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Why are "eat" and "drink" different words in languages?
Eating and drinking are, one might say, human universals. Or so it may seem to speakers of English, and other European languages. But what would a Kalam, or a Warlpiri linguist say about it, given that Kalam and Warlpiri have no word meaning ‘eat’ and no word meaning ‘drink’?
In theory, the words "eat" and "drink" are fundamentally the same action to me: putting something (...edible?) in your mouth. Oftentimes when speaking English, I confuse the words "eat" and "drink" for no reason (even though it's my native language). For example, I might say, "I ate some water," which I hastily correct to "I drank some water." Ultimately, to me, eating and drinking are more or less the same action, which is the explanation for why I confuse these two words, although people understand me just as well if I say "I ate water."
Added on 10/20/2022 4:39:45 AM by host Source: https://linguistics.stackexchange.com/questions/45306/why-are-eat-and-drink-different-words-in-languages