A Portugese Question

ariel · 2nd August 2006, 09:47 PM

Interesting topic: linguistic of weapons. From what I could understand, there is unlikely to be a direct connection between the Portugese Sangue and Sangkur: just phonetic resemblance.
Many words in many languages have uncanny phonetic resemblance to other, unrelated, words in other languages. It is inevitable, because there are only so many sounds we can construct.
Some of them become a butt of jokes, especially when the translation is "risky". I know several of those (some with unfortunate personal experience) and could quote them, but the good taste of some Forumites is likely to be offended

Then there are homophones: words that are spelled differently and have different meaning , but may have similar (or, more precisely, confusing for the non-native speakers) pronounciation. even more dangerous....

A. G. Maisey · 2nd August 2006, 11:17 PM

The uke is a Hawaiian instrument, and ---as I understand it---was introduced to Hawaii by Portugese settlers in the last quarter of the 19th century.

I think we can safely say that both the uke and the cuk came from the same Portugese instrument, only at widely separated points in time.

Yes, I agree that the cavaquinho could well have been the original instrument used in fado.

As for similar sounding words, yes, this can cause a lot of amusement. Even the cuk that they use in kroncong is the same sound as the Australian colloquial for a chicken:- chook.

2nd August 2006, 09:47 PM	#1
ariel Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Ann Arbor, MI Posts: 5,503	Interesting topic: linguistic of weapons. From what I could understand, there is unlikely to be a direct connection between the Portugese Sangue and Sangkur: just phonetic resemblance. Many words in many languages have uncanny phonetic resemblance to other, unrelated, words in other languages. It is inevitable, because there are only so many sounds we can construct. Some of them become a butt of jokes, especially when the translation is "risky". I know several of those (some with unfortunate personal experience) and could quote them, but the good taste of some Forumites is likely to be offended Then there are homophones: words that are spelled differently and have different meaning , but may have similar (or, more precisely, confusing for the non-native speakers) pronounciation. even more dangerous....

2nd August 2006, 11:17 PM	#2
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 7,013	The uke is a Hawaiian instrument, and ---as I understand it---was introduced to Hawaii by Portugese settlers in the last quarter of the 19th century. I think we can safely say that both the uke and the cuk came from the same Portugese instrument, only at widely separated points in time. Yes, I agree that the cavaquinho could well have been the original instrument used in fado. As for similar sounding words, yes, this can cause a lot of amusement. Even the cuk that they use in kroncong is the same sound as the Australian colloquial for a chicken:- chook.