Test your vocab knowledge in a foreign language

[Vijay]

I wouldn't expect lower-class people who weren't specifically drivers to necessarily understand these terms, though, since they're not necessarily relevant in their lives.

And admittedly random, but this thing about chairs reminded me that traditionally, we didn't have chairs or tables because we pretty much just ate on the floor. We would sit on the floor, and in front of us, we'd probably have a small wooden plank or something that's just barely off the ground, like a stool with knobs for legs or something, and we'd put a banana leaf on top of that so it wasn't directly touching the floor, and all our food would be on the banana leaf.

[jal]

And admittedly random, but this thing about chairs reminded me that traditionally, we didn't have chairs or tables because we pretty much just ate on the floor. We would sit on the floor, and in front of us, we'd probably have a small wooden plank or something that's just barely off the ground, like a stool with knobs for legs or something, and we'd put a banana leaf on top of that so it wasn't directly touching the floor, and all our food would be on the banana leaf.

Very good point! Thanks.


JAL

[clawgrip]

I wouldn't expect lower-class people who weren't specifically drivers to necessarily understand these terms, though, since they're not necessarily relevant in their lives.

We can test another way. The thing about code switching is that you can switch to any other language based on the knowledge of the people involved in the conversation, but with loanwords you cannot. So, for example, if you have people who are equally fluent in Malayalam, English, and Hindi, and they are having a conversation in Malayalam, how likely/natural is it for them to use Hindi words for these things in place of English ones? What if you have someone who happens to speak Malayalam and Hindi fairly well but is not so good at English for whatever reason. What would this person do when speaking Malayalam and talking about cars?

And admittedly random, but this thing about chairs reminded me that traditionally, we didn't have chairs or tables because we pretty much just ate on the floor. We would sit on the floor, and in front of us, we'd probably have a small wooden plank or something that's just barely off the ground, like a stool with knobs for legs or something, and we'd put a banana leaf on top of that so it wasn't directly touching the floor, and all our food would be on the banana leaf.

Japanese borrowed its word for "chair" from Chinese for similar reasons. Traditionally, people sat/sit on cushions.

[Vijay]

I think even my parents remember eating that way, directly on the floor with no chairs. It was definitely a common way to eat during their childhood. Maybe it still is for some people at least (maybe even a lot of people).

We can test another way. The thing about code switching is that you can switch to any other language based on the knowledge of the people involved in the conversation, but with loanwords you cannot. So, for example, if you have people who are equally fluent in Malayalam, English, and Hindi, and they are having a conversation in Malayalam, how likely/natural is it for them to use Hindi words for these things in place of English ones? What if you have someone who happens to speak Malayalam and Hindi fairly well but is not so good at English for whatever reason. What would this person do when speaking Malayalam and talking about cars?

The problem with that test, though, is that I'm not sure the situation for Hindi-speakers or even speakers of other Indian languages is all that different from the situation for Malayalam-speakers, so I'd guess that Hindi-speakers were more or less equally likely to use the English terms anyway. I mean, at least in Hindi, there may be other words for these things, but just because they're listed in a dictionary or whatever doesn't mean people actually use them.

[finlay]

Clawgrip already did it but I actually have a chance at getting some of these in Japanese:

More: show

1. ハンドル
2 スピードメーター？
3 鍵 (kagi)
4 ？
5 ブレーキ
6 クラッチ
7 シートベルト
8 ハンドブレーキ？
9 ？(i'm not sure what you call this in an automatic car in english either - unless it's gearstick in which case i'd try the katakanized version in japanese)
10 エアコン？ (air-con? or is it the vent?)
11 シート

Having checked clawgrip's, yes, handle bugs me too...

[clawgrip]

I think even my parents remember eating that way, directly on the floor with no chairs. It was definitely a common way to eat during their childhood. Maybe it still is for some people at least (maybe even a lot of people).

We can test another way. The thing about code switching is that you can switch to any other language based on the knowledge of the people involved in the conversation, but with loanwords you cannot. So, for example, if you have people who are equally fluent in Malayalam, English, and Hindi, and they are having a conversation in Malayalam, how likely/natural is it for them to use Hindi words for these things in place of English ones? What if you have someone who happens to speak Malayalam and Hindi fairly well but is not so good at English for whatever reason. What would this person do when speaking Malayalam and talking about cars?

