Anglo-Foreign Words
Walter Penney of Greenbelt, Md., offered this poser in the August 1969 issue of Word Ways: The Journal of Recreational Linguistics. Below are five groups of English words. Each group appears also in a foreign language. What are the languages?
aloud, angel, hark, inner, lover, room, taken, wig
alas, atlas, into, manner, pore, tie, vain, valve
ail, ballot, enter, four, lent, lit, mire, taller
banjo, chosen, hippo, pure, same, share, tempo, tendon
ago, cur, dare, fur, limes, mane, probe, undo
Dutch: aloud very old, angel sting, hark rake, inner collector, lover foliage, room cream, taken jobs, wig wedge
Finnish: alas down, atlas satin, into enthusiasm, manner mainland, pore bubble, tie road, vain only, valve awake
French: ail garlic, ballot bumpkin, enter to graft, four oven, lent slow, lit bed, mire gun sight, teller to send out roots
Japanese: banjo sovereign, chosen challenge, hippo style of calligraphy, pure pulley, same shark, share witticism, tempo supplement, tendon bowl of rice and fish
Latin: ago I act, cur why, dare to give, fur thief, limes boundary, mane early in the morning, probe thoroughly, undo wave