Wednesday, May 5, 2010

24|4|10

I noted two incidents similar to each other yesterday. The Hindi word bhaap means steam as a noun, and bhaap lagaanaa means steam as a verb, while the Korean word bap denotes steamed white rice. This similarity in sound and meaning marks them out as co-incidents, meaning they may or may not have the same source(s). The English word soup and the Korean group of words seupyeol bokkeum -the latter a.k.a. the Korean group of words meaning 'watery stir-fried dish'- are also co-incidents, though I am sure that the former's source(s) is/are separate from the source(s) of the latter.

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