I know for instance, between Japanese & Mandarin there are a few words that are written the same despite them being pronounced differently along with having different meanings altogether:

Word Japanese Definition Mandarin Definition
手紙 Letter (mail) Toilet Paper
先生 Teacher Mister (Mr.)
天井 Ceiling Atrium
説話 Folktale To Speak
新聞 Newspaper News (media)
約束 Promise Constrain
文句 Complain Phrase
怪我 Injury Blame me
白鳥 Swan White Bird
皮肉 Irony Skin & Flesh
王妃 Queen Princess
中古 Used Product Medieval Times
氷箱 Ice Box Refrigerator
手袋 Gloves Handbag
邪魔 Hinderance Devil
Hot Water Soup
Boar Pig
Arm Wrist
Run Walk
Shelf Shed
Neck Head
Floor Bed
Scold To Eat
Desk (Furniture) Machinery
Daughter Mother

In hindsight: if you are bilingual, do you know any false friends between two languages (i.e. English & French) or (i.e. Spanish & Portuguese) that are spelled the same but have different definitions across both languages?

  • Get_Off_My_WLAN@fedia.io
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    1 day ago

    Some of those you listed are closely related for a reason though, or are actually the same, in a sense. So I’m not sure they’re different enough to really be considered false friends? Especially if you look at older shared uses and meanings. Even within Mandarin, you have the same type of differences. 計算機 for calculator or computer, but computers are calculators (compute and calculate are synonymous to begin with).

    A Mandarin professor explained in my class that 先生 was used in the past to address teachers. Both Korean and Japanese still use 先生 to address teachers, but they can also use it to address other people in a highly respectful manner too (i.e., like ‘mister’). But mainland Chinese eventually started using 老師 for some reason. Technically, 先生 doesn’t literally mean teacher anyway. The job title in Japan is 教師.

    Even if they’re a bit different, most of them are easy to connect the dots. Like

    新聞: news -> newspaper 約束: promises bind and constrain us 文句: technically does mean ‘phrase’, but its use as ‘grumbling’ (i.e., complaint) seems to have become more common 白鳥: swans are white birds, yeah? 氷箱: a box of ice is just a primitive method of refrigeration, no? 邪魔: this one comes from Buddhism, so the meaning is actually originally the same, but instead of just wicked spirits that hinder you from reaching enlightenment, it came to mean any hindrance in general 猪: pigs are domesticated subspecies of boars 走: ‘run’ is the original meaning of this character 首: still used for head in some contexts 床: still means bed in some contexts