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"dog" in seven languages

Meaningdog

Spanish

perro

/ˈpero/

masc.other source · uncertain; a word peculiar to Spanish, perhaps from a call used to herd dogs

Can (from CANEM) survives in literary Spanish and in canino.

French

chien

/ʃjɛ̃/

masc.inherited

Italian

cane

/ˈkane/

masc.inherited

Portuguese

cachorro

/kaˈʃohu/

masc.other source · of uncertain origin; first 'puppy', like Spanish cachorro

In Portugal the dog is cão, inherited from CANEM.

Romanian

câine

/ˈkɨjne/

masc.inherited

Catalan

gos

/gos/

masc.other source · of uncertain origin, probably a call used to summon dogs

English

dog

/dɔɡ/

native English · Old English docga

English → ItaliandogcaneNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: canine, kennel.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

CANEM (nom. CANIS)‘dog’

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

The story

French and Italian kept CANEM (French turning ca- into chie-); Spanish replaced it with perro, whose origin nobody has nailed down — unrelated to the others.

English relatives: canine, kennel

Sound laws at work

French CA becomes cha

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In a sentence

  • esEl perro les ladra a los vecinos.
  • frLe chien aboie après les voisins.
  • itIl cane abbaia ai vicini.
  • ptO cachorro está latindo para os vizinhos.
  • roCâinele latră la vecini.
  • caEl gos borda als veïns.
  • enThe dog is barking at the neighbours.

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