[Multilingual Monday] Wearing clothing
One common problem that an English speaker faces while speaking another language, is making the assumption that there is a one to one correlation between an English term and the language in question. For example, in English we have the verb "to wear" for clothing. We wear clothes, earrings, boots, jockstraps, whatever. However, in other languages, there may be MULTIPLE terms for wearing an item of clothing, depending upon where you wear the item and what the item is.
We'll start with Japanese, where wearing something covering your head means you need the verb かぶる, kaburu, is needed (as in 帽子をかぶる, boushi wo kaburu, "wear a hat"); for the lower body you need 履く, haku (as in 靴下を履いて寝る, kutsushita wo haite neru, "wear socks to bed"); 填める, homeru, is literally "to stick in", but is used for wearing gloves; する, suru or つける, tsukeru ("do" and "attach", respectively) are used for other items when 着る, kiru, "to wear" (like shirts), won't do.
Hebrew, similarly, has a few words for different items of clothing -- the standard לבש, lavash, can be used for wearing items like shirts, pants, socks, etc. (as seen in לבש חצאית, lavash xatsait, "he wore a skirt"; however, if it's on your head, you need חבש, xavash, as in חבש כובע, xavash kova, "he wore a hat". Finally, ענד, anad, is used for jewelry and other items of that nature -- ענד טבעת, anad tava'at, "He wore a ring."
Cherokee has mutliple verbs for wearing different items of clothing: ᎤᎵᏍᏚᎳ, ulsdula, "to wear a cap"; ᎤᎵᏍᏇᏚᎦ, ulsgwetuhga, "to wear a hat"; ᎤᏟᎠᏓ, udli'ada, "to wear an earring"; ᎤᎵᏰᏑᏍᏘᎦ, uliyesustga, "to wear a ring"; ᏚᎦᏘᏅᏔ, duktinvta, "to wear glasses"; ᏚᎵᏰᏑᎳ, duliyesula, "to wear gloves"; ᎤᏑᎳ, usula, "to wear pants"; ᏚᎳᏑᎳ, dulasuhla, "to wear shoes"; ᏚᎵᏲᎭ, duliyoha, "to wear socks."
Any other fun facts about clothing verbs in other languages? Feel free to share them!
We'll start with Japanese, where wearing something covering your head means you need the verb かぶる, kaburu, is needed (as in 帽子をかぶる, boushi wo kaburu, "wear a hat"); for the lower body you need 履く, haku (as in 靴下を履いて寝る, kutsushita wo haite neru, "wear socks to bed"); 填める, homeru, is literally "to stick in", but is used for wearing gloves; する, suru or つける, tsukeru ("do" and "attach", respectively) are used for other items when 着る, kiru, "to wear" (like shirts), won't do.
Hebrew, similarly, has a few words for different items of clothing -- the standard לבש, lavash, can be used for wearing items like shirts, pants, socks, etc. (as seen in לבש חצאית, lavash xatsait, "he wore a skirt"; however, if it's on your head, you need חבש, xavash, as in חבש כובע, xavash kova, "he wore a hat". Finally, ענד, anad, is used for jewelry and other items of that nature -- ענד טבעת, anad tava'at, "He wore a ring."
Cherokee has mutliple verbs for wearing different items of clothing: ᎤᎵᏍᏚᎳ, ulsdula, "to wear a cap"; ᎤᎵᏍᏇᏚᎦ, ulsgwetuhga, "to wear a hat"; ᎤᏟᎠᏓ, udli'ada, "to wear an earring"; ᎤᎵᏰᏑᏍᏘᎦ, uliyesustga, "to wear a ring"; ᏚᎦᏘᏅᏔ, duktinvta, "to wear glasses"; ᏚᎵᏰᏑᎳ, duliyesula, "to wear gloves"; ᎤᏑᎳ, usula, "to wear pants"; ᏚᎳᏑᎳ, dulasuhla, "to wear shoes"; ᏚᎵᏲᎭ, duliyoha, "to wear socks."
Any other fun facts about clothing verbs in other languages? Feel free to share them!