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Truncated loan words | ||
Tags: Loanwords | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Philological Room |  | |
| administrator Hexaglot Forum Admin Switzerland FXcuisine.com Joined 7376 days ago 3094 posts - 2987 votes  12 sounds Speaks: French*, EnglishC2, German, Italian, Spanish, Russian Personal Language Map | Message 1 of 18 26 June 2006 at 2:33am | IP Logged | ||
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Sometimes a language borrows a word from another but cuts it right in the middle. You end up with only one half and use it for years before you realize your predicament.
Arabic amir-al-bahr ('commander of the seas) => English admiral => French amiral The Arabic word for sea ('bahr') has been left out. I guess that must sound very strange to Arabic speakers. An etymologist said it was probably left out to make it sound like Maréchal, Sénéchal, other French military titles, but I don't know if there is much merit in that explanation. The untruncated loan word would have been something like admiralbar. French maître d'hôtel ('hotel master'=head of the waiters in a restaurant) => English maitre d' This one does sound very awkward to French ears, even more so when people make the last sound very long [deeeeeeeeee] with an air of grand refinement. I found only these two examples, but perhaps you know others? Edited by administrator on 26 June 2006 at 2:40am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
 jeff_lindqvist Diglot Moderator SwedenRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6909 days ago 4250 posts - 5711 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English Studies: German, Spanish, Russian, Dutch, Mandarin, Esperanto, Irish, French Personal Language Map | Message 2 of 18 26 June 2006 at 4:12am | IP Logged | ||
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English/French automobile ('self-moving'="self-propelled motor vehicle" (from Etymonline))
=>Swedish bil =>German das Auto 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| David Hallgren Triglot Groupie Sweden davidhallgren.se Joined 6995 days ago 40 posts - 43 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English, Japanese Studies: Mandarin | Message 3 of 18 26 June 2006 at 7:20am | IP Logged | ||
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Japanese has an incredible amount of these. They often start our in their full form but since that tend to get way to long when "katakanized" they get shortened. A few samples off the top of my head:
リストラ resutora - restructure メルアド meruado - e-mail address タクト takuto - Taktstock (German, meaning "baton") ノート nooto - notebook レジ reji - cash register スタバ sutaba - Star Bucks Edited by David Hallgren on 26 June 2006 at 7:20am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Lucia Diglot Senior Member Spain Joined 6820 days ago 146 posts - 147 votes Speaks: English, Spanish* Studies: German | Message 4 of 18 26 June 2006 at 9:08am | IP Logged | ||
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Though most Spaniards say "mortadela "(mortadella),
some call it "chope" or " choped" from "chopped pork". un christmas = a Christmas card un cross = a cross-country event un open = an open championship or tournament el spin = the spinnaker (the colourful sail design ed for sailing with the wind behind the boat ) un panty = a pantyhose Does anybody know if "das Handy "(the mobile phone in German) comes from "the handy phone " ? Edited by Lucia on 26 June 2006 at 2:43pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Frisco Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 6856 days ago 380 posts - 398 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Norwegian, Italian, Turkish, Mandarin | Message 5 of 18 26 June 2006 at 3:58pm | IP Logged | ||
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A couple of my favorites. First is Italian, second is Spanish.
il water - water closet el table - table dance (strip club) 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| patuco Diglot Moderator Gibraltar Joined 7015 days ago 3795 posts - 4268 votes Speaks: Spanish, English* Personal Language Map | Message 6 of 18 26 June 2006 at 4:03pm | IP Logged | ||
Also applies in Spanish, i.e. el wáter = WC 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| leesean Pentaglot Newbie United States lshuang.wordpress.co Joined 6738 days ago 10 posts - 10 votes Speaks: Mandarin, English*, Spanish, Japanese, French | Message 7 of 18 06 July 2006 at 11:49pm | IP Logged | ||
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Japanese:
konbini = convenience store sekuhara = sexual Harassment aisu = ice cream purikura = Print Club (photo booth with special art effects that prints out photos with adhesive backs- a pop cultural youth phenomenon in Japan) amefuto = American football sando* = sandwich *only used as a suffix: i.e. hamu-sando = ham sandwitch the full loanword in Japanese would be sandoitchi French: les baskets = Basketball shoes (sneakers, trainers, runners) I don't know if this is a truncated loan word or just a false Anglicism like un smoking which refers to a tuxedo (U.S) or a dinner jacket (U.K.) in Quebec, there is the term, la bécosse, which comes from the English "back house," refering to the outhouse or toilets. Edited by leesean on 06 July 2006 at 11:50pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Alfonso Octoglot Senior Member Mexico Joined 6861 days ago 511 posts - 536 votes Speaks: Biblical Hebrew, Spanish*, French, English, Tzotzil, Italian, Portuguese, Ancient Greek Studies: Nahuatl, Tzeltal, German | Message 8 of 18 07 July 2006 at 1:37pm | IP Logged | ||
I'm surprised to know that here in Latin-America we don't use any of these "imported words". It looks like there is more English influence in European Spanish than in Latin-American Spanish. Edited by Alfonso on 07 July 2006 at 1:40pm 1 person has voted this message useful |
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