Pattern
Switching a Device On
Which verb makes a machine start working?
A lamp, an air conditioner, a tap, recorded music, an alarm clock, a vacuum cleaner and a washing machine each need a verb. Some languages reach for fire, some for opening or rotation, some for the plain act of putting a thing down. The choice also shifts from one thing to the next within a single language: Japanese attaches a light and hangs music, where Korean kindles the light and rotates the washing machine.
策略
Fire and light
KINDLE / MAKE BRIGHT → switch onAway from the switch, this verb lights a lamp or strikes a match. Korean 켜다 kyeoda lights an oil lamp, Spanish encender continues Latin incendere, Swahili washa sets something on fire. Persian روشن کردن rowšan kardan works from brightness instead of flame.
Korean · 불을 켜다 bul-eul kyeoda French · allumer la lumière Spanish · encender la luz Italian · accendere la luce Portuguese · acender a luz Polish · zapalić światło Greek (Modern) · ανάβω το φως anávo to fos Indonesian · menyalakan lampu Hindi · बत्ती जलाना battī jalānā Persian (Farsi) · چراغ را روشن کردن čerâq râ rowšan kardan Hebrew (Modern) · להדליק אור lehadlik or Swahili · kuwasha taa Welsh · cynnau'r golau Turkish · lambayı yakmak Azerbaijani · televizoru yandırmaq Arabic (MSA) · أشعل الضوء ašʿala ḍ-ḍawʾ Catalan · encendre Galician · acender Occitan · alucar Danish · tænde Icelandic · kveikja á Yiddish · אָנצינדן ontsindn Romanian · aprinde Maltese · xegħel
Opening
OPEN → switch onA door, a lid and a knot take the same verb. Mandarin 開 kāi, Turkish açmak, Thai เปิด pə̀ət, Vietnamese mở and Greek ανοίγω all reach the switch this way. In Turkish and Thai one verb covers the lamp, the air conditioner and the music alike.
Mandarin Chinese · 開燈 kāi dēng Greek (Modern) · ανοίγω το κλιματιστικό Turkish · ışığı açmak Thai · เปิดไฟ pə̀ət fai Vietnamese · mở nhạc Azerbaijani · televizoru açmaq Tagalog (Filipino) · buksan ang ilaw Burmese · ဖွင့် hpwin Khmer · បើក baək Lao · ເປີດ pòet
Turning
TURN / TWIST / ROTATE → switch onKnobs and taps left their mark here. English turn on and Korean 틀다 teulda come from twisting a control, while Korean 돌리다 dollida, Japanese 回す mawasu and Indonesian memutar name a drum or a disc going round.
English · turn on the light Japanese · 洗濯機を回す sentakuki o mawasu Korean · 에어컨을 틀다 eeokeon-eul teulda Indonesian · memutar musik
Connecting and switching
JOIN / FLIP → switch onMaking and breaking a connection. Russian включить is в- on -ключить, from ключ, a key, and reached its “include” sense as a calque of Latin inclūdere by way of French inclure; Polish włączyć is the native w- on łączyć, to join. Portuguese ligar is Latin ligāre, to bind. German einschalten uses schalten, to shift; Vietnamese bật snaps.
English · switch on Portuguese · ligar o ar-condicionado German · das Licht einschalten Russian · включить свет vključit’ svet Polish · włączyć klimatyzację Vietnamese · bật đèn Afrikaans · aanskakel Armenian · միացնել miats‘nel Lithuanian · įjungti Latvian · ieslēgt Czech · zapnout Slovak · zapnúť Slovenian · vklopiti Hungarian · bekapcsol Bulgarian · включвам vključvam Belarusian · уключыць uključyć Macedonian · вклучува vklučuva Ukrainian · вмикати vmykaty
Placing
PUT / HANG / LET GO → switch onHere the thing gets put somewhere, or let loose. French mettre, Spanish poner, Greek βάζω and Hebrew לשים lasim all put music on, where Mandarin 放 fàng and Polish puścić release it. Japanese つける tsukeru attaches and かける kakeru hangs.
