"yesterday" in seven languages
Meaningyesterday
Spanish
ayer
/aˈʝeɾ/
inherited
From AD HERI, with a preposition fused on.
French
hier
/jɛʁ/
inherited
Italian
ieri
/ˈjɛri/
inherited
Portuguese
ontem
/ˈõtẽj/
other source · Latin AD NOCTEM 'at night, last night'
Romanian
ieri
/jerʲ/
inherited
Catalan
ahir
/əˈi/
inherited
The final -r is silent in Central Catalan.
English
yesterday
/ˈjɛstɚdeɪ/
Indo-European kin · PIE *ǵʰyés
English → ItalianyesterdayieriDistant cognateRelated only through Indo-European, thousands of years back (night ~ noche).What English and Italian share
The Latin ancestor
HERI‘yesterday’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
The short Ĕ of HERI broke into a diphthong in all three: French hier, Italian ieri, and Spanish a-yer, where the diphthong's glide is written y.
Sound laws at work
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In a sentence
- esAyer llovió todo el día.
- frHier, il a plu toute la journée.
- itIeri ha piovuto tutto il giorno.
- ptOntem choveu o dia todo.
- roIeri a plouat toată ziua.
- caAhir va ploure tot el dia.
- enYesterday it rained all day.