"hand" in seven languages
Meaninghand
Spanish
/ˈmano/
fem.inherited
French
/mɛ̃/
fem.inherited
Italian
/ˈmano/
fem.inherited
plural: mani
Portuguese
/mɐ̃w/
fem.inherited
plural: mãos
Romanian
/ˈmɨnə/
fem.inherited
plural: mâini
Catalan
/ma/
fem.inherited
plural: mans
Catalan dropped the final vowel and then the n (MANUM → mà); the plural mans keeps it.
English
/hænd/
native English · Old English hand
The Latin ancestor
MANUM‘hand’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
A gender trap: mano ends in -o but is feminine (la mano), because Latin MANUS was feminine. French nasalised a + n into main.
English relatives: manual, manufacture, manicure
Sound laws at work
Learn it
In a sentence
- esLávate las manos antes de comer.
- frLave-toi les mains avant de manger.
- itLavati le mani prima di mangiare.
- ptLave as mãos antes de comer.
- roSpală-te pe mâini înainte de masă.
- caRenta't les mans abans de menjar.
- enWash your hands before eating.
The Latin family
MANU-· hand
MANUS was a feminine noun with an odd ending, and the sisters kept the gender against the look of the word: la mano in Spanish and Italian, la main in French. The hand also reached into 'holding' (maintain), 'sleeves' (manga) and 'way of doing' (manner). Portuguese a mão, Romanian mâna and Catalan la mà are feminine too.
MANUMhand
esmanofrmainitmanoptmãoromânăcamà
MANUĀLEMof the hand
esmanualfrmanuelitmanualeptmanualromanualcamanualenmanual
MANICAMsleeve
esmangafrmancheitmanicaptmangaromânecăcamàniga
MANŪ TENĒREto hold in the hand
esmantenerfrmainteniritmantenereptmanterromenținecamantenirenmaintain
*MANUĀRIAhandy; way of handling
esmanerafrmanièreitmanieraptmaneiraromanierăcamaneraenmanner