The source of Sp. viernes
Sp. viernes
‘Friday’ comes from Latin vĕnĕrĭs ‘of
Venus’ or, actually, from the Latin phrase diēs
vĕnĕrĭs ‘day of Venus’ by the
dropping of the first word, as in the case of the other names of the days of
the week that we have seen. The word vĕnĕrĭs
was the genitive case wordform of the noun and name vĕnus.
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In the Roman pantheon of gods, Venus was the goddess
of sexual love, sexual desire, beauty, fertility and fecundity, as well as prosperity
and victory. The name of the goddess comes from the Latin noun vĕnus that means ‘sexual
love’ and ‘sexual desire’, but also ‘loveliness, attractiveness, beauty, grace,
elegance, charm’. Both the noun and the name were written VENUS in Latin,
pronounced [ˈwɛ.nʊs]. The Romans adopted many of the symbols and
iconography for this goddess from those of its Greek counterpart, Αφροδίτη (Afrodíti),
which are rendered as Aphrodite in
English and Afrodita in Spanish.
The second planet from our Sun, and the closest planet to
Earth, was named after this goddess by the ancient Romans and that name has
been passed on to the many modern languages, cf. Eng. Venus /ˈvi.nəs/ ~ Sp. Venus /ˈbe.nus/.
The planet Venus was known to many ancient cultures by two names, for they
thought the planet as it appears in the morning was a different entity from the
one as it appears at night. In English, these two names are typically rendered
as the morning star (Sp. lucero del alba, lucero de la mañana) and the evening
star (Sp. lucero vespertino, lucero de la tarde).[1]
The nominative case of the word vĕnus was irregular, for the regular stem for this word
was vĕnĕr‑,
which is what we find in all of this noun’s case wordforms except in the
nominative and vocative singular, which were reduced to vĕnus. However, at one point the nominative case was
the regular vĕnĕrus
(vĕnĕr‑us),
as evidenced in early Latin inscriptions. The root at the core of this word is vĕn‑, from the Proto-Indo-European
verbal root *wenh₁‑ (or u̯en‑, u̯enə‑), meaning ‘to strive’,
‘to wish’, and ‘to love’. The additional letters ‑er‑ between the root and the inflectional ending presumably come
from some kind of a suffix in early Latin or earlier.
The word vĕnĕrĭs
was pronounced with stress on the first ĕ,
the antepenultimate syllable, since the penultimate syllable is light (it has a
short vowel and does not end in a consonant), following the standard pattern of
stress in Classical Latin. Also remember that the initial v was pronounced as a [w]. The word was thus pronounced [ˈwɛ.nɛ.ɾɪs] in Latin.
The derivation of the word viernes from Lat. vĕnĕrĭs
has some interesting twists. Two of the changes are quite unremarkable, namely the
initial stressed ĕ becoming ie and the final ĭ becoming e. Both of
these changes are expected. They are, for instance, the same regular changes
that we saw for the word miércoles
(cf. Part I, Chapter 10,
§10.3).
The more unusual sound changes are the following:
- the loss of the medial vowel ĕ
- the reversal of order (metathesis) of the n and the r
Actually, the loss of the medial vowel ĕ is not unusual at all, for Latin
words that had three syllables and initial stress typically lost the
medial vowel, also known as an intertonic vowel, by the time they got to Old
Spanish, e.g. Lat. asĭnus
> Sp. asno ‘donkey’ and Lat. regula
> Sp. (semi-learned) regla (and
patrimonial reja). Since Latin vĕnĕrĭs was stressed in the first ĕ, the second ĕ was an intertonic vowel and, as such, it was pronounced less
strongly and eventually disappeared in the evolution of Latin.
When the middle ĕ
disappeared, it resulted in a word, *vienres,
that contained a consonant cluster, ‑nr‑,
that was uncommon and, presumably, difficult to pronounce (Old Spanish clusters
that result from vowel loss are known as secondary
consonant clusters, Sp. grupos consonánticos
secundarios, cf. Part I, Chapter 10,
§10.4.7).
Old Spanish solved the problem by inverting the order of n and r, giving us viernes instead of *vienres, which seems to have made the word easier to pronounce.
