Thanks for the addition! Yes, it does belong to the false friends category
. Because it's pronounced the same and it's written similarly and it does differ in meaning from the other languages.false friends
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. Because it's pronounced the same and it's written similarly and it does differ in meaning from the other languages.
I have not read the entire thread, but I think that since there's only a limited inventory of sounds and a limited inventory of possible syllables and a practical limit of the words' length there's a lot of false friends. Two further examples which came immediately into my mind:
- igel (Basque, ‹frog›) vs. Igel (German, ‹hedgehog›)
- regnat (Latin, ‹reigns›) vs. regnat (Swedish, ‹rained›, supinum)
from other thread:
Czech: Česko - Czech Republic
Hungarian: Cseszkó (same pronunciation except long o in the end) - Czechoslovakia
maybe they use it as nickname for Czech Republic too, I don't know
perhaps it's rather coincidence than false friend
Czech: Česko - Czech Republic
Hungarian: Cseszkó (same pronunciation except long o in the end) - Czechoslovakia
maybe they use it as nickname for Czech Republic too, I don't know
perhaps it's rather coincidence than false friend
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Fart in english and Fahrt (trip) in german= Guten Fahrt! Have a nice trip.
Marieke (dutch female name)= marica in spanish (gay). Both sound very similar. Long ago I was introduced to a girl in Holland who's name was Marieke and my eyes went open that she could realize about my surprise. Luckily I could avoid any explanation.
Curva in spanish means curve= Kurva in some slavic languages means whore.
Ondulat in catalan means ondulated= undulat in swedish means budgerigar. They nearly have the same pronunciation.
Cadeira in portuguese means chair= cadera in spanish means hip (part of the body).
Marieke (dutch female name)= marica in spanish (gay). Both sound very similar. Long ago I was introduced to a girl in Holland who's name was Marieke and my eyes went open that she could realize about my surprise. Luckily I could avoid any explanation.
Curva in spanish means curve= Kurva in some slavic languages means whore.
Ondulat in catalan means ondulated= undulat in swedish means budgerigar. They nearly have the same pronunciation.
Cadeira in portuguese means chair= cadera in spanish means hip (part of the body).
It is a term we used before the changes (90s), as a nickname for Czechoslovakia but I don't know whether the Czech word influenced us in its formation (don't think really).
English - Swedish:
Not - note, or annotation
Tar - takes
Barn - child
Bog - bow (on a boat), or shoulder (anatomy)
Log - smiles
Not - note, or annotation
Tar - takes
Barn - child
Bog - bow (on a boat), or shoulder (anatomy)
Log - smiles
Swedish: two, used in for example de unga tu (the young two)
Add an accent and you get the French très = very.
English - Swedish:
Egg - edge
Lam - a person who is paraplegic
Vast - a kind of fence on the island of Gotland
From - devout, pious
Asp (snake) - aspen (tree)
German - Swedish:
Igel (hedgehog) - leech
French - Swedish:
Par (through, by) - pair
Egg - edge
Lam - a person who is paraplegic
Vast - a kind of fence on the island of Gotland
From - devout, pious
Asp (snake) - aspen (tree)
German - Swedish:
Igel (hedgehog) - leech
French - Swedish:
Par (through, by) - pair
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between Italian and Sardinian there are many false friends
Brutto (ugly) Bruttu (dirty)
Buttare (to throw away) Buttare (to puke)
Cocomero (watermelon) Cucùmere (cucumber)
Prendere (to take) Prendere (to immobilize, to tie) - just referred to animals
Lato (side) Ladu (flat)
Levare (to remove) Levare, Leare (to take) - both of them come from Latin "Levare" (to lift, to grab)
Segare (to saw) Segare (to break, to cut)
Stampare (to print) Istampare (to pierce)
Mancante (missing) Mancante (idiot)
Arreso (surrended) Arressu (immobilized in bed)
Ciminiera (chimney) Tziminera, Tziminea (fireplace)
Rutto (burp) Ruttu (burp) - but also past participle of Rùere (to fall)