Mandarin Chinese · 放音樂 fàng yīnyuè Japanese · 電気をつける denki o tsukeru French · mettre de la musique Spanish · poner música Italian · mettere la musica Portuguese · pôr música German · Musik auflegen Dutch · het licht aanzetten Polish · puścić muzykę Greek (Modern) · βάζω μουσική vázo mousikí Persian (Farsi) · آهنگ گذاشتن âhang gozâštan Hebrew (Modern) · לשים מוזיקה lasim muzika Macedonian · пушти светло pušti svetlo Swedish · sätta på
Running and doing
MAKE GO / DO THE JOB → switch onThe verb names the machine working or the job getting done. Hindi चलाना calānā is the causative of “go”; Turkish çalıştırmak makes it work; Indonesian menghidupkan makes it live, and mematikan makes it die; German staubsaugen and Polish odkurzać are built out of the appliance itself.
English · vacuum the floor Mandarin Chinese · 用洗衣機 yòng xǐyījī French · passer l'aspirateur Spanish · pasar la aspiradora Italian · fare la lavatrice German · staubsaugen Dutch · stofzuigen Russian · пропылесосить propylesosit’ Polish · odkurzać Turkish · çamaşır makinesini çalıştırmak Thai · ดูดฝุ่น dùut fùn Vietnamese · hút bụi Indonesian · menghidupkan AC Hindi · मशीन चलाना maśīn calānā Hebrew (Modern) · להפעיל מכונת כביסה lehaf‘il mekhonat kvisa Tagalog (Filipino) · paandarin Arabic (MSA) · شغّل šaġġala
地理分布
选定一个对象，每个圆点即为该语言的说法，颜色对应动词所用的策略。点击圆点可查看具体形式。
Fire and light Opening Turning Connecting and switching Placing
Marker positions are approximate cultural centres — they are not territorial claims. Tiles: OpenFreeMap · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Dark tiles: © CARTO.
语言对比
| Language | Strategy | Expression | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
English Indo-European › Germanic | Turning | turn on the light | from rotary switches and taps |
English Indo-European › Germanic | Connecting and switching | switch on | |
English Indo-European › Germanic | Running and doing | vacuum the floor | denominal verb from the appliance |
Mandarin Chinese Sino-Tibetan › Sinitic | Opening | 開燈 kāi dēng | |
Mandarin Chinese Sino-Tibetan › Sinitic | Placing | 放音樂 fàng yīnyuè | |
Mandarin Chinese Sino-Tibetan › Sinitic | Running and doing | 用洗衣機 yòng xǐyījī | |
Japanese Japonic | Placing | 電気をつける denki o tsukeru | つける is 付ける, to attach; the spelling 点ける marks the lighting sense |
Japanese Japonic | Turning | 洗濯機を回す sentakuki o mawasu | |
Korean Koreanic | Fire and light | 불을 켜다 bul-eul kyeoda | |
Korean Koreanic | Turning | 에어컨을 틀다 eeokeon-eul teulda | 틀다 is to twist; 돌리다 is to make something rotate |
French Indo-European › Romance | Fire and light | allumer la lumière | |
French Indo-European › Romance | Placing | mettre de la musique | |
French Indo-European › Romance | Running and doing | passer l'aspirateur | |
Spanish Indo-European › Romance | Fire and light | encender la luz | |
Spanish Indo-European › Romance | Placing | poner música | |
Spanish Indo-European › Romance | Running and doing | pasar la aspiradora | |
Italian Indo-European › Romance | Fire and light | accendere la luce | |
Italian Indo-European › Romance | Placing | mettere la musica | |
Italian Indo-European › Romance | Running and doing | fare la lavatrice | |
Portuguese Indo-European › Romance | Connecting and switching | ligar o ar-condicionado | ligar is Latin ligāre, to bind |
Portuguese Indo-European › Romance | Fire and light | acender a luz | |
Portuguese Indo-European › Romance | Placing | pôr música | |
German Indo-European › Germanic | Connecting and switching | das Licht einschalten | |
German Indo-European › Germanic | Placing | Musik auflegen | auflegen, to lay on — from the record player |
German Indo-European › Germanic | Running and doing | staubsaugen | |
Dutch Indo-European › Germanic | Placing | het licht aanzetten | zetten, to set; the particle aan carries “on” |
Dutch Indo-European › Germanic | Running and doing | stofzuigen | |
Russian Indo-European › Slavic | Connecting and switching | включить свет vključit’ svet | |
