Subtle Emotions in Language Learning

Why Does Language Learning Take So Much Time? Or Why Do Italians Never Confuse a Bowl of Rice for a Smile?

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If you’re from Dallas, Los Angeles, or basically anywhere that isn’t completely off the grid, you’ve probably heard of Luka Dončić lately. Now, if you’re Slovenian or someone involved in the shipping industry, you’ve also heard of Luka Koper, the port of Koper. These two Lukas are written and pronounced exactly the same, yet no one in Slovenia would ever confuse Luka Koper with Luka Dončić — not in a million years. Why is that?

First, let’s talk about etymology. These are two entirely different Lukas, and it’s purely a linguistic coincidence that they ended up looking and sounding the same.

Luka Dončić’s name comes from the international name Lucas, which, according to Wikipedia, is a Latin masculine given name derived from the verb lucere — “to shine” — the same root that led to the English name Luke.

On the other hand, luka in Luka Koper is an old Slavic word for “bay,” which evolved from a term that originally meant “swamp” and (sometimes spelled loka), before that, referred to a “curve in a river.” This explains another Luka: Banja Luka, a city in Bosnia and Herzegovina, or even Škofja Loka (close enough) in Slovenia. The word…