Learn about some Danish-English false friends
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Intro |
|---|
| Antoni: What are some Danish-English false friends? |
| Anna Juul: And what are some words that are often used incorrectly? |
| Antoni: At DanishClass101.com, we hear these questions often. Imagine the following situation: Mark Lee is walking in a park with a family friend, Nina Nielsen. Talking about relationships, Mark cannot understand the meaning of the sentence when Nina says "I’m married" in Danish. |
| Nina: Jeg er gift |
| Dialogue |
| Nina Nielsen: Jeg er gift. |
| Mark: Hvad? |
| Antoni: Once more with the English translation. |
| Nina: Jeg er gift. |
| Antoni: "I’m married" |
| Mark: Hvad? |
| Antoni: "What?" |
Lesson focus |
| Antoni: In this lesson, we’re going to talk about Danish-English False Friends. I’m not talking about people who pretend to be your friends but are really not. The term ‘false friends’ or |
| Anna Juul: Falske venner |
| Antoni: is a term in linguistics, which refers to two words in two different languages that may look and sound the same but do not share the same meaning at all. In fact, they may even have opposite meanings. Also known as ‘false cognates’, false friends are often mistaken to be the same word. False friends occur for a number of reasons, but, before we give you more details on this, let’s first go back to the dialogue earlier. |
| [Recall 1] |
| Michael: Let’s take a closer look at the dialogue. |
| Do you remember how Nina Nielsen says "I’m married?" |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Anna Juul: Jeg er gift. |
| [Recall 2] |
| Alisha: Now, let’s take a look at our second sentence. |
| Do you remember how Mark asks "what?" |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Anna: Hvad? |
| Antoni: Nina was telling Mark that she is married. Mark was confused because he thought Nina was saying she’s a gift, or, in Danish, |
| Anna: gave [SLOW] gave, |
| Michael: which would not make sense. Well, this is because the English word "gift" sounds like the word for "married" in Danish, just like this: |
| Anna Juul: gift [SLOW] gift |
| Antoni: Another example of Danish-English false friends is the Danish word for a "boss," or |
| Anna Juul: chef |
| Antoni: If you say "chef," you are not referring to someone who works at a restaurant, but saying "boss." If you want to refer to a "chef" in Danish, you'd say |
| Anna: kok |
| Michael: Another false friend word to be aware of is the Danish word for "victim," or |
| Anna Juul: offer |
| Antoni: If someone says |
| Anna Juul: offer |
| Antoni: they do not talk about a product on offer, but are referring to a "victim." The proper term for "offer" in Danish is |
| Anna: tilbud |
| Michael: Let's have a look at another false-friend, |
| Anna: barn |
| Michael: meaning "child." An English speaker associates the word "barn" with a storage building found on farms. In Danish, "barn" is |
| Anna: lade |
| Michael: And our last word is |
| Anna: art |
| Michael: In Danish, this means "species," while this makes English speakers think about the products of artists. If you want to refer to "art" in Danish, use the word |
| Anna: kunst. |
| Expansion |
| Antoni: False Friends aren’t the only thing you need to deal with in the Danish language. Danish has many words that are spelled the same as in English, and they also mean the same thing. The only difference is that they are pronounced differently. For instance, the word for "problem" is the same in English and Danish, but is pronounced this way: |
| Anna Juul: pro-ble-em |
| Antoni: The same is true with the English word "finger," only that pronouncing it means flipping the "r" sound |
| Anna Juul: fing-err |
| Antoni: For the English word "under," the "d" is essentially silent. |
| Anna Juul: unn-err |
| Cultural Insight |
| Antoni: Indeed, Danish is truly a rich language. You may think that words that are similar in Danish and English are borrowed from English and added to the Danish vocabulary, since English is a far more "universal language." Actually, it often happens to be the other way around. Why? Many |
| Anna: Nordiske vikinger |
| Michael: or Norse vikings settled in England during the 9th and 10th century, and the Old Danish language has undoubtedly influenced and left its mark on English vocabulary, which is seen through words such as "egg," or |
| Anna Juul: æg, |
| Antoni: and also the word "sister" or |
| Anna Juul: søster |
| Antoni: is strikingly similar. A curious example is the word "sky" that originates from Old Danish, but in Danish the word means "cloud," or |
| Anna Juul: sky |
| Antoni: On the other hand, if you want to say "sky" in Danish, the correct word is |
| Anna Juul: himmel |
| Antoni: So "sky" means two different things but both are related to meteorology. |
Outro |
| Antoni: Do you have any more questions? We’re here to answer them! |
| Anna Juul: Farvel! |
| Antoni: See you soon! |
| Credits: Anna Maria Juul (Danish, Denmark), Antoni (English, synthetic voice) |
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