"sister" in seven languages
Meaningsister
Spanish
hermana
/eɾˈmana/
fem.other source · Latin GERMĀNAM 'of the same stock'
French
sœur
/sœʁ/
fem.inherited
From the nominative SOROR.
Italian
sorella
/soˈrɛlla/
fem.inherited
A diminutive, 'little sister', now neutral.
Portuguese
irmã
/ihˈmɐ̃/
fem.other source · Latin GERMĀNAM 'of the same stock'
Romanian
soră
/ˈsorə/
fem.inherited
plural: surori
Catalan
germana
/ʒərˈmanə/
fem.other source · Latin GERMĀNAM 'of the same stock'
English
sister
/ˈsɪstɚ/
Indo-European kin · PIE *swésōr
English → ItaliansistersorellaDistant cognateRelated only through Indo-European, thousands of years back (night ~ noche). But English has relatives: sorority.What English and Italian share
The Latin ancestor
SORŌREM (nom. SOROR)‘sister’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
French sœur is the nominative SOROR, its short o turned eu by the open-o law. Italian again chose the affectionate diminutive, sorella; Spanish the 'germane' hermana.
English relatives: sorority
Sound laws at work
Learn it
In a sentence
- esMi hermana vive en París.
- frMa sœur habite à Paris.
- itMia sorella vive a Parigi.
- ptMinha irmã mora em Paris.
- roSora mea locuiește la Paris.
- caLa meva germana viu a París.
- enMy sister lives in Paris.