# Etymologically, are there words that are the same in two different languages? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 22, 2007, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymologically-are-there-words-that-are-the-same-in-two-different-languages/393270 "2007-02-22T20:29:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HubZilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ccd318/32.png) [@HubZilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HubZilla)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2007, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymologically-are-there-words-that-are-the-same-in-two-different-languages/393270/1 "2007-02-22T20:29:12Z")
To clarify, have there ever been instances of words in two completely different languages sounding the same for the same thing? The languages have to have seperate origins, and assume no previous contact between cultures. Tagalog’s word for toothpaste is Colgate, but only because they took the word from Westerners who introduced toothpaste. So that doesn’t count. Nor do Romance languages sharing Latin roots. Was a cat pronouced (roughly) “cat” in Arabic, “cat” in Chinese, “cat” in Lakota, etc. Just re-read Hitchhiker’s Guide and got the idea from every planet calling a Gin & Tonic a “Gin & Tonic” before meeting other planets. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2007, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymologically-are-there-words-that-are-the-same-in-two-different-languages/393270/2 "2007-02-22T20:43:34Z")
Yes, they are called [False Cognates](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_cognate), although they don’t have to be identical to be labeled such. Here are the English examples from that wikipedia article: > [@](#): > > # (first person present tense of to be), Etruscan am (to be), and Sumerian am (to be) > > # English bad and Persian bad > > # English boy and Japanese bōya (young male child) > > # English bullshit and Mandarin búshì (不是; isn’t, not true) > > # English can and Japanese kan (cylindrical metal container) > > # English cheek and Russian scheka (cheek) > > # English chop and Uzbek chop > > # English dairy and Russian doyar (milker), doyarka (milkmaid) > > # English day, daily and Spanish día (day) (or Latin dies (day) or even English diary) > > # English delete and Russian udalit’ (to delete, remove) > > # English dog and Mbabaram dog > > # English earth and Hebrew erets (land) > > # English evaporate and Russian ispar’at’ > > # English house and Hungarian ház (house, block of flats) (the Hungarian word has corresponding counterparts in other Uralic languages) > > # English hut and Russian hata > > # English it, Russian eto and Tagalog eto/ito (it, this) > > # English laser and Scottish Gaelic lasair (light beam, flame) > > # English mount (short form of “mountain”), and Hawaiian mauna (mountain) > > # English neat and Latin nitidus > > # English pan and Mandarin Chinese pan (pan, shallow plate) > > # English pen and pencil > > # English persecution and Russian presechenie (persecution, suppression, injunction) > > # English stone and Mandarin shítou (traditional 石頭, simplified 石头) > > # English strange and Russian stranno > > # English stranger and Russian strannik > > # English trawl (to fish by dragging a net) and English troll (to fish by trailing a line) > > # English vagina, and Hawaiian/Maori wahine (woman) > > # English viscosity and Russian v’azkost’ ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2007, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymologically-are-there-words-that-are-the-same-in-two-different-languages/393270/3 "2007-02-22T21:05:34Z")
Taxi and abracadabra mean and sound the same in dozens of languages. ---
**Author:** ![Jelymag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d2c977/32.png) [@Jelymag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jelymag)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2007, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymologically-are-there-words-that-are-the-same-in-two-different-languages/393270/4 "2007-02-22T21:09:11Z")
[QUOTE=John Mace] …Here are the English examples from that wikipedia article: English laser and Scottish Gaelic lasair (light beam, flame) [/QUOTE] This one is interesting as “laser” in English is not a word but an acronym for a device- **L** ight **A** mplification by **S** timulated **E** mission of **R** adiation. I wonder if the Gaelic “lasair” was just a word they made up for a “laser,” or if “lasair” has always mean “light beam” or “flame” in Gaelic, which I would find kind of coincidentally cool. ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2007, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymologically-are-there-words-that-are-the-same-in-two-different-languages/393270/5 "2007-02-22T21:10:40Z")
I don’t know how true it is, but I’ve heard that in every known language, the word for “mother” has the “m” sound as either the first consonant or as the main consonant. (It does happen to be true for several languanges that I’m somewhat familiar with.) If true, it supposedly points to independent origins of similar words (as requested by the OP) resulting from a sound very frequently and easily made by babies. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2007, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymologically-are-there-words-that-are-the-same-in-two-different-languages/393270/6 "2007-02-22T21:19:43Z")
