Reborrowing
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Reborrowing is the process where a word travels from one language to another and then back to the originating language in a different form or with a different meaning.
This is indicated by A→B→A, where A is the originating language.
In some cases the borrowing process can be more complicated and the words might move through different languages before coming back to the originating language.
The single move from one language to the other is called "loan" (see loanword). Reborrowing is the result of more than one loans, when the final recipient language is the same with the originating one.
In French this process is called "aller-retour" (see fr:Emprunt lexical#Les allers-retours et les croisements).
[edit] Examples
| English: | animation | → | Japanese: | anime (アニメ) | → | English: | anime | ("Japanese-style animation") |
| Old Norse: | klubba | → | English: | club | → | Swedish: | klubb | ("association of people") |
| English: | "pocket monster" | → | Japanese: | pokémon | → | English: | pokémon | (the pocket video game) |
| French: | tenez [1] | → | English: | tennis | → | French: | tennis | (the sport) |
| French: | cotte | → | English: | riding coat | → | French: | redingote |
[edit] Notes
- ^ Imperative form of the verb tenir, "to hold".
