"ear" in seven languages
Meaningear
Spanish
oreja
/oˈɾexa/
fem.inherited
The outer ear; the inner ear and the sense are oído.
French
oreille
/ɔʁɛj/
fem.inherited
Italian
orecchio
/oˈrekkjo/
masc.inherited
plural: orecchie / orecchi
Portuguese
orelha
/oˈɾeʎɐ/
fem.inherited
Romanian
ureche
/uˈreke/
fem.inherited
plural: urechi
Catalan
orella
/uˈɾeʎə/
fem.inherited
English
ear
/ɪɹ/
Indo-European kin · PIE *h₂ówsis
English → ItalianearorecchioDistant cognateRelated only through Indo-European, thousands of years back (night ~ noche). But English has relatives: auricular, aural.What English and Italian share
The Latin ancestor
AURICULAM‘little ear (diminutive of AURIS)’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
Spoken Latin preferred the diminutive AURICULA, and the sisters treated its c'l exactly like OCULUS: oreja, oreille, orecchio. AU became o as usual. Italian made the ear masculine.
English relatives: auricular, aural
Sound laws at work
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In a sentence
- esLos conejos tienen las orejas largas.
- frLes lapins ont de longues oreilles.
- itI conigli hanno le orecchie lunghe.
- ptOs coelhos têm orelhas compridas.
- roIepurii au urechi lungi.
- caEls conills tenen les orelles llargues.
- enRabbits have long ears.