I like finding patterns in languages, so I don’t know if this makes sense, but I realized that there are some combinations of synonyms and homonyms when it comes to more than two different languages.
Here is an example for a better explanation:
In Macedonian we say “скап/а – skap/a” for expensive (/a refers to the feminine noun) and “драг/а – drag/a” for dear. In Bulgarian, they say “скъп/а – skap/a” for dear, and in Hungarian, they say “drága” for expensive.
Do you know of any similar cases or any insight on how did these occur in the first place?
4 comments
It’s the same in Italian, “caro” (m) / “cara” (f) means both “dear” and “expensive”
This post is a bit confusing since “dear” is also a (slightly old-fashioned) word for “expensive” in English. I assume you mean “dear” as in, “my dear”?
Mmmh I’m not sure if this is the kind of thing you’re talking about but German “Gift” is also “gift” in Danish, Swedish and Norwegian. Same spelling, same pronunciation, same meaning. In English it has the same spelling and same pronunciation but instead of “poison” it means “present”. However, German (and north Germanic) “Gift” and English “gift” have the same origin, despite their modern difference in meaning. In the early Middle Ages, a gift was anything that was *given* to you. It could be good or bad. Later, the word was used more narrowly for drugs and medicine (things given to you by a doctor). Since the line between a life-saving potion and a poison is often very thin, people began to interpret the word differently. That’s how it acquired a positive connotation in English and a negative connotation in German, Danish, Swedish and Norwegian.
Recently I learned that in parts of Switzerland, people say “Hamm” or “Hamme” instead of the German “Schinken”. This “Hamm” is a very old word and it’s directly related to English “ham”. In fact, “hamme” is also the Middle English word and “hamm” the Old English word. In Swiss it can refer both to the product you eat as well as to the part of the leg. “Hamm(e)” and “ham” are cognates with Dutch “ham”, dialectal Swedish “ham”, Icelandic “höm”, Old Irish “cnáim” and Ancient Greek “knḗmē”. With some fantasy you can still hear the similarity there. What really surprised me while looking up this word is that French “jambon” and Spanish “jamón” are no members of this family (despite sounding suspiciously related). “Jambon” and “jamón” go back to Proto-Indo European “kamp-“, which meant “to bend” or “crooked”, while the Germanic word goes back to Proto-Indo European “kónhm”, which meant “leg”. Although now that I think more about it, the meanings of “bend/crooked” and “leg” also seem awfully related. So perhaps there was an even older word that served as a common ancestor for both of them.
Again, I’m not sure if this is the kind of thing you were looking for; just thought it was interesting.
In Bulgarian скъп means expensive or dear. Скъпа кола would be expensive car, скъпа моя would mean my dear.