"midnight" in sette lingue
Significatomidnight
Spagnolo
/medjaˈnotʃe/
f.ereditaria
Francese
/minɥi/
m.ereditaria
Masculine, although nuit is feminine: le minuit was once 'the mid of the night'.
Italiano
/meddzaˈnɔtte/
f.ereditaria
Portoghese
/ˈmejɐ ˈnojtʃi/
f.ereditaria
Rumeno
/mjez de ˈno̯apte/
neutroereditaria
Literally 'core of the night': miez ← MEDIUM, noapte ← NOCTEM with -CT- → -pt-; usually la miezul nopții.
Catalano
/midʒəˈnit/
f.ereditaria
Inglese
/ˈmɪdnaɪt/
parente indoeuropea · PIE *médʰyos 'middle' + *nókʷts 'night'
L’antenato latino
MEDIAM NOCTEM‘the middle of the night’
Tutte e sei le sorelle discendono da questa parola, salvo diversa indicazione qui sotto.
La storia
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.
Parenti inglesi: medium, median, nocturnal
Leggi fonetiche all’opera
Imparala
In una frase
- 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 famiglia latina
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