False Friends of the Slavist/Upper Sorbian


Discussion
Wikipedia

Hornjoserbšćina (Upper Sorbian)

(c. 25 000 native speakers)
Słowjanscy wopačni přećeljo w Hornjoserbšćinje


listopad

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[NB: No information yet for Ka., LSo.]
Serb
  • is a complete false friend for about 250 million native speakers of Russian.

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  • The Upper Sorbian meaning ‘Sorb’ is unique.
  • The meaning ‘Serb’ (južny Serb) is attested in R. серб.
[NB: No information yet for Blr., Ukr., Pol., Ka., LSo., Cz., Slk., Sln., Cr., Bo., Sb., Mk., Bg.]
serbski
  • is a complete false friend for about 250 million native speakers of Russian.

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  • The Upper Sorbian meaning ‘Sorbian (Lusatian)’ is unique.
  • The meaning ‘Serbian’ (serbiski) is attested in R. сербский.
[NB: No information yet for Blr., Ukr., Pol., Ka., LSo., Cz., Slk., Sln., Cr., Bo., Sb., Mk., Bg.]
słowjenski
  • is a complete false friend for about 28 million native speakers of Czech, Slovak, Serbian, Macedonian;
  • is a true friend for about 350.5 million native speakers of Russian, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Polish, Kashubian, Lower Sorbian, Slovenian, Croatian, Bosnian, Bulgarian.

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  • The Upper Sorbian meaning ‘Slovenian’ is shared by R. словенский, Blr. славенскі, Ukr. словінський, Pol. słoweński, Ka. słowensczi, LSo. słowjeński, Sln. slovenski, Cr. slovenski, Bo. slovenski, Bg. словенски.
  • The meaning ‘Slovak’ (słowakski) is attested in Cz. slovenský, Slk. slovenský.
  • The meaning ‘Slavonic’ (słowjanski) is attested in Sb. словенски, Mk. словенски.
[NB: Information complete.]

More Upper Sorbian-Slavonic false friends:

  • R. Leszczyński. Hornjoserbsko-polski i polsko-hornjoserbski słownik pozdatnych ekwiwalentów. Górnołużycko-polski i polsko-górnołużycki słownik ekwiwalentów pozornych. Warszawa 1996.

For additional information on false friends, see the On-line hypertext bibliography by Daniel Bunčić and Ryszard Lipczuk.

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