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From: barryg@sdcrdcf.UUCP (Lee Gold)
Newsgroups: net.nlang
Subject: Re: False cognates
Message-ID: <2155@sdcrdcf.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 16-Jul-85 09:16:39 EDT
Article-I.D.: sdcrdcf.2155
Posted: Tue Jul 16 09:16:39 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 20-Jul-85 09:28:10 EDT
References: <277@mit-athena.UUCP> <3318@dartvax.UUCP> <723@ptsfa.UUCP>
Reply-To: barryg@sdcrdcf.UUCP (Lee Gold)
Distribution: net.nlang
Organization: System Development Corp. R+D, Santa Monica
Lines: 11
Summary: 

Japanese has "enpitsu" (pencil) which is not related to pencil at all.
The morphemes (and ideographs) add up to lead-brush.

Japanese also has a number of loan words from English which are not
immediately obvious without study.  Like "rabu" (love).  (Well, the
language doesn't have an L so that makes it "rove"; it doesn't have the
vowel /uh/, only ah, ee, oo, e, and oh--of which the closest to /uh/ is ah
so that makes it "rahb"; and it doesn't have V or non-nasal consonants
as syllable terminators so that makes it "rabu."

--Lee Gold