"seven" in seven languages
Meaningseven
Spanish
siete
/ˈsjete/
inherited
French
sept
/sɛt/
inherited
The p is written, not said.
Italian
sette
/ˈsɛtte/
inherited
Portuguese
sete
/ˈsɛtʃi/
inherited
Romanian
șapte
/ˈʃapte/
inherited
Romanian keeps the PT cluster that Italian assimilated: șapte beside sette.
Catalan
set
/sɛt/
inherited
English
seven
/ˈsɛvən/
Indo-European kin · PIE *septḿ̥
English → ItaliansevensetteDistant cognateRelated only through Indo-European, thousands of years back (night ~ noche). But English has relatives: September, septet.What English and Italian share
The Latin ancestor
SEPTEM‘seven’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
Spanish breaks the open e into ie; Italian assimilates PT to tt; French keeps a silent p for memory's sake.
English relatives: September, septet