tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76785718233558225862024-03-13T14:51:46.293-07:00Parolojis dedicated to peculiarities, and oddities of the language: wordplay and etymology. Exploring the historical aspects and playing with words and languages is both entertaining and educational.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12788049502174420525noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7678571823355822586.post-88306484892809074012009-10-25T08:59:00.001-07:002009-10-25T09:20:44.952-07:00German for beginners...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_QZ_WBKEAZas/SuRzTg3Xr1I/AAAAAAAAADk/HuT9_YTjNeg/s1600-h/hottentot.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 303px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_QZ_WBKEAZas/SuRzTg3Xr1I/AAAAAAAAADk/HuT9_YTjNeg/s400/hottentot.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396565032573579090" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">It is quite easy to learn German!</span> <span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Someone who knows the Latin declensions will feel confident enough in learning German. This is, at least, what German language teachers claim during the first lesson...<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">But how to learn German by yourself? It’s easy... The first step is, of course, to buy a German language course, like the excellent edition, published in Dortmund, which tells us about customs of Hottentots’ tribe (<span style="font-style: italic;">die Hottentotten</span>). </span> <span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">The textbook also explains that the opossums (<span style="font-style: italic;">die Beutelratten</span>) </span> <span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">are chased and kept in closed wicker baskets (<span style="font-style: italic;">die Lattengitter</span>). </span> <span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">This kind of cages is called in German <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Lattengitterkoffer</span>; </span> <span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">and if it contains an opossum it is called <span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Beutelrattenlattengitterkoffer</span>.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">THE STORY<br />One day, some Hottentots capture a murder (<span style="font-style: italic;">der Attentäter</span>) who is thought to be a killer of one of the mothers (<span style="font-style: italic;">die Mütter</span>) from the Hottentot tribe (<span style="font-style: italic;">die Hottentottenmutter</span>), mother of a stupid and stuttering person (<span style="font-style: italic;">der Stottertrottel</span>). This type of mother, in German, is called <span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Hottentottenstottertrottelmutter</span>, and her killer <span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Hottentottenstottertrottelmutterattentäter</span>...</span> <span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> Well, you should know that when Hottentots capture a criminal or an enemy, they put him in the opossum cage (<span style="font-style: italic;">der Beutelrattenlattengitterkoffer</span>). But, unexpectedly, the murder who was recently caught escapes: so the searching starts! After a while one of the Hottentot warriors runs up to the leader and says:<br />"I caught the murder! (<span style="font-style: italic;">der Attentäter</span>)", <br />"Yes? Which one?" - the leader asks.<br /> "the <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Beutelrattenlattengitterkofferattentäter</span>" replied the warrior.<br /> "What? The murder who was kept in the cage for opossum, made of wickerplaited material?" asks the boss.<br />"Sure, the <span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Hottentottenstottertrottelmutterattentäter</span> (i.e. the murder of the mother of the stupid and stuttering Hottentot)", replies the warrior.</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br />"Ah, yes..." says the Hottentot leader, "you should say it at the beginning that you caught the <span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Hottentottenstottertrottelmutterbeutelrattenlattengitterkofferattentäter</span>!"...</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /><br />MORAL of the story: </span> <span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Always beware of a German-speaking Hottentot who wants to offer you an opossum.</span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12788049502174420525noreply@blogger.com189tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7678571823355822586.post-67969424971840226922009-09-23T07:34:00.000-07:002009-09-25T04:17:19.416-07:00Etymology of apple and coffe...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_QZ_WBKEAZas/Sro3wghmDeI/AAAAAAAAADU/DE4rxr4xh6U/s1600-h/cafe_strudel.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 299px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_QZ_WBKEAZas/Sro3wghmDeI/AAAAAAAAADU/DE4rxr4xh6U/s400/cafe_strudel.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384677610978938338" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">Nothing is better than etymology, the science of the origin of words, to memorize foreign words. I like sometimes to enjoy a cup of coffe with an apple strudel... So, lets start our journey into History and linguistic curiosities with a couple of words: </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;" >apple</span><span style="font-size:100%;">, and </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;" >coffee</span><span style="font-size:100%;">...<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"></span></span><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0); font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" >-- Apple --</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"></span> </span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;" >English</span><span style="font-size:100%;">: </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" >Apple</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> / </span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;" >German</span><span style="font-size:100%;">: </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" >Apfel</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> / </span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;" >Russian</span><span style="font-size:100%;">: </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" >Яблоко</span><span style="font-size:100%;">, pron. yabloko<br />from Indo-European root: *</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" >abol</span><span style="font-size:100%;">. It is a very old northern European’s word which is also concealed in city names such as Avella (in ancient times </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" >Abella</span><span style="font-size:100%;">, i.e. ‘city of the apples’), small city of Avellino’s province in Italy, and Avallon in France.