Catalan for French speakers

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71%

inherited on both sides

27%

to learn fresh

29%

2,264 words compared

Words you already know

Everyday words whose French and Catalan forms come from the same source.

• je→jo
• il→ell
• si→si
• non→no
• ou→o
• nous→nosaltres
• et→i
• bras→braç
• lit→llit
• chat→gat
• vache→vaca
• oreille→orella
• œuf→ou
• œil→ull
• loin→lluny
• comment→com
• clé→clau
• jambe→cama
• homme→home
• huile→oli
• vieux→vell
• mer→mar
• elle→ella
• ciel→cel

The sound laws between them

Regular changes that turn a French word into its Catalan cognate — learn one and it pays out across hundreds of words.

• Stressed short E breaks into ieie, i (open syllable); e (closed)→e [ɛ] (no diphthong); i next to a palatal (llit)PETRAMpierre→pedra
• Stressed short O breaks into ue / uo / eueu, œu (open syllable); o (closed)→o [ɔ] (no diphthong)NOVUMneuf→nou
• French stressed free A becomes ee, è, é; ie after a palatal (chien)→a (kept)MAREmer→mar
• French fronts long U to [y]u [y]→u [u] (kept)LŪNAMlune→lluna
• AU becomes oo (spelled o or au)→oAURUMor→or
• French vowel + nasal becomes a nasal vowelnasal vowel (ɑ̃ ɔ̃ ɛ̃); n/m silent→oral vowel; final n after the stress lost (pa, vi)PĀNEMpain→pa
• Spanish initial F- becomes h- (silent)f- kept→f- keptFĪLIUM (fr. from nom. FĪLIUS)fils→fill
• Voiceless stops between vowels softenv; t, c lost→b (v) d g; p t c again at the end of a word (amic, agut)VĪTAMvie→vida
• C before E and Is (c, ç)→s (c, ç); between vowels lost, or u at the end (veí, deu)CAELUMciel→cel
• French CA becomes chacha, che, chie [ʃ]→ca keptCABALLUMcheval→cavall
• Initial I- (J-) and G before E, Ij, g [ʒ]→j, g [ʒ]IOCUMjeu→joc
• B and V merge in Spanishv kept; B between vowels → v→merged as in Spanish (Central Catalan); v kept in Balearic and parts of ValenciaVĪNUMvin→vi
• Germanic W- becomes gu- / g-g(u)- [g]→gu- ([gw] before a, o; [g] before e, i)Germanic *WERRAguerre→guerra
• L before a consonant becomes ul → u, fused with the vowel: au [o], ou [u], eau→l kept (altre, falç)ALTERUMautre→altre
• CTit (i + t)→it, t (the i absorbed by the vowel: nit, fet)NOCTEMnuit→nit
• L + yodil, ill [j]→ll [ʎ]FOLIAMfeuille→fulla
• C'L inside a wordil, ill [j]→ll [ʎ]OCULUMœil→ull
• CL-, PL-, FL- at the start of a wordcl- pl- fl- (kept)→cl- pl- fl- (kept)CLĀVEMclé→clau
• NN, GN and N + yodgn [ɲ]; NN → n (nasal vowel at the end)→ny [ɲ], also from NN (any)ANNUMan→any
• S + consonant at the start of a wordé- (from es-, s lost)→es-STELLAMétoile→estrella
• French loses S before a consonant (^)s lost; often marked ^ (ê â ô î û)→s keptFESTAMfête→festa
• Italian assimilates clusterssimplified or lost: pt → t; x → s→simplified: pt → t, mn → n; x → ix [ʃ]SEPTEMsept→set
• Final vowelsdropped; -A → mute -e→dropped except -a (said [ə]); -e kept after clustersLUPUMloup→llop
• Plurals: -s or -i-s, -x (written, mostly silent; from the accusative)→-s, -es (from the accusative)LUPŌS (acc.) / LUPĪ (nom.)loups→llops
• -TĀTEM: -dad, -té, -tà-té→-tatCĪVITĀTEMcité→ciutat
• -TIŌNEM: learned -ción, inherited -zón-tion (learned); inherited -son→-ció (learned); inherited -ó (raó, tió)RATIŌNEMraison→raó
• -ĀRIUM: -ero, -ier, -aio-ier, -ière→-er, -eraCABALLĀRIUMchevalier→cavaller
• Adverbs in -mente / -ment-ment→-mentCLĀRĀ MENTEclairement→clarament
• Single L between vowels: lost in Portuguese, r in Romanianl kept→l keptFĪLUMfil→fil
• Portuguese loses single N between vowelsn kept between vowels; at the end, a nasal vowel→n kept; lost where it became final (mà; see final-n)LĀNAMlaine→llana
• Romanian turns velars into labialsit, iss, gn; qu (velar kept, palatalized or lost)→it/t, ix [ʃ], ny; qu, guOCTŌhuit→vuit
• Romanian T, D, S before i become ț, z, șt, d, s kept→t, d, s keptDĪCEREdire→dir
• Catalan drops -n at the end of a wordn silent, vowel nasal (pain, vin)→lost (pa, vi); back in the plural (pans, vins)PĀNEMpain→pa

False friends to watch

• voler (Catalan) means “to want” · voler (French) means “to fly; to steal”

  Coincidence. Catalan voler is spoken Latin *VOLĒRE (for VELLE 'to want'), the source of French vouloir; French voler is VOLĀRE 'to fly', and 'to steal' came from the falconer's bird flying off with its prey.

Words to learn fresh

Common words where Catalan went its own way.

• dansen
• mauvaisdolent
• boîtecapsa
• garçonnoi
• maisperò
• voiturecotxe
• jourdia
• chiengos
• grosgras
• pourper a
• nouveaunou
• stylobolígraf