False friends and other unfortunate coincidences

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Shemtov
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Re: False friends and other unfortunate coincidences

Post by Shemtov »

Ok, this is from a conlang, but I had decided that /h/- would be the 3P.SING pronoun marker, and then realized that I had already made /o/ a feminine marker. So, given that process, this is one damned unfortunate coincidence.
:con: Thá!'o <Hò> /ho˩/ "3P.FEM.SING.ABS" :eng: <Ho> "derogatory slang for a prostitute or a loose woman"
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Re: False friends and other unfortunate coincidences

Post by Shemtov »

:deu: <elf> Yiddish /ɛlf/ "Eleven" :eng: "Elf"
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k1234567890y
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Re: False friends and other unfortunate coincidences

Post by k1234567890y »

Just found this:

English refer v.s. Catalan refer "to redo"
I prefer to not be referred to with masculine pronouns and nouns such as “he/him/his”.
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Re: False friends and other unfortunate coincidences

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I can't believe this wasn't mentioned before!
:hun: <A> "DEF" :eng <A> "INDEF"
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Re: False friends and other unfortunate coincidences

Post by GrandPiano »

Guarani ore "we (exclusive)"
:jpn: 俺 ore "I, me (informal)"
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Re: False friends and other unfortunate coincidences

Post by Shemtov »

:deu: Kugel "Bullet; Ball" Yiddish/Jewish English /kugl̩/ " Traditional Batter or Egg based Pudding that can be Savory or Sweet"
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Re: False friends and other unfortunate coincidences

Post by sangi39 »

English hour /ˈaʊə(ɹ)/ vs. Icelandic ár (year) /auːr̥/

Icelandic ár and English year are cognates, but the Icelandic word for "hour" is (klukku)stund or (klukku)tími, as far as I can remember.
You can tell the same lie a thousand times,
But it never gets any more true,
So close your eyes once more and once more believe
That they all still believe in you.
Just one time.
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Re: False friends and other unfortunate coincidences

Post by WeepingElf »

I don't know if this has already been posted, but:

:deu: wer 'who'
:deu: wo 'where'
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Re: False friends and other unfortunate coincidences

Post by Khemehekis »

WeepingElf wrote: 07 Apr 2019 20:57 I don't know if this has already been posted, but:

:deu: wer 'who'
:deu: wo 'where'
Yes, I pointed it out here.
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Re: False friends and other unfortunate coincidences

Post by DesEsseintes »

Arabic: نور nuur - light

Nobiin: nùùr - shadow

I thought this was kinda striking as most Nobiin speakers are apparently bilingual, using local Arabic alongside their own language.
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Re: False friends and other unfortunate coincidences

Post by Lambuzhao »

WeepingElf wrote: 16 Jan 2019 13:20
Shemtov wrote: 15 Jan 2019 22:40 :fra: Douche "Shower" :eng: Douche. Can't believe that wasn't mentioned before
And :deu: Dusche goes with the French.
There are two near-homphones in :ukr: that belong with this entry. I'm not sure if they're false-friends, foul-weather friends, or finicky-friends, but here goes.

The first is :ukr: душ [duʂ] which comes from :fra: douche "shower" and means the same.

But then there's :ukr: дощ [dɔʃt͡ʃ] which comes from an entirely different, entirely Slavic root *dъždžь, and means "rain".
In my humble estimation, to just about any :ukr: native-speaker, these would prolly be not-so-close homophones.

However, my baba and grand-uncles and great-cousins who spoke :ukr: pronounced "rain", as far as I could tell, as дош [dɔʂ], bringing the word even closer to a homophone with душ shower.


In fact, for years I erroneously just supposed that my Uke ancestors borrowed the word from the :fra: douche, like so many other lang-communities, and melded it to their own purposes.

I was pleasantly surprised that there is an actual honest-to-goodness Slavic root *dъždžь for дощ "rain". Intriguingly, it's related to
Skt. दुर्दिन (durdina, “rain, shower”), Ancient Greek εὐδία (eudía, “fair weather”), whch is just plain really neat in my book.
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Reconstr ... 5%BE%D1%8C


OMG, and then there's душа́ [du'ʂa] "soul, spirit" (common w/ :rus: and other Slavic Langs)
:!: [o.O]
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Re: False friends and other unfortunate coincidences

Post by Shemtov »

:eng: <Manga> "Japanese Comics" :esp: <Manga> "sleeve" :mon: <мангас> "monster"
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Re: False friends and other unfortunate coincidences

Post by k1234567890y »

found this on Wiktionary:

Turkish sözlük "dictionary" v.s. Azerbaijani sözlük "wordlist"

they are cognates, and while the meanings are similar, they are not the same. The word for "dictionary" in Azerbaijani, as Wiktionary states, is lüğət
I prefer to not be referred to with masculine pronouns and nouns such as “he/him/his”.
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Re: False friends and other unfortunate coincidences

Post by Creyeditor »

k1234567890y wrote: 29 Jun 2019 10:38 The word for "dictionary" in Azerbaijani, as Wiktionary states, is lüğət
Which is a false friend to German Lüget! lie! (imperative plural)
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Re: False friends and other unfortunate coincidences

Post by k1234567890y »

Creyeditor wrote: 29 Jun 2019 11:06
k1234567890y wrote: 29 Jun 2019 10:38 The word for "dictionary" in Azerbaijani, as Wiktionary states, is lüğət
Which is a false friend to German Lüget! lie! (imperative plural)
ja ja genau XD
I prefer to not be referred to with masculine pronouns and nouns such as “he/him/his”.
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Re: False friends and other unfortunate coincidences

Post by k1234567890y »

English sloven v.s. Slovene

Also

English sloven v.s. Dutch sloven "apron(pl.)" v.s Swedish Sloven "a person from Slovenia"
I prefer to not be referred to with masculine pronouns and nouns such as “he/him/his”.
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Re: False friends and other unfortunate coincidences

Post by Shemtov »

:eng: Amorphous :ell: Ομορφοσ /omorfos/ "Beautiful"
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Re: False friends and other unfortunate coincidences

Post by Tuyono »

I don't know if this one has been mentioned before:

:isr: סוס [sus] 'horse'
:lat: sūs 'pig'
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Re: False friends and other unfortunate coincidences

Post by k1234567890y »

within English:

kingfish v.s. kingfisher

kingfish are fish; kingfishers are birds

it seems that kingfish are pretty large; while kingfishers are small birds, it is hard, if possible, for kingfishers to fish kingfish.
I prefer to not be referred to with masculine pronouns and nouns such as “he/him/his”.
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Re: False friends and other unfortunate coincidences

Post by Shemtov »

Cois Fharraige :irl: Éireann /e:rʲənˠ/ "Ireland" :tjk: /erɔ:n/ "Iran"
Many children make up, or begin to make up, imaginary languages. I have been at it since I could write.
-JRR Tolkien
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