Spanish Vocabulary: An Etymological Approach

Section 3.5. Other Distinctive Consonants (or Lack Thereof)

SECTION . Other Distinctive Consonants (or Lack Thereof) Consider the following pairs of Spanish words: Spanish  Spanish  English Cognate Change . pleno lleno plenum, plenty pl S ll . tracto trecho tract ct S ch . artículo artejo article, articulate cul S j . anexo anejo annex x S j . concilio concejo council li + vowel S j . reverso revés reverse rs S s . captar catar capture pt S t . parábola palabra parable, parabola r dS l . baron varón baron b S v In each case, the first Spanish word is easily associated with its English cognate. The Spanish words in the second column are also cognates but are far less easily recognizable, as in each case they have undergone one or more consonantal changes as part of their “popular” evolution from Latin to Spanish. As we will see below, the definitions of all of these words are easily understandable, given knowledge of the cognate, although those in the first column tend to correspond more directly to the definition of the corresponding English word. Each of the consonant changes illustrated above has occurred in numerous cases, although some are much more common than others. In this section, we will present a selection of words that have undergone these, and several other, consonant changes. . PL, FL, CL S ll A relatively small number of words in Spanish have undergone this change. Similar changes occurred in both Portuguese (S ch) and Italian (S pi, fi, chi) but on a much wider scale.  The Italian “deformation” is reflected in several English words imported from Italian, including fiasco, piano, and chiaroscuro. T4311.indb 181 T4311.indb 181 8/31/07 6:43:30 AM 8/31/07 6:43:30 AM  POPULAR VOCABULARY: THE SHAPE OF SPANISH Latin Spanish Portuguese Italian English Cognate plicare llegar chegar piegare ply, implicate flamma llama chama fiamma flame clamare llamar chamar chiamare claim, clamor Some of the more common examples are: clamare llamar (to) call [claim]¿Cómo te What is your name? llamas? Me llamo My name is José. José. llamar por (to) telephone teléfono llamada call [rare chamade  Port.] llamativo attracting attention, showy, flashy clausa llosa enclosed field [close] clavis llave (f.) key, faucet, wrench [clavier] llave inglesa monkey wrench clave (f.) key (decisive), clef, password clave de sol treble clef flamma llama flame llamear (to) flame, (to) blaze llamarada sudden blaze, flare-up flama flame, intense heat flamante brand-new, brilliant [flaming] inflamar (to) inflame (set on fire, arouse) inflamable inflammable, flammable inflamatorio inflammatory plaga llaga sore, ulcer plaga plague  In Spanish there is no word *flamable. English flammable and inflammable mean exactly the same thing, though the prefix in- (“in”) is interpreted erroneously by many as having a negative sense. T4311.indb 182 T4311.indb 182 8/31/07 6:43:30 AM 8/31/07 6:43:30 AM OTHER DISTINC TIVE CONSONANTS OR LACK THEREOF  plagar (to) plague, (to) be overrun with plantaginem llantén plantain (weed) (acc.) planus llano level, flat, plain (simple, (adj. & n.) flatland), llano llana (n.) trowel llanura plain, flatland plano level, flat, smooth, plane, (adj. & n.) map or plan plana (n.) page (side), senior staff (plana mayor) primera front page plana allanar (to) level, (to) raze, (to) break and enter plenus lleno full [plenty] llenar (to) fill pleno full, plenum (assembly) (adj. & n.) plicare llegar (to) arrive [ply, plié] llegada arrival, finish (sports) allegar (to) bring near, (to) [apply] gather allegado close, close friend or (p.p.) relative (m./f.) plorare llorar (to) cry, (to) weep [deplore] llorón (-ona) weeping, crybaby (m./f.) lloroso tearful, weeping, sad deplorar (to) deplore, (to) lament deplorable deplorable implorar (to) implore pluvia lluvia rain [pluvial] lluvioso rainy, pluvious llover (to) rain llovizna drizzle lloviznar (to) drizzle pluvial pluvial, rain (adj.) planctus llanto weeping [plaint] (unrelated) llanta tire, wheel rim T4311.indb 183 T4311.indb 183 8/31/07 6:43:30 AM 8/31/07 6:43:30 AM  POPULAR VOCABULARY: THE SHAPE OF SPANISH Llama is the only example of a Latin fl- word with ll- in Spanish. In Old Spanish , one other word was affected but has since changed the initial ll- to l-: flaccidus lacio lank (hair), wilted, flaccid (OldSp. llacio) flácido / fláccido flaccid, flabby flacidez / flaccidez flaccidity, flabbiness Note that lacio also displays two of the changes noted in Section .: the double consonant cc has become simple c, and the d has vanished. In a few...