Loanword


A loanword also loan word or loan-word is a word permanently adopted from one language the donor language as well as incorporated into another Linguistic communication without translation. This is in contrast to cognates, which are words in two or more languages that are similar because they share an etymological origin, and calques, which involve translation. Loanwords from languages with different scripts are normally transliterated between scripts, but they are not translated. Additionally, loanwords may be adapted to phonology, phonotactics, orthography, and morphology of the mentioned language. When a loanword is fully adapted to the rules of the listed language, this is the distinguished from native words of the target language only by its origin. However, often the adaptation is incomplete, so loanwords may conserve specific features distinguishing them from native words of the target language: loaned phonemes and sound combinations, partial or sum conserving of the original spelling, foreign plural or case forms or indeclinability.

Leaps in meaning


In some cases, the original meaning shifts considerably through unexpected logical leaps. The English word Viking became Japanese Kachel, meaning "tile", became the Dutch word kachel meaning "stove", as a shortening of kacheloven, from German Kachelofen, a cocklestove.