from German and Yiddish Zeitungtappuach adamah (potato) from French pomme-de-terregan yeladim from German Kindergartenkaduregel (כדורגל) (football, specifically association football/soccer) from English football; "kadursal" (basketball); "kaduryad" (handball);..."kelev yam" (seal) from German "Seehund" ("sea dog")"karnaf" (contraction of "keren af"/"nosehorn") from Greek rhinoceros, possibly via German Nashornnames of many chemical elements are calqued from German and/or Greek: "meiman" (hydrogen) from Wasserstoff, "pachman" (carbon) from Kohlstoff, "chankan" (nitrogen) from Stickstoff, "chamtzan" (oxygen) from Sauerstoff, zarkhan (phosphorus) from Greek, ... Some others are derived from Biblical or Mishnaic Hebrew words: kesef (silver), barzel (iron), nechoshet (copper), zahav (gold), oferet (lead), ashlagan (potassium, from "ashlag"=potash),many computing terms are calqued from English: "luach em" (motherboard), "me`abed" (processor), "natav" (router), akhbar (mouse), cartis reshet (network card), sapak koach (power supply), mat`en (charger),... Other terms are loanwords: "disq" (disk), ... Yet others are 'native' Hebrew words, either newly coined or adapted from earlier usage: "mikledet" (keyboard), "madpeset" (printer, by analogy with "mekhonat dfus"/printing press), "reshet" (network, from Hebrew for a net), ...According to linguist Ghil'ad Zuckermann, the more contributing languages have a structurally identical expression, the more likely it is to be calqued into the target language. In Israeli (his term for "Modern Hebrew") one uses má nishmà, lit. "what's heard?", with the meaning of "what's up?". Zuckermann argues that this is a calque not only of the Yiddish expression Was hört sich? (usually pronounced v(o)sérts´kh), lit. "what's heard?", meaning "what's up?", but also of the parallel expressions in Polish, Russian and Romanian. Whereas most revivalists were native Yiddish-speakers, many first speakers of Modern Hebrew spoke Russian and Polish too. So a Polish speaker in the 1930s might have used má nishmà not (only) due to Yiddish Was hört sich? but rather (also) due to Polish Co słychać? A Russian Jew might have used ma nishma due to Что слышно? (pronounced chto slyshno) and a Romanian Israeli would echo ce se aude. According to Zuckermann, such multi-sourced calquing is a manifestation of the Congruence principle.
Modern Malayalam incorporates numerous calques from English, evident in idioms and expressions, many of which have evolved into clichés. However, the adoption of standalone English words into Malayalam is relatively limited. The following is a list of commonly used calque phrases/expressions.All of these are exact translations of the corresponding English phrases.
- Simha bhagam (സിംഹ ഭാഗം)- Lion's share
- Varikalkidayil vaayikuka (വരികള്ക്കിടയില് വായിക്കുക)reading between the lines
- Chuvarazhuthu (ചുവരെഴുത്തു) the writing on the wall
- Moola kallu (മൂലക്കല്ല്) cornerstone
- Naazhikakallu (നാഴികക്കല്ല്) milestone
- Ooshmala varavelppu (ഊഷ്മ്ല വരവേല്പ്പ്) warm welcome
- Thanuppan prathikaranam (തണുപ്പന് പ്രതികരണം) cold response
- Sheetayuddham (ശീതയുദ്ധം) Cold war
- Hridayabhedakam (ഹൃദയഭേദകം) Heart rending/breaking
- Chekuttaanum kadalinumidayil(ചെകുത്താനും കടലിനുമിടയില്)between the devil and the sea
- vazhivittu sahaayikkuka (വഴിവിട്ടു സഹായിക്കുക)go out of one's way
- kuthira kachavadam (കുതിര കച്ചവടം) horse trading
- mrigeeya bhooripaksham (മൃഗീയ ഭൂരിപക്ഷം) monstrous majority
- kavya neethi (കാവ്യനീതി) poetic justice.
- ambara chumbikal(അംബരചുംബികൾ) skyscrapers literally skykissers