Salire (to go up, to climb) Salire (to add salt)
Soldi (money) Solde (worm, maggot)
Minuto (minute) Minudu (small change, little)
Manta (manta ray) Manta (blanket)
Mura (walls) Mura (blackberry)
Matta (crazy) Matta (bush, belly, abdomen)
Cancro (cancer) Càncaru (idiot, lazybones) - literally means "hinge"
Brutto (ugly) Bruttu (dirty)
Buttare (to throw away) Buttare (to puke)
Cocomero (watermelon) Cucùmere (cucumber)
Prendere (to take) Prendere (to immobilize, to tie) - just referred to animals
Lato (side) Ladu (flat)
Levare (to remove) Levare, Leare (to take) - both of them come from Latin "Levare" (to lift, to grab)
Segare (to saw) Segare (to break, to cut)
Stampare (to print) Istampare (to pierce)
Mancante (missing) Mancante (idiot)
Arreso (surrended) Arressu (immobilized in bed)
Ciminiera (chimney) Tziminera, Tziminea (fireplace)
Rutto (burp) Ruttu (burp) - but also past participle of Rùere (to fall)
Salire (to go up, to climb) Salire (to add salt)
Soldi (money) Solde (worm, maggot)
Minuto (minute) Minudu (small change, little)
Manta (manta ray) Manta (blanket)
Mura (walls) Mura (blackberry)
Matta (crazy) Matta (bush, belly, abdomen)
Cancro (cancer) Càncaru (idiot, lazybones) - literally means "hinge"
Wooowww!!! That's interesting.
I have no idea to answer this thread until I saw this comment. Indonesian -- Malay:
Kamu: you (informal general singular) -- you (very impolite singular).
Emel: tooth enamel -- e-mail.
Harap: hope, promise, dream -- hope.
Hal: page, thing, matter -- case.
Bengali -- Hindi -- Urdu:
Dal: gravy made from vegetables and spices -- team -- lentil.
Kan: eyes, ears -- ears -- mine, quarry.
Hmmm... I just want to share that "baba" in bengali also means "father". But, it also could be used for father in law (because of marriage or because of adoption).
Because you are a Turk and I'm falling in love with Turkish, would you please to give me examples of false friends between Turkish and Azerbaijani? Hmmm... how about "öykü"? Based on what I understood from any resources, in Turkish means "all of works except novel", in Azerbaijani it's just for "short story". Is it right?
Indonesian and Malay have a lot of false friends. But, I would mention some fundamental ones because having the contradictory meanings that make Indonesians and Malayans don't understand are often upset.
Belia: young -- young man.
Bercinta: to make love -- to express love.
Bual: to talk nonsense, to boast -- to chat, to talk each other.
Budak: slave -- children, kids.
Butuh: to need -- male sex.
Comel: to mutter, to grumble -- pretty, interesting.
Kaki tangan: accomplice, henchman -- employee, worker.
Pokok: point, topic -- tree.
Pusing: dizzy -- to go around.
Seronok: hot (in negative meaning for a person) -- glad, happy.
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Belgians do that too.Dutchmen add the word ''hoor'' at the end of a sentence to sound friendlier, or to emphasize something
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I didn't mean to make it look like Belgians don't do this. Sorry for the confusion.
These are not quite accurate.
daal = lentils (cooked or uncooked) in both Bengali and Hindi/Urdu. However the Bengali word has a retroflex D, while Hindi-Urdu has a dental d, and hence differs in pronunciation as well as native spelling.
daal means "branch of a tree" when pronounced with a retroflex D in both Hindi-Urdu and Bengali (so, in Bengali, the "lentil" and "branch" words are homonyms, in Hindi-Urdu they are not).
dal = team in both Bengali and Hindi, with a dental d in both languages, but the pronunciation of the "a" differs. And "a" differs in pronunciation (and native spelling) from "aa" in Bengali, Hindi and Urdu - all of them.
There is no false friend here.
kaan = ear, again in Bengali, Hindi and Urdu - all of them. However, in Urdu it has the additional meaning of "mine/quarry" (but the "ear" meaning and "mine" meaning have different genders). Hindi also has the same word, but with an aspirated "k" (i.e. khaan). Bengali indeed lacks this meaning. So, there may be a false friend here, but rather marginally.