[QUOTE=Keeve] I don’t know how true it is, but I’ve heard that in every known language, the word for “mother” has the “m” sound as either the first consonant or as the main consonant. (It does happen to be true for several languanges that I’m somewhat familiar with.) [/QUOTE] Not in Japanese – it’s either “okaasan” (in which 'the “san” is an honorific) or “haha”. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2007, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymologically-are-there-words-that-are-the-same-in-two-different-languages/393270/7 "2007-02-22T21:24:05Z")
[QUOTE=AskNott] Taxi and abracadabra mean and sound the same in dozens of languages. [/QUOTE] This is disallowed by the second paragraph in the OP. One that I know that is similar in spirit to the long list is: English dual, Malay dua : Second, two ---
**Author:** ![HubZilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ccd318/32.png) [@HubZilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HubZilla)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2007, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymologically-are-there-words-that-are-the-same-in-two-different-languages/393270/8 "2007-02-22T21:32:19Z")
[QUOTE=John Mace] Yes, they are called [False Cognates](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_cognate), although they don’t have to be identical to be labeled such. Here are the English examples from that wikipedia article: [/QUOTE] Thank you! This is _exactly_ what I was looking for! ---
**Author:** ![Cerowyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/82dd89/32.png) [@Cerowyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cerowyn)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2007, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymologically-are-there-words-that-are-the-same-in-two-different-languages/393270/9 "2007-02-22T22:31:54Z")
[QUOTE=Jelymag] This one is interesting as “laser” in English is not a word but an acronym for a device- **L** ight **A** mplification by **S** timulated **E** mission of **R** adiation. I wonder if the Gaelic “lasair” was just a word they made up for a “laser,” or if “lasair” has always mean “light beam” or “flame” in Gaelic, which I would find kind of coincidentally cool. [/QUOTE] My dictionary says: > [@A Pronouncing and Etymological Dictionary of the Gaelic Language](#): > > **lasair** , lăs’-ir, _n. f., gen._ **lasrach** , a flame, a flash. _Ir_. **lassar.** _W_. **llachar.** _O.Celt._ **laksa-.** So it appears to be related to the Old Celtic root _laksa_. [edited to fix coding in my quotation] ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2007, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymologically-are-there-words-that-are-the-same-in-two-different-languages/393270/10 "2007-02-22T22:53:24Z")
Not to be confused with “false friends”, faux amis where the word sounds the same as something in English but means something different. _Demander, ignorer, rester, quitter, embarazada._ Although [this page](http://french.about.com/library/fauxamis/blfauxam.htm) refers to those examples as false cognates as well, even though they _don’t_ mean the same thing like the ones listed above, so I am confused. ---
**Author:** ![Martha\_Medea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/43a26b/32.png) [@Martha\_Medea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martha_Medea)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2007, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymologically-are-there-words-that-are-the-same-in-two-different-languages/393270/11 "2007-02-22T23:01:58Z")
_Como_ in Spanish and _k’mo_ in Hebrew both mean “like” (in the sense of resembling). There’s also a verb that means the same thing and sounds similar in those two languages… it’ll come to me. ---
**Author:** ![Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alive_At_Both_Ends)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2007, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymologically-are-there-words-that-are-the-same-in-two-different-languages/393270/12 "2007-02-22T23:04:59Z")
My favourite pair is “gaijin” (Japanese) and “goyim” (Hebrew) if only because this pair was allegedly once used to suggest that all world languages were related. Bit of a stretch if you ask me… ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2007, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymologically-are-there-words-that-are-the-same-in-two-different-languages/393270/13 "2007-02-22T23:06:53Z")
[QUOTE=Keeve] I don’t know how true it is, but I’ve heard that in every known language, the word for “mother” has the “m” sound as either the first consonant or as the main consonant. (It does happen to be true for several languanges that I’m somewhat familiar with.) If true, it supposedly points to independent origins of similar words (as requested by the OP) resulting from a sound very frequently and easily made by babies. [/QUOTE] Not true in Hungarian, either: “anya” Ed ---
