False friends

Abstract

In this article we want to investigate the semantic (figurative) structures that underlie false friends, especially semantic false friends, in various European languages (Spanish, French, German and English). Chance false friends share the same form but have different etymologies and different meanings in different languages. They can be compared to homonyms in a single natural language. Semantic false friends, by contrast, have the same etymological origin, their meanings differ in different language, but one can still detect semantic relations between them. They can be considered to be cross-linguistic equivalents to polysemous words in a single natural language. The links between their meanings in different languages can be based on metaphor, metonymy and euphemism, but also on specialisation and generalisation. Semantic false friends are the semantic relics of pragmatic language use over time and space. Studying false friends is, however, more than an exercise in diachronic pragmatics. It has important implications for translation and cross-linguistic communication, where an awareness of false friends is important together with knowledge of certain pragmatic strategies, which help to avoid misunderstandings or mistranslations. The study of the underlying figurative links between false friends also adds a new dimension to cognitive semantics.