=======
A few Bengali vs Hindi-Urdu false friends that came to my mind:
maathaa : B. head, HU. forehead
shesh : B. end, H. remainder
ghum- (verb) : B. sleep, HU. rotate, etc.
so- (verb) : B. lie down, HU. sleep
ghur- (verb): B. rotate, etc., HU. stare
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"English word - Spanish similar word and its (meaning in English)".
Embarassed - Embarazada (pregnant)
Dinner - Dinero (money)
Exit - Éxito (succes) There's a meme about this.
Once - Once (eleven)
Rope - Ropa (clothes)
Realize - Realizar (make/do)
Bomber - Bombero (firefighter)
Cartoon - Cartón (cardboard)
Dice - Dice (he/she/it says)
Recollection - Recolección (to collect/gather/harvest)
Salad - Salado (salty)
Record - Recordar (to remember)
Fabric - Fábrica (factory)
Arena - Arena (sand) Sandy Cheeks is "Arenita Mejillas" in Spanish
Actually - Actualmente ("nowadays", this is one of the most common mistakes in english students here)
Terrific - Terrorífico (terryfing)
Luxury - Lujuria (lust)
Crude - Crudo (raw)
Bigot - Bigote (mustache)
Balloon - Balón (ball)
Pan - Pan (bread)
Sunrise - Sonrisa (smile)
Embarassed - Embarazada (pregnant)
Dinner - Dinero (money)
Exit - Éxito (succes) There's a meme about this.
Once - Once (eleven)
Rope - Ropa (clothes)
Realize - Realizar (make/do)
Bomber - Bombero (firefighter)
Cartoon - Cartón (cardboard)
Dice - Dice (he/she/it says)
Recollection - Recolección (to collect/gather/harvest)
Salad - Salado (salty)
Record - Recordar (to remember)
Fabric - Fábrica (factory)
Arena - Arena (sand) Sandy Cheeks is "Arenita Mejillas" in Spanish
Actually - Actualmente ("nowadays", this is one of the most common mistakes in english students here)
Terrific - Terrorífico (terryfing)
Luxury - Lujuria (lust
)Crude - Crudo (raw)
Bigot - Bigote (mustache)
Balloon - Balón (ball)
Pan - Pan (bread)
Sunrise - Sonrisa (smile)
Kaplan is tiger in Turkish.
Also in Greek καπλάνι (neut.) means tiger but it is dated. καπλάνι < kaplan (Turkish)
We have also the word τίγρη (fem.), which is the one we use.
Spanish vida (fem.), life < Lat. vīta (fem.) < PIE *gʷeih₃w- to live cf Skt. जीव (jivah), life, Gr. βίος (bíŏs), life
MoGr βίδα [ˈviða] (fem.), screw < Ven. vida (fem.), vine < Lat. vītis (fem.), vine < PIE *ueh₁y- to twist, weave cf Proto-Slavic *viti, to wind, twist
MoGr βίδα [ˈviða] (fem.), screw < Ven. vida (fem.), vine < Lat. vītis (fem.), vine < PIE *ueh₁y- to twist, weave cf Proto-Slavic *viti, to wind, twist
English : to speak
German : sprechen
vs
Sardinian : ispricare, isplicare (the action of talking, the mouth's movement) from Latin "explicare" (to explain)
while the verb "to speak" is translated in Sardinian as "faveddare, faeddare", from vulgar Latin "fabellare, favellare"
German : sprechen
vs
Sardinian : ispricare, isplicare (the action of talking, the mouth's movement) from Latin "explicare" (to explain)
while the verb "to speak" is translated in Sardinian as "faveddare, faeddare", from vulgar Latin "fabellare, favellare"
11. Czech = genitive plural of fara (= clergy house)Tenfold false friends. As easy as pie!
far
1. English = remote in place
2. Albanian = lighthouse
3. Danish = father
4. Esperanto = by
5. Faroese = drive, tour
6. Hungarian = buttocks
7. Italian = short form of fare
8. Maltese = mouse
9. Scottisch Gaelic = where
10.Turkish = headlight; eye shadow
I think this happens very often, in the original language the word has a very general usage, while in the borrowing languages it has a more strict meaning, which usually includes its origin. For example, manga (= Japanese comic) simply means "comic" in Japanese, cosmonaut (= Soviet astronaut) simply means "astronaut" in Russian, or führer (= Hitler, or authoritarian leader by extension), simply means "leader" or "guide" in German, without negative connotations afaik.
