“Any time you think some other language is strange, remember that yours is just as strange, you’re just used to it.”
Have you ever been watching a movie in another language and realizing that some of the words you’re familiar with are pretty much the same? Or what about when you hear a conversation verbally and recognize a word that’s similar to one you use?
How the heck are these words so alike when cultures have been speaking and spelling them for years — way before people started traveling to other countries and sharing their knowledge amongst each other?
“Different people agree to give different combinations of sounds different meanings. Considering that people are scattered around the globe and speak different mutually unintelligible languages, it is unlikely that they would all have the same words for the same thing. However, there are some select words that sound pretty much the same across so many languages.”
– The Language Nerds
Here are some interesting findings from the website The Language Nerds that you may find intriguing.
Coffee
Afrikaans: koffie | Albanian: kafe | Arabic: قهوة (qahua) | French: Café | Azerbaijani: qəhvə | Basque: kafea | Belarussian: кава (kava) | Bengali: কফি (kaphi) | Bosnian: kafa | Bulgarian: кафе (kafe) | Catalan: cafè | Cebuano: kape | Chichewa: khofi | Chinese: 咖啡 (Kāfēi) | Corsican: caffè | Croatian: kava | Czech: káva | Danish: kaffe | Dutch: koffie | Italian: caffè | German: Kaffee | Thai: กาแฟ (Kāfæ) | Sawahili: kahawa | Spanish: café | Portuguese: café | Turkish: kahveh | Croatian: kava | Lithuanian: kava | Polish: kawa (kava) | Slovakian: kava | Ukrainian: kavy or kava | Georgian: qava | Hungarian: kavé | Serbian: kafa | Slovenian: kave | Yiddish: kave | Filipino/Tagalog: kape | Hawaiian: kope | Indonesian: kopi | Korean: keopi | Malay: kawah or koppi | Sinhalese (Sri Lanka): kopi | Tamil (Sri Lanka): kapi-kottai or kopi.
Tea
French: le thé | Swedish: te | Finnish: tee | Italian: tè | Danish: Te or The | Greek: τσάι (tsai) | Malay: teh | Portuguese: cha (pronounced ‘shah’) | Chinese: t’e, or ch’a | Persian: chaai | Urdu: Chai | Korean: cha | Russian: chay | Arabic: chai or shai | Bulgarian: chai | Croatian: caj (pronounced chai) | Dutch: thee | Afrikaans: tee | German: der Tee | Hebrew: teh | Hungarian: tea | Irish: tae | Indonesian: teh | Japanese: o-cha | Korean: cha | Latvian: teja (pronounced tay-ya) | Malay: teh | Maltese: te | Norwegian: te | Romanian: ceai | Sinhalese (Sri Lanka): thé | Spanish: el té | Swahili: chai (pronounced cha-i) | Taiwanese: de | Thai: chah (chah yen refers to iced tea) | Tibetan: cha or ja| Turkish: cay (pronounced chai) | Urdu: chai | (North) Vietnamese: che | (South) Vietnamese: tra (sometimes pronounced cha or ja) | Yiddish: tey Zulu: itiye. | Polish: herbata.
Taxi
Brazilian Portuguese: táxi | Croatian: taksi | Czech: taxík | Danish: taxi | Dutch: taxi | European Spanish: taxi | Finnish: taksi | French: taxi | German: Taxi | Greek: ταξί (taxí) | Italian: taxi | Japanese: タクシー (Takushī) | Korean: 택 (taegsi) | Norwegian: drosje | Polish: taksówka | European Portuguese: táxi | Romanian: taxi | Russian: такси (taksi) | Spanish: taxi | Swedish: taxi | Thai: รถรับจ้าง (thæ̆ksī̀) | Turkish: taksi | Ukrainian: таксі | Vietnamese: taxi | American English: cab.
Pineapple
Arabic: أَنَانَاس (ananas) | Croatian: ananas | Czech: ananas | Danish: ananas | Dutch: ananas | Finnish: ananas | French: ananas | German: Ananas | Greek: ανανάς (ananas) | Italian: ananas | Norwegian: ananas | Polish: ananas | European Portuguese: ananás | Romanian: ananas | Russian: ананас (ananas) | Swedish: ananas | Turkish: ananas | Ukrainian: ананас (ananas)
Banana
English: banana | Brazilian Portuguese: banana | Croatian: banana | Czech: banán | Danish: banan | Dutch: banaan | European Spanish: plátano | Finnish: banaani | French: banane | German: Banane | Greek: μπανάνα (banan) | Italian: banana | Japanese: バナナ (banana) | Korean: 바나나 (banana) | Norwegian: banan | Polish: banan | European Portuguese: banana | Romanian: banană | Russian: банан (banan) | Spanish: plátano | Swedish: banan frukt | Ukrainian: банан (banan).
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