April 21, 2014

EAT - "something"

Here is a Frisian word that is very much a false friend to the English eye: eat is pronounced with an "ih" sound like in "it" and a schwa, and it means "something" or "anything." IH-uht. So, this word has nothing to do with eating at all. If you do as the sample sentence suggests, though, you will have to make sure that something is indeed getting enough to eat:
 
Eat hoedzje en noedzje.
Take responsiblty for and nurture something (i.e., take something under one's wing). 

Hoedzje is said with an "oo" vowel in "moon." The j is pronounced like an English -y- and the final syllable takes a schwa. HOO-dzyuh.

En means "and" and is said with the same vowel we use for naming the letter "n." EHN

Noedzje rhymes with hoedzje.

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