There are some terms that have one meaning in English, and another meaning in most continental European languages.
For example,
control
English: "to direct"
rest of Europe: "to inspect, check" (French contrôler, German kontrollieren, Polish kontrolować, etc.)
eventual
English: "ultimate, occurring in the end"
rest of Europe: "possible, hypothetical" (French éventuel, Swedish eventuell, Russian eventual'nyi, etc.)
rubric
English: not a very common term, but has a tendency to mean “standards, framework”
rest of Europe: "heading, title" (Spanish rúbrica, Fr. rubrique, Dutch rubriek, Russian rubrika, etc.)
NB – in many cases, it may be possible to the English and continental terms synonymously; this comparison is just about the most common meanings of each term.
For example,
control
English: "to direct"
rest of Europe: "to inspect, check" (French contrôler, German kontrollieren, Polish kontrolować, etc.)
eventual
English: "ultimate, occurring in the end"
rest of Europe: "possible, hypothetical" (French éventuel, Swedish eventuell, Russian eventual'nyi, etc.)
rubric
English: not a very common term, but has a tendency to mean “standards, framework”
rest of Europe: "heading, title" (Spanish rúbrica, Fr. rubrique, Dutch rubriek, Russian rubrika, etc.)
NB – in many cases, it may be possible to the English and continental terms synonymously; this comparison is just about the most common meanings of each term.
Greek «θήτα» [ˈθi.ta] (neut.) --> letter Θ,θ
Spanish (Castillian pron.) cita [ˈθi.ta] (fem.) --> date, appointment
Greek «πέλος» [ˈpe.lɔs] (masc.) --> pile, nap
Spanish pelos [pe.lɔ̝s] (masc. pl.) --> hair
Greek «μύγα» [ˈmi.ɣa] (fem.) --> fly (insect)
Spanish miga [ˈmi.ɣa] (fem.) --> crumb, bit
Greek «κουράδα» [kuˈɾa.ða] (fem.) --> turd, flop (slang)
Spanish curada [kuˈra.ða] (fem.) --> drunken, intoxicated (slang)
Greek «δέντρο» [ˈðen.drɔ] (neut.), colloquialism of «δένδρο» [ˈðen.ðrɔ] (neut.) --> tree
Spanish dentro [ˈden.trɔ̝] (adv.) --> inside
Greek «αστείο» [asˈti.ɔ] (neut.) --> joke
Spanish hastío [asˈti.ɔ̝] (masc.) --> boredom
Greek «βρώμα» [ˈvrɔ.ma] (fem.) --> stench
Spanish broma [ˈbrɔ̝.ma] (fem.) --> joke
Spanish (Castillian pron.) cita [ˈθi.ta] (fem.) --> date, appointment
Greek «πέλος» [ˈpe.lɔs] (masc.) --> pile, nap
Spanish pelos [pe.lɔ̝s] (masc. pl.) --> hair
Greek «μύγα» [ˈmi.ɣa] (fem.) --> fly (insect)
Spanish miga [ˈmi.ɣa] (fem.) --> crumb, bit
Greek «κουράδα» [kuˈɾa.ða] (fem.) --> turd, flop (slang)
Spanish curada [kuˈra.ða] (fem.) --> drunken, intoxicated (slang)
Greek «δέντρο» [ˈðen.drɔ] (neut.), colloquialism of «δένδρο» [ˈðen.ðrɔ] (neut.) --> tree
Spanish dentro [ˈden.trɔ̝] (adv.) --> inside
Greek «αστείο» [asˈti.ɔ] (neut.) --> joke
Spanish hastío [asˈti.ɔ̝] (masc.) --> boredom
Greek «βρώμα» [ˈvrɔ.ma] (fem.) --> stench
Spanish broma [ˈbrɔ̝.ma] (fem.) --> joke
I've never thought of any meaningful difference between "to control" and Spanish "controlar", but I may be wrong.
