bintang / star

I have previously (e.g. here) discussed calques, words or phrases where each part is translated word-for-word from one language into another. For example take part in English becomes mengambil bahagian in Malay.

Of course, calques also occur in English, so for example brainwash comes from the Chinese 洗脑, and lose face comes from the Chinese 丢脸. Wikipedia (here) offers a substantial list of calques into English from a range of languages, though as so often with Wikipedia articles, many of the entries are unreferenced and so there is some doubt about how reliable the material is.

However, I suspect that calques from English into Malay are particularly common. When I don't understand a phrase in the Malay newspaper, I try translating it back into English, and I find that often works. Now, I agree that this is not a very reliable method of determining if something is a calque or not, as it is quite possible that the phrase was created independently in Malay, or indeed that the calquing is in the other direction, from Malay to English, but I suspect that most of the examples I find are indeed calques from English into Malay.

There is one other phenomenon that is similar but not quite the same: when a metaphorical extension of a word is transferred from one language to another. For example, take the English word star. We can say it is a polyseme, as it has two distinct but related meanings: the object in the sky; and a successful entertainer, especially in films or music. And we find that the Malay word bintang is the same. The basic meaning is one of those sparkling objects in the sky, but we also find phrases like bintang pop ('pop star') and bintang filem ('film star'); and I'm pretty sure that this metaphorical extension of bintang comes from English.

Is this calquing? Well, maybe. But note that it does not involve one fixed phrase, as the extended meaning of bintang can be found in a range of phrases. My UBD colleague Ayla suggested that bintang seni ('star of the arts') might be possible, though I haven't encountered that one.

I wonder if there is a term to describe this kind of cross-language influence involving the metaphorical extension of a word.