<br />It is only from the 17th Century, that the term ‘apple’ was associated with the prohibited tree’s fruit in the Genesis.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;" >Italian</span><span style="font-size:100%;">: </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" >Mela</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span><span style="font-size:100%;"> / </span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;" >Romanian</span><span style="font-size:100%;">: </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" >Măr</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span><span style="font-size:100%;">comes from Latin <span style="font-style: italic;">malum</span> that takes origin from ancient Greek <span style="font-style: italic;">mêlon</span>. An old generic Mediterranean term used to indicate also other seed fruits, like peer, quince, and so on.</span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;" ><br /><br />French</span><span style="font-size:100%;">: </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" >Pomme</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> / </span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;" >Catalan</span><span style="font-size:100%;">: </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" >Poma</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br />It comes from Latin root <span style="font-style: italic;">pomum</span> which means ‘fruit’. Is maybe associated with the Sanskrit word <span style="font-style: italic;">phala</span>, </span><span style="font-size:100%;">‘fruit, apple’</span><span style="font-size:100%;">.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;" >Spanish</span><span style="font-size:100%;">: </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" >Manzana</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> / </span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;" >Portuguese</span><span style="font-size:100%;">: </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" >Maçã</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br />It comes from popular Latin : <span style="font-style: italic;">mattiana</span>, abbreviation of “mala mattiana”, in literary terms ‘apple of Mattius’, from the agronomist’s name who spread this kind of apple.<br /><br />In other languages with non alphabetic writings, ‘apple’ is written in this way...<br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;" >Chinese</span><span style="font-size:100%;">: in traditional Chinese, apple is written: 蘋果 (pron. píng guǒ); in simplified Chinese: 苹果. The second character 果 of the word means ‘fruit’ and is made with the pictograms 田 and 木 together symbolizing a fruit on a tree.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;" >Japanese</span><span style="font-size:100%;">: Japanese people use two different writings in concomitance with the Chinese characters called ‘kanji’: the sillabic katakana and hiragana characters are used to write words in a ‘phonetic’ way.<br />Apple in kanji’s writing is as follows: 林檎 (pron. ringo ), in katakana: リンゴ, and in hiragana: りんご.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(153, 0, 0);font-size:100%;" >-- Coffee --</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br />The word coffee, one of the symbols par excellence of the Italian ‘dolce vita’, comes from Arabian </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" >qaHwat (al-bûnn)</span><span style="font-size:100%;">, i.e. ‘wine (of the bean)’, in Arabic قهوة.<br />Originally it identified a stimulating drink produced by a juice extract from some seeds that was drank as a dark red liquid.<br />Thanks to the Venitian ambassador in Constantinople, Gianfrancesco Morosini, in 1585, we get the first report of coffee’ consumption: "Turkish people here stay sit on the floor and spend their time drinking together, in shops as well in the street, a black and hot water obtained from a seed called cavèe, which has the virtue to maintain people awake".<br />So, the word passed from Turkish (</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" >kahvé</span><span style="font-size:100%;">), to Venetian (</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" >cavèe</span><span style="font-size:100%;">) and, from Venetian to today’s Italian (</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" >caffè</span><span style="font-size:100%;">) and finally to English (</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" >coffee</span><span style="font-size:100%;">).<br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;" >English</span><span style="font-size:100%;">: </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" >Coffee</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> (drink). </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" >Coffee bar</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> or </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" >café</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> (public place).<br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;" >French</span><span style="font-size:100%;">, </span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;" >Catalan</span><span style="font-size:100%;">, </span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;" >Spanish</span><span style="font-size:100%;">, and </span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;" >Portuguese</span><span style="font-size:100%;">: </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" >Café</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> (drink and public place).<br />In French slang, however, we pronounce 'caoua', like in Arabian!<br />The word indicates also a public place where the coffee itself is drank.