Russian Indo-European › Slavic | Running and doing | пропылесосить propylesosit’ | |
Polish Indo-European › Slavic | Fire and light | zapalić światło | |
Polish Indo-European › Slavic | Connecting and switching | włączyć klimatyzację | |
Polish Indo-European › Slavic | Placing | puścić muzykę | puścić, to let go — the same move as Mandarin 放 |
Polish Indo-European › Slavic | Running and doing | odkurzać | |
Greek (Modern) Indo-European › Hellenic | Fire and light | ανάβω το φως anávo to fos | |
Greek (Modern) Indo-European › Hellenic | Opening | ανοίγω το κλιματιστικό | |
Greek (Modern) Indo-European › Hellenic | Placing | βάζω μουσική vázo mousikí | |
Turkish Turkic › Oghuz | Opening | ışığı açmak | |
Turkish Turkic › Oghuz | Running and doing | çamaşır makinesini çalıştırmak | |
Thai Tai-Kadai › Tai | Opening | เปิดไฟ pə̀ət fai | |
Thai Tai-Kadai › Tai | Running and doing | ดูดฝุ่น dùut fùn | literally “suck dust” |
Vietnamese Austroasiatic › Vietic | Connecting and switching | bật đèn | bật, to snap or bounce |
Vietnamese Austroasiatic › Vietic | Opening | mở nhạc | |
Vietnamese Austroasiatic › Vietic | Running and doing | hút bụi | |
Indonesian Austronesian › Malayic | Fire and light | menyalakan lampu | nyala is flame |
Indonesian Austronesian › Malayic | Running and doing | menghidupkan AC | hidup is alive; mati, dead, turns it off |
Indonesian Austronesian › Malayic | Turning | memutar musik | |
Hindi Indo-European › Indo-Aryan | Fire and light | बत्ती जलाना battī jalānā | |
Hindi Indo-European › Indo-Aryan | Running and doing | मशीन चलाना maśīn calānā | |
Persian (Farsi) Indo-European › Iranian | Fire and light | چراغ را روشن کردن čerâq râ rowšan kardan | rowšan is bright |
Persian (Farsi) Indo-European › Iranian | Placing | آهنگ گذاشتن âhang gozâštan | |
Hebrew (Modern) Afro-Asiatic › Semitic | Fire and light | להדליק אור lehadlik or | |
Hebrew (Modern) Afro-Asiatic › Semitic | Placing | לשים מוזיקה lasim muzika | |
Hebrew (Modern) Afro-Asiatic › Semitic | Running and doing | להפעיל מכונת כביסה lehaf‘il mekhonat kvisa | lehaf‘il, to activate, from פעל, to act |
Swahili Atlantic-Congo › Bantu | Fire and light | kuwasha taa | washa, to set on fire; zima, to extinguish, turns it off |
Welsh Indo-European › Celtic | Fire and light | cynnau'r golau | |
Turkish Turkic › Oghuz | Fire and light | lambayı yakmak | burn the lamp; açmak stays the general device verb |
Azerbaijani Turkic › Oghuz | Opening | televizoru açmaq | the same açmaq / yandırmaq pair as Turkish |
Azerbaijani Turkic › Oghuz | Fire and light | televizoru yandırmaq | burn it, causative of yanmaq |
Macedonian Indo-European › Slavic | Placing | пушти светло pušti svetlo | let the light go; пушти also plays a recording and opens a tap |
Tagalog (Filipino) Austronesian › Philippine | Opening | buksan ang ilaw | open the light; paandarin belongs to engines |
Arabic (MSA) Afro-Asiatic › Semitic | Fire and light | أشعل الضوء ašʿala ḍ-ḍawʾ | kindle the light; شغّل is the general device verb and فتح a further variant |
Catalan Indo-European › Romance | Fire and light | encendre | sets fire to something |
Galician Indo-European › Romance | Fire and light | acender | lights a fire or a match |
Occitan Indo-European › Romance | Fire and light | alucar | lights something |
Danish Indo-European › Germanic | Fire and light | tænde | kindles, ignites, sets fire to |
Icelandic Indo-European › Germanic | Fire and light | kveikja á | kindles, and starts a fire |
Yiddish Indo-European › Germanic | Fire and light | אָנצינדן ontsindn | lights, sparks, kindles |
Romanian Indo-European › Romance | Fire and light | aprinde | lights a fire, a candle, a lamp |
Maltese Afro-Asiatic › Semitic | Fire and light | xegħel | lights a candle |
Afrikaans Indo-European › Germanic | Connecting and switching | aanskakel | skakel, to switch |
Armenian Indo-European › Armenian | Connecting and switching | միացնել miats‘nel | joins, unites, connects |
