Lexical Calque as a Secondary Term-formation Method Framing Cognition in the Target Language

Abstract

Translating texts from one language into another involves the use of different translation techniques. One particularly interesting technique is ‘lexical calque’ which consists in the creation in the target language of a new expression based on a literal translation of a source language expression to introduce a new concept into the target language. This process involves secondary term-formation which entails cognitive, lexical, and cultural implications for the target language and its users. Therefore, calques frame the way target language users conceptualize the concepts they denote. This study explores the nature of lexical calques resulting from English-Arabic translation with the aim of (a) identifying the lexical, cultural and cognitive implications of English-based lexical calques for Modern Standard Arabic and its users and (b) identifying the views of native users of Arabic over the cognitive impact of lexical calques as loan translations in modern Arabic. The study is based on two types of primary data: (a) data collected from authentic journalistic texts representing different domains, contexts and text types and (b) data collected from native users of Arabic in the form of feedback over their reactions towards calques in Arabic. The study findings indicate that lexical calque is a productive method of word-creation, but has a strong power for framing the cognition of target language users.