Routledge Dictionary of Language and Linguistics
Term (from French meaning ‘false friends’) denoting word pairs from different languages which, in spite of similarities in form, have different meanings. Frequently such similarities lead to interference errors in second language acquisition, e.g. Eng. figure vs Fr. figure (‘face’) or Eng. cold vs Ital.
caldo (‘warm’), or Span. presidio ‘prison, imprisonment’ and Ger. Präsidium ‘residence of a president; office of chairman.’ (
also error analysis, contrastive analysis)
Reference
Hayward, T. and A.Moulin. 1984. False friends invigorated. In R.K.K.Hartmann (ed.), Lexeter ‘83 proceedings: papers from the International Conference on Lexicography at Exeter. Tübingen 190–8.
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