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When such an ‑nr‑
cluster was created in Old Spanish by the loss of an intervening vowel,
sometimes the solution was to add a ‑d‑
in between the two consonants, rather than inverting them. That is the solution
we find in irregular future tense verb forms such as vendrás, from *venirás
(< venir has). Interestingly, that
solution is what we find in the French and Catalan versions of the word for
‘Friday’. The name for Friday in Catalan is divendres,
from Lat. dĭĕs vĕnĕrĭs. And from the same phrase in reverse
order, vĕnĕrĭs dĭĕs, French gets vendredi.
The word in Standard Italian follows the same pattern as the French one since
it is venerdì. Galician gets the name
for ‘Friday’ from just vĕnĕrĭs, like
Spanish does, but without the diphthonguization of the ĕ or the
reversal of n and r: venres.
(In Portuguese, which as we saw does not follow this pattern, the word for
Friday is sexta-feira.)
Words derived from vener-
There aren’t many words derived from the name of the Latin
name Venus or the Latin noun venus in English or Spanish. There is
one, however, that everyone is familiar with. I am referring to the semi-cognate
adjectives Eng. venereal and Sp. venéreo/a. Their meaning is ‘related to sexual
intercourse or the genitals’, and it is used primarily in the phrases Eng. venereal disease (often abbreviated as VD)
and Sp. enfermedad venérea.
These are loanwords from the Latin adjective vĕnĕrĕus or vĕnĕrĭus that meant ‘of or belonging to sexual love’ or ‘of or
belonging to Venus’. This adjective was formed with the stem vĕnĕr‑ we just discussed and the suffix ‑ĕ‑
that formed first/second declension adjectives, resulting in the masculine ‑ĕus
and feminine ‑ĕa endings. When English borrowed this word in the
early 15th century, it added the derivational Latinate adjectival suffix ‑al to this adjective, resulting in Eng. venereal, whereas Spanish just adapted
the inflectional ending ‑us/‑a to their Spanish equivalent forms: ‑o/‑a,
giving us venéreo/a. It is because of
this additional derivational ‑al
suffix in the English word that we say the two words are semi-cognates, not true
cognates. Actually, this is just a technicality, for the original Latin sourceword
is the same one in both cases, namely Lat. vĕnĕrĕus.
The only difference is that English added the suffix ‑al to the Latin word to make it look more like an adjective.
From the same stem vĕnĕr‑,
Medieval Latin created the word vĕnĕrĭa
for ‘sexual intercourse’. This word was borrowed into English in the mid-15th
century as venery /ˈvɛn.ə.ɹi/, with the meaning ‘the
pursuit of or indulgence in sexual pleasure’ (MWC). That word is now considered
archaic by some dictionaries, though not all. It is definitely not a common
word, however.
The Latin stem vĕnĕr‑
is also found in Latin verb vĕnĕrārī
(later also vĕnĕrāre)
‘to worship, adore, revere, venerate, worship, etc.’. This verb has given us
the learned cognates Eng. venerate /ˈvɛn.əɹ.eɪ̯t/
and Sp. venerar /be.ne.ˈɾaɾ/, meaning ‘to regard with respect, reverence, or
heartfelt deference’ (AHD). Sp. venerar
is first attested in the 15th century and in English in the 17th century.
The derived nouns Eng. veneration
and Sp. veneración are first attested
in English in the early 15th century. They come from Lat. vĕnĕrātĭo, meaning ‘the act of venerating’ and ‘the highest
respect, reverence, veneration’. This Latin noun is derived from the passive
participle stem vĕnĕrāt‑ of the verb
and the noun suffix ‑iōn‑
(vĕn‑ĕr‑ā‑t‑ĭ‑ōn‑).
Another pair of cognates derived from the Latin verb vĕnĕrārī are
Eng. venerable /ˈvɛn.əɹ.əb.əl/
and Sp. venerable /be.ne.ˈɾa.ble/. They come from Lat. vĕnĕrābĭlis ‘worthy of respect or
reverence, reverend, venerable’, formed with the adjectival suffix ‑bĭl‑ (vĕn‑ĕr‑ā‑bĭl‑is).
