"signal" in seven languages
Meaningsignal
Spanish
/seˈɲal/
fem.inherited
Also a road sign and a deposit paid in advance.
French
/siɲal/
masc.learned
plural: signaux
Old French had seignal; the spelling was later redone after Latin.
Italian
/seɲˈɲale/
masc.inherited
Portuguese
/siˈnaw/
masc.inherited
Romanian
/semˈnal/
neut.borrowed · Italian segnale, reshaped after semn 'sign'
Catalan
/səˈɲal/
masc.inherited
Often feminine in everyday speech (la senyal), though the norm prefers el senyal.
English
/ˈsɪɡnəl/
from Latin/French · Old French signal, Medieval Latin SIGNĀLE
The Latin ancestor
SIGNĀLE‘sign, mark (from SIGNUM)’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
Latin GN melted into one palatal sound: Spanish writes it ñ (señal), Italian gn (segnale). Spanish made the word feminine — la señal.
English relatives: sign, signature, design, insignia
Sound laws at work
Learn it
In a sentence
- esAquí no hay señal.
- frIci, il n'y a pas de signal.
- itQui non c'è segnale.
- ptAqui não tem sinal.
- roAici nu e semnal.
- caAquí no hi ha senyal.
- enThere's no signal here.