tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8377709913595182916.post4704327896897361014..comments2024-03-14T10:31:26.918+00:00Comments on DCblog: On false friendsDChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10192779827863835310noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8377709913595182916.post-77563389559547426962008-11-22T04:43:00.000+00:002008-11-22T04:43:00.000+00:00Anyone learning a foreign language soon becomes aw...Anyone learning a foreign language soon becomes aware of false friends-those words that look alike in both the languages. One of the most obvious false friends in English for anyone learning it is actual.<BR/>============================<BR/>dvd<BR/><A HREF="http://www.casualdate.net.au" REL="nofollow">Friends Dating</A>dvdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15347250185236694202noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8377709913595182916.post-37094917145531443212008-09-08T16:23:00.000+00:002008-09-08T16:23:00.000+00:00Sorry for late comment, but I just stumbled here, ...Sorry for late comment, but I just stumbled here, and I won't include a link to my own blog as it's bad form, but this really happened:<BR/><BR/>In French [I think] a consumer is a consommateur and to consume is consommer ... We work with the London office of an international marketing agency. Leaving the agency today is a young lady from France, and her leaving drinks are this evening. In the note she sent out yesterday inviting us to them, she mentioned the alcohol and encouraged us all to "consummate" in moderation ...Ranahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06207632255129272209noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8377709913595182916.post-21127760449989998732008-06-06T13:46:00.000+00:002008-06-06T13:46:00.000+00:00Yes, it' s possible. A false friend is simply a mi...Yes, it' s possible. A false friend is simply a misleading parallel, and the two words don't have to look or sound identical (as with English <I>sympathy</I> and French <I>sympathique</I>). It's therefore useful to have terms which identify cases where the two words do look identical, as in these examples from Hartmann and James's <I>Dictionary of Lexicography</I>: English <I>gift</I> 'present' and German <I>gift</I> 'poison'. These are interlingual homographs. Similarly, English <I>man</I> 'male' and Persian <I>/man/</I> 'I' are interlingual homophones.<BR/><BR/>It's important to include the word 'interlingual', as the two words may not be exactly the same, as they would within a single language. In fact, because of pronunciation differences between the languages, there will often be some sort of phonetic difference. And even the graphic forms may differ - as in the German example, where <I>gift</I>, being a noun, would usually be written <I>Gift</I>.DChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10192779827863835310noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8377709913595182916.post-65449817545430404222008-06-05T20:55:00.000+00:002008-06-05T20:55:00.000+00:00Oh yes, right, I totally agree. I did not mean to ...Oh yes, right, I totally agree. I did not mean to set up a separate third category because as you pointed out false friends always differ semantically. <BR/><BR/>I wonder whether we could call phonetically similar words/false friends (cf. subash's example) 'homophones'?Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16430877113725481180noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8377709913595182916.post-26062163705365712682008-06-03T19:36:00.000+00:002008-06-03T19:36:00.000+00:00All false friends are semantic, by definition, so ...All false friends are semantic, by definition, so I'm not sure there's much to be gained by trying to set up a separate category to handle specially difficult cases. I've no idea how one would set about grading false friends in terms of difficulty.DChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10192779827863835310noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8377709913595182916.post-18416963440214166112008-06-03T09:14:00.000+00:002008-06-03T09:14:00.000+00:00Thanks a lot for an interesting post. I would add ...Thanks a lot for an interesting post. <BR/><BR/>I would add a third category: Semantic false friends, assuming they are the ones most difficult to grasp or acquire and which you also pointed at in your post:<BR/><BR/>demander (french) = fragen (german) but not to demand (english)<BR/><BR/>And additionally there is something like "false false friends" which are then in fact "true friends" :-)<BR/><BR/>Fascinating topic I guess, hope there will be more linguistics and methodological material on this available soon.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16430877113725481180noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8377709913595182916.post-15695744752518436862008-06-02T08:51:00.000+00:002008-06-02T08:51:00.000+00:00Well I would say that these are also false friends...Well I would say that these are also false friends. There can be orthographic false friends and phonetic false friends. You've got a nice example of the latter. I don't know of any special term for these.DChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10192779827863835310noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8377709913595182916.post-63689234658601488542008-05-30T15:54:00.000+00:002008-05-30T15:54:00.000+00:00Hello Sir, Thanks for an interesting and informati...Hello Sir, <BR/>Thanks for an interesting and informative post. I have question on a subject similar to this.<BR/>Do we have a separate word for describing similar sounding words in different languages but have different meanings?<BR/>Before I explain with an example, sorry for not being able to get a more decent example.<BR/>In Swedish 'oath-'a means eight. <BR/>(My swedish isn't that great, so have tried to spell in English itself.) <BR/>A similar sounding word in my mother tongue-Tamil means the f*** word;-) <BR/><BR/>It used to be so funny when we go to buy Digital8 handycam cassettes.<BR/><BR/>Do we have a phrase or word to describe these similar sounding words but with varying meaning?Subash Krishnanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07089199226375184868noreply@blogger.com