Spanish Vocabulary: An Etymological Approach

Section 3.2. Initial f ➔ h: higo = fig

SECTION . Initial f S h: higo ⴝ fig The presence of (unpronounced) h arising from Latin f is one of the most distinctive features of Spanish, setting it apart not only from French and Italian but also from the other Iberian Romances (Portuguese/Galician, Catalan). Latin Spanish Portuguese French Italian English falco(n) halcón falcão faucon falco falcon farina harina farinha farine farina farina, flour ficus higo figo figue fico fig Examples include: fabulari hablar (to) speak, (to) talk [fabulate] habla speech, language, dialect [fable] hablador (adj. & n.) talkative, gossipy, [confabulator] chatterbox fábula fable fabuloso fabulous (barely credible, extraordinary) facere hacer (to) do, (to) make [factory] deshacer (to) undo, (to) take apart [defeat] hacia toward [face to] hacienda ranch, hacienda, public finance rehacer (to) redo, (to) remake [refect] hecho (p.p.) fact cohechar (to) bribe [confect] cohecho bribe, bribery [confetti] quehacer chore, task, occupation (que  hacer) facsímil, facsímile facsimile (fac  similar) faena ( Cat.) task, toil, dirty trick faenar (to) fish (at sea), (to) slaughter (animals), (to) toil facies haz () (f.) face, surface (e.g., of leaf, fabric) T4311.indb 102 T4311.indb 102 8/31/07 6:43:04 AM 8/31/07 6:43:04 AM INITIAL F S H: HIGO = FIG  faex (pl. faeces) hez (pl. heces) feces (pl.), dreg(s) faminem (acc.) hambre (f.) hunger, famine hambriento hungry, famished famélico hungry, famished, scrawny farina harina flour, farina harina de otro costal “horse of a different color” harinoso mealy, farinaceous fartus harto fed up, full [farci] hartar (to) satiate, (to) glut, [farce] (to) get fed up infarto infarct, heart attack ( ataque cardíaco) fascis haz () bundle, sheaf, (light) beam [fascia, fascist] fastidium hastío weariness, annoyance, [fastidious] boredom hastiar (to) annoy, (to) weary, (to) cause disgust fastidiar (to) annoy, (to) tire, (to) bore fastidioso annoying, tiresome fastidio annoyance, nuisance fatum hado fate, destiny hada fairy, fay cuento de hadas fairy tale hada madrina fairy godmother femina hembra (n.) female (animal) femenino feminine, female (adj.) fémina (n.) female (human) feminismo feminism feminista feminist fenum heno hay [fennel, sainfoin] fiebre del heno hay fever  Literally “flour from a different sack”.  Latin fata became fée in French (and hada in Spanish), while faerie (Modern French féerie) was “fairyland”. The French words were imported into English as fay and fairy, with their original meanings intact; subsequently, fairy altered its sense to that of fay, its original meaning being assumed by the new term fairyland (which first appeared as “Fairy Land” in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream). English faerie (an alternative spelling of fairy) maintains the original definition of “land or realm of the fairies”. T4311.indb 103 T4311.indb 103 8/31/07 6:43:04 AM 8/31/07 6:43:04 AM  POPULAR VOCABULARY: THE SHAPE OF SPANISH ferire herir (to) wound, (to) injure, [interfere] (to) hurt herido (p.p.) injured person (m./f.), casualty (m./f.) herida wound, injury ferrum hierro iron, brand (mark [ferrous] on animal) fervere hervir (to) boil hervor boiling (n.) [fervor] agua hirviendo boiling water hirviente boiling (adj.) [fervent] fervor fervor ferviente fervent efervescencia effervescence, agitation fibra hebra thread, fiber, grain (of wood) ficus higo fig higuera fig tree figicare hincar (to) thrust, (to) drive in(to) [fix, affix] hacer hincapié en (to) drive the foot (pie) in, (to) emphasize ahínco eagerness, determination, zeal finca rural property, country estate, finca filia hija daughter [filial] filictum helecho fern [bot. filix] filius hijo son filum hilo thread [filament] hilar (to) spin (wool, silk, spiderweb, etc.) hilandero spinner, spinster (in the original sense) hilera row, line retahíla (monotonous) list or series of things findere hender (to) crack, (to) split [fission] hendidura crack, fissure  Hirviente is in danger of extinction, having been largely replaced by the present participle hirviendo; thus, agua hirviendo is today far more common than agua hirviente. T4311.indb 104 T4311.indb 104 8/31/07 6:43:05 AM 8/31/07 6:43:05 AM INITIAL F S H: HIGO = FIG  fixus, fictus hito boundary stone, milestone [fixed] foetor hedor stench, fetor heder (to) stink fétido fetid, foul folia hoja leaf, sheet [folio] hojear (to) leaf through forma horma form (mold), shoe tree formica hormiga ant [formic acid] hormigueo tickling or tingling sensation (pins and needles) hormiguero anthill, ant nest oso hormiguero anteater hormiguear (to) have pins and needles, (to) swarm hormigo corn flour mush, nougat (pl.) hormigón concrete...