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;" >German</span><span style="font-size:100%;">: </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" >Kaffee</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> (drink). </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" >Gastwirtschaft</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> or </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" >Café</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> (public place).<br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;" >Russian</span><span style="font-size:100%;">: </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" >Кофе</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> kòfye (drink). </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" >Кафе</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> kàfye (public place).<br />A Russian saying: “The coffee, to be good, must be black like the night, sweet like love and hot like hell”.<br /><br />In other languages with non alphabetic writings, ‘coffee’ is written in this way...<br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;" >Chinese</span><span style="font-size:100%;">: 咖啡, pron. kā fēi. As coffee doesn’t belong to Chinese culture, the word ‘coffee’ is adapted from Italian, and is written with phonetic symbols used precisely to write foreign words.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;" >Japanese</span><span style="font-size:100%;">: katakana: コーヒー, hiragana: こうひい, pron. kuhii.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12788049502174420525noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7678571823355822586.post-49545087634074192832009-09-07T07:53:00.000-07:002009-09-14T03:25:21.276-07:00Single Letter Words<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_QZ_WBKEAZas/SqUm2WQUwTI/AAAAAAAAADE/idfFxgCwHv4/s1600-h/single_word.gif"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 241px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_QZ_WBKEAZas/SqUm2WQUwTI/AAAAAAAAADE/idfFxgCwHv4/s400/single_word.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5378748045092766002" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Interesting single letter words to be found among the world's languages are the following:</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">"</span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:verdana;" >á</span><span style="font-family:verdana;">" is Icelandic for </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:verdana;" >river</span><span style="font-family:verdana;">.</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">"</span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:verdana;" >å</span><span style="font-family:verdana;">" (an a with a circle on top) is Swedish for </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:verdana;" >river</span><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:verdana;" >stream</span><span style="font-family:verdana;">.<br />"<span style="font-weight: bold;">ø</span>" or "<span style="font-weight: bold;">ö</span>" (an o with two dots on top) is Swedish for</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:verdana;" > island</span><span style="font-family:verdana;">.</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">"</span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:verdana;" >A</span><span style="font-family:verdana;">", short from 'Aa', means </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:verdana;" >big brother</span><span style="font-family:verdana;"> in Sudanese (West Java, Indonesia). To be used preceding a name, e.g. A Rudi - big brother Rudi.</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">"</span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:verdana;" >e</span><span style="font-family:verdana;">" is Japanese for </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:verdana;" >picture</span><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:verdana;" >bait</span><span style="font-family:verdana;"> or </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:verdana;" >handle</span><span style="font-family:verdana;">.</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">"</span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:verdana;" >e</span><span style="font-family:verdana;">" (pron. uh) in Chinese means </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:verdana;" >hungry</span><span style="font-family:verdana;">.</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">"</span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:verdana;" >i</span><span style="font-family:verdana;">" in Japanese can be </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:verdana;" >stomach</span><span style="font-family:verdana;"> or </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:verdana;" >well</span><span style="font-family:verdana;"> (the kind you draw water from).</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">"</span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:verdana;" >o</span><span style="font-family:verdana;">" (long o) means </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:verdana;" >large</span><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:verdana;" >big</span><span style="font-family:verdana;"> in Japanese.</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">"</span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:verdana;" >u</span><span style="font-family:verdana;">" is Japanese for </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:verdana;" >cormorant</span><span style="font-family:verdana;">.</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">"</span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:verdana;" >u</span><span style="font-family:verdana;">" (Burmese), a </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:verdana;" >male over forty-five</span><span style="font-family:verdana;"> (literally uncle).</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">"</span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:verdana;" >i</span><span style="font-family:verdana;">" (Latin) means ‘</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:verdana;" >go!</span><span style="font-family:verdana;">’. </span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">"</span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:verdana;" >i</span><span style="font-family:verdana;">" (Korean), a </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:verdana;" >tooth</span><span style="font-family:verdana;">.