Other words derived from the root wen-
As we mentioned earlier, the Latin root vĕn‑ is at the root of the stem vĕnĕr‑, a root that goes back to a reconstructed Proto-Indo-European
verbal root *wenh₁‑ (or u̯en‑, u̯enə‑), meaning ‘to strive’,
‘to wish, desire’, and, from that, ‘to love’. There are other Latin
words that contain this root, some of which have made it into English and
Spanish.
The Latin root vĕn‑
should not be confused, however, with the root vēn‑ (with a long ē‑), as in the Latin noun vēnus ‘sale, purchase’, which
is found in words like Eng. venal ~
Sp. venal ‘showing or motivated by
susceptibility to bribery’ (COED), as well as in the very common Spanish verb vender ‘to sell’, from Lat. vēndĕre ‘to
sell’, derived from the phrase vēnum dāre
‘to give for sale’ (cf. Eng. to vend;
cf. Lat. vēnīre ‘to be sold’).
Lat. vĕnĭa
is a noun derived from the root vĕn‑.
Besides the root vĕn‑,
it contains the remnant of an ancient derivational suffix ‑ĭ‑ (vĕn‑ĭ‑a;
cf. Proto-Indo-European *wn̥h₁-yeh₂‑).
This word meant ‘indulgence, kindness, favor, permission, forgiveness’. Spanish
borrowed it as venia /ˈbe.ni̯a/, with pretty much the same
meaning. Although it is attested as early as the 13th century, it remains a
fancy word, certainly not a common one. It is used for instance in courts of
law, in expressions such as con la venia
de la sala ‘with the permission of the court’. In parts of South America is
used with the sense of ‘head bow’.
English has not borrowed Lat. vĕnĭa, but both English and
Spanish have borrowed an adjective derived from it, namely Late Lat. vĕnĭālis, derived with the adjectival suffix ‑āl‑. This adjective meant ‘gracious’ or
‘pardonable, forgivable’ (vĕnĭ‑āl‑is). IT was borrowed as Eng. venial
/ˈvi.nɪəl/ and Sp. venial /be.ˈni̯al/. In Christian theology, this adjective
defined a kind of sin, Eng. venial sins
and Sp. pecados veniales, that is
less serious than mortal sins (Sp. pecados mortales).[2]
The word venial is sometimes confused
with the word venal but, as we saw,
the two words are unrelated.
Spanish has another word that derives from a Latin word
containing this root. It is a learned and literary word and it is quite rare.
The word is the adjective venusto/a, meaning ‘beautiful’
(synonym of bello/a). It is safe to
say that most Spanish speakers have never heard of it. It is a learned
borrowing from Lat. venustus/a, with
the same meaning, whose stem has been reconstructed as coming from
Proto-Indo-European *wenh₁-os-to‑,
with two derivational suffixes added to the root wĕn‑.
The cognates Eng. venom and Sp. veneno also come from a Latin
word containing the same root. The word was vĕnēnum,
meaning ‘potion, juice’ as well as ‘poison, venom’. This word has been
reconstructed as coming from Proto-Indo-European stem *wenes‑no‑, meaning ‘lust, desire’.
English got this word from Old French venim, which came from Vulgar Latin *venimem, an alteration of the original Latin word vĕnēnum.
Spanish, on the other hand, got the word as a loanword directly from Latin
(first attested in the 13th century). From the noun venom, English has created the adjective venomous (earlier venomous).
The Spanish equivalent is venenoso/a.
Both words can be traced back to Latin vĕnēnōsus,
formed from the noun by the first/second declension adjectival suffix ‑ōs‑
(vĕnēn‑ōs‑us). Another
difference between Sp. veneno and
Eng. venom is that Spanish has
developed a verb from this noun using the en‑X-ar
construction that turns nouns and adjectives into verbs (cf. Part I, Chapter 5,
5.6.2.1). The verb is envenenar and it means ‘to poison’.
The cognates Eng. venom
and Sp. veneno are semi-false
friends, since although they have the same source, their meanings overlap only
partially. Sp. veneno means ‘deadly
substance’ and can translate either Eng. poison
or Eng. venom. Eng. venom means ‘poisonous fluid secreted by
animals’ and does not apply to other poisonous fluids. In addition, venom has the figurative (non-literal),
extended sense of ‘extreme malice and bitterness’ that its Spanish cognate
lacks.
