Set Expressions Borrowed from English into German and Russian: Direct Loans or Calques?

摘要

The article discusses the issue of borrowing set expressions from English into German and Russian, which systems, to varying degrees, differ from that of the former. The analysis of the functioning of set expressions borrowed from English in the German news and political magazineSpiegel onlineand the Russiansocio-political newspaperKommersantin 2004 to 2014 has revealed direct borrowings and calques. Most of the set expressions borrowed from English are simultaneously newly borrowed concepts and phenomena. The majority of those borrowed from English into German over recent decades are direct loans (about 70%). Although direct loans exist along with calques, the former are more frequently used. Loan translation into modern German has lost its relevance, whereas set expressions borrowed by Russian are still calques.