* Headword
falta (p.16): This word can also mean "foul" in sports. (thanks Marina)
* Headword
real (p.17): To help remember the sense of "royal", note that many Spanish sports clubs call themselves real, most notably Real Madrid. (thanks Marina)
* Headword
claro (p.17): This word can also mean "yes", "certainly". (thanks Oscar)
* Headword
dinero (p.19): "The
dinar or
denar is a main currency unit in modern circulation in nine mostly-Islamic countries", according to
Wikipedia. That's a perfect cognate if you know this currency. (thanks urdubyoddballs)
* Headword
ambos (p.19): Cognate with the first element of
ambidextrous and
ambivalent, i.e.,
ambi-. (thanks Miranda Metheny)
* Headword
soler (p.25): Add to the end "The rule is that when there’s a stress on any syllable other than the first, the conjugated form begins with
so-, otherwise
sue-, which is the stressed form of
so."
* Headword
venir (P.26): Add "This word is irregular, e.g.
yo vengo (“I come”),
yo venga (“I (would) come” in subjunctive). But if you isolate
ng in these conjugation forms and think of it as
ñ or
ni, they no longer look that irregular. This is actually based on etymology, not pure mnemonics."
* Headword
corazón (p.28): While suffix -
ón is normally augmentative,
corazón refers to "heart" regardless size. But one scholar said that the word originally referred to the heart of a warrior or lover.
* Headword
miedo (p.28): Add "Alternatively, as a mnemonic, imagine a bad guy raising his
middle finger and that causes a feeling of discomfort or fear."
* Headword
suerte (p.31): Change the bulk of text to "Cognate with
sorcery, and
sortie, which came from French meaning “an attack made by troops coming out from a position of defense”. The basic meaning is “coming out”. Raffle or lottery is basically a drawing game in which you draw a ticket out of many."
* Headword
pierna (p.32): Just use
pie meaning "foot" as a mnemonic; the foot generally speaking is part of the leg.
* Headword
obstante (p.34): See blog posting
sin embargo and non obstante.
* Headword
flor (p.36): Add "Note that this word is feminine; as a mnemonic, consider the fact that in most cultures, women are likened to flowers."
* Headword
casa (p.36): Change text to "Cognate with a rare word
chasuble (“outermost liturgical vestment worn by clergy”).
Casa Blanca, “White House”, refers to the US president’s office and is also the title of the famous movie. Alternatively, use
case as a mnemonic and imagine a house like a case or box."
* Headword
listo (p.37): Change definition to "(with
estar) ready, prepared; (with
ser) clever, smart" and add "Note the verbs used; it makes sense if you consider that
estar is for the current state and
ser for the regular, persistent, status."
* Headwords
peligro,
peligroso (p.38),
milagro (p.93),
Argelia (p.160): The alternative explanation is the metathesis between
r and
l in the word.
* Headword
aceite (p.41): Append "and so remember the first letter
a-" to "Arabic origin". Append "Or “Oil comes from
seed.”" as a mnemonic.
* Headword
cumplir (p.43): Add "to comply (cognate)" to the definition and remove "Also cognate with
comply..."
* Headword
caber (p.44): Remove "to enter" from definition, and add
capacity as a cognate.
* Headword
acabar (p.46): Add "or
acabar por followed by the infinitive;
acabar de, “just (did)”."
* Headword
sentir (p.47): "to feel" should be "to feel (by touching etc.); (reflexive) to feel (a personal feeling)".
* Headword
gasto (p.51): Mnemonic could also be
costear ("to afford", "to pay for") as in "costear ese gasto" since the two words are used in Spanish. (thanks Julian Descaillaux)
* Headwords
temor,
temer (p.55): Add "If you know the 14th century Turco-Mongol conqueror
Timur or
Tamerlane, who committed widespread atrocities (just as Genghis Khan did shortly before him), use his name as a mnemonic."
* Headword
perro (p.60): Append after "Uncertain etymology", "One theory considers the word an onomatopoeia, as if a dog makes the
perr-perr sound, which at least serves as a good mnemonic. "
* Headword
sida (p.67): Add "this word is used as a masculine noun in spite of -
a ending because
síndrome is masculine".