**Author:** ![snailboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/97f17d/32.png) [@snailboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snailboy)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2007, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymologically-are-there-words-that-are-the-same-in-two-different-languages/393270/14 "2007-02-22T23:35:21Z")
[QUOTE=gigi] Not to be confused with “false friends”, faux amis where the word sounds the same as something in English but means something different. _Demander, ignorer, rester, quitter, embarazada._ Although [this page](http://french.about.com/library/fauxamis/blfauxam.htm) refers to those examples as false cognates as well, even though they _don’t_ mean the same thing like the ones listed above, so I am confused. [/QUOTE] They may not mean exactly the same thing, but they have somewhat similar meanings (at least) and the same origin. For instance, you can _demander_ that someone do something, which means you ask them to do it. Not the same as demanding, but it’s not a huge change in meaning. My dictionary says you can _ignorer_ (ignore) someone, so I’d say that word has exactly the same meaning. _Rester_ means stay, not the same as rest but pretty close. I may be mistaken, but I think you can _quitter_ (quit) a job meaning it’s at least sometimes the same. I have no idea what _embarazada_ means and neither does my dictionary. (It knows what _embarraser_ means and that’s obviously a cognate.) So except for that last one, I’d say they’re similar enough in meaning to be cognates. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2007, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymologically-are-there-words-that-are-the-same-in-two-different-languages/393270/15 "2007-02-22T23:53:37Z")
[QUOTE=snailboy] I have no idea what _embarazada_ means and neither does my dictionary. . [/QUOTE] Pregnant. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2007, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymologically-are-there-words-that-are-the-same-in-two-different-languages/393270/16 "2007-02-22T23:55:33Z")
I know that “so” means the same in English and Japanese, but have no clue if one borrowed the word from the other. ---
**Author:** ![Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alive_At_Both_Ends)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2007, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymologically-are-there-words-that-are-the-same-in-two-different-languages/393270/17 "2007-02-23T00:30:31Z")
[QUOTE=teela brown] I know that “so” means the same in English and Japanese, but have no clue if one borrowed the word from the other. [/QUOTE] No, they are independent of each other. English “so” derives from the Anglo-Saxon. As for Japanese “so”, well I don’t know, but it predates any contact with English speakers and fits well into a pattern familiar to anyone who knows Japanese grammar: kore = this; sore; that (nearby); are = that (far away) koko = here; soko = there (nearby); asoko = there (far away) kochira = here; sochira = there (nearby); achira = there (far away) ko = like this; **so = like that (nearby);** aa = like that (far away) etc., etc. Some coincidences are just coincidences, nothing more. ---
**Author:** ![jovan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/0ea827/32.png) [@jovan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jovan)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2007, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymologically-are-there-words-that-are-the-same-in-two-different-languages/393270/18 "2007-02-23T00:47:42Z")
[QUOTE=Giles] Not in Japanese – it’s either “okaasan” (in which 'the “san” is an honorific) or “haha”. [/QUOTE] _Mama_ is used by toddlers also. What’s interesting is that back in classical times (Heian period c.800 CE), the word for mother was pronounced not _haha_ but _papa_, which later shifted to _fafa_ and finally to it’s current form. Off the top of my head, Japanese has also the following pairs: _Miru_ (to look) -\> _Mirar_ in Spanish. _Arigatou_ (thank you) -\> _Obrigado_ in Poruguese. _Shikaru_ (to scold) -\> _Chicaner_ in Canadian French. (Meaning is different in France.) ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2007, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymologically-are-there-words-that-are-the-same-in-two-different-languages/393270/19 "2007-02-23T00:53:28Z")
It’s not that _every_ language has the word for mother begin with “m”, but that almost every _Indo-European_ language does. Which makes the question for this OP: “Do your rules consider relatedness of languages that far back?” It’s one thing to say that Romance-descendant cognates don’t count, but an entirely different thing to say that Indo-European-descendant cognates don’t count. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2007, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymologically-are-there-words-that-are-the-same-in-two-different-languages/393270/20 "2007-02-23T01:51:11Z")
[QUOTE=jayjay] It’s not that _every_ language has the word for mother begin with “m”, but that almost every _Indo-European_ language does. Which makes the question for this OP: “Do your rules consider relatedness of languages that far back?” It’s one thing to say that Romance-descendant cognates don’t count, but an entirely different thing to say that Indo-European-descendant cognates don’t count. [/QUOTE] I think the OP meant no known relationship at all. But I also heard that “mama” or “ma” is commonly seen in many unrelated languages in association with the word “mother”. Joseph Greenberg was probably the most credible linguist who tried to argue that it was possible to link all the languages in the world. His universal marker was the root _tik_. His contention is that almost every language has some form of this root that pops up in words related to “digit”, “finger”, or “one”, or something very similar. So if you were looking for a universal true cognate, that would be it (but keep in mind that Greenberg’s hypothesis is very controversial). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymologically-are-there-words-that-are-the-same-in-two-different-languages/393270.md?page=2)