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"root" in seven languages

Meaningroot

Spanish

raíz

/raˈiθ/

fem.inherited

plural: raíces

French

racine

/ʁasin/

fem.inherited

From the spoken Latin diminutive *RĀDĪCĪNA.

Italian

radice

/ˈraditʃe/

fem.inherited

Portuguese

raiz

/haˈis/

fem.inherited

plural: raízes

Intervocalic -d- fell away: RĀDĪCEM → raiz.

Romanian

rădăcină

/rədəˈtʃinə/

fem.inherited

From the Latin derivative *RĀDĪCĪNA.

Catalan

arrel

/əˈrɛl/

fem.inherited

From a Latin diminutive of RĀDĪX; the exact form is disputed. Valencian says rel.

English

root

/ɹut/

Indo-European kin · PIE *wrād-

Borrowed from Old Norse rót; it is a distant relative of Latin RĀDĪX, not a loan from it.

English → ItalianrootradiceDistant cognateRelated only through Indo-European, thousands of years back (night ~ noche). But English has relatives: radical, radish, eradicate.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

RĀDĪCEM (nom. RĀDĪX)‘root’

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

The story

The c before i shows the three ways of softening: Spanish raíz (θ), French racine (s), Italian radice (tʃ). Spanish also lost the d between vowels, leaving ra-íz.

English relatives: radical, radish, eradicate

Sound laws at work

C before E and I

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In a sentence

  • esEl árbol tiene raíces profundas.
  • frL'arbre a des racines profondes.
  • itL'albero ha radici profonde.
  • ptA árvore tem raízes profundas.
  • roCopacul are rădăcini adânci.
  • caL'arbre té arrels profundes.
  • enThe tree has deep roots.

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