2

Are there any languages or dialects not distinguishing between taste and smell?

Possible duplicate of this older and much more general question.

5
  • English for one subsumes smell under taste, insofar taste is mostly perceived by the nose, except for the four or five basic tastes sour, salt, sweet, bitter (and umami/meat), as the common knowledge goes.
    – vectory
    Nov 4, 2019 at 6:08
  • 3
    @vectory: Languages or dialects having only one word for both these senses.
    – Lucian
    Nov 4, 2019 at 6:13
  • 1
    Mandarin uses the same word for smelling and hearing (闻 wén, although there’s also 听 tīng used only for hearing or listening), which isn’t quite the same but seems somehow related. May 16, 2021 at 13:11
  • @JanusBahsJacquet: Etymological explanation.
    – Lucian
    May 16, 2021 at 13:52
  • 1
    @JanusBahsJacquet Interesting! The same happens in the Slavic languages: en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/слышать where, in Russian, slyshat' is for hearing and, colloquially, for smelling, feeling a smell (more literary is chujat'), and very opposite case in Slovene, where čúti (cognate for chujat') & slíšati are both for hearing.
    – T1nts
    May 18, 2021 at 7:46

1 Answer 1

2
+50

The OHG form of the modern German schmecken "taste" could mean both "taste" and "smell". This is, as the Grimms note, still preserved in Upper German dialects; I have myself heard it being used for "smell" in Lungau, a southern part of Salzburg, where the dialect is somewhat in the middle between South and Middle Bavarian.

2
  • 1
    The anecdote is acually quite funny. I, non-dialect L1 Austrian German speaker, was talking to a farmer in Lungau about silo hay, and he told me "schmecks amal", whereupon I tasted a piece of hay, and he was rather perplexed about my reaction. May 17, 2021 at 11:35
  • As a non-dialect L2 standard German speaker, I now feel silly. :-)
    – Lucian
    May 17, 2021 at 17:20

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.