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ROMANCE AND GERMANIC WORDS IN ENGLISH

by Don L. F. Nilsen

and Alleen Pace Nilsen

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SPAIN, FRANCE, ITALYAND PORTUGAL (Parra Guinaldo

4)

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SYSTEMATIC DIFFERENCES

• Cognates in two different languages or two different language families (like Romance Languages vs. Germanic Languages) sometimes don’t sound the same, but a linguist knows how to look for systematic differences.

• English <fl> for example usually shows up in Italian as <fi> as in “flask,” “Florence,” and “flower,” which are cognate with English “fiasco,” “Firenze,” and “fiore.”

• English <pl> shows up in Italian as <pi> as in “plane,” “place,” and “plus,” which are cognate with Italian “piano,” “piaza” and “piu.”

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ANOTHER SYSTEMATIC DIFFERENCE

• Latin /f/ => Spanish <h> (silent)

• Latin “fornu” (furnace) => Spanish “horno”• Latin “ficu” (fig) => Spanish “higo”• Latin “filiu (son) => Spanish “hijo”• Latin “farina” (flour) => Spanish “harina”• Latin “facere” (to make) => Spanish “hacer”

• (Parra Guinaldo 7 from Penny)

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GRIMM’S LAW

• /bh/, /dh/, /gh/ => /b/, /d/, /g/

• /b/, /d/, /g/ => /p/, /t/, /k/

• /p/, /t/, /k/ => /f/, /Θ/, /h/

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ROMANCE /b/ => GERMANIC /p/• BOURSE (FRENCH STOCK

EXCHANGE): • Bursa, Bursar, Burse (comunion), Bursitis

• PURSE (ENGLISH): • The Purse (in gambling), To control the

purse stings, To make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear, To purse one’s lips, Woman’s purse

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ROMANCE /d/ => GERMANIC /t/

• DENS (LATIN)/DENT (FRENCH): • Dandelion, Dent corn, Dented fender, Dentist, Dentures,

Hanging Indentation, Mastadon, Orthodontist, Rodent

• TOOTH/TEETH (ENGLISH): • Armed to the teeth, An Eye for an Eye—a Tooth for a

Tooth, Long in the tooth, Sweet tooth, Teeth of a comb, Teeth of a gear, Teeth of a rake, Teeth on a saw, To cut your teeth on something, To escape by the skin of one’s teeth, To fight tooth and nail, To give your eye teeth, To go over something with a fine-tooth comb, to grit your teeth, to pass a bill with teeth in it, to get someone’s teeth on edge

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ROMANCE /k/ => GERMANIC /h/

• CORDIS (LATIN)/COEUR (FRENCH): • Cardiac arrest, cardiologist, Cordial, Courage, Coeur d’Alene,

Idaho, To encourage, to record (learn by heart)

• HEART (ENGLISH): • Absence makes the heart grow fonder, Artichoke hearts,

Bleeding heart liberal, Eat your heart out, Faint hearted, Half-hearted attempt, Heart attaclk, Heart in the right place, Heart of a city, Heart of Darkness (Joseph Conrad), Heart of the matter, Heart throb, Heartache, Heartburn (Nora Ephron), Heartened, Heartfelt, Hearts (in cards), Hearty, Home is where the heart is, Purple Heart, Sweetheart, To know something by heart, To lose heart, To touch someone’s heart, To wear your heart on your sleeve

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ROMANCE /k/ => GERMANIC /h/• CORNU (LATIN): • Capricorn, Corner, Coronet (musical instrument,

Cornucopia (horn of plenty), Four corners of the earth, To be cornered, To corner the market, To cut corners, To turn the corner (in an illness)

• HORN (ENGLISH): • Bullhorn, Cape Horn, Charlotte Hornets (basketball

team), The Green Hornet (Comic book hero), Greenhorn, Horn book, Horn-billed bird, Horn of a car, Horn rimmed glasses, Horned owl, Horny (sexual), Horny toad, Ink horn terms (from Latin or Greek), On the horn (telephone), on the horns of a dilemma, To blow one’s own horn, to horn in on a good deal, To lock horns, To stir up a hornet’s nest

