6 ms·
Fun fact: Latin had long vowels as well as long consonants. So be careful with them or else you might be calling an old woman an anus. ānus = ring / anus annu
by laylomo2 5y ago
Fun fact: Latin had long vowels as well as long consonants. So be careful with them or else you might be calling an old woman an anus.
ānus = ring / anus
annus = year
anus = old woman
- samatman 5y agoFollow-on fun fact: Spanish turned this particular long-consonant distinction into a different consonant, the eñe. Ano means anus, while año means year. One of the first sentences a student of Spanish will learn is "¿cuántos años tienes?", how old are you, literally "how many years do you have?"— often before they really grasp the distinction between ene and eñe.
- laylomo2 5y agoAlso, the Spanish word "anillo" (ring) is derived from a diminutive form of Latin "ānus".
- renewiltord 5y agoAnnular structures are ring shaped in English. Presumably through a similar path?
- azernik 5y agoYup, exact same thing - annulus being the Latin diminutive
- legerdemain 5y agoSimilar process with "homunculus" (little man) and "calculus" (little rock) and "nucleus" (little nut).
- thaumasiotes 5y agoHuh. "Nucleus" is a form that looks like an adjective to me; I'd expect "nucula" for the diminutive of "nux". And indeed I see this on etymonline: > from Latin nucleus "kernel," from nucula "little nut," diminutive of nux (genitive nucis) "nut," So for whatever reason a new word was called for, and our nucleus comes from that, not from the diminutive form of "nut".
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- legerdemain 5y agoAnd events that take place yearly are called annual. Not to mention abbreviations like AD for "anno domini," the year of the lord.
- yongjik 5y agoIn a similar vein, vanilla is from Spanish diminutive of vaina (sheath), which is from Latin vagina (sheath).
- thaumasiotes 5y ago> vanilla is from Spanish diminutive I've been wondering about this! Does Spanish regularly form diminutives other than with the -it- infix? ("m'hijito" etc.) Latin forms them with -ill-, -cul-, or -ul-, and many such forms are obvious in Spanish (tomatillo / quesadilla etc.), but I've never known whether -ill- is still productive today or if those are relics from the past.
- ptato 5y agoYes, at least in Spain. The spanish wikipedia lists a bunch of the variants [0]. I personally use -ino/a, as it is common where I grew up, but my favorite way of saying "puppy" is "perrete". [0] https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diminutivo https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diminutivo
- thaumasiotes 5y agoThanks for the link! It's fun to see a Spanish region bordering Portugal (-inho) forming diminutives with -iño and one bordering France (-ette) forming them with -ete.
- hundreddaysoff 5y agoānnus = Spanish eñus = not a word?
- pyuser583 5y agoLatin is fascinating. There are literally dozens of terms for the female reproductive organs. That’s a result of medieval hymn writers. They would write conception/gestation/birth related hymns to the Blessed Virgin. They used an a strict rhyme scheme. So lots of of medieval monks had to ask “What’s a term for uterus that rhymes with tempora? Ok how about viscera [intestines]? Viscera it is.” And the hymn becomes popular so now viscera means uterus or breast or something.