</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">"</span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:verdana;" >m</span><span style="font-family:verdana;">" (Yakut, Siberia), a </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:verdana;" >bear</span><span style="font-family:verdana;">; or an </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:verdana;" >ancestral spirit</span><span style="font-family:verdana;">.</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">"</span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:verdana;" >Zi</span><span style="font-family:verdana;">", short from "Zio", means </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:verdana;" >uncle</span><span style="font-family:verdana;"> and informal an </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:verdana;" >unrelated older acquaintance</span><span style="font-family:verdana;"> in Neapolitan dialect. It is used preceding a name, e.g. Zi' A' - Uncle Angel, Old Angel.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">A famous Swedish tongue twister involving single letter words is the following:</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">"<span style="font-weight: bold;">I åa ä e ö å i öa ä e å</span>". (I ån är en ö och i ön är en å)</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:verdana;" >In the stream there is an island and in the island there is a stream</span><span style="font-family:verdana;">.<br /><br />And here is another interesting tongue twister in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bergamasque">Bergamasco</a> (Italian dialect):<br />"<span style="font-weight: bold;">A o a ae, e öe i ae ie!</span>".<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">I go and catch bees and I want them alive!</span><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Two friends bet who would be able to write the shortest letter in Latin. Thus, the first man wrote: "</span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:verdana;" >Eo rus</span><span style="font-family:verdana;">" -- ‘</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:verdana;" >I am going to the countryside</span><span style="font-family:verdana;">’. His friend responded with just a vowel: "</span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:verdana;" >I!</span><span style="font-family:verdana;">" which means ‘</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:verdana;" >Go!</span><span style="font-family:verdana;">’... and had won the bet!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">But, indubitably, the shortest written exchange ever was that between the French writer Victor Hugo and his publisher, following the publication of ‘Les Misérables’, with Hugo enquiring with a simple "</span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:verdana;" >?</span><span style="font-family:verdana;">" about the book's success, and his publisher responding: "</span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:verdana;" >!</span><span style="font-family:verdana;">".</span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12788049502174420525noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7678571823355822586.post-2479417525031446402009-09-01T10:46:00.000-07:002009-09-01T11:11:56.153-07:00Archetypal Common Personal Names<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_QZ_WBKEAZas/Sp1gY6kD9hI/AAAAAAAAAC8/NC7NithXV_w/s1600-h/Mister_x.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 326px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_QZ_WBKEAZas/Sp1gY6kD9hI/AAAAAAAAAC8/NC7NithXV_w/s400/Mister_x.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5376559511303878162" border="0" /></a><br /><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >“</span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >John Smith</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >” is a name often regarded as the archetype of a common personal name in most English-speaking countries, a generic name sometimes representing ‘everyman’ or ‘the average person’. Whereas “</span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >John Doe</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >” is widely used in the United States as a recurrent pseudonym or a placeholder name for a male party in a legal action, case or discussion whose true identity is unknown (or must be withheld for legal reasons).<br />Below is a list of other typical placeholder names from around the world (interesting to note that the Arabic "</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >Fulan</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >" gets used in a lot of Hispanic countries):<br />Italy: Pinco Pallino; Tizio, Caio e Sempronio.<br />Germany: Lieschen Müller; Otto Normalverbraucher; Hinz & Kunz.<br />Spain: Fulano; Mengano; Zutano.<br />France: Monsieur Durand; Monsieur Untel; Jean Dupont; Pierre-Paul-ou-Jacques.<br />Belgium: Duschmol; Jos Joskens.<br />Netherland: Jan Jansen; Jan Modaal.<br />China: 无名氏 (</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >Wúmíng Shì</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >, literally 'Mr./Ms. No Name'); 某某 (<span style="font-style: italic;">Mǒu Mǒu</span>, literally "so-and-so").<br />Japan: 名無しの権兵衛 (</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >Nanashi-no-Gombei</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >, literally 'Nameless member of the imperial guard').<br />Israel: פלוני (Ploni); אלמוני (Almoni).<br />Arabic countries: فلان (Fulan); علان (Ellan); مجهول (Majhoul).<br />Russia: Иванов Иван Иванович (Ivanov Ivan Ivanovich).</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12788049502174420525noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7678571823355822586.post-31853847240445874422009-08-12T09:22:00.000-07:002009-09-28T07:04:07.010-07:00False Friends<span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" >False friends</span><span style=";font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" > (or faux amis) are pairs of words in two different languages that seem or sound similar, but differ in meaning.