"up" in seven languages
Meaningup
Spanish
/aˈriba/
other source · Latin AD RĪPAM 'to the bank, up the shore'
French
/ɑ̃ o/
other source · Latin ALTUM 'high', its h- from Frankish *hauh
'Up there' is là-haut. The h blocks liaison: en | haut.
Italian
/su/
inherited
'Up there' is lassù; 'upstairs' is di sopra.
Portuguese
/ẽj ˈsimɐ/
other source · em + cima 'top' (Latin CYMA 'sprout', from Greek)
Lá em cima 'up there'; para cima 'upwards'.
Romanian
/sus/
inherited
Catalan
/dal/
other source · de + alt 'high' (Latin ALTUM)
For direction Catalan says amunt, literally 'to the mountain' (AD MONTEM); 'down' is avall, 'to the valley'.
English
/ʌp/
native English · Old English ūp
The Latin ancestor
SŪSUM (SURSUM)‘upward’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
Italian su keeps the Latin 'upward'. Spanish arriba means 'to the bank', climbing up from the water, and French says 'in the high (part)'.
Learn it
In a sentence
- esLas llaves están ahí arriba.
- frLes clés sont là-haut.
- itLe chiavi sono lassù.
- ptAs chaves estão lá em cima.
- roCheile sunt acolo sus.
- caLes claus són allà dalt.
- enThe keys are up there.