Native and Transposed Associative Motivation of Fashion Terms in German

The article examines the origin of the associative images underlying German fashion terms. We have previously described their associative-terminal motivation using O. O. Selivanova’s typology, but did not ask whether an image arose in German or was reproduced after an English or French model. We propose the term transposed motivation for cases in which the form is German while the image was chosen in the source language. The pilot study covers 16 terms attested in Duden online, DWDS or professional fashion discourse. For each term, English and French equivalents were established using the OED, Merriam-Webster, the Grand dictionnaire terminologique and other open resources, together with the way the term entered German according to W. Betz’s classification of loan formations and the subtype of motivation. Six units (37.5%) have a transposed image or a borrowed form, five (31.25%) have a native image, and for five (31.25%) the source of the image could not be determined. Transposition is not mere copying: in U-Boot-Ausschnitt (French encolure bateau) the donor is replaced by a related concept. Native images occur where English and French use a proper name or a different donor (Pfennigabsatz, Tellerrock, Schnabelschuh, Bubikragen). None of the four units our previous article relied on proved native. The subtype of motivation does not in itself indicate the origin of the image. Our earlier claim that associative motivation reflects a German understanding of clothing applies primarily to the native part of the vocabulary.