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Loanword

From Teflpedia

A loanword (/ləʊnwɜ:d/) is a word taken from another language[1] with little or no modification.[2] The pronunciation is (nearly) always modified, because it must use phonemes in the receiving language.

English has been an enthusiastic borrower of words from other languages, although with its rise as an international language the tide seems to be running in the other direction. Some countries take steps to protect their languages from “contamination" by English words whilst others seem more relaxed.

Contrast calque.

Examples[edit | edit source]

"->" indicates the original language at the left and the new language at the right (English in most cases).

  • Afrikaans: aardvark
  • Algonquian: moccasin, raccoon
  • Arabic: falafel, alfalfa (via Spanish)
  • Arawak (via French): canoe
  • Aymara (via Spanish): alpaca
  • Catalan paella /pəˈe.ʎə/ -> Spanish paella /paˈe.ʎa/ -> English paella /paɪˈel.ə, pɑːˈeɪ.lə/
  • Chinese: chop suey, feng shui, ginseng
  • Dutch: lottery, sketch
  • Farsi: caravan, kakhi (via Urdu)
  • Finish: sauna
  • French café [kafe] -> English café or cafe /ˈkæfeɪ,BrE kæˈfeɪ,AmE kəˈfeɪAmE/
French lingerie /lɛ̃ʒ.ʁi/ -> English lingerie /ˈlænʒərɪ,BrE lɑːndʒəˈreɪAmE/
fiancé/fiancée, garage, champagne, menu
  • German: gestalt, frankfurter, wiener, kindergarten
German Müsli or (seldom) Muesli [ˈmyːsli] -> English muesli /ˈmjuːzliː, ˈmjuːsliː/
  • Guugu Yimithirr: kangaroo
  • Hawaiian: ukulele
  • Hindi: guru, pundit
  • Hungarian: goulash
  • Inuit: kayak, igloo
  • Italian: soprano, piano, lasagna, pizza
Italian spaghetto, pl. spaghetti [spaˈɡetti] -> English spaghetti (uncountable) /spəˈɡetiː/
  • Japanese: karate, kamikaze, tsunami
Japanese 寿司 sushi [sɯᵝɕi] -> English sushi /ˈsuːʃiː/
  • Korean: tae kwon do /taɪ kwɒn ˈdəʊ/
  • Latin: ad nauseam, bona fide, modus operandi
  • Maori: kiwi /ˈkiːwiː/
  • Mapuche (via Spanish): poncho
  • Nahuatl (via Spanish): tomato, chocolate
  • Norwegian: ski
  • Portuguese: cobra, flamingo, marmalade
  • Quechua (via Spanish): guanaco, llama, vicuña
  • Russian: balalaika, vodka
  • Sanscrit: yoga, mantra
  • Spanish: canyon, guerrilla
Spanish piñata [piˈɲata] -> English piñata or pinata /pɪnˈjɑːtə/
  • Swahili: safari
  • Swedish smörgåsbord -> English smorgasbord
  • Taino (via Spanish): maize, potato
  • Tupi (via Portuguese): piranha
  • Yiddish: chutzpah /ˈhʊtspə/

References[edit | edit source]