Lithuanian Indo-European › Baltic | Connecting and switching | įjungti | į- plus jungti, to connect or yoke |
Latvian Indo-European › Baltic | Connecting and switching | ieslēgt | ie- plus slēgt, to close |
Czech Indo-European › Slavic | Connecting and switching | zapnout | |
Slovak Indo-European › Slavic | Connecting and switching | zapnúť | |
Slovenian Indo-European › Slavic | Connecting and switching | vklopiti | |
Hungarian Uralic › Ugric | Connecting and switching | bekapcsol | kapcsol, to switch, connect or join |
Bulgarian Indo-European › Slavic | Connecting and switching | включвам vključvam | the Slavic в- plus ключ-, as in Russian включить |
Belarusian Indo-European › Slavic | Connecting and switching | уключыць uključyć | the same в-ключ- formation |
Macedonian Indo-European › Slavic | Connecting and switching | вклучува vklučuva | the same в-ключ- formation |
Ukrainian Indo-European › Slavic | Connecting and switching | вмикати vmykaty | в- plus микати; включати stands beside it |
Burmese Sino-Tibetan › Burmish | Opening | ဖွင့် hpwin | opens; the dictionary names the tap for this sense |
Khmer Austroasiatic › Khmeric | Opening | បើក baək | opens, uncovers, reveals |
Lao Tai-Kadai › Tai | Opening | ເປີດ pòet | opens |
Tagalog (Filipino) Austronesian › Philippine | Running and doing | paandarin | causes it to work or move |
Arabic (MSA) Afro-Asiatic › Semitic | Running and doing | شغّل šaġġala | from شغل, to occupy or keep busy |
Swedish Indo-European › Germanic | Placing | sätta på | sätta, to put or place |
Which verb for which appliance
Read across a row for one language handling seven things; read down a column for one thing across languages. Columns sit in clustered order, so the pairs that most often share a verb stand side by side. Fire dominates the lamp column, the tap draws opening verbs even where nothing electric is involved, and the vacuum cleaner takes a verb of its own almost everywhere. Where a language reuses one verb down several rows, the run of a single colour shows it.
| Language | the light An electric lamp, heir to the candle and the oil lamp. | the air conditioner A machine with no pre-electric ancestor to borrow words from. | the tap Not electric at all — a valve you open, and the source of English “turn on”. | music Putting on a record, a tape, a file. | the alarm clock Set rather than switched: it has to be told a time. | the washing machine A drum that turns for an hour unattended. | the vacuum cleaner A hand tool that has to be pushed across a floor. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
English Indo-European › Germanic | turn on the light Turning | turn on the AC Turning | turn on the tap Turning the tap is where “turn on” came from | put on music / play music Placing | set the alarm Placing | do the washing / run a load Running and doing | vacuum (the floor) Running and doing the appliance became the verb |
Mandarin Chinese Sino-Tibetan › Sinitic | 開燈 kāi dēng Opening open the light | 開冷氣 / 開空調 kāi lěngqì Opening open the cold air | 開水龍頭 kāi shuǐlóngtóu Opening open the water-dragon-head | 放音樂 fàng yīnyuè Placing release the music | 定鬧鐘 dìng nàozhōng Placing fix the alarm clock | 用洗衣機 yòng xǐyījī Running and doing use the clothes-washer | 用吸塵器 yòng xīchénqì Running and doing use the dust-sucker |
Japanese Japonic | 電気をつける denki o tsukeru Placing attach the electricity; spelled 点ける in the lighting sense | エアコンをつける eakon o tsukeru Placing attach the air conditioner | 蛇口をひねる jaguchi o hineru Turning twist the tap | 音楽をかける ongaku o kakeru Placing hang the music | 目覚ましをかける mezamashi o kakeru Placing hang the alarm | 洗濯機をまわす sentakuki o mawasu Turning turn the washer | 掃除機をかける sōjiki o kakeru Placing hang the cleaner |
