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"to blow" in seven languages

Meaningto blow

Spanish

soplar

/soˈplaɾ/

inherited

The p for Latin ff is irregular.

French

souffler

/sufle/

inherited

Italian

soffiare

/sofˈfjare/

inherited

Portuguese

soprar

/soˈpɾah/

inherited

Latin FL after a consonant often became pr in Portuguese: SUFFLĀRE → soprar.

Romanian

sufla

/suˈfla/

inherited

Catalan

bufar

/buˈfa/

other source · onomatopoeic buf-

English

blow

/bloʊ/

Indo-European kin · PIE *bʰleh₁-

Distant cognate of Latin FLĀRE 'to blow'.

English → Italianto blowsoffiareDistant cognateRelated only through Indo-European, thousands of years back (night ~ noche). But English has relatives: soufflé, inflate, deflate.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

SUFFLĀRE‘to blow on, into’

All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.

The story

SUFFLĀRE is SUB + FLĀRE 'to blow'. Italian turned fl into fi, just as at the start of a word (FLŌREM → fiore). A soufflé is something 'blown up'.

English relatives: soufflé, inflate, deflate

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In a sentence

  • esEl viento sopla fuerte.
  • frLe vent souffle fort.
  • itIl vento soffia forte.
  • ptO vento está soprando forte.
  • roVântul suflă tare.
  • caEl vent bufa fort.
  • enThe wind is blowing hard.

More in Core verbs

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