« midnight » en sept langues
Sensmidnight
Espagnol
/medjaˈnotʃe/
fém.héréditaire
Français
/minɥi/
masc.héréditaire
Masculine, although nuit is feminine: le minuit was once 'the mid of the night'.
Italien
/meddzaˈnɔtte/
fém.héréditaire
Portugais
/ˈmejɐ ˈnojtʃi/
fém.héréditaire
Roumain
/mjez de ˈno̯apte/
neutrehéréditaire
Literally 'core of the night': miez ← MEDIUM, noapte ← NOCTEM with -CT- → -pt-; usually la miezul nopții.
Catalan
/midʒəˈnit/
fém.héréditaire
Anglais
/ˈmɪdnaɪt/
parenté indo-européenne · PIE *médʰyos 'middle' + *nókʷts 'night'
L’ancêtre latin
MEDIAM NOCTEM‘the middle of the night’
Les six sœurs en descendent, sauf indication contraire ci-dessous.
L’histoire
Three ways to say 'mid-night', each with its own CT: noche, nuit, notte. French shrank MEDIUM to mi- (as in midi 'noon'); English mid and night are the Germanic cousins of both halves.
Parents anglais: medium, median, nocturnal
Lois phonétiques à l’œuvre
L’apprendre
Dans une phrase
- esEl tren llega a medianoche.
- frLe train arrive à minuit.
- itIl treno arriva a mezzanotte.
- ptO trem chega à meia-noite.
- roTrenul sosește la miezul nopții.
- caEl tren arriba a mitjanit.
- enThe train arrives at midnight.
La famille latine
NOX, NOCT-· night
NOCTEM shows the three outcomes of Latin -CT- in one word: Spanish ch (noche), French it (nuit), Italian tt (notte). The learned words keep -ct- intact. English night is a Germanic distant cognate from the same Indo-European root, not a borrowing. Add the newer sisters and there is a fourth: Portuguese noite and Catalan nit side with French, while Romanian noapte has the Eastern -pt-.
NOCTEMnight
esnochefrnuititnotteptnoiteronoaptecanit
NOCTURNUMof the night
esnocturnofrnocturneitnotturnoptnoturnoronocturncanocturnennocturnal
MEDIAM NOCTEMmiddle of the night
esmedianochefrminuititmezzanotteptmeia-noiteromiezul nopțiicamitjanit
AEQUINOCTIUMequal night
esequinocciofréquinoxeitequinozioptequinócioroechinocțiucaequinoccienequinox