"to earn, to win" in seven languages
Meaningto earn, to win
Spanish
/gaˈnaɾ/
other source · probably Gothic *ganan 'to covet', crossed with the *waidanjan family
French
/gaɲe/
inherited
Italian
/gwadaɲˈɲare/
inherited
To win a game is vincere; guadagnare is to earn or gain.
Portuguese
/ɡɐˈɲah/
other source · probably Gothic *ganan 'to covet', crossed with the *waidanjan family
Romanian
/kɨʃtiˈɡa/
other source · Latin CASTĪGĀRE 'to chastise, correct'
Catalan
/ɡwəˈɲa/
inherited
The gu- keeps the Germanic w-, as Italian guadagnare does.
English
/ɝn/
native English · Old English earnian
Borrowed 'gain' (Old French gaaignier) is the shared word.
The ancestor
Frankish *waidanjan‘to graze, to hunt for food’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
Earning began as foraging: a Germanic verb for finding pasture or game. Italian still shows the w as gu- (guadagnare); French reduced it to plain g-. Spanish ganar is probably from a different Germanic verb that merged with it.
Sound laws at work
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In a sentence
- esGana poco.
- frIl gagne peu.
- itGuadagna poco.
- ptEle ganha pouco.
- roCâștigă puțin.
- caGuanya poc.
- enHe earns little.