* Headword
esquina (p.70): Change the mnemonics to "As a mnemonic, think of
squint, one of whose meanings is “to look sideways”, and think of the corner of your eyes. Or think of
exquisite corners of nicely built furniture."
* Headword
cola (p.71): Add the definition "glue", and append to the paragraph "In the sense of “glue”, cognate with
colloid (“a mixture of fine insoluble particles dispersed in a medium without precipitation, such as milk-water mixture”)."
* Headword
estancia (p.74): Add "cognate with
stand".
* Headword
techo (p.74): Remove definition "roof" as that is
tejado. Add "Cognate with
tile,
tectum (“top of midbrain”), with the root of
protect (literally “to cover”) and
detect (literally “to take off cover”)." Change the mnemonic to "Think of the fact that an office building is
technically equipped when Ethernet cables go above the ceiling." Add "See also
tejado (“roof”)".
* Headword
guía (p.75): Add "Note that in spite of -
a ending,
guía when referring to a person is either masculine or feminine depending on the person’s gender;
guío does not exist (except as the first person singular for the verb
guiar)."
* Headword
tocar (p.75): Add 3rd meaning to
tocar "to be someone’s time or turn". Append to the end of the paragraph: "Note that to play a musical instrument, you don’t play (
jugar) in Spanish but touch, as if Spaniards were more gentle to it. To understand the third meaning as in
me toca jugar (“it’s my turn to play”), think of “I’m touched (by the invisible game moderator) to play”."
* Headword
testigo (p.76): Change "or even,
testicle" to "or if you don’t mind disputed etymology,
testicle" and add "Note this word can be feminine when referring to a woman, e.g.
la testigo; the form
testiga does not exist".
* Headword
cebolla (p.77): Append "Or call an onion “
this
ball”"
* Headwords
mentira,
mentir (p.83): Add "Cognate with
mendacious (“lying”, “not true”),
mendacity". Remove "The meaning of ..." to the end.
* Headword
risa (p.79): Append "
risible (“about laughter”; “provoking laughter”)" to "
ridicule".
* Headword
ensayo (p.80): Change the whole paragraph to "trial, test, assay (cognate); essay (“literary composition”) (cognate); rehearsal. The English word
essay no longer has the meaning of “attempt” or “test” when it was borrowed from Middle French as the French thinker Michel de Montaigne wrote his
Essais (meaning literally “experiment”, “attemp”), which made
essai a general word referring to the genre of literary writing. The English doublet
assay still means “test”, specifically, “testing of chemical composition”."
* Headword
zapato (p.81): Add "You may have heard of the online shoe retailer Zappos, which was named after this Spanish word."
* Headword
tejido (p.83): Change "tissue" to "tissue (cognate)".
* Headword
mancha (p.84): Add "Alternatively, use
munch as a mnemonic and imagine a hungry baby stuffing himself with food and soiling his clothes, or “my cup of
mocha spilled and stained my clothes”."
* Headword
vergüenza (p.84): A better mnemonic would be "
feel guilt".
* Headword
enterar (p.84): Append: It’s easy to confuse
enterar with its doublet
entregar. As a mnemonic, imagine an informant has to
enter the door to inform you of secret news while a delivery man only needs to come to the
entrance of your house. But be careful not to confuse
enterar with
entrar (“to enter”) or
enterrar (“to bury”). See also
entrega (“delivery”).
* Headword
pelota (p.85): Also cognate with
pellet.
* Headword
sacerdote (p.94): Add "When specifically referring to a Catholic priest, the word is synonymous with
cura (which, by the way, is a masculine noun), although common people may not know the difference."
* Headword
piña (p.95): Change the mnemonic to "as a mnemonic, associate falling off a cliff with
pain, or
pena in Spanish"
.
* Headword
fallo (p.98): Add "The second meaning is probably a different word in this form and is related to
hallar (“to find”), in which
h- is from
f-. See also
hallar."
* Headword
tramo (p.109): Change the text to "The first element is cognate with
tract, related to
traer (“to bring”), and the second element with the root of
permeate. The word can be literally interpreted as “passing through”. Or use a mnemonic ..."
