4.5 KiB
| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| List of calques | 4/4 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_calques | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T08:11:20.996893+00:00 | kb-cron |
mesilat barzel (obsolete term for railway) from German Eisenbahn (iron track); "sach-rachok" (a proposed term for telephone that became famous for not catching on) 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 Zeitung and Yiddish צײַטוּנג tsaytung (Zeit and Et both mean time or era, first syllable e become i with the -on suffix) tappuach adamah (potato) from French pomme-de-terre gan yeladim from German Kindergarten kaduregel (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 Nashorn names 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, and ashlagan (potassium) from English ("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). 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 ?וואָס הערט זיך (vos hert zikh?), 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 vos hert zikh? 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.
== Malayalam ==
Modern Malayalam is replete with calques from English. The calques manifest themselves as idioms and expressions and many have gone on to become clichés. However standalone words are very few. 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) buildings; literally sky-kissers
== Mandarin Chinese == huīyī zhǔjiào (灰衣主教) calques French éminence grise lánqiú (籃球 / 篮球) calques English basketball règǒu (熱狗 / 热狗) calques English hotdog ruǎnjiàn (軟件 / 软件) calques English software shǎndiànzhàn (閃電戰 / 闪电战) calques German Blitzkrieg tiěmù (鐵幕 / 铁幕) calques English Iron Curtain
== References ==