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Words that only exist in some languages | ||
Tags: Meaning of words | Vocabulary learning | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Philological Room |  | |
| Tally Bilingual Diglot Senior Member Israel Joined 5609 days ago 135 posts - 176 votes  Speaks: English*, Modern Hebrew* Studies: French | Message 17 of 97 03 May 2010 at 8:33pm | IP Logged | |||||
There is a word for that? why? :) 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Emme Triglot Senior Member Italy Joined 5348 days ago 980 posts - 1594 votes Speaks: Italian*, English, German Studies: Russian, Swedish, French | Message 18 of 97 03 May 2010 at 10:06pm | IP Logged | |||||
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There are some very interesting words in this thread!
Personally I’ve always loved the English word ‘serendipity’ (well, at least since I first encountered it as a teenager), but there is no equivalent in Italian. I believe they are now trying to introduce a calque with the term ‘serendipità’, at least I’ve found it in online dictionaries, but honestly I’ve still to hear an Italian say it. Edited by Emme on 03 May 2010 at 10:08pm 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| ManicGenius Senior Member United States Joined 5482 days ago 288 posts - 420 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Esperanto, French, Japanese | Message 19 of 97 04 May 2010 at 12:08am | IP Logged | |||||
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English - Copasetic
I friggin love that word even though its outdated by 40 years. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Mafouz Diglot Groupie Spain Joined 5326 days ago 56 posts - 64 votes Speaks: Spanish*, English Studies: German, Japanese, French | Message 20 of 97 04 May 2010 at 1:06am | IP Logged | |||||
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What does "copasetic" means?
Portuguese and Galician have words for specific forms of mising something: "Saudade" in portuguese for missing somebody (Is this correct?). "Morriña" or "Morrinha" in galician for one missing its own landscape or homeland. The difference Ser/estar exist in other languages in the western european coast: Basque, Breton, (Irish Gaellic?) 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| ManicGenius Senior Member United States Joined 5482 days ago 288 posts - 420 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Esperanto, French, Japanese | Message 21 of 97 04 May 2010 at 1:25am | IP Logged | |||||
Completely satisfactory. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Teango Triglot Winner TAC 2010 & 2012 Senior Member United States teango.wordpress.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5557 days ago 2210 posts - 3734 votes Speaks: English*, German, Russian Studies: Hawaiian, French, Toki Pona | Message 22 of 97 04 May 2010 at 2:06am | IP Logged | |||||
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I've been searching for an equivalent of the English word "savoury" in languages like German, French and Russian for years now.
Although there are several other usages for this word, including a description of "something you savour", "an appetizer", "moral acceptability", and "salty, spicy or piquant flavour" or just "non-sweet" food, what I'm really searching for is an equivalent word in another language that conveys the main sense in which it is used throughout Britain - i.e. something much closer to the Japanese concept of "umami" (although not simply "brothy" and "meaty" as suggested in this article, as these words don't really come that close either). Perhaps this sense of savoury only exists in English (and maybe Japanese) too? Edited by Teango on 04 May 2010 at 2:09am 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Smart Tetraglot Senior Member United States Joined 5340 days ago 352 posts - 398 votes Speaks: Spanish, English*, Latin, French Studies: German | Message 23 of 97 04 May 2010 at 2:22am | IP Logged | |||||
Ah! How copasetic! This is an interesting thread, unfortunately I'm personally unaware of specific words that aren't found in other languages. Have never thought about it :) 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Ncruz Pentaglot Senior Member United States Joined 5539 days ago 31 posts - 56 votes Speaks: Spanish, English*, Dutch, Portuguese, Afrikaans Studies: French, German, Italian, Russian, Norwegian, Japanese, Scottish Gaelic | Message 24 of 97 04 May 2010 at 6:42am | IP Logged | |||||
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Something that has always struck me about English is the lack of a distinction between the concept of knowing a person/thing and knowing a fact.
It seems to me that this distinction exists in most other European languages. Here are some examples: Dutch - kennen and weten Spanish - conocer and saber French - connaître and savoir German - kennen and wissen Portuguese - conhecer and saber In all of these examples, the former word means to know a person or thing, while the latter means to know something (have knowledge of). Although it is possible to communicate the distinction through such terms as "to be familiar with", this distinction is practically impossible to translate into natural English. I wonder how it is that English developed to lack this distinction? Edited by Ncruz on 04 May 2010 at 6:46am 1 person has voted this message useful |
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