Semantic loan
Encyclopedia
A semantic loan is a process of borrowing semantic
meaning
(rather than lexical item
s) from another language
, very similar to the formation of calque
s. In this case, however, the complete word in the borrowing language already exists; the change is that its meaning is extended
to include another meaning its existing translation has in the lending language. Calques, loanword
s and semantic loans are often grouped roughly under the phrase "borrowing". Semantic loans often occur when two languages are in close contact.
verb "realisieren" originally only meant the former: to make something real. However, German later borrowed the other meaning of "to realise" from English, and today, according to Duden
, also means "to become aware of something" (this meaning is still considered by many to be an Anglicism
). The word "realisieren" itself already existed before the borrowing took place; the only thing borrowed was this second meaning. (Compare this with a calque, such as antibody
, from the German Antikörper, where the word "antibody" did not exist in English before it was borrowed.)
A similar example is the German semantic loan überziehen, which meant only to draw something across, before it took on the additional borrowed meaning of its literal English translation overdraw in the financial sense.
Semantic loans may be adopted by many different languages: Hebrew
kokháv, Arabic
نجم (naǧm), Russian
zvezdá, Polish
gwiazda, Finnish
tähti and Vietnamese
sao all originally meant "star" in the astronomical sense, and then went on to adopt the sememe
"star", as in a famous entertainer, from English.
Semantics
Semantics is the study of meaning. It focuses on the relation between signifiers, such as words, phrases, signs and symbols, and what they stand for, their denotata....
meaning
Meaning (linguistics)
In linguistics, meaning is what is expressed by the writer or speaker, and what is conveyed to the reader or listener, provided that they talk about the same thing . In other words if the object and the name of the object and the concepts in their head are the same...
(rather than lexical item
Lexical item
A Lexical item is a single word or chain of words that forms the basic elements of a language's lexicon . Examples are "cat", "traffic light", "take care of", "by-the-way", and "it's raining cats and dogs"...
s) from another language
Language
Language may refer either to the specifically human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of communication, or to a specific instance of such a system of complex communication...
, very similar to the formation of calque
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.-Calque:...
s. In this case, however, the complete word in the borrowing language already exists; the change is that its meaning is extended
Extension (semantics)
In any of several studies that treat the use of signs - for example, in linguistics, logic, mathematics, semantics, and semiotics - the extension of a concept, idea, or sign consists of the things to which it applies, in contrast with its comprehension or intension, which consists very roughly of...
to include another meaning its existing translation has in the lending language. Calques, loanword
Loanword
A loanword is a word borrowed from a donor language and incorporated into a recipient language. By contrast, a calque or loan translation is a related concept where the meaning or idiom is borrowed rather than the lexical item itself. The word loanword is itself a calque of the German Lehnwort,...
s and semantic loans are often grouped roughly under the phrase "borrowing". Semantic loans often occur when two languages are in close contact.
Examples
One example is the German semantic loan realisieren. The English verb "to realise" has more than one meaning: it means both "to make something happen/come true" and "to become aware of something". The GermanGerman language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
verb "realisieren" originally only meant the former: to make something real. However, German later borrowed the other meaning of "to realise" from English, and today, according to Duden
Duden
The Duden is a German dictionary, first published by Konrad Duden in 1880.Currently the Duden is in its 25th edition and published in 12 volumes, each covering different aspects like loan words, etymology, pronunciation, synonyms, etc...
, also means "to become aware of something" (this meaning is still considered by many to be an Anglicism
Anglicism
An Anglicism, as most often defined, is a word borrowed from English into another language. "Anglicism" also describes English syntax, grammar, meaning, and structure used in another language with varying degrees of corruption.-Anglicisms in Chinese:...
). The word "realisieren" itself already existed before the borrowing took place; the only thing borrowed was this second meaning. (Compare this with a calque, such as antibody
Antibody
An antibody, also known as an immunoglobulin, is a large Y-shaped protein used by the immune system to identify and neutralize foreign objects such as bacteria and viruses. The antibody recognizes a unique part of the foreign target, termed an antigen...
, from the German Antikörper, where the word "antibody" did not exist in English before it was borrowed.)
A similar example is the German semantic loan überziehen, which meant only to draw something across, before it took on the additional borrowed meaning of its literal English translation overdraw in the financial sense.
Semantic loans may be adopted by many different languages: Hebrew
Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
kokháv, Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
نجم (naǧm), Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
zvezdá, Polish
Polish language
Polish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...
gwiazda, Finnish
Finnish language
Finnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland Primarily for use by restaurant menus and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. It is one of the two official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a...
tähti and Vietnamese
Vietnamese language
Vietnamese is the national and official language of Vietnam. It is the mother tongue of 86% of Vietnam's population, and of about three million overseas Vietnamese. It is also spoken as a second language by many ethnic minorities of Vietnam...
sao all originally meant "star" in the astronomical sense, and then went on to adopt the sememe
Sememe
A sememe is a semantic language unit of meaning, correlative to a morpheme.A sememe is a proposed unit of transmitted or intended meaning; it is atomic or indivisible. A sememe can be the meaning expressed by a morpheme, such as the English pluralizing morpheme -s, which carries the sememic...
"star", as in a famous entertainer, from English.
See also
- CalqueCalqueIn 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.-Calque:...
- List of calques
- SemanticsSemanticsSemantics is the study of meaning. It focuses on the relation between signifiers, such as words, phrases, signs and symbols, and what they stand for, their denotata....
- Semantic changeSemantic changeSemantic change, also known as semantic shift or semantic progression describes the evolution of word usage — usually to the point that the modern meaning is radically different from the original usage. In diachronic linguistics, semantic change is a change in one of the meanings of a word...
- Phono-semantic matchingPhono-semantic matchingPhono-semantic matching is a linguistic term referring to camouflaged borrowing in which a foreign word is matched with a phonetically and semantically similar pre-existent native word/root....
- PolysemyPolysemyPolysemy is the capacity for a sign or signs to have multiple meanings , i.e., a large semantic field.Charles Fillmore and Beryl Atkins’ definition stipulates three elements: the various senses of a polysemous word have a central origin, the links between these senses form a network, and ...
Sources
- Some of this article was translated from its equivalent German Wikipedia article of June 2007.