* Headword
llave (p.101): Add "Doublet with
clave (“key”, “important part of an issue”; “music key”)" and "Note that this word, just like
clave, is feminine."
* Headword
desayuno (p.111): Add "English
breakfast literally means "breaking i.e. ending fasting", just like
desayuno does."
* Headword
gordo (p.116): Add "As a mnemonic, just imagine a fat man like a
gourd."
* Headword
trigo (p.117): Add the mnemonic "Or imagine in the old days when food was in shortage, on the night of Halloween, hungry little kids said “
Trick or treat” wanting to get wheat, not candies."
* Headword
pez (p.118): Add "This word is masculine. For a female fish, say
un pez hembra."
* Headword
hueco (p.118): Add mnemonic "Use
hulk (“an old ship stripped of all internal fittings”) as a mnemonic ."
* Headword
índole (p.121): Add "You can use a mnemonic such as “a man of
indolent nature”."
* Headword
censor (p.122): Change the text to "Not to be confused with English
censorship (
censura in Spanish) or
censor (same spelling in Spanish as noun,
censurar as verb) (cognate). To remember which is which, as a mnemonic, remember to switch the second syllable vowel between English and Spanish,
o to
u and
u to
o, except for the noun
censor which stays the same in English and Spanish."
* Headword
desprecio,
despreciar (p.122): Change the text to "In spite of the cognation,
despreciar and
depreciar have very different meanings. As a mnemonic, note the prefix
des-, with one more letter
s, adds an emotional connotation."
* Headwords
disparo and
disparar: Add headword
disparate with definition "olly, nonsense,
tontería; blunder". Append to the paragraph "The word
disparate is a blend of
desbarate and
disparar, and the root of
desbarate is the same as
barato (“cheap”, cognate with
barter), which used to mean “to cheat”."
* Headword
aldea (p.126): Change the mnemonic to “This village is under the scrutiny of
DEA or Drug Enforcement Administration because of their drug trafficking problem”.
* Headword
Suecia (p.129) and
Suiza (p.174): In spite of lack of
d in the second syllable,
Suecia, the name for Sweden in Spanish has
e instead of
i as part of the vowel in this syllable (as in Portuguese, Italian, but not French). In contrast, the name for Switzerland (
Suiza) uses
i. This is easy to remember if you notice the English words begin with
Swe (regardless the pronunciation) and
Swi, respectively.
* Headword
trampa (p.130): Add "Mary Trump in her book
Too Much - Never Enough (Spanish edition) says, “hace trampa como una forma de vida” (“he cheats as a way of life”)."
* Headword
comarca (p.133): Change to "The prefix
co- may have been
con- (“together”) or just serves as an intensifier, with no real additional meaning. The root -
marca is also cognate with
margin."
* Headword
gallo (p.137): Add "
Gallic rooster is an unofficial national symbol of France, because in Latin,
gallus (“rooster”) and
Gallus (“Gauls”) are pronounced the same in spite of unrelated etymology."
* Headword
sumo (p.138): Add "Doublet with
suma (“sum”), which has a different meaning (not to be confused with the feminine form of
sumo). To remember which is which, as a mnemonic, imagine a man as a mountain climber going to a peak and a woman an accountant summing numbers."
* Headword
tardar (p.138): Move "to take time, to last" to the first definition, and add to the end "The first meaning is most common, e.g.
se tarda una hora en hacer el trabajo (“it takes an hour to do the work”)." And add "Note
a más tardar means “at the latest”, “no later than”, not “later”."
* Headword
allende (p.140): Change the first mnemonic to “All end here; what you’re looking for is beyond or outside of this area”.
* Headword
cólera (p.140): Add "The title of Colombian novelist Gabriel García Márquez’s
El amor en los tiempos del cólera (“Love in the Time of Cholera”) uses this word as a pun taking both sense, but anger is more like passion in this work."
* Headword
quiebra (p.142): Remove the headword
quebrar from this paragraph. Move the headword
quebrada from p.219 to this paragraph. Remove the words about doublet.
