"wind" in seven languages
Meaningwind
Spanish
viento
/ˈbjento/
masc.inherited
French
vent
/vɑ̃/
masc.inherited
Italian
vento
/ˈvɛnto/
masc.inherited
Portuguese
vento
/ˈvẽtu/
masc.inherited
Romanian
vânt
/vɨnt/
neut.inherited
Catalan
vent
/ben/
masc.inherited
English
wind
/wɪnd/
Indo-European kin · PIE *h₂weh₁- 'to blow'
English → ItalianwindventoDistant cognateRelated only through Indo-European, thousands of years back (night ~ noche). But English has relatives: vent, ventilate.What English and Italian share
The Latin ancestor
VENTUM‘wind’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
Spanish diphthongs the open e even before two consonants (viento), Italian does not (vento); French turns -en- into a nasal vowel.
English relatives: vent, ventilate
Sound laws at work
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In a sentence
- esEn la costa hace mucho viento.
- frIl y a beaucoup de vent sur la côte.
- itSulla costa c'è molto vento.
- ptNo litoral venta muito.
- roPe coastă bate des vântul.
- caA la costa fa molt de vent.
- enThere is a lot of wind on the coast.