I thought of sharing some observations which I found amusing and somewhat humorous related to the French language, especially certain words. Undoubtedly, there are some stand-up comedy clips on foreign accents (such as Russian/ German/ French) and or British comical clips on play with words or their sounds which can be found. I was particularly amused by few sounds of certain words.
I think that the French always like to think one step ahead, for example, when you hear the sound of the specific word, you can know that sound signals what would come next, so essentially, the sound is almost like in a different time zone ahead (like the US and India, where India is ahead by almost half a day)..
See the list of following French words in particular. I have listed the English meaning (in parenthesis) and then explained that when spoken, they sound like some Hindi words that actually mean something or an event ahead of time....
1. Je (I): So what the French actually meant when they say "Je", which sounds like alphabet J which is literally the NEXT alphabet after "I".
2. hier (yesterday): What they mean yesterday, is in fact now (like here and now) as hier sounds like here.
3. bougie (candle): The pronunciation of bougie literally sounds like "बुझी" in Hindi, which in Hindi means "extinguished", which is we all know what comes after candle is burned, as after that its extinguished...
4. chanter (sing): The word chanter when spoken, sounds like the Hindi word "शांति" which is what comes after one is singing, as music can bring peace or it could happen after the person has sung as then there is peace or silence after song ends..:)
5. mange (eat): The sound of "mange" is similar to the Hindi word "माँझे" which means to clean, as we say in Hindi "बर्तन माँझे" which translates to utensil is being cleaned. It's funny how the action which should be after one eats (cleaning dishes), but the French make sure you are ahead of it..:)
6. blesser (hurt): This word sounds like English word "bless" which is what one needs AFTER one is hurt
7. lâche (coward): this word sounds like Hindi word "लाश" which actually means a dead person/corpse. No wonder one who is coward is considered dead anyways (at least symbolically) as he cannot be alive to the beauty of the world or take a stand against injustice or fight so not better than dead...
8. guerrier (warrior): The word guerrier literally sounds like the Hindi word "गिरिये", which means commanding someone to fall down. which is what is the fate of any warrior as he will command the enemy to fall down or cause their fall down.
9. ennemie (enemy): This French word sounds like English words "In me", and we know that someone who is an enemy, eventually finds its way into the person's mind and psyche, meaning the enemy occupies the person's mind and interior and consumes him, and so "in me" is what would eventually happen for those who are enemies
10. Chemin (path): The sound of chemin is same as Hindi word "शमा", which actually means light or flame. And we know that the path is what leads one to light or we walk towards light.
11. échec (failure): This word sounds like Urdu word "इश्क़". So what the French mean as "failure" comes across as "ishq" when heard, and the one who has truly failed (failure) can then be the right candidate for ishq and be turned towards ishq (ishq-e-haqiqi here)..:)
12. naissance (birth): The sound of this word literally sounds like English word "nuisance" and for many (if not all), after birth, it's not easy as a newborn can become a nuisance for some parents (in terms of their care). Or for some with philosophical bent of mind, they know being born on Earth (mrityulok as per Vedic texts), one is going to not have it easy and be annoyed in life a lot)
So, now it's apparent, why I earlier said that the French were ahead of their time and when they speak these words, you know the original word would mean a step forward in time than its sound:)
But in other aspects, I actually found some words, that are right on target, with perfectly aligned meaning, which is actually beautiful. Check these words:
cygne (swan): the word cygne sounds like Hindi word "सीने" which means chest, or can also refer to heart, which fits perfect as the swan is the symbol of true love of the heart.
prière (prayer): this word has sound of Hindi word "प्रिय" which makes sense as prayer is considered a pure thing and its Hindi sound means "beloved", perhaps referring to prayer to God.
doigts (fingers), mains (hands)" Doigts and mains have the sound of Hindi words "दुआ" and "माँ", respectively. Interestingly, we know the dua made by a mother using the fingers on the hand (and the hand), so the sounds are so perfectly matched :)
père (father): the word's pronunciation is same as Hindi word "पर", which means "not mine", or another's. mère (mother): The sound of this French word actually sounds like Hindi word "मेरे" which means mine/close. Moreover, this is one of the words whose sound is similar to another French word (mer) which means "sea" after translating. So, the French seem to be very connected to their mother figures, as indeed a mother's love is vast like the sea, and it is common for some children to feel closeness to the mother (hence the meaning of मेरे) and not the father :).
I smiled at this interesting play of words and sounds and meanings....
