False Friends in Slavic Languages

• is a complete false friend in Bosnian, Croatian, Macedonian, Slovak and Serbian.
• is a true friend in Ukrainian.
• does not have all its Polish meanings in Belarusian, Bulgarian, Czech and Russian.
• has additional meanings in Bulgarian, Czech and Russian.
• does not have any formally similar counterparts in Slovenian.

• The Polish meaning ‘defect, flaw’ is shared by Russian брак and Ukrainian брак.
• The Polish meaning ‘rejects, refuse, waste’ is shared by Belarusian брак, Bulgarian брак, Czech brak, Russian брак and Ukrainian брак.
• The Polish meaning ‘lack, deficiency’ is shared by Belarusian брак and Ukrainian брак.
• The meaning ‘junk, trash’ (not present in Polish ‘brak’) is attested in Czech brak and Slovak brak.
• The meaning ‘marriage’ (not present in Polish ‘brak’, translated as ‘małżeństwo’) is attested in Bosnian brak, Bulgarian брак, Croatian brak, Macedonian брак, Russian брак and Serbian брак.

NB: No information yet for Kashubian, Lower Sorbian and Upper Sorbian.