* Headword
rodaje (p.144): Add "Before digital technology, the tape was rolled in shooting a film."
* Headword
charla,
charlar (p.145): Add "Cognate with
charlatan if we consider the common Italian origin of both words. Imagine a charlatan glibly talking about the product he’s peddling."
* Headword
corbata (p.147): Add "Or use
collar button as a mnemonic. Or just think of wearing a tie as
corporate dress code."
* Headword
barato (p.148): Add "Alternatively, use
bajo (“low”) as a mnemonic."
* Headword
hembra (p.148): Add "Technically this word can refer to an animal or a human, but
mujer is much more respectful when referring to a woman. If you see the checkboxes for sex or gender in a form with just single letters H and M, assume
hombre and
mujer, respectively, not
hembra and
macho."
* Headwords
ligado,
ligar (p.154): Append to the definition of
ligar"(followed by
con, “with”) to flirt, to make out, to hook up".
* Headword
prenda (p.154): Move the definition "garment, single piece of clothing" to the first. Add/modify "Cognate with
pignorate (“to pledge”) ... In the sense of “clothing”, it’s more common to occur in plural,
prendas (“clothes”). It’s not clear how this sense came about. Imagine clothes could be used as a pledge in ancient times."
* Headword
legado (p.161): Add "Alternatively, as a mnemonic, think of -
do as a kind of suffix (just like -
ado or -
ido for a past participle) so focus your attention on the first part of the word only."
* Headword
filo (p.163): Add "related to or doublet with
fila (“line”, “row”) ... To avoid confusing the meanings of
filo and
fila, as a mnemonic, imagine a man holding a sharp-edged sword while a woman holding a line of thread."
* Headword
beca (p.165): Change to "Either of Hebrew origin, or from Latin (through Italian) referring to a nobleman’s headdress which resembles a bird’s beak, therefore cognate with
beak. Imagine a scholar wearing such a headdress being granted research fund. Or use a mnemonic such as “Re
becca got her scholarship."
* Headword
arce (p.166): Delete the extra "with". Add "Alternatively, as a mnemonic, imagine two red-leaf maple trees on the two sides of a beautiful
arc in a garden. Or imagine the legendary King
Arthur not only defeated the Saxon invaders but also voyaged to Canada and saw mountains of maple trees."
* Headword
atrever (reflexive),
atrevido (p.171): Add "Not to be confused with
atravesar (“to cross”, “to pass through”). You can use a mnemonic such as “to dare to
traverse or cross the death valley”."
* Headword
brindar (p.167): Append "Use
bring as a mnemonic."
* Headword
concebir (p.173): Add "From Latin
concipere (“to conceive”), where the third syllable consonant
p changed to
b when inherited by Spanish but to
v in Old French (hence English). Superficially, we can think of a
b-
v conversion."
* Headword
mozo (p.174): Change the text to "There are various etymological theories about this word, including one that connects it to
muchacho (“boy”). Alternatively, we know that the Biblical name
Moses, according to one theory, means “child of” in Egyptian (see
Wikipedia for Moses and its
reference that states “
Moses is derived from the common element in names such as
Thutmosis (‘
Thoth created him’)...)”. For lack of definitive proof, we can at least take
Moses as a mnemonic for
mozo and imagine him as a young boy or young man."
* Headword
lienzo (p.176): Change "linen (cognate)" to "linen (possible cognate)".
* Headword
cocer (p.178): Change text to "In general, cooking is
cocinar, while
cocer specifically refers to cooking by simmering, boiling or steaming. Not to be confused with
coser (“to sew”)."
* Headword
cabildo (p.179): Also cognate with
capital, which may better help remember this word.
* Headword
licitación,
licitar (p.179): Add "Alternatively, use a mnemonic such as “This small unknown company keeps so
liciting a bid for this contract.”"
* Headword
alojamiento,
alojar (p.180): Add "Alternatively, use Hawaiian
Aloha! as a mnemonic as if you’re greeted by a hostess at a Hawaiian hotel."
* Headword
Platón (p.180): Add "But English has
platonic (as in
platonic love), and
Platonism (“Plato’s philosophy”),
Neoplatonism."