There is a pair of Latinate semi-cognates in Spanish that
also derive ultimately from the root vĕn‑,
namely Eng. venison and Sp. venado. Sp. venado means ‘stag,
deer’, as well as ‘venison, deer meat’. Eng. venison means ‘deer meat’
(Sp. carne de venado), though
originally it meant ‘the meat of any large, wild animal, and, in particular,
deer or boar’. These nouns come from related Latin nouns derived from the Latin
verb vēnārī ‘to hunt, pursue’, a verb
derived from the root vĕn‑
(though note the long ē). As most Latin nouns
derived from verbs, they are derived from the passive participle stem, in this
case vēnāt‑
(from the passive participle vēnātus/a).
In the case of Sp. venado, it comes
directly from the converted, nominalized passive participle vēnātus, which
as a participle, translates as ‘hunted’, but as a noun, as ‘hunt, hunting,
chase’. Eventually, this word came to mean ‘hunted animal’ in the descendant
languages. Eng. venison, on the other
hand comes from Old French, with multiple possible spellings (Modern Fr. venaison), and ultimately from Lat. vēnātĭo (regular stem: vēnātĭōn-), derived from the
same participle stem vēnāt‑
and the noun suffix ‑ĭōn‑, which also meant
originally ‘chase, (the act of) hunting, chasing’.
Finally, we should mention that there are a few native,
Germanic words in English that are derived from the same Proto-Indo-European
root *wenh₁‑ ‘to desire, strive for’,
the most common ones being win, wean, wish, and wont. These words
have no Spanish cognates. Let us take a quick look at the first two.
The English verb to win
comes from Old Eng. winnan ‘to labor,
strive, struggle for’. As we can see, the original meaning of this verb in Old
English remains quite unchanged from the original meaning of the root in
Proto-Indo-European. Eng. win
translates into Spanish as ganar,
though this verb has the secondary sense ‘to earn’, which Eng. win lacks.
Eng. wean /ˈwin/ comes from O.Eng. węnian ‘to accustom’ and it means
primarily ‘to gradually train an infant to eat regular food instead of
suckling’, though it can also be used figuratively with the meaning ‘to make
someone gradually stop doing something you disapprove of’ (DOCE). The literal
meaning of wean translates into
Spanish as destetar (< teta ‘teat’) and the figurative one as deshabituar or quitar la costumbre.
[GO TO PART 7]
[GO TO PART 7]
[1] The Chinese referred to morning Venus as ‘the
Great White’ (Tai-bai 太白) or ‘the Opener (Starter) of Brightness’ (Qi-ming 啟明) and to the evening Venus as ‘the Excellent
West One’ (Chang-geng 長庚). The Ancient Greeks referred to morning Venus as Φωσφόρος (Phōsphoros; Latinized as Phosphorus), which literally meant ‘bringer of light’, or as Ἑωσφόρος (Heōsphoros; Latinized
as Heosphoros), which literally meant
‘bringer of dawn’. And the Greeks referred to evening Venus as Ἓσπερος (Hesperos; Latinized as Hesperus), meaning ‘evening’. The Romans
calqued these Greek names as Lūcifer
‘bringer of light’ and Vesper ‘the
evening, even, eve, even-tide’. Ever since the Hebrew Bible was translated into
Latin, the name Lucifer has been
associated with the devil or, more accurately, with ‘the archangel cast from
heaven for leading the revolt of the angels’ (AHD), also known as Satan. That is because in the Latin
version of the Bible (the Vulgate), lucifer
(with a lower case) is used to translate ἑωσφόρος (heōsphoros) in the Greek version, which is used to translate the Hebrew word הֵילֵל (Hêlêl or Heylel), ‘shining
one, light-bearer’, in Isaiah 14:12. Later in Christian tradition, the word Lucifer was used to refer to the devil
as he was before the fall and thus it has become an alternative name for Satan
(Sp. Satanás) or the Devil (el Diablo).
[2] In Thomist (Roman Catholic, from Thomas Aquinas) theology, a mortal sin
is one ‘such as murder or blasphemy, that is so heinous it deprives the soul of
sanctifying grace and causes damnation if unpardoned at the time of death’
(AHD). A venial sin, on the other hand, is ‘an offense that is judged to be
minor or committed without deliberate intent and thus does not estrange the
soul from the grace of God’ (AHD).
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