[Multilingual Monday] Technology and Word Borrowings
New technology is continually showing up at an exponentially increasing rate, and due to this more and more English terms and abbreviations are becoming commonplace in various languages world-wide, but not in all languages. Certainly it seems that there are some languages that are far more embracing of English terms, whereas many others try to use their own language to find roots and coin new terms to fit the flood of technological advances that keep coming.
Most current terminology related to computers and the like in India is transcribed from English, and it's been this way for more than a century now, with the English terms for "television", "radio", and "train" being brought into the language as टी-वी (̣tī vī), रेडियो (reḍiyo), and ट्रेन (̣tren) instead of the words coined in Hindi, बेतार (betar), दूरद्र्शन (dūrdarśan), and लोह-पथ-गामिनी loh-path-gāminī -- can you really blame them for not wanting to use this monster??). Likewise you'll get transliterations of current items like a मोडेम (modem), ईमेल (imel, "e-mail"), and सोफ्टवेयर (softveyar). Much more rarely you'll get hybrid terms like अन्तरजाल (interjal, "inter + web"), or literal interpretations like खिड़की (ikḥrakī, "window").
Likewise Japan is full of transliterated terms -- コンピューター (konpyuuta), サーバー -(saabaa , "server"), and even ホーム・ページ(houmu peiji). メール(meiru) almost always refers to email (the Japanese term for mail, 郵便 (yuubin, abbreviated as 〒, actually refers to things being sent to people via the post office). Quite frequently you get "compound" terms like ワープロ (waapuro, "word processor", from waado purosesaa) and メアド (meado, "email address", from meiru adoresu). In fact, the only new technological invention I can think of that's NOT somehow transliterated is a 携帯電話 (keitai denwa, "cell phone"), usually shortened to 携帯 (keitai, "carrying something"), or simply ケイタイ.
Some other languages have dug deep into their roots to create new terms, specifically Hebrew and Arabic. Computer, for example, in Arabic is a حاسوب (ħasub, "calculated"), and in Hebrew it's מחשב (maxshov, from "to think"). That being said, both of these words are competing, of sorts, with كمبيوتر and קוֹמְפְּיוּטֶר, both transliterations of the English word. Likewise, the words for "internet', "online", "browser", and "blog" have both Hebrew and transliterated versions -- רשת (rashet, "net"/"mesh"), מקון (mekuvon, "lined"), דפדפן (dafdefan, from "to thumb through"), and רשמון (rashamon, from "to write" / "to note") vs. אינטרנט (internet), און לין (on layn), בראוזר (brauzer), and בלוג (blog); both exist and both may or may not continue to exist as synonyms next to each other, depending on the users of the Hebrew language.
Chinese is again at a disadvantage -- if you consider the inability to just swipe terms from another language as they are to be a disadvantage. Certainly, it COULD transliterate terms, but you get graphical nonsense that could be a name or a million other things being represented by characters whose meanings tell you absolutely nothing as to what the word at hand could concievably mean. Thus, it's the only language that I know of that's translated almost all new terms that come into the language, from 電腦 (diànnăo, computer; literally "electric brain") to 電子郵件 (diànzĭ yóujiàn, e-mail, literally "electronic mail piece"). Some items have multiple names; a computer can also be a 計算機 (jìsuaǹjī; this can also be a calculator depending on where you are, and the ambiguity has spread to Japan as well), and a "modem" can be either a 數據機 (shùjùjī, "data machine") or a 調制解調器 (tiáozhì jĭetiáoqì, "tone system tone seperator machine"). Several terms are literal translations from English -- see 軟件, "software" (ruănjiàn, "soft piece" -- as opposed to 硬件, yìngjiàn, "hardware"). And of course most of the computers will have 微軟視窗 installed ("Microsoft Windows", Wéiruăn Shìchuāng, quite literally "miniscule soft view window"), with the term 視窗 specifically referring to the computer window, and hence the operating system.
I personally enjoy seeing technological advances being given terms unique to a given language, for a change, when something new is invented, but of course I'm biased there. Now, keep in mind : it's not that I don't want English terms being imported -- I simply feel that the user of the language should have a choice as to what to call something that's now an everyday part of their lives. Most certainly, if the user wants to import a word, he should have that ability; after all,it's a sign of a live language when it can import a word from elsewhere -- it displays an ability to adapt (I wouldn't necessarily use the word "evolve" here, as it gives the impression that another language would somehow be more advantageous than one's own). Regardless, Lord knows we've seen plenty of refusal to adapt in a number of languages -- anyone remember the French government's insistence on eliminating the word "e-mail" from official use?
