Post by @memdmp@catgirl.center

2026-04-07 14:20 UTC

heyhey! curiosity question for fedi linguists :renote_requested: what word(s) sound the most similar across the most european languages? ie if said by any given language in the set, a speaker in any other given language in the set is likely to understand it, regardless of if they've ever even heard anything else in the language it's said in or not. meaning should be approximately the same and, historically, why these over others? any reason these are closer than most? speculation and imperfect answers welcome! :3

Replies (14)

@thermia@sk.girlthi.ng 2026-04-07 23:32

@memdmp@catgirl.center knowing a bit of Finnish throws most of the suggestions out of the window hmm trying to figure out if there are any good common similar words between Finnish and English

Open ##995003
@o76923@kitty.social 2026-04-07 20:20

@memdmp@catgirl.center Taxi is usually the answer to this question. Taxi or some phonologically similar word is present in over 130 languages widely distributed around the world. It's because they're all named after a German invention called a "taximeter" from the 1890s. Since they're especially useful to travelers, the word spread quickly as a loan word.

Open ##995004
@labria@social.yeschenko.com 2026-04-07 18:55

@memdmp fresh one: taxi/hotel? From common root: mama, I’d say

Open ##995009
@davep@infosec.exchange 2026-04-07 15:52

@memdmp I know "jockey" is one of the few words that went from English to French. Do other countries/languages also use it?

Open ##995014
@xeno@hexokina.se 2026-04-07 15:46

@memdmp@catgirl.center probably something technical and a noun but with the common form only using common phones, like cyclotron is: 🇮🇹ciclotrone 🇩🇪Zyklotron 🇪🇸ciclotrón 🇫🇷cyclotron 🇳🇱cyclotron 🇩🇰cyklotron 🇳🇴syklotron 🇸🇪cyklotron 🇵🇱cyklotro 🇨🇿cyklotron 🇱🇹ciklotronas 🇬🇷κύκλοτρο (kýklotro) 🇪🇪 tsüklotron 🇫🇮 syklotroni 🇺🇦 циклотрон (tsyklotron)

Open ##995015
@alexia@shrimp.starlightnet.work 2026-04-07 15:31

@memdmp something like ananas probably, tho I'm not a linguist and this is just a fun fact I know

Open ##995017
@Hanuwu@uwu.social 2026-04-07 15:28

@memdmp Unrelated, but I find it funny that 'Si' in Italian sounds exactly like the Chinese word for 'yes'.

Open ##995020
@CenTdemeern1@eepy.moe 2026-04-07 15:03

@memdmp@catgirl.center I've been told before that it's "stop" but I'm not sure I believe it

Open ##995025
@Transbian_Arsonists@catwithaclari.net 2026-04-07 14:59

@memdmp@catgirl.center probably coffee, im mostly just guessing tho - posted by Seraphine Headmate Hopper

Open ##995027
@valk@social.treehouse.systems 2026-04-08 05:25

@memdmp Numbers (especially two) sound vaguely similar. Very similar words i believe tend to be similar mostly by virtue of being loaned very aggressively, not by divergence / sound changes.

Open ##1040376
@pink@mk.absturztau.be 2026-04-07 16:01

@memdmp@catgirl.center Kindergarten

Open ##1040379
@green@mk.absturztau.be 2026-04-07 16:00

@memdmp@catgirl.center i know the funny thing about tea, is that it's either called "tea" or "chai" and basically nothing else

Open ##1040381
@Hothrin@transfem.social 2026-04-07 15:17

@memdmp@catgirl.center croissant?

Open ##1040404
@memdmp@catgirl.center 2026-04-07 14:29

cc @yvanspijk@toot.community I've been told to ping you

Open ##1191631