Ahhh, language

134 points · 7 comments · view on lemmy.world

7 Comments

TheTechnician27@lemmy.world · 19 pts · 48d (2 replies)

Not where that comes from. Both from Proto-Indo-European, but "meal" as in "eating a meal" derives from "to measure" while "meal" as in "oatmeal" derives from "to mill". They're false cognates.

御飯 ("gohan"), meanwhile, literally is just "cooked rice".

loppy@fedia.io · 3 pts · 48d

cognate (n): Related in origin, as certain words in genetically related languages descended from the same ancestral root

Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de · 2 pts · 44d

i assume it's more clear in other languages, e.g. in swedish it's "mjöl" for fine powders and "mål" for foodstuff.

Dagnet@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 48d (2 replies)

That's me learning german. Apparently Fremdsprache means foreign language so I went "Isn't it weird that german calls other languages 'strange language?'" then I thought about my own language (portuguese) 'lingua estrangeira' which is basically the same thing haha

Wfh@lemmy.zip · 4 pts · 48d

Since stranger comes from strange, does it mean that strange means foreign, or that foreign means strange?

Would Dr Foreign be a better surgeon than Dr Strange?

THE PLOT THICKENS

Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de · 2 pts · 44d

this made me realize how weird the term feels in swedish, like in german it's "strange language" but i can't recall ever hearing it used.
We'd just say "another language" or something.

Trex202@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 48d

"Come and eat your meal!"

"Well, actshually, mom, there is no meal in this dish..."

"Shut up and eat"