SPANISH Vocabulary An Etymological Approach
[...]... sense of “sand” sabulum evolved into French (sable) and Italian (sabbia) for “sand”, while Spanish maintained the older term arena in its original sense, limiting sábulo to the meaning “coarse sand”. This is by no means a rare occurrence: due to the early colonization of the Iberian Peninsula (before France and much of northern Italy) and its relative isolation, Spanish and Portuguese have in many cases... both the Spanish language and the Spanish- speaking peoples (b) It provides an opportunity to deepen one’s understanding of English (e.g., how many people are aware that the English word check comes— via Persian, Arabic, Spanish, and French—from the Shah of Iran?) (c) It enables one to enlarge one’s English vocabulary For example, all of the following words (some rather obscure) found in the American Heritage... INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK Introduction An English speaker learning Spanish starts with one huge, though generally underutilized, advantage: he or she is already speaking a Romance language, and with a little bit of help, can easily recognize and learn to use a very large number of Spanish words The “romance” of English may come as a surprise to those who have been taught that English is a Germanic language Nonetheless,... relation between an American hoosegow and a Spanish judge? [Annex D] What was the modus operandi of a Roman plagiarist? [Annex D] The section of the text in which the answer can be found is shown in brackets T4311.indb 14 8/31/07 6:42:40 AM PA R T I B AC KG R O U N D T4311.indb 15 8/31/07 6:42:40 AM THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK S E C T I O N Spanish as a Romance Language If Cicero (or Caesar)... Portuguese, Catalan ) far easier; conversely, any preexisting knowledge of one of these languages can immediately be applied to the learning of Spanish Returning to our example above, let us consider in more detail STRICTUS S estrecho Or Romanian, Rhaeto-Romance (one of Switzerland’s four national languages), Occitan (also known as Provençal), Galician (northwest Spain), or Sardinian T4311.indb 3... life and try to speak Spanish (or any other Romance language), he would very quickly come to the conclusion that the barbarians had taken over and “pidginized” his language In terms of grammar, the structure of the language would have changed almost beyond recognition. Only about half of the vocabulary what we easily recognize to be “classical” Latin and Greek words in English—would be familiar, and... is now France, and to reflect their presumed mixing with the Iberians—in the north, Lusitanians in the west, Carthaginian colonies in the south, and by several small Greek settlements along the northeast Mediterranean coast The exact origin of the Basques, and their connection, if any, to these other groups, remains a mystery The major part of Hispania remained under Roman control for more than six centuries,... She is left-handed On what day of the week will my cousin arrive? [.] How many days are there in a Spanish fortnight? [.] How do you say “royal peacock” in Spanish? [.] What do you call a “turkey” in Turkey? [.] In what respect can it be said that despondency is an inherent element of a Spanish marriage? [.] What is the role of a ship’s husband? [.] What is a Spanish flea killer... comparison with the vast difference between the grammar of either one and Latin. And, with a bit of effort, they will recognize that around percent of Spanish words are related to English ones, and that this common origin can be used as the basis for enriching their Spanish vocabulary The principal origins of Spanish vocabulary can be broken down as follows: Source Example Definition Latin A Classical... “narrow” one And how about derecho, and what is its possible connection with rectum? Latin directus meant “in a straight line”, hence “direct”, and is the origin of Spanish derecho meaning “right”, both in terms of direction (“directly ahead”, “the right-hand one”) and “law” rectus, “straight”, leads to rectum intestinum, the “straight intestine”, shortened in English and Spanish to rectum and recto, . (pbk. : alk. paper) . Spanish language Vocabulary. . Spanish language—Textbooks for foreign speakers—English. . Spanish language—Etymology. I. Title to enhance their Spanish vocabulary, as well as for those who wish simply to explore the wide- ranging connections between Spanish and English vocabulary.