A language like a set of building blocks.
A language like a set of building blocks.
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140 comments
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German must have its own share of disappointing terms.
Pferd comes to mind as an example. I really expected something more metal like horzdraken or comical like hoofenstreider. But no, just a boring Roman loan word.
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That's a common misconception! "Pferd" is called that, because it lives on the ground ("Erde"). If it would live in the air ("Luft"), it would be called "Pfluft".
/j
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Simple words are usually those that stayed with a language the longest.
Hungarian also has a very high percentage of loanwords, and a lot of those very old ancient non-compound non-calque non-loanwords are single syllable.
Like:
Horse = Ló Road = Út Bridge = Híd Army = Had Herd of horses = Mén
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The latin word, for those who are curious, being paraverēdus (additional postal horse, postal horse for special occasions), according to https://www.dwds.de/wb/Pferd
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140 comments