* Headword
yacimiento,
yacer (p.181): Change all the text to "Cognate with the root of
adjacent. Think of lying down on the side of or adjacent to something."
* Headword
conejo (p.181): Append "A guinea pig is
un conejillo de indias in Spanish, literally “a little rabbit from Indias”; but it may be called by other names depending on the country."
* Headword
constatar (p.181): The root is cognate with
state (“to declare in words”). Prefix
con- (which is from Latin
cum “together”) may be considered an intensifier. According to F.E.J. Valpy, “
Cum in composition increases the force of the simple verb... If one thing is put (
cum) with another, that other thing is increased.”
* Headword
contraloría (p.182): Add "Cognate with
control. Back in Latin, the prefix was
contra- (note
a, not
o) and the whole word meant “a counter-roll or register used to verify accounts”."
* Headword
espeso (p.186): Change the mnemonic to "imagine thick
Espresso coffee from Starbucks (or your favorite coffee shop)".
* Headword
tos (p.187): Add "The second element of the name of the over-the-counter cough syrup
Robitussin, i.e. -
tussin, is from the same Latin origin (while the first element is from the original maker’s name)."
* Headword
ruego (p.187): The word is also cognate with the root of
abrogate (“to repeal”, literally “to ask away”).
* Headword
bote (p.189): Add "To not confuse
bote (masculine) with
bota (feminine), imagine a woman wearing boots getting into a boat run by a man.".
* Headword
águila (p.189): Add "If you know
agarrar (“to grab”), use it as a mnemonic, e.g.
el águila agarra su presa (“the eagle grabs its prey”)."
* Headword
bodega (p.190): Add "Doublet with
botica (“drugstore”, “pharmacy”, farmacia)."
* Headword
acostar (p.191): Move the reflexive usage to the front and change it to "(reflexive) to go to bed, to lie down (literally “to lay oneself down”)" because this sense seems to be more common, and add to the end "The reflexive usage of the word is very common, e.g.
es hora de acostarse (“it’s time to go to bed”)."
* Headword
pizca (p.193): Use a mnemonic such as "a small piece of
pizza".
* Headword
césped (p.193): Use a mnemonic such as "The grass around the
cesspit or the sewage pit is greener."
* Headword
suspiro (p.195): The root is also cognate with the root of
aspire (originally "to breathe onto"),
conspire (originally "to breathe together"),
inspire ("to breathe in"), etc.
* Headword
flecha (p.197): Add "You may know a person by the name Fletcher as that’s a common last name, and his ancestor must be an arrow maker."
* Headword
abad (p.201): Add "This word is masculine. A female abbot, or rather, abbess, is
abadesa in Spanish. "
* Headword
rezar (p.202): Add "At least as a mnemonic, imagine a religious man saying a prayer by
reciting a scripture."
* Headword
araña (p.204): Change the text to "In the Roman poet Ovid’s
Metamorphoses, Arachne, a shepherd’s daughter, challenged Athena to a weaving contest. When Athena could find no flaws in the tapestry Arachne had woven, the goddess became enraged and beat the girl with her shuttle. After Arachne hanged herself out of shame, she was transformed into a spider. (Wikipedia) In all major Romance languages, the word for “spider” is derived from the name Arachne, by way of Latin. Alternatively, use a mnemonic such as “A spider must be good at
arranging things because she’s so methodical in weaving her web.”"
* Headword
tormenta (p.206): Add "To remember which is which (about the meanings of
tormenta vs
tormento), as a mnemonic, imagine a man is tormented or tortured while a woman goes through lesser hardship as riding out a thunderstorm. (In etymology,
tormenta is from the plural of Latin
tormentum, whose origin means “turning”, “twisting”; recall the plural of English
datum, i.e.
data. As a mnemonic, you may think of a single twist for torture, but multiple as a tornado or storm.)"
* Headword
huésped (p.207): Add "Note that this word is masculine. Its feminine is
huéspeda."
* Headword
agarrar (p.207): Add "Or if you know
águila, use that, e.g.
el águila agarra su presa. (“the eagle grabs its prey”)."
