"snow" in seven languages
Meaningsnow
Spanish
nieve
/ˈnjebe/
fem.inherited
The ie is irregular (Latin had a short i, which normally gives plain e).
French
neige
/nɛʒ/
fem.inherited
A back-formation from the verb neiger (*NIVICĀRE); Old French had noif from NIVEM.
Italian
neve
/ˈneve/
fem.inherited
Portuguese
neve
/ˈnɛvi/
fem.inherited
Romanian
zăpadă
/zəˈpadə/
fem.other source · Slavic (cf. Old Church Slavonic zapadati 'to fall')
Inherited nea survives in poetry and set phrases.
Catalan
neu
/nɛw/
fem.inherited
English
snow
/snoʊ/
Indo-European kin · PIE *sneygʷʰ-
English → ItaliansnowneveDistant cognateRelated only through Indo-European, thousands of years back (night ~ noche). But English has relatives: Nevada (Spanish 'snowy').What English and Italian share
The Latin ancestor
NIVEM (nom. NIX)‘snow’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
Italian neve is the regular outcome; Spanish nieve took an unexpected diphthong, and French rebuilt the noun from its verb.
English relatives: Nevada (Spanish 'snowy')
Learn it
In a sentence
- esLas montañas están cubiertas de nieve.
- frLes montagnes sont couvertes de neige.
- itLe montagne sono coperte di neve.
- ptAs montanhas estão cobertas de neve.
- roMunții sunt acoperiți de zăpadă.
- caLes muntanyes estan cobertes de neu.
- enThe mountains are covered in snow.