Korean Koreanic | 불을 켜다 bul-eul kyeoda Fire and light kindle the light | 에어컨을 틀다 eeokeon-eul teulda Turning twist the air conditioner | 수도꼭지를 틀다 sudokkokji-reul teulda Turning twist the tap | 음악을 틀다 eumak-eul teulda Turning twist the music | 알람을 맞추다 allam-eul matchuda Placing set it to match | 세탁기를 돌리다 setakgi-reul dollida Turning make the washer rotate | 청소기를 돌리다 cheongsogi-reul dollida Turning make the cleaner rotate |
French Indo-European › Romance | allumer la lumière Fire and light light it up | allumer / mettre la clim Fire and light | ouvrir le robinet Opening open the tap | mettre de la musique Placing put some music | mettre le réveil Placing put the alarm | lancer une machine Running and doing launch a machine | passer l'aspirateur Running and doing pass the vacuum |
Spanish Indo-European › Romance | encender la luz Fire and light from Latin incendere | poner el aire Placing put the air | abrir el grifo Opening open the tap | poner música Placing | poner el despertador Placing | poner la lavadora Placing | pasar la aspiradora Running and doing pass the vacuum |
Italian Indo-European › Romance | accendere la luce Fire and light from Latin accendere, to kindle | accendere il condizionatore Fire and light | aprire il rubinetto Opening open the tap | mettere la musica Placing | mettere la sveglia Placing | fare la lavatrice Running and doing do the washer | passare l'aspirapolvere Running and doing |
Portuguese Indo-European › Romance | acender / ligar a luz Fire and light | ligar o ar-condicionado Connecting and switching connect it, from Latin ligāre | abrir a torneira Opening open the tap | pôr música Placing | pôr o despertador Placing | pôr a máquina de lavar Placing | passar o aspirador Running and doing |
German Indo-European › Germanic | das Licht einschalten / anmachen Connecting and switching schalten, to shift a switch | die Klimaanlage einschalten Connecting and switching | den Wasserhahn aufdrehen Turning screw it open | Musik auflegen / anmachen Placing lay the record on | den Wecker stellen Placing place the alarm | die Waschmaschine anstellen Placing stellen, to set | staubsaugen Running and doing dust-suck |
Dutch Indo-European › Germanic | het licht aandoen / aanzetten Placing set it on | de airco aanzetten Placing | de kraan opendraaien Turning turn it open | muziek opzetten Placing set it up | de wekker zetten Placing set the alarm | de wasmachine aanzetten Placing | stofzuigen Running and doing dust-suck |
Russian Indo-European › Slavic | включить свет vključit’ svet Connecting and switching в- on ключ, a key; the “include” sense calques Latin inclūdere | включить кондиционер Connecting and switching | открыть кран otkryt’ kran Opening open the tap | включить / поставить музыку Connecting and switching поставить, to stand it up, is the placing alternative | поставить будильник Placing stand the alarm up | запустить стирку Running and doing launch the wash | пропылесосить propylesosit’ Running and doing a verb made from пылесос, dust-sucker |
Polish Indo-European › Slavic | zapalić światło Fire and light ignite the light | włączyć klimatyzację Connecting and switching w- plus łączyć, to join | odkręcić kran Turning unscrew the tap | puścić muzykę Placing let the music go | nastawić budzik Placing set the alarm | nastawić pralkę Placing set the washer | odkurzać Running and doing de-dust |
Greek (Modern) Indo-European › Hellenic | ανάβω το φως anávo to fos Fire and light from Ancient Greek ἀνάπτω, to kindle | ανοίγω το κλιματιστικό Opening | ανοίγω τη βρύση Opening open the tap | βάζω μουσική vázo mousikí Placing | βάζω ξυπνητήρι Placing put the alarm | βάζω πλυντήριο vázo plyntírio Placing put the washer | — |
Turkish Turkic › Oghuz | ışığı açmak / lambayı yakmak Opening open the light; yakmak, to burn, is the lamp-specific alternative | klimayı açmak Opening | musluğu açmak Opening open the tap | müzik açmak Opening | alarm kurmak Placing set it up; the same verb winds a clock | çamaşır makinesini çalıştırmak Running and doing make the washer work | süpürmek Running and doing sweep — the same verb as with a broom |
