The variation of calques in European languages, with particular reference to Spanish and German: Main patterns and trends

Abstract

This article compares the use of calques modelled on anglicisms in different European languages, especially Spanish and German, which do not only show structural differences (e.g. with regard to the use of noun-noun compounds, which are more common in German) but also reflect different attitudes towards English. Aspects covered range from the factors generally favouring the coinage of such replacive forms, to the reasons for the emergence of different types of calques, to variations in their use and challenges concerning their identification. To unravel the main patterns and trends in calquing, this study includes numerous examples from written and oral language, i.e. items of different register affiliation, age, length, and semantic transparency. On a theoretical level, the article incorporates findings from the fields of lexicology, contact linguistics and sociolinguistics.

Arabicization via loan translation: a corpus-based analysis of neologisms translated from English into Arabic in the field of information technology

“…Semantic transparency is another linguistic factor that leads to LTs formation (González & Knospe, 2019). Transparency is a concept that varies in degree and pertains to the capacity to infer the meaning of a phrasal unit based on the meanings of its constituent words or morphemes, which is determined by whether those components are used in a literal or metaphorical sense.…”

“…Backus and Dorleijn (2009, p. 77) de ne LT as "any usage of morphemes in Language A that is the result of the literal translation of one or more elements in a semantically equivalent expression in Language B." According to González and Knospe (2019), calquing occurs when a loan element from a donor language is replaced with a native term in a receiving language to create a conceptual replica of the model sign. Many researchers, including Capuz (1997), Haspelmath (2009), Haugen (1972b), Manfredi (2020), Thomason (2001), Trask and Millar (2015), and Zabawa (2017), de ne LT in a similar way.…”

Towards a Borrowability Scale for Phraseological Units: The Case of Arabic Calques from English

“…In light of the similarities between multiword units and morphologically complex words (e.g., Beck, 2019), it is plausible to assume that transparency can be a decisive factor in the borrowability of PUs. Transparency is also regarded as one of the linguistic factors that can lead to calque (González & Knospe, 2019). Transparency is understood here as a scalar concept that refers to the ability to derive the meaning of a given PU from the meanings of its component words or morphemes, which in turn depends on whether such components are used literally or figuratively.…”

“…This, however, does not apply to languages like Arabic, in which the phraseological influence of English has also been strong. González and Knospe (2019) discuss English calques in Spanish and German with the aim of explaining why calque is sometimes preferred to direct borrowing of PUs, arguing that this largely depends of the sociolinguistic attitude of the recipient language speakers. González and Knospe refer to the general pragmatic purposes for which phraseological calques are employed, including euphemism, gaining prestige, and producing humorous effect.…”