funny coincidence between languages

[SiEd]

This really reminds me of Korean -씨. Like Korean -씨, "si" is typically used with first names, e.g. Si Edi, Si Wati, Si Kardi, Si Hyunwoo .

However, unlike -씨, it's usually not used to directly address a person - it's not considered a lofty honorific (unlike kin terms). You may only use it to make a third-person reference.

[javiskefka]

Just wanted to turn your attention to this coincidence.

My handle here, "SiEd", may look unusual, so I'll break it down. "Ed" is my name, and "si" is a personal article, like "the" but only used for names in several languages of the Philippines and Indonesia, such as Tagalog and Indonesian. This really reminds me of Korean -씨. Like Korean -씨, "si" is typically used with first names, e.g. Si Edi, Si Wati, Si Kardi, Si Hyunwoo .

Additionally, "si" can occur with particular descriptive verbs that can stand in for a name, e.g. Indonesian gundul 'bald' -> Si Gundul 'Baldy'; Tagalog kalbo 'bald' -> Si Kalbo 'Baldy'. Can this happen with -씨?

.....

However, unlike -씨, it's usually not used to directly address a person - it's not considered a lofty honorific (unlike kin terms). You may only use it to make a third-person reference.

There are two suffixes like that, -쟁이 and -뱅이, that attach to a quality and name someone who exhibits that quality. The resulting words are usually negative, though.

[austinfd]

There are two suffixes like that, -쟁이 and -뱅이, that attach to a quality and name someone who exhibits that quality. The resulting words are usually negative, though.

Yeah, but they are fun!

[SiEd]

Anyone heard of these coincidences?

Khmer (Cambodia/Kampuchea):

ckae [c'kae:] 'dog' (cf. Kor 개)
sralang [sra.'lE:ng] 'love' (cf. Kor 사랑)

[sbeschke]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think both Korean and Japanese have their roots in the Chinese language. So that's why many words in these 3 languages sound similar. In fact, Korean used to be written entirely using Chinese characters (Hanja) although they were pronounced differently. It was only later that the Korean characters as we know them today were used.

That's not quite true. Chinese belongs to an entirely different language family than Japanese and Korean, and as far as I am informed, there is some dispute about the degree with which Japanese and Korean are related.

It is true that all three languages share a fair amount of vocabulary, which has historical reasons. While (spoken) Japanese and Korean evolved independently from Chinese, both cultures adopted the Chinese writing system before they developed their own. Therefore large numbers of Chinese words entered those languages, having their pronunciation adapted to the respective phonetic system.

And of course, the exchange of vocabulary didn't stop with the Koreans and Japanese inventing their own writing systems. For example, as I recall, the word "denwa" for "telephone", though it uses the Chinese pronunciation of the characters 電話, was invented in Japan and entered China from there. It also made its way into the Korean language: 전화.

Note that the large amount of shared vocabulary doesn't automatically imply the languages are related, just that there has been a lot of cultural exchange. And that all three cultures are used to dealing with "Hanja" words.

Edit: Sorry johnkeaney808, I missed your post explaining the same thing.

[Martanor]

One language coincidence which is kind of childish is 국, when romanized as 'kuk'. Since kuk is a Swedish word for, you know, male genitalia.

[Keith]

:X

[ManuelinX]

Since I'm a newbie I only know one funny sound coincidence:

보다 - Too see.

In spanish sound like "Puta" and Puta is... well a whore

So I learned that word very quickly haha 보다 putas, (Too see whores)

[Keith]

I think this post is going in the wrong direction....

[Chriss]

One language coincidence which is kind of childish is 국, when romanized as 'kuk'. Since kuk is a Swedish word for, you know, male genitalia.

Norwegian, too, come to think of it. It's never really struck me before.

Anyway, "냠냠" is "nam nam" in Norwegian. Perhaps not that surprising as I think it might just be a case of onomatopoeia.

[SiEd]

I just realized this now:

Korean 하다 > 해 'to do'

Hindi है = hai /hae/ 'to be', which is pretty much sentence-final.
I often hear this at the end of verses in Bollywood movies (which I've seen against my will )

[orbiter]

I remember once exclaiming to my mom, who was trying to get me to study:

"See that's why 'to study' is "勉強する" in Japanese! (if you read it in Chinese , it reads as "mian qiang", which means "forced/in a forced manner") And in Korean, it is "공부" (sounds the same as "恐怖" in Chinese, which means frightful/horrific)!!!!"

As you can tell, I didn't like studying all that much.


On another note, 예(yes) in Korean is so similar to いいえ(no) in Japanese. Since I'm learning both languages at the same time, I do make some rather embarrassing mistakes when I fail to switch "modes"... heh

[JangYong]

Yes... There are a number of similar words between Chinese Language (more like dialects) and Korean. I'm kinda shocked that they are exactly the same. Just that there're intonations for Chinese Language. (Sorry for my weird romanization, hope u guys understand what im typing )

Examples:

Chinese Dialect (Hokkien): Hag Saeng [Student]
Korean: Hak Saeng

Chinese Dialect (Hokkien): Haeng Hok [Blissful, Fortunate, etc]
Korean: Haeng Bok [Happy]

Chinese Dialect (Cantonese): Mun [Door]
Korean: Mun!

Chinese (Mandarin): Gan Dong [To be touched, not physically, haha, emotionally]
Korean: Gam Dong 감동 [Emotion]

Chinese Dialect (Hokkien): Jjam Si [For a while]
Korean: 잠시

The list goes on and on..... they're too similar. It's really interesting to know.
And mani 많이 sounds like English's many! haha

[nanday0]

haha actually Gam Dong means to be touched for both korean and cantonese!