False Friends

By: Matja Mikuž, Noelia Lopez Bončina and Merima Mujić

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Presentation OverviewO History of false friendsO Definition of false friendsO Slovene – English false friendsO German – English false friendsO French – English false friendsO Spanish – English false friendsO Italian – English false friendsO Romance languages and false

friends

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1.History of False FriendsOCommon origin = LatinOBegan in 597 A.DOIn the 16th century words were being

borrowed but with a change in meaning

OTwo reasons for borrowing:- naming new things- to enrich the language (Renaissance)

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OThe borrowing still continues todayOWords undergo „mutations“OLinguistic traps for students reading

Shakespeare, Chaucer and J.Austen. For example:

1.a) - nice ( L. nescius (ignorant)) from meaning foolishly particular ( J. Austen) to meaning pleasant.

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2.Definition of False Friends

O According to Gabrovšek (2004) false friends are: pairs of foreign sounding lexical items which are etymologically related but semantically fully or partly different.

O They can be divided into five different categories which are: O Semantic false friendsO Morphological false friendsO Orthographical false friendsO Phonological false friendsO Zero-equivalent false friends

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2.1.Semantic False Friends

O Total false friends: no sense in common

O Partial false friends: at least one shared sense O SL: organ vs. EN: organO SL: profesor vs. EN: professor O SL: akcija vs. EN: action

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2.2.Morphological False Friends

O Pairs of lexical items which have the same meaning but different morphological structuresO different affixes:O affix in the first language:O affix in the second language:

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2.3.Orthographical False Friends

O Pairs of lexical items with different spellingO faraon vs. pharaohO diskoteka vs. discotehque

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O Phonological false friends

O Zero-equivalent false friends

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3.Slovene-English False Friends

3.a) Za dobro torto je potreben dober biskvit. - For a good cake you need a good sponge-cake.

O May I offer you a biscuit? - Ali ti lahko ponudim piškot?

3.b) Kolona je nastala pred izvozom za Vrhniko. - A long-line formed before the exit for Vrhnika.

O You’ve missed a colon in front of the quotation marks. - Pozabil si na dvopičje pred narekovaji.

3.c) Prezervative se lahko kupi v lekarni.- Condoms can be bought at the farmacy.

O Yogurts are full of preservatives. - Jogurti so polni konzervansov.

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4.German – English False Friends

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4.a) Gift (n) ; German Gift vs. English gift

Oa) English: This was a gift from my parents.

Ob) German: Das ist wie Gift für ihn. (That is like poison for him.)

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4.b) Eventually (adv.): German eventuell vs. English eventually

Oa) English: Ingredients: tomato, cucumber, pepper, onion, water, olive oil, wine winegar, salt, garlic, and eventually [finally] lemon.

Ob) German: Zutaten: Tomaten, Gurken, Paprika, Zwiebeln, Wasser, Olivenöl, Weinessig, Salz, Knoblauch, und eventuell [perhaps] Zitrone.

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4.c) To Become (v.): German bekommen vs. English become

Oa) English: I want to become a rockstar.

Ob) German: Am ende der Woche bekomme ich mein neues Fahrrad. (I’m getting my new bike at the end of the week.)

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4.d) sensible (adj.): German sensibel vs. English sensible

Oa) English: I think it would be sensible to leave early, in case there is a lot of traffic.

Ob) German: Die Instrumente reagieren sehr sensibel. ( The instruments are very sensitive.)

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5. French Faux Amis O French replaced English as the language of the

ruling classes O true friends or true cognates –vrais amis- are

French words that have come into the language and have changed little in spelling but do not change their meaning:

O identical in both languages: intelligence, instinct, situation, absent, accident

O Words that changed in spelling: diplomacy (diplomatie), adventure (aventure), address (adresse).

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5.1. True Faux AmisO words that have a common root but which have

changed their meanings over the centuries, and words that have no common root and which look alike through pure accident.

O Examples:

5.1.a) Sensible – sensibleO L’oreille humaine est moins sensible à certains

soons – The human ear is less sensitive to certain sounds.

O Vous êtes trop sensible – You are too sensitive.O Il est toujours sensible à son charme – He’s still

sensitive to her charm.

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5.1.b) Compréhensif – comprehensiveO Il est compréhensif et sympathique – He’s

understanding and likeable.O Un préservatif – a preservative

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5.2. French Partial False Friends

O French words which do mean the same as their English cognates, but which have other meanings as well.

O Examples:5.2.a) Importer – to importO Il importe qu’il arrive à l’heure – It’s important

that he arrives on time.O Peu m’importe – It doesn’t matter to me.O Parfum – perfumeO Dites-moi votre parfum de glace préféré - Tell me

your favorite ice cream flavor.

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6. Spanish False Friends (Falsos amigos)

O True friends in Spanish: many English words that come from Latin are transparent to the English speaker: accidente, enciclopedia, inteligencia, situación, etc.

O Example:6.a) Accidente – accidentO Se convirtió en un empresario por accidente. O He became a businessman by accident.

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6.1. Spanish True False friends

O Words that have a common root but have taken on different meanings over time, or words that just look similar.

O Examples:6.1.a) Simple – simpleO A simple question - Una pregunta sencilla.O Una pregunta simple - A mere question.6.1.b) Adecuado - adequateO The right man for the job - El hombre adecuado

para el cargo.O The Money I have is adequate for this trip - El

dinero que tengo es suficiente para este viaje.

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6.1.c) Pie – pieO You can find countless variations on meat pies

made around the world. Some are baked, some are fried, some are prepared in deep dishes and others are intended to be eaten by hand.

O Puedes encontrar un sinnúmero de variaciones de los *pies de carne realizados en todo el mundo. Algunos son horneados, algunos fritos, algunos se preparan en platos hondos y otros están hechos para comer con la mano.

O *Piefoot!

O Puedes encontrar un sinnúmero de variaciones de los pasteles de carne realizados en todo el mundo.

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6.1.d) Embarazada - embarrassed I was embarrassed to look her in the eye.Estaba avergonzado para verla a los ojos.

She is eight months pregnant.Ella está embarazada de ocho meses.

6.1.e) Fábrica - fabric

This fabric is impermeable to water.Este tejido es impermeable.

The factory produces cotton goods.La fábrica produce buen algodón.

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7. Italian-English False Friends

7.a) La libreria si trova alla fine della via. - The book store is located at the end of the street.

O This is the university library. - Questa è la biblioteca universitaria.

7.b) Mi passi il sale perfavore! - Could you pass me the salt please!

O The sales are finally going up. - Finalmente le vendite si stanno migliorando.

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8. Coincidences of false friends in Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, and French.8.a) Blank

Spblanco/blanca;Frblanc/blanche; Prbranco/branca; It bianco/biancaO My grandmother's house is white.(Sp) La casa de mi abuela es blanca.(Fr) la maison de ma grand-mère est blanche.(Pr) A casa da minha avó é branca.(It) La casa della mia nonna è bianca.

WHITE

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O “ To fill the blanks with a number." (Sp) llenar los espacios vacíos con un

número.(Pr) Preencher os espaços vazios com um

número.(It) Riempire gli spazi vuoti con un

numero.(Fr) Remplir les espaces vides avec un

nombre.

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ConclusionO Historical overview

O The definition

O Slovene, German, French, Spanish and Italian false friends

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