« thing » en sept langues
Sensthing
Espagnol
/ˈkosa/
fém.héréditaire
Français
/ʃoz/
fém.héréditaire
Italien
/ˈkɔsa/
fém.héréditaire
Portugais
/ˈkojzɐ/
fém.héréditaire
AU became ou/oi in Portuguese: CAUSAM → cousa, now coisa.
Roumain
/ˈlukru/
neutreautre source · Latin LUCRUM 'gain, profit'
pluriel: lucruri
CAUSA survives in Romanian only as learned cauză 'cause'.
Catalan
/ˈkɔzə/
fém.héréditaire
Anglais
/θɪŋ/
anglais natif · Old English þing
L’ancêtre latin
CAUSAM‘cause; legal case, matter’
Les six sœurs en descendent, sauf indication contraire ci-dessous.
L’histoire
A legal 'case' became any 'thing'. AU shrank to o everywhere and French turned ca- into cha- → cho-. The learned doublet causa / cause / causa kept the old meaning — and English 'because' is 'by cause'.
Parents anglais: cause, because, accuse
Lois phonétiques à l’œuvre
L’apprendre
Dans une phrase
- esTengo que decirte una cosa.
- frJe dois te dire quelque chose.
- itDevo dirti una cosa.
- ptPreciso te contar uma coisa.
- roTrebuie să-ți spun ceva.
- caT'he de dir una cosa.
- enI have to tell you something.
La famille latine
CAUS-· cause, case
CAUSA 'reason, lawsuit' became the ordinary Romance word for 'thing': cosa, chose, cosa — a 'matter' in the legal sense, generalized. The learned doublet causa, cause kept the original meaning, and the courtroom sense lives on in accuse and excuse. Portuguese coisa (Old Portuguese cousa) and Catalan cosa followed; Romanian says lucru, from LUCRUM 'gain'.
CAUSAMcause; case → thing
escosafrchoseitcosaptcoisacacosa
CAUSAMcause (learned)
escausafrcauseitcausaptcausarocauzăcacausaencause
CAUSĀRĪ (Med. Lat. CAUSĀRE)to plead a case; to cause
escausarfrcauseritcausareptcausarrocauzacacausarencause
ACCŪSĀREto call to account
esacusarfraccuseritaccusareptacusarroacuzacaacusarenaccuse
EXCŪSĀREto free from a charge
esexcusarfrexcuseritscusareptescusarroscuzacaexcusarenexcuse