"hungry" in seven languages

Meaninghungry

Spanish

hambriento

/ambɾiˈento/

inherited

Built on hambre 'hunger'; everyday Spanish says tener hambre.

French

affamé

/afame/

inherited

Strong ('starving'); the everyday phrase is avoir faim.

Italian

affamato

/affaˈmato/

inherited

The everyday phrase is avere fame.

Portuguese

com fome

/kõ ˈfomi/

inherited

Portuguese is 'with hunger' (fome ← FAMEM); faminto means 'starving'.

Romanian

flămând

/fləˈmɨnd/

other source · of disputed Latin origin

Foame 'hunger' is the inherited FAMEM; înfometat 'famished' is built on it.

Catalan

afamat

/əfəˈmat/

inherited

In everyday speech Catalans more often say tenir gana 'to be hungry'.

English

hungry

/ˈhʌŋɡɹi/

native English · Old English hungrig

English → ItalianhungryaffamatoNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: famine, famished.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

FAMEM‘hunger’

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

The story

All three sisters usually 'have hunger' (tengo hambre, j'ai faim, ho fame) rather than 'are hungry'. Spanish hambre comes from a longer spoken form of FAMEM, with the F- turned into a silent h.

English relatives: famine, famished

Sound laws at work

Spanish initial F- becomes h- (silent)

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In a sentence

esLlegamos a casa hambrientos.
frNous sommes rentrés affamés.
itSiamo arrivati a casa affamati.
ptChegamos em casa com fome.
roAm ajuns acasă flămânzi.
caVam arribar a casa afamats.
enWe arrived home hungry.

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