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ROMANCE /p/ => GERMANIC /f/• PED (LATIN): • Expedition, Impediment, Pawn (footsoldier), pedals, peddler,

pedestal, pedestrian, pedicab, pedicure, pedigree (French “pie de gris”-crane), Piedmont (foothills), To expedite, To impede

• FOOT (ENGLISH): • film footage, Foot of a stage, Foot soldier, Foothills, Footlights,

Footloose and fancy free, Footnotes, Political football, To be on equal footing, To be underfoot, To drag one’s feet, To foot the bill, To have a foothold, To get one’s foot in the door, To Put your foot in your mouth,

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ROMANCE /p/ => GERMANIC /f/

• PYROS (GREEK): • Funeral pyre, Pyracantha, Pyrex, Pyromaniac,

Pyrosis (heartburn), Pyrotechnics

• FIRE: • Fiery, Firebrand, Firebug, Firefighter,

Firehouse, Fireman, Fireplugs, Firestorm

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ROMANCE /kw/ => GERMANIC /f/

• QUATTUOR/QUARTUS (LATIN): • French Quarter, Headquarters, Latin Quarter,

Living quarters, Quad, Quadrangle, Quadriplegic, Quadruplets, Quarantine, Quart, Quarter horse, Quadruped, Quadruple, Quarterly

• FOUR/FOURTH (ENGLISH): • Four Corners area, Four corners of the earth,

Four eyes, Fourth place, Four-wheel drive, 4 x 4, Four on the floor, Four-poster bed, Four-banger

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ASTRUM, STELLA & STAR

• ASTRUM (LATIN): • Asterisk, Asters (flowers), Astral, Astrology, Astronaut,

Astrodome (Dallas), Astrobiology, Astronomy • STELLA (LATIN): • Stella (girl’s name), Stellar (great)

• STAR (ENGLISH): • Starfish, Starflower, Stargazing, Starlet, Seeing stars,

Starstruck

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CIRCULUS & CYCLE

• CIRCULUS (LATIN): • Circular, Circumference, Circumferential, Cirque,

Circumlocution, Circumnavigation, Circumstantial, Circus, Running around in circles, Three-ring circus

• CYCLE (ENGLISH): • Bicycle, Cyclone, Cyclical, Motorcycle, To

recycle, Tricycle, Unicycle

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!CORONA & CROWN

• CORONA (LATIN)/CORONA (SPANISH):• Coronado, Corona Borealis, Corona cigars,

Corona del sol, Corona virus, Coronary arteries, Coronary thrombosis, Coronation, Coroner, Coronet braids

• CROWN (ENGLISH): • Crown (on teeth), Crown/Kroner (money), Crown

caps (on sealed bottles), Crowning achievement, To crown someone

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!!MANUS & HAND

• MANUS (LATIN): • Emancipation Proclamation, Manacles,

Manager, Manicurist, Manual, Manufacture, Manuscript

• HAND (ENGLISH): • Handbook, Handcuffs, Handheld (not on

screen), Handicrafts, Handmade, Hand Maiden, Handwork

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!!!SOL & SUN

• SOL (LATIN): • Parasol, Solar energy, Solarium, Summer

solstice, Winter solstice

• SUN (ENGLISH): • Ice cream sundaes, Sunbeam, Sunburst design,

Sundance Film Festival, Sunday, Sunflowers, Sunkist Oranges, Sunbelt states, Sunset, Sunshine, Snrise, Sunshine, Wyoming, Sun Valley, Idaho, Valley of the Sun, Arizona

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• Reference:

• Fromkin, Victoria, Robert Rodman, and Nina Hyams. In Introduction to Language, 7th Edition. Boston, MA: Thomson/Heinle, 2003.

• Parra Guinaldo, Victor. Parra Guinaldo, Victor. The Development The Development of the Latin Initial F- in Old Spanishof the Latin Initial F- in Old Spanish. . PowerPoint Presentation. Tempe, AZ: PowerPoint Presentation. Tempe, AZ: A.S.U., April, 2006.A.S.U., April, 2006.

• Penny, R. Penny, R. A History of the Spanish A History of the Spanish Language, 2Language, 2ndnd Edition Edition. Cambridge, . Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, England: Cambridge University Press, 2002.2002.