Figurative Links as Source of False Friends

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Focusing on the diachronic analysis of semantic change, this academic paper explores the emergence of false friends between English and German. It classifies these false friends into categories, including chance and semantic types, and examines key processes like metaphor, metonymy, specialization, and generalization that lead to meaning shifts. The study further investigates five specific cases of semantic false friends, aiming to uncover how their figurative connections have influenced their development and existence across languages.