
Sumerian 𒋗 šu “hand”

The last two are even graphically sort of similar - a vertical line with several horizontal lines.
Which is of course because both started as a drawing of a hand. Such resemblances are common in logographic scripts.GrandPiano wrote: ↑25 Nov 2018 14:43Sumerian 𒋗 šu “hand”
手 shǒu “hand”
The last two are even graphically sort of similar - a vertical line with several horizontal lines.
Oh yeah, I guess you're right. I'm not sure a drawing of a hand would necessarily always produce that shape, though, since actual fingers aren't usually perpendicular to the wrist.WeepingElf wrote: ↑25 Nov 2018 15:01Which is of course because both started as a drawing of a hand. Such resemblances are common in logographic scripts.GrandPiano wrote: ↑25 Nov 2018 14:43Sumerian 𒋗 šu “hand”
手 shǒu “hand”
The last two are even graphically sort of similar - a vertical line with several horizontal lines.
Indeed not.GrandPiano wrote: ↑25 Nov 2018 16:30Oh yeah, I guess you're right. I'm not sure a drawing of a hand would necessarily always produce that shape, though, since actual fingers aren't usually perpendicular to the wrist.WeepingElf wrote: ↑25 Nov 2018 15:01Which is of course because both started as a drawing of a hand. Such resemblances are common in logographic scripts.GrandPiano wrote: ↑25 Nov 2018 14:43Sumerian 𒋗 šu “hand”
手 shǒu “hand”
The last two are even graphically sort of similar - a vertical line with several horizontal lines.
Yes, but some of the logograms originated as pictograms. Same with Chinese characters.
These are false friends, not false cognates. False cognates are words which look as if they were related but are not. These two aren't related, but nobody would expect them to because their meanings are utterly different.