"coal" in seven languages
Meaningcoal
Spanish
carbón
/kaɾˈbon/
masc.inherited
French
charbon
/ʃaʁbɔ̃/
masc.inherited
Italian
carbone
/karˈbone/
masc.inherited
Portuguese
carvão
/kahˈvɐ̃w/
masc.inherited
Latin -ŌNEM ended as -ão in Portuguese: CARBŌNEM → carvão.
Romanian
cărbune
/kərˈbune/
masc.inherited
Catalan
carbó
/kərˈbo/
masc.inherited
Catalan dropped the final -n: carbó, plural carbons.
English
coal
/koʊl/
native English · Old English col
English → ItaliancoalcarboneNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: carbon, carbonated, carburettor.What English and Italian share
The Latin ancestor
CARBŌNEM‘charcoal’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
Latin CARBŌ was charcoal; French turned its CA- into cha- (charbon) and nasalised the ending. English kept the Latin word for chemistry: carbon.
English relatives: carbon, carbonated, carburettor
Sound laws at work
Learn it
In a sentence
- esEl pueblo vivía de sus minas de carbón.
- frLa ville vivait de ses mines de charbon.
- itIl paese viveva delle sue miniere di carbone.
- ptA cidade vivia das minas de carvão.
- roOrașul trăia din minele de cărbune.
- caEl poble vivia de les mines de carbó.
- enThe town lived off its coal mines.
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