<br />For instance, </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" >actual</span><span style=";font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" >, which in English is usually a synonym of "real", has a different meaning in other European languages, in which it signifies "current" or "up-to-date" (</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" >aktuell</span><span style=";font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" > in German, </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" >actuel</span><span style=";font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" > in French, </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" >actual</span><span style=";font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" > in Spanish, and </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" >attuale</span><span style=";font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" > in Italian) and has the logical derivative as a verb </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" >aktualisieren</span><span style=";font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" > (German), </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" >actualiser </span><span style=";font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" >(French) meaning "to make current" or "to update". "Actualise" in English ("Actualize" in N.A. English) means "to realize in action, to make real, or to become actual".<br />Other examples:<br />‘Maschine’ in German means: <span style="font-style: italic;">airplane</span>, whereas ‘macchina’ in Italian means: <span style="font-style: italic;">car</span>.<br />‘Burro’ in Spanish means: <span style="font-style: italic;">donkey</span>, whereas ‘burro’ in Italian means: <span style="font-style: italic;">butter</span>.<br /></span><span style=";font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" >‘</span><span style=";font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" >Salir</span><span style=";font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" >’</span><span style=";font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" > means <span style="font-style: italic;">to go out</span> in Spanish, but <span style="font-style: italic;">to go up</span>, or <span style="font-style: italic;">climb</span> in Italian, and <span style="font-style: italic;">to soil</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">to make dirty</span> in French.<br />‘Largo</span><span style=";font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" >’</span><span style=";font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" > in Spanish means: <span style="font-style: italic;">long</span>, whereas ‘largo’ in Italian means: <span style="font-style: italic;">wide</span>.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" >Puzzling false friend</span><span style=";font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" >:<br />‘Biograf’ in Danish means: <span style="font-style: italic;">cinema</span>.<br />‘Transparent’ in Slovenian means: <span style="font-style: italic;">sign</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">slogan</span>.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12788049502174420525noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7678571823355822586.post-88393595155551220362009-07-12T09:31:00.000-07:002009-07-13T01:12:53.262-07:00History of Words (1)<span style="font-size:130%;">A bit of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etymology">Etymology</a><br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >CHANCE</span><span style="font-size:130%;">, /'chan(t)s/ n. from Old French </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" >chaance</span><span style="font-size:130%;"> / </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" >cheance</span><span style="font-size:130%;">, from Vulgar Latin *</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" >cadentia</span><span style="font-size:130%;"> (from Latin </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" >cadens</span><span style="font-size:130%;">, </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" >cadent-</span><span style="font-size:130%;">, present participle of 'cadere', to fall, befall</span><span style="font-size:130%;">)</span><span style="font-size:130%;">; cf. Indo-European root *</span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >kad-</span><span style="font-size:130%;">.<br />English words sharing the same Latin root <span style="font-style: italic;">cad-</span>/<span style="font-style: italic;">cas-</span>/<span style="font-style: italic;">cid-</span>: cadence, cascade (both from Italian); case, casual, occasion, cadaverous, </span><span style="font-size:130%;">accident, </span><span style="font-size:130%;">recidivist; decay, escheat, chute (from Old French).</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12788049502174420525noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7678571823355822586.post-45112817636920470922009-05-09T01:41:00.000-07:002009-05-09T03:15:21.032-07:00Unusual Italian words<span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">SOQQUADRO</span> (terrible mess) is the only Italian word with a double Q.<span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />SCENTRARE</span> (to decenter), <span style="font-weight: bold;">SCERVELLARSI</span> (to puzzle over) and <span style="font-weight: bold;">SCIABATTARE</span> (to flip flop along) are the only Italian words beginning with the digraph 'SC' to be pronounced "S-TSH". Usually, 'SC' is pronounced as "SH" in "shoot" when it precedes an "i" or "e". Example: </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >sciare</span><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;"> (shee-AH-reh) [ʃiˈare], "to ski".</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />PRECIPITEVOLISSIMEVOLMENTE</span> (as fast as you can) in some dictionaries is the longest Italian word.<span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />FÀBBRICAMICELO</span> (manufacture it there for me) has its stress on the first syllable, which is followed by five unstressed syllables.<br /><br /><u>Puzzle</u>: which Italian word has six I's and no other vowels? (hint: prime numbers have this quality). Click on "post a comment" below to post your answer.<br /></span> <p align="justify"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:x-small;" ><br /></span></p><img src="data:image/png;base64,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" style="position: absolute; visibility: hidden; z-index: 2147483647; left: 641px; top: 236px;" id="kosa-target-image" />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12788049502174420525noreply@blogger.com3