"to listen" in seven languages
Meaningto listen
Spanish
escuchar
/eskuˈtʃaɾ/
inherited
French
écouter
/ekute/
inherited
Italian
ascoltare
/askolˈtare/
inherited
Portuguese
escutar
/iskuˈtah/
inherited
Romanian
asculta
/askulˈta/
inherited
Catalan
escoltar
/əskulˈta/
inherited
English
listen
/ˈlɪsən/
native English · Old English hlysnan
English → Italianto listenascoltareNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: auscultation (a doctor listening with a stethoscope).What English and Italian share
The Latin ancestor
AUSCULTĀRE (spoken *ASCULTĀRE)‘to listen attentively’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
Spoken Latin dropped the first u (*ASCULTĀRE). Spanish turned -ult- into ch as in MULTUM → mucho; French vocalised the l and lost the s (Old French escolter → écouter).
English relatives: auscultation (a doctor listening with a stethoscope)
Sound laws at work
Learn it
In a sentence
- es¡Escúchame!
- frÉcoute-moi !
- itAscoltami!
- ptMe escuta!
- roAscultă-mă!
- caEscolta'm!
- enListen to me!
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