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"youth (being young)" in seven languages

Meaningyouth (being young)

Spanish

juventud

/xubenˈtud/

fem.learned

French

jeunesse

/ʒœnɛs/

fem.other source · jeune 'young' (Latin IUVENEM) + -esse

Italian

gioventù

/dʒovenˈtu/

fem.inherited

Giovinezza, built on giovane, is a common synonym.

Portuguese

juventude

/ʒuvẽˈtudʒi/

fem.learned

Romanian

tinerețe

/tineˈretse/

fem.other source · tânăr 'young' (Latin TENERUM 'tender') + -ețe

Catalan

joventut

/ʒubənˈtut/

fem.learned

English

youth

/juθ/

Indo-European kin · PIE *yeu- 'youthful vigor'

Young and youth are Germanic relatives of Latin IUVENIS; juvenile is the borrowed cousin.

English → Italianyouth (being young)gioventùDistant cognateRelated only through Indo-European, thousands of years back (night ~ noche). But English has relatives: juvenile, junior, rejuvenate.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

IUVENTŪTEM‘youth’

All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.

The story

Latin I- turned into three different sounds: Spanish j [x], French j [ʒ], Italian gi [dʒ]. French built its noun on jeune instead of keeping the Latin one.

English relatives: juvenile, junior, rejuvenate

Sound laws at work

Initial I- (J-) and G before E, I

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In a sentence

  • esEn mi juventud viví en París.
  • frDans ma jeunesse, j'ai vécu à Paris.
  • itIn gioventù ho vissuto a Parigi.
  • ptNa juventude, morei em Paris.
  • roÎn tinerețe am locuit la Paris.
  • caDe jove vaig viure a París.
  • enIn my youth I lived in Paris.

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