Etymological game (1)

Question

According to Grimm's law, the original p sound of the Indo-European (at least 3 millennia ago) changed to f.

*p?ter ? fader ? father (Latin *p?ter ? pater ? padre)

ped ?fot ? foot (Latin *ped ? pes/pedis ? pie)

peisk- ?fiskaz ? fish (Latin *peisk ? piscis ? pez)

The challenge: can you suggest any other related words where Spanish uses P, English uses F? Don't be shy, you might accidentally find a connection that has not been noted before.

Nice idea Lazarus, I'm going crazy trying to think of one though. I don't suppose photo and fóto count. - Yeser007, May 1, 2011

category - 00494d19, May 1, 2011

wow I think all of the possible guesses are already listed! - 00b6f46c, May 1, 2011

Me too Lovely - ian-hill, May 1, 2011

Answer 1

From *pele (to fill):

*pele ? *fullaz ? full

*pele ? *fullaz ? fyllan (Old Eng.) ? fill

*pele ? plenus (Lat.) ? pleno / lleno ? llenar (also plenum in English)

Esto es la mar de interesante, a ver si propones más juegos de estos en un futuro. :) - cogumela, May 2, 2011

Answer 2

Etymologists should rely on fora more often: some of the suggestions are really interesting and unexpected. You have made me work really hard checking my etymological dictionaries.

Answer 3

por - for

It looks simple, but all hints point toward a common ancestor here. - lazarus1907, May 1, 2011

Answer 4

Hmm

Foam - Espuma

Film - Película

Full- Pleno, lleno.

That cannot be a guess; too perfect! Nice ones. - lazarus1907, May 1, 2011

Answer 5

forecast - pronóstico

Again, same use of a similar prefix, but a different word used to achieve the same effect. - lazarus1907, May 1, 2011

Answer 6

*p?ter ? fader ? father (Latin *p?ter ? pater ? padre)

Interestingly enough, there do exist several related words which remain more faithful to the original spelling (suggesting a closer and more recent relationship to Latin amongst these words):

Paternity

Paternal

Paternalism

Paternoster

Indeed. - lazarus1907, May 1, 2011

Answer 7

feather - pluma

fee - peaje

few - poco

fight - pelea

first - primer

floor - piso

Feather and pluma are correct, first and primer have chances of being related, and piso and floor have a chance. - lazarus1907, May 1, 2011

I'm impressed!!! - GaryT, May 1, 2011

Answer 8

preeminente -> foremost

The prefix is related; the rest is pure coincidence. - lazarus1907, May 1, 2011

Answer 9

Primero > first

Well spot! - lazarus1907, May 1, 2011

Answer 10

p -> f: poco - few, from Proto-Indo-European pau- (little, few, small)

In Spanish, tampoco (tan + poco / so + little), apocope / apócope, pobre, paupérrimo, pedrastra (=paedophile), pollo, pulular...

Related: from Latin parvus (little): paraffin / parafina ("little affinitiy" to other substances), párvulo (little boy), pueril / pueril (from Latin puer, child), pony / pony, pusillanimous / pusilánime (small + animous/courage), pauper (cf. pobre, paupérrimo)

In Greek pais- (child): pediatrics / pediatría, encyclopaedia (in circles + education/child upbringing), orthopaedics / ortopedia (correct + child), paedophilia / pedofilia (child + loving), pedagogy / pedagogía (child + leading)

¡Halaaa! - cogumela, May 11, 2011

http://wordinfo.info/unit/2802?letter=P&spage=3 - RAWRKAL, Nov 18, 2011

Answer 11

Fade, faint- Pálido

Not related, but pale is.

From- a partir de

From is related to pro and para.

Fear- Peligro

That's a match! Also: pirate.

Performance - representación

Performance is Latin, from per + formare, not Germanic. Not related.

Fold - Plegar

There is no agreement on this, but it is very likely. Also, diploma (folded in two), falda (with folds), double,

Fair- Parcial

Not related.

Fast - Presto

Fast meant originally firm, and presto comes from prae- (before) + stare.

Flint- Piedra

Flint is likely to be related to plinto.

Ophthalmos- Óptica

Why stop there? Include also: eye, myopia, autopsy, antiquity ("before" looking)

Soph- Sapiencia

This one is Greek, but yes, they are related.

Phyto- Planta

Phyto is plant, but these words are not related.

Lymph- Linfa ( Sangre limpia)

There is no P here, hehe.

Ops.. qué desastre. Tenía entendido que linfa proviene de límpido, fluído limpio, a eso me refería con la p. Gracias Lazarus. :) - cogumela, May 2, 2011

¿Oye y tú cómo sabes tantas cosas? - cogumela, May 2, 2011

Algunas las tengo que consultar, no te creas. Lo que ocurre es que le dedico mucho tiempo. - lazarus1907, May 2, 2011

Answer 12

Plateau and flat?

I think that you might have meant "flat" and "plato" - Izanoni1, May 1, 2011

Good guess, though! - lazarus1907, May 1, 2011

mesa - tuscantory, Jan 7, 2012

Answer 13

filth - porquería feed - pienso feel - palpar

now, tell me about : feces and heces! ?

Good one! "Heces" lost the F sound from Latin, like "harina" (farina), "humo" (fumus) and many others. - lazarus1907, May 1, 2011

Answer 14

Prever - foresee

The internal structure of the word and the prefix used are closely related, but “ver” and “see” are not. - lazarus1907, May 1, 2011

Answer 15

I'll play.

puño -> fist.

Do you only get one guess?

Interesting connection, but fist is likely to mean "five" originally, while puño has a different root, related to repugnant, among other terms. - lazarus1907, May 1, 2011