Thai Tai-Kadai › Tai | เปิดไฟ pə̀ət fai Opening open the light | เปิดแอร์ pə̀ət ɛɛ Opening | เปิดก๊อกน้ำ pə̀ət kɔ́k náam Opening open the tap | เปิดเพลง pə̀ət phleeng Opening | ตั้งนาฬิกาปลุก tâng naalikaa plùk Placing set the waking clock | ซักผ้า sák phâa Running and doing wash the clothes | ดูดฝุ่น dùut fùn Running and doing suck dust |
Vietnamese Austroasiatic › Vietic | bật đèn Connecting and switching snap the lamp | bật điều hòa Connecting and switching | mở vòi nước Opening open the tap | mở nhạc / bật nhạc Opening open the music | đặt báo thức Placing place the alarm | — | hút bụi Running and doing suck dust |
Indonesian Austronesian › Malayic | menyalakan lampu Fire and light from nyala, flame | menghidupkan AC Running and doing make it live | membuka keran Opening open the tap | memutar musik Turning from putar, to turn | menyetel alarm Placing set the alarm | — | menyedot debu Running and doing suck dust |
Hindi Indo-European › Indo-Aryan | बत्ती जलाना battī jalānā Fire and light burn the light | एसी चलाना esī calānā Running and doing make the AC go | नल खोलना nal kholnā Opening open the tap | गाना बजाना gānā bajānā Running and doing make the song sound | अलार्म लगाना alārm lagānā Placing apply the alarm | मशीन चलाना maśīn calānā Running and doing | — |
Persian (Farsi) Indo-European › Iranian | چراغ را روشن کردن čerâq râ rowšan kardan Fire and light make the lamp bright | کولر را روشن کردن kulir râ rowšan kardan Fire and light | شیر آب را باز کردن šir-e âb râ bâz kardan Opening open the tap | آهنگ گذاشتن âhang gozâštan Placing put a song | — | ماشین لباسشویی را روشن کردن mâšin-e lebâsšuyi râ rowšan kardan Fire and light | جارو کشیدن jâru kešidan Running and doing pull the broom |
Hebrew (Modern) Afro-Asiatic › Semitic | להדליק אור lehadlik or Fire and light kindle a light | להדליק מזגן lehadlik mazgan Fire and light | לפתוח את הברז liftoach et ha-berez Opening open the tap | לשים מוזיקה lasim muzika Placing put music | — | להפעיל מכונת כביסה lehaf‘il mekhonat kvisa Running and doing activate the washer | לשאוב אבק lish’ov avak Running and doing suck dust |
Swahili Atlantic-Congo › Bantu | kuwasha taa Fire and light set the lamp alight; kuzima, to extinguish, turns it off | kuwasha kiyoyozi Fire and light | kufungua bomba Opening open the tap | — | — | — | — |
Welsh Indo-European › Celtic | cynnau'r golau Fire and light kindle the light | — | — | — | — | — | — |
列的聚类
当同一语言对两列使用同一个动词时，两列即视为接近。分支在越靠右处合并，表示越多语言将该组合视为一体；表格与地图的列序依此树排列，因此相邻的列行为相似。
67% the light · the air conditioner 14 of 21 —
English, Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, French, Italian, German, Dutch, Russian, Turkish, Thai, Vietnamese, Persian (Farsi), Hebrew (Modern), Swahili
33% music · the alarm clock 6 of 18 —
Japanese, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Greek (Modern)
29% the air conditioner · the tap 6 of 21 —
English, Mandarin Chinese, Korean, Greek (Modern), Turkish, Thai
25% the air conditioner · music 5 of 20 —
Korean, Spanish, Russian, Turkish, Thai
25% the alarm clock · the washing machine 4 of 16 —
Spanish, Portuguese, Polish, Greek (Modern)
22% the air conditioner · the washing machine 4 of 18 —
Spanish, Dutch, Hindi, Persian (Farsi)
20% the tap · music 4 of 20 —
Korean, Turkish, Thai, Vietnamese
19% the light · the tap 4 of 21 —
English, Mandarin Chinese, Turkish, Thai
17% music · the washing machine 3 of 18 —
Spanish, Portuguese, Greek (Modern)
15% the light · music 3 of 20 —
Russian, Turkish, Thai
13% the vacuum cleaner · the washing machine 2 of 16 —
Mandarin Chinese, Korean
11% the light · the washing machine 2 of 18 —
Dutch, Persian (Farsi)
6% the alarm clock · the vacuum cleaner 1 of 16 —
Japanese
6% the air conditioner · the alarm clock 1 of 18 —
Spanish
6% music · the vacuum cleaner 1 of 18 —
Japanese
The vacuum cleaner sits at the far end. No language here uses its verb for the light, the air conditioner or the tap, and only Mandarin Chinese and Korean give it the verb they give the washing machine.