The problem with that test, though, is that I'm not sure the situation for Hindi-speakers or even speakers of other Indian languages is all that different from the situation for Malayalam-speakers, so I'd guess that Hindi-speakers were more or less equally likely to use the English terms anyway. I mean, at least in Hindi, there may be other words for these things, but just because they're listed in a dictionary or whatever doesn't mean people actually use them.

Okay, then swap out Hindi for something else. So we have two people equally fluent in Malayalam and Polish, and they speak English well. We have a third person fluent in only Malayalam and Polish. They are speaking in Malayalam about cars. Are they more likely to use English or Polish for those words?

[Vijay]

I'm not really sure, actually. I remember the last time I was in India, my dad met another Malayalee guy who used to live in Munich and spoke German (in addition to English). My dad claimed this guy would throw German into his Malayalam the same way most middle-class people would throw in English, and as an example, he said that at one point, he said something about a driver's license but used the German term Führerschein before catching himself and saying in English, "Sorry, 'driver's license'." I'm not sure whether that's indicative of anything or not, though; who knows, maybe he's the exception rather than the rule.

[Acid Badger]

Speaking of Führerschein, I don't have one and it has been a while since I drove a car. I'm curious how much of those things I can name.

More: show

1. Lenkrad
2. Tachometer
3. (Auto)Schlüssel
4. Gaspedal
5. Bremspedal
6. Kupplung
7. Sicherheitsgurt/Anschnallgurt/Gurt
8. Handbremse
9. Gangschaltung*
10. Lüftung?
11. (Fahrer)Sitz

*The German Wikipedia mentions Wählhebel, Handschalthebel, Schaltknauf, Schalthebel, Fußschalthebel, Schaltknüppel, Ganghebel, Gangwahlhebel, Gangwahlschalter. I'm pretty sure though that I've heard people call the knob alone Gangschaltung too.

I had to look up which pedal is which, I guess I shouldn't try driving a car anytime soon. Other than that I did pretty well.

[jal]

I'm not sure whether that's indicative of anything or not, though; who knows, maybe he's the exception rather than the rule.

It surely is indicative that, at least for this speaker, the words are treated as foreign, as they are easily replaced by other, more accessible, foreign words.


JAL

[clawgrip]

It's possible then. I wouldn't be surprised if, like you said, these words exist in a Malayalam dictionary, but that no one actually ever bothers to use them, and that they just code-switch to English because the Malayalam words are cumbersome or don't come to mind right away. I frequently do the same thing in Japanese, even when speaking to people who are not Japanese, because the Japanese term is more concise/relevant/shorter.

[finlay]

I find people who've been here a long time tend to do that, ne?

Sometimes I have to catch myself doing it, because I'm either teaching a lesson or speaking to someone who really doesn't know any japanese. I think I'd miss it if I went back.

[Vijay]

I wouldn't be surprised if, like you said, these words exist in a Malayalam dictionary, but that no one actually ever bothers to use them

Well, I was saying that may be the case in Hindi. In Malayalam, I don't really see those words in my dictionaries and wouldn't expect to find them in any others. I mean, it's doesn't seem to be in my Malayalam-English dictionary at all, and in my English-Malayalam one, under "clutch," you can find "വാഹനങ്ങളുടെ ക്ലച്ച്" i.e. 'the clutch of cars', but that's an explanation of one of the possible meanings of the English word rather than a direct translation. (By contrast, that word they used for 'car' is indeed a word that you could find in a dictionary but that no one would (at least normally) use, especially with that specific meaning. Usually, we just say [ka:r]).

[Bristel]

Japanese. (pretty bad at this, it's been years now)

More: show

1. lung(s) ？？
2. trachea, windpipe　？？
3. liver　？？
#? spleen　？？
4. large intestine　？？
5. small intestine
6. ovary, ovaries
7. uterus, womb
8. penis (dick, cock, schlong, wang ...)　ペニス、チンチン (penisu, chinchin)
9. scrotum, teste(s), testicle(s) (ballsack, balls ...)　？？
10. bladder　？？
11. kidney(s)　？？
12. stomach お腹　「おなか」、腹「はら」(onaka, hara)
13. heart　心臓「しんぞう」、心「こころ」(shinzou, *kokoro) *poetic
14. ear(s)　耳　「みみ」(mimi)
15. brain　？？