"sudden" in seven languages
Meaningsudden
Spanish
/repenˈtino/
other source · Spanish repente 'sudden impulse', from Latin REPENTE 'suddenly'
Also súbito, a learned form of SUBITUS.
French
/sudɛ̃/
inherited
Italian
/improvˈvizo/
other source · Latin IMPRŌVĪSUM 'unforeseen' (learned)
All'improvviso = suddenly. Italian subito means 'right away'.
Portuguese
/hepẽˈtʃinu/
other source · Portuguese repente 'sudden impulse', from Latin REPENTE 'suddenly'
Romanian
/brusk/
other source · French brusque (from Italian brusco)
Catalan
/supˈtat/
other source · Catalan sobte 'sudden', from Latin SUBITUM (the base of SUBITĀNEUM)
English
/ˈsʌdən/
from Latin/French · Anglo-Norman sodein
The Latin ancestor
SUBITĀNEUM‘sudden (from SUBITUS 'come up unexpectedly')’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
English sudden and French soudain are the same word: SUBITĀNEUS worn down in Old French and brought over by the Normans. Spanish and Italian chose other words: repentino, improvviso.
English relatives: subitaneous
Sound laws at work
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In a sentence
- esSu muerte fue muy repentina.
- frSa mort a été très soudaine.
- itLa sua morte è stata molto improvvisa.
- ptA morte dele foi muito repentina.
- roMoartea lui a fost foarte bruscă.
- caLa seva mort va ser molt sobtada.
- enHis death was very sudden.