Loanwords

A loanword is a word adopted from one language and incorporated into another. Loanwords arise through language contact, trade, colonization, migration, or media exposure, and they expand a language's vocabulary without creating a new word from scratch.

During borrowing, phonology and orthography typically adjust to fit the borrowing language's sound system and writing conventions. Morphology may be adapted with native inflections, or the word may retain foreign morphology. Semantics can shift, broaden, or narrow after borrowing. Some loans are calques, literal translations of phrases.

Common sources include French: rendezvous, souvenir, cuisine; Italian: piano, al dente; Spanish: fiesta; Arabic: algebra, coffee; Japanese: tsunami, karaoke; German: kindergarten. In English, loanwords often enter through literature, science, technology, and global media. The process can be rapid in modern contexts, especially with translation and globalization.

Loanwords are sometimes fully naturalized and no longer perceived as foreign. Others remain marked as loans, sometimes featuring diacritics or pronunciation guides. Distinguishing a loanword from a calque or a proper name can clarify a text's historical and cultural context.