[Lexicog] False friends

Wed Sep 22 11:45:53 UTC 2004

Hi Fritz,

Some examples for English/Galizan would be:

en. sensible
false cognate: gl. sensíbel or sensible [> en.
sensitive]
equivalent: gl. sensato
en. ex. "She is a ver sensible person"
gl. ex. "É unha persoa moi sensata"

en. sane
false cognate: gl. san [> en. healthy]
equivalent: gl. cordo
en. ex. "She appeared to be completely sane"
gl. ex. "Semellaba estar completamente corda"

en. resume
false cognate: gl. resumir [> en. summarise]
equivalent: gl. continuar, proseguir, retomar
en. ex. "She was ready to resume her duties"
gl. ex. "Estaba pronta a continuar cumprindo as súas
obrigas"

en. rape
false cognate: gl. raptar [> en. kidnap], gl. rapar [>
en. crop hair]
equivalent: gl. violar
en. ex. "He was charged with raping several women"
gl. ex. "Foi acusado de violar varias mulleres"

en. aggro
false cognate: gl. agro [> en. agriculture; land]
equivalent: gl. violencia, comportamento violento
en. ex. "There wasn't a hint of aggro"
gl. ex. "Non houbo nin unha soa mosra de violencia"

en. cavil
false cognate: gl. cavilar [> en. ponder, meditate]
equivalent: gl. criticar, protestar
en. ex. "John could find nothing to cavil at"
en. gl. "John non achou nada que poder criticar"

Working with these languages, which are not so close
to each other as German and English, false cognates
are more obvious and less dangerous between English
and Galizan. As you can see, the meaning of both words
is not the same but usually there is some degree of
semantic proximity.

Many of the examples (all but the last one, in fact, I
would say) would also be the case in Portuguese or
Spanish.

These are just some instances out of more than 300
examples collected in the book:

Álvarez Lugrís, Alberto. Os falsos amigos da
traducción. Criterios de estudio e clasificación.
Vigo: Servicio de publicacións da Universidade de
Vigo, 1997.

An extense theoretical introduction and a rich
bibliography are also included.

Cheers, Manuel

 --- Fritz Goerling <Fritz_Goerling at sil.org> a écrit :

> I found the following in the Internet.
> Do you have examples of false friends between
> English and your language?
>
> Fritz Goerling
>
> False friends (English-German)
>
> The good news: German and English are closely
> related and have many words in
> common.
> And the bad news? German and English are closely
> related and have many words
> in common.
>
> Any English-speaker learning German should be aware
> of this fact. But
> sometimes things
> are not what they seem to be. Among the many words
> the two languages have in
> common
> lurk the so-called "false friends." Linguistic false
> friends can be just as
> dangerous
> as the human variety. These treacherous words
> pretend to be something they
> aren't.
> They can lead to embarrassment, or if you're lucky,
> just laughter.
>
> False friends, more accurately known as "false
> cognates," are particularly
> prevalent
> in the two Germanic languages English and German.
> Because the two languages
> are such
> close relatives, they have a lot of words that look
> and sound alike or very
> similar.
>
> The genuine cognates can be just as helpful for a
> German learning English as
> for an
> American learning German. But the false ones can
> also be a hidden danger
> going both ways.
> (There are many German books warning of such dangers
> in learning English.)
> Whether they
> are called "confusing words," "false friends,"
> "words to watch out for," or
> anything
> else, false cognates are something a
> language-learner must always be aware
> of.
> It's too easy to fall into the trap.
>
> So, just what are we talking about, actually
> (aktuell)? Eventually
> (eventuell), we have
> to be brave (brav) and face the problem (Problem).
>
> In the two preceding sentences, only one of the
> German words in parentheses
> next to the
> English word is a true equivalent of that word. Do
> you know which one? Of
> the four, only
> das Problem could be used in the same sense as the
> English. Although aktuell
> looks almost
> like a twin of "actual" or "actually," the German
> word actually means
> "current, topical,
> up-to-date." German eventuell is almost the opposite
> of "eventually,"
> meaning "possibly"
> or "perhaps." English "brave" is expressed in German
> by tapfer or mutig,
> while brav means
> "good, well-behaved"--as in "Du bist ein braver
> Junge, Hans." ("You're a
> good boy, Hans.")
>
> Some false friends are only a problem in the wrong
> context. Rezept resembles
> the English
> word "recipe" and can mean just that. But ein Rezept
> is also a
> "prescription" for the
> pharmacist (Apotheker). On the other hand, if you
> think "receipt" when you
> see Rezept,
> the German word you really want is Quittung or
> Beleg.
>
> The German word Star can mean "starling" (bird),
> "cataract" (eye, grauer
> Star) or the word
> it resembles, "movie star." One thing it does not
> mean is a "star" in the
> night sky. That
> would be Stern, another false cognate.
>
>
> ---
> Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
> Checked by AVG anti-virus system
> (http://www.grisoft.com).
> Version: 6.0.721 / Virus Database: 477 - Release
> Date: 7/16/2004
>
>

Vous manquez d’espace pour stocker vos mails ?
Yahoo! Mail vous offre GRATUITEMENT 100 Mo !
Créez votre Yahoo! Mail sur http://fr.benefits.yahoo.com/

Le nouveau Yahoo! Messenger est arrivé ! Découvrez toutes les nouveautés pour dialoguer instantanément avec vos amis. A télécharger gratuitement sur http://fr.messenger.yahoo.com

------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~-->
Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar.
Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free!
http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/HKE4lB/TM
--------------------------------------------------------------------~->

Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lexicographylist/

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
    lexicographylist-unsubscribe at yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
    http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/