False cognates
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- mayan
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Re: False cognates
There's also English "by" and Mandarin 被 bèi. Interestingly, 给 and 被 both have the ei final.
Re: False cognates
There's always Portuguese obrigado "thank you" vs. Japanese arigatō "thank you", though the Portuguese one actually means "(I am) obliged" or some such, and the Japanese one means "it is difficult to exist (in this world)" i.e. "I am thankful to have that special gift of life" (it was originally a religious expression but it's been bleached out to just plain old "thank you")
Last edited by clawgrip on 29 Jan 2015 14:28, edited 1 time in total.
Re: False cognates
Don't forget that it's an adjective, so that females say obrigada.
- k1234567890y
- mayan
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Re: False cognates
Malay/Indonesian kota "city" and Ainu Itak kotan "village" is possibly an example.
I prefer to not be referred to with masculine pronouns and nouns such as “he/him/his”.
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- korean
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Re: False cognates
Side note: isn't saying "Ainu Itak" somewhat redundant? Wouldn't just "Ainu" do the trick?
Anyway, I'd say that's a good example of a false cognate pair (as far as I know).
Anyway, I'd say that's a good example of a false cognate pair (as far as I know).
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- greek
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Re: False cognates
English 'be' and Nanai (Tungusic) 'bi'.
Georgian genitive -(i)s, Germanic genitive -s.
Georgian genitive -(i)s, Germanic genitive -s.
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- mayan
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Re: False cognates
Well, "aynu" can also mean "person", so maybe saying "Aynu Itak" clarifies the meaning, the way we say "English language" instead of just "English" because English is also an adjective meaning "of, from, or related to England".shimobaatar wrote:Side note: isn't saying "Ainu Itak" somewhat redundant? Wouldn't just "Ainu" do the trick?
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- korean
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Re: False cognates
GrandPiano wrote:Well, "aynu" can also mean "person", so maybe saying "Aynu Itak" clarifies the meaning, the way we say "English language" instead of just "English" because English is also an adjective meaning "of, from, or related to England".shimobaatar wrote:Side note: isn't saying "Ainu Itak" somewhat redundant? Wouldn't just "Ainu" do the trick?
- In front of an Ainu word, especially in a forum/thread like this, context makes it clear that the language is meant.
- If you really don't trust context (and I don't see why you wouldn't), why not say "Ainu language"?
Japanese atsui "hot" and English hot
Isn't it obvious that I'm talking about the languages? I don't need to say:
Japanese language atsui "hot" and English language hot
Because it wouldn't make sense for "English" and "Japanese" to mean "of, from, or related to" England or Japan, respectively.
Also, "Ainu" is an English (and Japanese) word for the language/people/etc. The Ainu word/spelling of the word is "Aynu", as you've used above. Saying "Aynu Itak" is sticking in a few Ainu words into an English sentence, like saying "Nihongo" in the middle of speaking English. "Ainu Itak" is like saying "Japanese Go" in English.
But that's not really the point. Look, I'm not trying to change the way anyone types or speaks or anything, but I'm just curious, for lack of a better word.
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- mayan
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Re: False cognates
@shimobaatar: OK, I see your point.
Re: False cognates
δεῖ vs. :zho: 得 děi both mean "must" to some degree.
: | : | : | :
Conlangs: Hawntow, Yorkish, misc.
she/her
Conlangs: Hawntow, Yorkish, misc.
she/her
Re: False cognates
The classic example! c:
Re: False cognates
nass (wet)
Montana Salish: nas (wet)
Which reminds me of another false cognate.
:gla: aye
āe (yes, to agree, to give assent)
Montana Salish: nas (wet)
Similar to this, in Scots English and some other varieties, there's I and aye (= yes) being pronounced the same way, which a Swedish girl I knew found very interesting when she lived in Scotland because in Swedish, jag (I) and ja (yes), can be pronounced the same way.clawgrip wrote:Not false cognates, just a weird coincidence, but where else am I going to post this
English "to" and "two" essentially translate to Japanese "ni" and "ni". It's just a weird coincidence that they are homonyms of each other in both languages.
Which reminds me of another false cognate.
:gla: aye
āe (yes, to agree, to give assent)
Glossing Abbreviations: COMP = comparative, C = complementiser, ACS / ICS = accessible / inaccessible, GDV = gerundive, SPEC / NSPC = specific / non-specific, AG = agent, E = entity (person, animal, thing)
________
MY MUSIC | MY PLANTS
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MY MUSIC | MY PLANTS
Re: False cognates
Cf. also Finnish kota, which refers to a type of hut or tent, with cognates in other Uralic languages typically meaning something like 'house'.k1234567890y wrote:Malay/Indonesian kota "city" and Ainu Itak kotan "village" is possibly an example.
Re: False cognates
-nai (negative morpheme) ~ nej (no)
sou (as in "sou desu ne" = 'is that so?') ~ so
And in the following example, I am not quite sure of the second word's origin or spelling, but I think this is it.
papillon (butterfly) ~ nahuatl:papatl papalotl (butterfly)
sou (as in "sou desu ne" = 'is that so?') ~ so
And in the following example, I am not quite sure of the second word's origin or spelling, but I think this is it.
papillon (butterfly) ~ nahuatl:
Edit: Found the right word: http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/papalotl
Last edited by CMunk on 01 Apr 2015 14:41, edited 1 time in total.
Native: | Fluent: | Less than fluent: , , | Beginner: , :fao:,
Creating: Jwar Nong, Mhmmz
Creating: Jwar Nong, Mhmmz
Re: False cognates
Proto-Malayo-Polynesian:duha (two)
Latin:duo (two)
PMP:matay (die)
Esp:matar (kill)
PMP:layap (to fly)
Eng:Levitate
Latin:duo (two)
PMP:matay (die)
Esp:matar (kill)
PMP:layap (to fly)
Eng:Levitate
Spoiler:
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- mayan
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Re: False cognates
English fortune and Mandarin 福 fú "fortune"?
Also, a bit iffy, but English yet or yes and Mandarin 也 yě "also"?
Also, a bit iffy, but English yet or yes and Mandarin 也 yě "also"?
Re: False cognates
Well, on that iffy note:
igen (yes) ~ igen (again)
igen (yes) ~ igen (again)
Native: | Fluent: | Less than fluent: , , | Beginner: , :fao:,
Creating: Jwar Nong, Mhmmz
Creating: Jwar Nong, Mhmmz
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- mayan
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Re: False cognates
How about igen "again" and again?CMunk wrote:Well, on that iffy note:
igen (yes) ~ igen (again)