Language Comparison Lecture Notes

Overview

• The lecture discusses similarities and differences between several languages: Brazilian Portuguese, Italian, Tagalog, Indonesian, Turkish, and German.
• Focus on phonetic similarities, shared words, and differences in word meanings across these languages.

Key Points

Similarities and Differences

• Portuguese and Italian:

  • Similar words: 'Casa' (house), 'Gasolina' (gasoline).
  • Different words: Portuguese 'Leite' (milk) varies in pronunciation across regions; Italian has different word.

• Tagalog and Indonesian:

  • Similarities: Some shared words like 'anak' (child).
  • Differences: Phonetic pronunciation varies, impacting mutual intelligibility.

• Turkish and German:

  • Limited similarities, mostly due to different linguistic roots.

• Shared European Influence:

  • Many words in Italian, Turkish, and German influenced by common European linguistic roots, e.g., 'Gasolina' and 'Benzene'.

Specific Word Comparisons

• Air:

  • Variations: Portuguese 'Ar', Italian 'Aria', Tagalog 'Hangin', Indonesian 'Udara', Turkish 'Hava', German 'Luft'.

• Road:

  • Variations: Portuguese 'Estrada', Italian 'Strada', Tagalog 'Daan', Indonesian 'Jalan', Turkish 'Yol', German 'Straße'.

• Mother:

  • Variations: Portuguese and Italian 'Mama', Tagalog 'Nanay', Indonesian 'Ibu', Turkish 'Anne', German 'Mama'.

• Child:

  • Variations: Portuguese 'Criança', Italian 'Bambino', Tagalog 'Anak', Indonesian 'Anak', Turkish 'Çocuk', German 'Kind'.

Observations

• Cultural Influences:

  • Influence of Spanish on Tagalog noted, leading to shared words like 'Gasolina'.
  • Influence of colonial languages on Indonesian and Tagalog.

• Pronunciation and Phonetics:

  • Pronunciation plays a key role in mutual intelligibility, especially between Indonesian and Tagalog.

• Surprises and Expectations:

  • Participants expected more similarities among certain languages but discovered unexpected differences.
  • Languages like Turkish and Indonesian showed interesting unexpected overlaps but remained mostly distinct.

• Language Family Roots:

  • Germanic and Romance language roots led to some overlap, especially in base or common words.

Conclusion

• The exercise highlighted linguistic diversity and unexpected similarities.
• Participants expressed interest in further exploration with sentences to better understand grammatical structures and possible overlaps.
• The importance of phonetics and historical linguistic influence was noted as crucial in language comparison.