Sound laws · Law 25 · Endings
-TĀTEM: -dad, -té, -tà
-TĀTEM
Spanish
-dad (-tad in some words after a consonant)
French
-té
Italian
-tà
Portuguese
-dade (-tade after a consonant)
Romanian
-tate
Catalan
-tat
What happened
The abstract-noun ending -TĀTEM wore down differently in each sister. Spanish and Portuguese voiced the t between vowels; Portuguese kept the final -e (-dade) and Spanish dropped it (-dad). Catalan dropped the -e and devoiced what was left to -tat. French lost the final -te altogether and turned stressed free a into e (see free-a): -té. Italian had -tade, still found in old poetry, and then cut it short to a stressed -tà, while Romanian, which kept its stops, has the full -tate. English took -ty from French.
Examples
| Latin | Italian | Spanish | French | Portuguese | Romanian | Catalan | English relative |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CĪVITĀTEM‘citizenship → city (ro cetate 'fortress')’ | città | ciudad | cité | cidade | cetate | ciutat | city |
| BONITĀTEM‘goodness’ | bontà | bondad | bonté | bondade | bunătate | bondat | bounty |
| LIBERTĀTEM‘freedom’ | libertà | libertad | liberté | liberdade | — | llibertat | liberty |
| CĀRITĀTEM‘dearness → love, charity’ | carità | caridad | charité | caridade | — | caritat | charity |
| VOLUNTĀTEM‘will’ | volontà | voluntad | volonté | vontade | — | voluntat | |
| VĒRITĀTEM‘truth’ | verità | verdad | vérité | verdade | — | veritat | verity |
| MEDIETĀTEM‘half’ | metà | mitad | moitié | metade | — | meitat | moiety |
Decoder
Spanish -dad = Portuguese -dade = Catalan -tat = French -té = Italian -tà = Romanian -tate = English -ty: ciudad, cidade, ciutat, cité, città, city. Italian -tà is always stressed and written with an accent.
Exceptions
Where a consonant stood before the t early enough (LIBERTĀTEM, VOLUNTĀTEM), it was never between vowels, so Spanish keeps -tad (libertad, voluntad, lealtad) and Portuguese -tade in vontade (but liberdade); where syncope came later, the t had already voiced (bondad, ciudad, bondade). French has -tié after a yod (moitié, amitié), and Italian poetry still uses -tade, -tate. Romanian libertate and caritate are modern borrowings, and 'truth' there is adevăr.
In your word bank
- congratulationsfelicidadesfélicitationscongratulazioniparabénsfelicitărifelicitats
- communitycomunidadcommunautécomunitàcomunidadecomunitatecomunitat
- citizenciudadanocitoyencittadinocidadãocetățeanciutadà
- personalitypersonalidadpersonnalitépersonalitàpersonalidadepersonalitatepersonalitat
- electricityelectricidadélectricitéelettricitàeletricidadeelectricitateelectricitat
- comfort (physical ease)comodidadconfortcomoditàconfortoconfortcomoditat
- city, townciudadvillecittàcidadeorașciutat
- speedvelocidadvitessevelocitàvelocidadevitezăvelocitat
- darknessoscuridadobscuritéoscuritàescuridãoîntunericfoscor
- ageedadâgeetàidadevârstăedat
- halfmitadmoitiémetàmetadejumătatemeitat
- amount, quantitycantidadquantitéquantitàquantidadecantitatequantitat
- property (what one owns)propiedadpropriétéproprietàpropriedadeproprietatepropietat
- skillhabilidadcompétenceabilitàhabilidadeabilitatehabilitat
- advertising, publicitypublicidadpublicitépubblicitàpublicidadepublicitatepublicitat
- universityuniversidaduniversitéuniversitàuniversidadeuniversitateuniversitat
- faculty (university school)facultadfacultéfacoltàfaculdadefacultatefacultat
- illness, diseaseenfermedadmaladiemalattiadoençaboalămalaltia