例句
在「自然 / 直译 / 注释」之间切换，对比同一概念在各语言中的不同表达方式。
“Turn the light on.”
The oldest of these appliances, and the one that inherited the vocabulary of flame.
Japanese · 日本語
電気をつけて。
denki o tsukete.
- 自然
- Turn the light on.
Korean · 한국어
불 좀 켜 줘.
bul jom kyeo jwo.
- 自然
- Turn the light on, would you.
Mandarin Chinese · 普通话
把燈打開。
bǎ dēng dǎkāi.
- 自然
- Turn the light on.
Swahili · Kiswahili
Washa taa.
- 自然
- Turn the light on.
Turkish · Türkçe
Işığı aç.
- 自然
- Turn the light on.
Thai · ภาษาไทย
เปิดไฟ
pə̀ət fai
- 自然
- Turn the light on.
Greek (Modern) · ελληνικά
Άναψε το φως.
Ánapse to fos.
- 自然
- Turn the light on.
French · français
Allume la lumière.
- 自然
- Turn the light on.
Spanish · español
Enciende la luz.
- 自然
- Turn the light on.
Russian · русский
Включи свет.
Vključi svet.
- 自然
- Turn the light on.
Polish · polski
Zapal światło.
- 自然
- Turn the light on.
German · Deutsch
Mach das Licht an.
- 自然
- Turn the light on.
Vietnamese · tiếng Việt
Bật đèn lên.
- 自然
- Turn the light on.
Hindi · हिन्दी
बत्ती जलाओ।
battī jalāo.
- 自然
- Turn the light on.
Persian (Farsi) · فارسی
چراغ را روشن کن
čerâq râ rowšan kon
- 自然
- Turn the light on.
Indonesian · Bahasa Indonesia
Nyalakan lampunya.
- 自然
- Turn the light on.
参考文献
- @mkpoli 2022 01@mkpoli (2022).英中日韓の家電製品系共起表現 [English–Chinese–Japanese–Korean household-appliance collocations].X (Twitter), 8 October 2022. Extends the Japanese–Korean grid to English and Chinese and adds a literal gloss under each verb; speaker judgements, without corpus counts. https://x.com/mkpoli/status/1578603868413624320
- François 2008 02François, Alexandre (2008).Semantic maps and the typology of colexification: Intertwining polysemous networks across languages.In Vanhove, Martine (eds.), From Polysemy to Semantic Change: Towards a Typology of Lexical Semantic Associations. John Benjamins (Studies in Language Companion Series 106). 163–215. https://www.jbe-platform.com/content/books/9789027290328-slcs.106.09fra
- Koptjevskaja-Tamm et al. 2016 03Koptjevskaja-Tamm, Maria; Rakhilina, Ekaterina; Vanhove, Martine (2016).The semantics of lexical typology.In Riemer, Nick (eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Semantics. Routledge. 434–454. https://www.ling.su.se/polopoly_fs/1.196379.1403771108!/menu/standard/file/MKT+ER+MV.pdf
- Tatoeba contributors 2026 04Tatoeba contributors (2026).Tatoeba: sentences and translations.Crowd-written translations of English sentences, CC BY 2.0 FR. Contributors are not always native speakers and the corpus carries no frequency information, so a form found here shows that a variant exists rather than which one dominates. https://tatoeba.org/
- Wiktionary contributors 2026 05
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- Wiktionary contributors 2026 22Wiktionary contributors (2026).Wiktionary: menghidupkan.
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- Wiktionary contributors 2026 33Wiktionary contributors (2026).Wiktionary: turn on.Translation table for the sense “to activate an appliance, light, mechanism, functionality”. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/turn_on
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- ゆうき 유욱희 (@yuki7979seoul) 2022 71ゆうき 유욱희 (@yuki7979seoul) (2022).日韓家電製品系コロケーション [Japanese–Korean household-appliance collocations].X (Twitter), 8 October 2022. Japanese–Korean grid of five appliances; a language teacher’s own judgements, without corpus counts. https://x.com/yuki7979seoul/status/1578561594753441793
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