« boss » en sept langues
Sensboss
Espagnol
/ˈxefe/
masc.emprunté · Old French chef/chief 'head, leader'
fém.: jefa
Français
/ʃɛf/
masc.héréditaire
Le chef is the boss; a cook is a cuisinier (chef cuisinier is the head cook).
Italien
/ˈkapo/
masc.héréditaire
Portugais
/ˈʃɛfi/
masc.emprunté · French chef
Roumain
/ʃef/
masc.emprunté · French chef
Catalan
/kap/
masc.héréditaire
The plain word for 'head' doubles as 'boss', as Italian capo does.
Anglais
/bɔs/
autre source · Dutch baas
L’ancêtre latin
CAPUT‘head’
Les six sœurs en descendent, sauf indication contraire ci-dessous.
L’histoire
The boss is 'the head' in all three. Italian kept CAPUT almost intact; French turned ca- into che-; Spanish imported the French word, its own inherited descendant being cabo (end, cape, corporal).
Parents anglais: chief, chef, capital, captain
Lois phonétiques à l’œuvre
L’apprendre
Dans une phrase
- esMi jefe está de vacaciones.
- frMon chef est en vacances.
- itIl mio capo è in ferie.
- ptMeu chefe está de férias.
- roȘeful meu e în concediu.
- caEl meu cap és de vacances.
- enMy boss is on holiday.
La famille latine
CAPUT, CAPIT-· head
Classical CAPUT survived in Spanish, French and Italian only as the 'head' of things — cabo 'end, cape', chef 'chief', capo 'boss' — while the body part itself got new words (Spanish and Portuguese cabeza, cabeça from *CAPITIA; French tête and Italian testa from TESTA 'pot'). Romanian and Catalan never let go: cap is still the head on your shoulders. CAPITĀLE 'main property' gave the most surprising doublet: popular caudal and cheptel, English cattle and chattel, beside learned capital.
CAPUThead
escabofrchefitcapoptcaborocapcacapenchief
*CAPITIAhead (spoken Latin)
escabezaptcabeça
CAPITĀLEchief property, stock
escaudalfrcheptelptcabedalcacabalencattle
CAPITĀLEMof the head, principal (learned)
escapitalfrcapitalitcapitaleptcapitalrocapitalcacapitalencapital
CAPITULUMlittle head; heading, chapter
escapítulofrchapitreitcapitoloptcapítulorocapitolcacapítolenchapter