ROMANCE AND GERMANIC WORDS IN ENGLISH

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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 dont
  sound the same, but a linguist knows how to look
  for systematic differences.
• English ltflgt for example usually shows up in
  Italian as ltfigt as in flask, Florence, and
  flower, which are cognate with English
  fiasco, Firenze, and fiore.
• English ltplgt shows up in Italian as ltpigt as in
  plane, place, and plus, which are cognate
  with Italian piano, piaza and piu.

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ANOTHER SYSTEMATIC DIFFERENCE

• Latin /f/ gt Spanish lthgt (silent)
• Latin fornu (furnace) gt Spanish horno
• Latin ficu (fig) gt Spanish higo
• Latin filiu (son) gt Spanish hijo
• Latin farina (flour) gt Spanish harina
• Latin facere (to make) gt Spanish hacer
• (Parra Guinaldo 7 from Penny)

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GRIMMS LAW

• /bh/, /dh/, /gh/ gt /b/, /d/, /g/
• /b/, /d/, /g/ gt /p/, /t/, /k/
• /p/, /t/, /k/ gt /f/, /T/, /h/

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ROMANCE /b/ gt 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 sows ear,
  To purse ones lips, Womans purse

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ROMANCE /d/ gt 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 Eyea 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 ones 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
  someones teeth on edge

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ROMANCE /k/ gt GERMANIC /h/

• CORDIS (LATIN)/COEUR (FRENCH)
• Cardiac arrest, cardiologist, Cordial, Courage,
  Coeur dAlene, 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 someones heart,
  To wear your heart on your sleeve

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ROMANCE /k/ gt 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 ones own horn, to
  horn in on a good deal, To lock horns, To stir up
  a hornets nest

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ROMANCE /p/ gt 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 ones feet, To
  foot the bill, To have a foothold, To get ones
  foot in the door, To Put your foot in your mouth,

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ROMANCE /p/ gt 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/ gt 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 (girls 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. The Development of the
  Latin Initial F- in Old Spanish. PowerPoint
  Presentation. Tempe, AZ A.S.U., April, 2006.
• Penny, R. A History of the Spanish Language, 2nd
  Edition. Cambridge, England Cambridge University
  Press, 2002.