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"April" in seven languages

MeaningApril

Spanish

abril

/aˈbɾil/

masc.inherited

French

avril

/avʁil/

masc.inherited

Italian

aprile

/aˈprile/

masc.inherited

Portuguese

abril

/aˈbɾiw/

masc.inherited

Romanian

aprilie

/aˈprilie/

masc.learned

Catalan

abril

/əˈbɾil/

masc.inherited

English

April

/ˈeɪpɹəl/

from Latin/French · Latin Aprīlis (Middle English also averil, from Old French)

English → ItalianAprilaprileCognateSame source — inherited, learned or borrowed. You can recognize it.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

APRĪLEM‘April’

All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.

The story

A neat lenition set, as in CAPRA → cabra, chèvre, capra: the p stayed p in Italian, softened to b in Spanish and to v in French. Middle English said averil, from French, until scholars restored the Latin p.

Sound laws at work

Voiceless stops between vowels soften

Learn it

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In a sentence

  • esEn abril llueve mucho.
  • frEn avril, il pleut beaucoup.
  • itAd aprile piove molto.
  • ptEm abril chove muito.
  • roÎn aprilie plouă mult.
  • caA l'abril plou molt.
  • enIt rains a lot in April.

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