Reborrowing

A similar process occurs when a word is coined in a language based on roots from another language, and then the compound is borrowed into this other language or a modern descendant. In the West this primarily occurs with classical compounds, formed on Latin or Ancient Greek roots, which may then be borrowed into a Romance language or Modern Greek. Latin is sufficiently widespread that Latinate terms coined in a non-Romance language (such as English or German) and then borrowed by a Romance language (such as French or Spanish) are not conspicuous, but modern coinages on Ancient Greek roots borrowed into Modern Greek are, and include terms such as τηλεγράφημα tilegráfima ('telegram').{{cite book|chapter=Some Returned Loans: Japanese Loanwords in Taiwan Mandarin|first=Karen Steffen|last=Chung|title=Language change in East Asia|editor1-first=T. E|editor1-last=McAuley|publisher=Psychology Press|year=2001|pages=161–163}} These are very common.

This process is particularly conspicuous in Chinese and Japanese, where in the late 19th and early 20th century many terms were coined in Japanese on Chinese roots (historically terms had often passed via Korea), known as {{Nihongo||和製漢語|wasei kango|Japanese-made Chinese-words}}, then borrowed into modern Chinese (and often Korean) with corresponding pronunciation; from the mid 20th century such borrowings are much rarer. Often these words could have been coined in Chinese, but happened to be coined first in Japanese; notable examples include {{Nihongo2|文化}} bunka ('culture') and {{Nihongo2|革命}} kakumei ('revolution').

• Gairaigo
• Inkhorn term
• Language contact
• Loanword
• Wanderwort
• Word coinage

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Category:Historical linguistics

Category:Types of words

Category:Word coinage