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"my name is" in seven languages

Meaningmy name is

Spanish

me llamo

/me ˈʝamo/

inherited

French

je m'appelle

/ʒə mapɛl/

other source · Latin APPELLĀRE 'to address, call'

Italian

mi chiamo

/mi ˈkjamo/

inherited

Portuguese

me chamo

/mi ˈʃɐ̃mu/

inherited

Portuguese turned CL- into ch-: CLĀMĀRE → chamar. Meu nome é is just as common.

Romanian

mă numesc

/mə nuˈmesk/

other source · Romanian nume 'name' (Latin NŌMEN)

Catalan

em dic

/əm dik/

other source · Latin DĪCERE 'to say'

English

my name is

/maɪ neɪm ɪz/

native English · Old English nama

English → Italianmy name ismi chiamoNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: claim, clamor, exclaim; appeal (fr).What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

CLĀMĀRE‘to shout, call out’

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

The story

Spanish llamar and Italian chiamare are CLĀMĀRE 'to shout', reshaped by the CL- law. French chose APPELLĀRE instead, the source of English appeal. All three say 'I call myself'.

English relatives: claim, clamor, exclaim; appeal (fr)

Sound laws at work

CL-, PL-, FL- at the start of a word

Learn it

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In a sentence

  • esHola, me llamo Ana.
  • frBonjour, je m'appelle Anne.
  • itCiao, mi chiamo Anna.
  • ptOi, eu me chamo Ana.
  • roSalut, mă numesc Ana.
  • caHola, em dic Ana.
  • enHi, my name is Ana.

More words from the same Latin

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