"Rúbrica" isn't a very common word in Spanish either, and the first thing that comes to mind when I hear it is one of these evaluation tables (for example to assess a school project).
Rubrica is a very common word indeed in Italian, it means telephone book, address book and it is pronounced rubrica, erroneously rubrica.
In Czech, rubrika (< rubrum) means mostly a column (writen by a columnist) in a newspaper or magazine, the Czech term is sloupek (= little column), sloupkař (= columnist).
Romanian
(eu) fac = I do / make
gem = jam
glas = voice
matcă = queen bee; lode
far = lighthouse
bol = bowl
babă (pejorative) = old woman
harap = Arab
bal = prom, dance, ballroom
el = he
cioc = beak; knock-knock / tap, tap; goatee (pronunced the same in all three languages)
soc = elderberry
pas = step
prima (fem.)= first
coc = bun, chignon
(eu) fac = I do / make
gem = jam
glas = voice
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Romanian
vale = valley
par = stake (piece of wood)
mangă > beat mangă = drunk as a skunk
Tenfold false friends. As easy as pie!
far
1. English = remote in place
2. Albanian = lighthouse
3. Danish = father
4. Esperanto = by
5. Faroese = drive, tour
6. Hungarian = buttocks
7. Italian = short form of fare
8. Maltese = mouse
9. Scottisch Gaelic = where
10.Turkish = headlight; eye shadow
13. far = lighthouse in Catalan too.
In modern Dutch, a rubriek is something that is always on the same page in a newspaper or magazine.
f.i. de sportrubriek
Yes.
sportovní rubrika, rubrika pro ženy (for women), etc.
However, in "normal" newspapers there is a whole page (or several) dedicated to sport (sportovní stránka).
sportovní rubrika, rubrika pro ženy (for women), etc.
However, in "normal" newspapers there is a whole page (or several
) dedicated to sport (sportovní stránka).
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Some between Catalan and French:
Catalan: brut (dirty)
French: brut (raw, crude)
Catalan: fracàs (failure)
French: fracas (loud noise)
Catalan: oratge (land breeze)(weather in Valencian)
French: orage (storm)
Catalan: pastís (cake)
French: pastis (pastis, anise-flavoured liqueur)
Catalan: sot (hole on the ground)
French: sot (fool, dumb)
And very important. The Catalan fricandó is different from the Southern French and Swiss fricandeau.
Catalan: brut (dirty)
French: brut (raw, crude)
Catalan: fracàs (failure)
French: fracas (loud noise)
Catalan: oratge (land breeze)(weather in Valencian)
French: orage (storm)
Catalan: pastís (cake)
French: pastis (pastis, anise-flavoured liqueur)
Catalan: sot (hole on the ground)
French: sot (fool, dumb)
And very important. The Catalan fricandó is different from the Southern French and Swiss fricandeau.
controlar/control may be closer semantically to Eng. control than most of its counterparts, but the "inspect" meaning still seems noticeably more prominent than in English.
E.g. a phrase like control médico ("check-up" according to the WR dictionary) would be misunderstood if one simply assumed that meaning of control in this phrase matched that of Eng. control.
It's the same correlation as between Slavic veter/vítr/wiatr (wind) and Germanic weather/Wetter/väder.
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Macedonian: брут [brut] = "nail", a metal spike with a broadened flat head, driven typically into wood with a hammer to join things together
Albanian: sot = "today"
Another item to add to this list:
redaction
English:
"edition", "deletion/censoring of text", etc.
Many/most other European languages:
"editorial staff/department (at a newspaper, etc.)", and in many/most Romance languages, "written composition"
far = beacon // headlamp (Br Eng) - headlight (Am Eng)
far, faruri - generic term for headlamp or tail light or indicator / blinker
IGEN means "yes" in Hungarian and "again" in Danish and Swedish.