Most current terminology related to computers and the like in India is transcribed from English, and it's been this way for more than a century now, with the English terms for "television", "radio", and "train" being brought into the language as टी-वी (̣tī vī), रेडियो (reḍiyo), and ट्रेन (̣tren) instead of the words coined in Hindi, बेतार (betar), दूरद्र्शन (dūrdarśan), and लोह-पथ-गामिनी loh-path-gāminī -- can you really blame them for not wanting to use this monster??). Likewise you'll get transliterations of current items like a मोडेम (modem), ईमेल (imel, "e-mail"), and सोफ्टवेयर (softveyar). Much more rarely you'll get hybrid terms like अन्तरजाल (interjal, "inter + web"), or literal interpretations like खिड़की (ikḥrakī, "window").
Likewise Japan is full of transliterated terms -- コンピューター (konpyuuta), サーバー -(saabaa , "server"), and even ホーム・ページ(houmu peiji). メール(meiru) almost always refers to email (the Japanese term for mail, 郵便 (yuubin, abbreviated as 〒, actually refers to things being sent to people via the post office). Quite frequently you get "compound" terms like ワープロ (waapuro, "word processor", from waado purosesaa) and メアド (meado, "email address", from meiru adoresu). In fact, the only new technological invention I can think of that's NOT somehow transliterated is a 携帯電話 (keitai denwa, "cell phone"), usually shortened to 携帯 (keitai, "carrying something"), or simply ケイタイ.
Some other languages have dug deep into their roots to create new terms, specifically Hebrew and Arabic. Computer, for example, in Arabic is a حاسوب (ħasub, "calculated"), and in Hebrew it's מחשב (maxshov, from "to think"). That being said, both of these words are competing, of sorts, with كمبيوتر and קוֹמְפְּיוּטֶר, both transliterations of the English word. Likewise, the words for "internet', "online", "browser", and "blog" have both Hebrew and transliterated versions -- רשת (rashet, "net"/"mesh"), מקון (mekuvon, "lined"), דפדפן (dafdefan, from "to thumb through"), and רשמון (rashamon, from "to write" / "to note") vs. אינטרנט (internet), און לין (on layn), בראוזר (brauzer), and בלוג (blog); both exist and both may or may not continue to exist as synonyms next to each other, depending on the users of the Hebrew language.
Chinese is again at a disadvantage -- if you consider the inability to just swipe terms from another language as they are to be a disadvantage. Certainly, it COULD transliterate terms, but you get graphical nonsense that could be a name or a million other things being represented by characters whose meanings tell you absolutely nothing as to what the word at hand could concievably mean. Thus, it's the only language that I know of that's translated almost all new terms that come into the language, from 電腦 (diànnăo, computer; literally "electric brain") to 電子郵件 (diànzĭ yóujiàn, e-mail, literally "electronic mail piece"). Some items have multiple names; a computer can also be a 計算機 (jìsuaǹjī; this can also be a calculator depending on where you are, and the ambiguity has spread to Japan as well), and a "modem" can be either a 數據機 (shùjùjī, "data machine") or a 調制解調器 (tiáozhì jĭetiáoqì, "tone system tone seperator machine"). Several terms are literal translations from English -- see 軟件, "software" (ruănjiàn, "soft piece" -- as opposed to 硬件, yìngjiàn, "hardware"). And of course most of the computers will have 微軟視窗 installed ("Microsoft Windows", Wéiruăn Shìchuāng, quite literally "miniscule soft view window"), with the term 視窗 specifically referring to the computer window, and hence the operating system.
I personally enjoy seeing technological advances being given terms unique to a given language, for a change, when something new is invented, but of course I'm biased there. Now, keep in mind : it's not that I don't want English terms being imported -- I simply feel that the user of the language should have a choice as to what to call something that's now an everyday part of their lives. Most certainly, if the user wants to import a word, he should have that ability; after all,it's a sign of a live language when it can import a word from elsewhere -- it displays an ability to adapt (I wouldn't necessarily use the word "evolve" here, as it gives the impression that another language would somehow be more advantageous than one's own). Regardless, Lord knows we've seen plenty of refusal to adapt in a number of languages -- anyone remember the French government's insistence on eliminating the word "e-mail" from official use?