* Headword
verdugo (p.209): Add "Or as a mnemonic, imagine an executioner beats the man into dizziness or
vertigo before executing him."
* Headword
pulgar (p.210): Add a mnemonic "Give a thumbs up to
BVLGARI (Bulgari) luxury goods for their high quality."
* Headword
alambre (p.212): Add "imagine “Al is hungry (
Al tiene hambre) and wants to eat kebab roasted on skewers that look like wires”."
* Headword
chapa (p.214): Add "car body work (as in
chapa y pintura)" to the definition, and add "or “The
chap (guy) works at a paint and body shop.”" to the end of this paragraph.
* Headword
idóneo (p.215): Add "ideal" as a definition, and add "Use
ideal as a mnemonic".
* Headword
colchón (p.216): Cognate with
quilt,
quoit, and possibly with
cushion, which obviously serves as a perfect mnemonic.
* Headword
anteojos (p.218): Add "Note the meaning is very different from
antojo (“whim”, “craving”). To remember which is which, as a mnemonic, consider that
ante- fully spelled out literally refers to a concrete object while
ant- refers to an abstract concept."
* Headword
hito (p.221): Add "As a mnemonic, think of “
hit a milestone”."
* Headword
cualquiera (p.223): This headword should be moved to p.13, and add its apocopic form
cualquier. Change the whole paragraph to "
cualquier any (adj., before noun).
cualquiera any (adj.); anyone, whoever (n. or pron.). From
cual (“which”) +
quiera (“it may want”). Example,
cualquier cosa / una cosa cualquiera (“anything”, “whatever thing”; note
cualquier before the noun while
cualquiera after).
Cualquier cosa is much more common."
* Headword
grieta (p.223): Add "As a mnemonic, imagine seeing cracks in ancient
Greek architecture."
* Headword
hormiga (p.223): Or as a mnemonic, think of the last Greek letter
omega as if it represents something small like an ant.
* Headword
mutis (p.224): Delete this headword because it's a rare word. It must have been included in the RAE frequency list because it's the name of some popular person or other type of proper noun. It's more common to say
salida for the theater exit, and
chitón or
shh for a silence request.
* Headword
pepita (p.225): Suffix -
ita is diminutive just as -
kin is for English
pumpkin (also seen in
napkin and others). See
Wiktionary. By the way, English
pumpkin itself occurs more frequently than Spanish
calabaza probably due to the Thanksgiving and Halloween traditions which do not exist in Spanish-speaking countries.
* Headword
estrago,
estragar (p.225): Replace text with "Possibly cognate with
destroy,
strew, or according to E.A. Roberts, with
strategy. If you know
trago (“gulp”, cognate with
dragon), use that as a mnemonic. Or use a mnemonic such as “
struggle to prevent destruction”, “a
strategy to destroy the city”, or “The city-state was destroyed after the governor was
strangled to death”."
* Headword
seta (p.227): Add "Alternatively, imagine a mushroom is a tiny round table in a park and you
set a table."
* Headword
panza (p.229): Add "A German tank in WWII is often called
Panzer (meaning “armor”), which is a cognate if traced to Latin. Alternatively, as a mnemonic, think of the fat body of a tank or
panzer as a bulging belly."
* Headword
suegra,
suegro (p.227): Add "Use a mnemonic such as
Mi suegro es sueco (“My father-in-law is Swedish”)".
* Headword
alcázar (p.233): Change text to "The word is from Arabic, which in turn came from Latin, and is cognate with
castle.
Al- in Arabic is equivalent to
the in English."
* Headword
porteño (p.236): Add "The Port of Buenos Aires is not among the top in the world. But in the 16th century, it was well known and its name back then,
Puerto de Santa María de los Buenos Aires, made the Spanish word
porteño specifically refer to the residents of this city."
* Headword
hincha (p.236): Add "Alternatively, use
henchman (“faithful follower”) as a mnemonic."
* Headword
madero (p.238): Add "This word is not used as frequently as
madera and generally refers to a specific piece of wood. The derogatory sense of “cop” is probably from likening a cop to a senseless and dumb piece of wood."
* Headwords
aseo,
arear (p.244): Change the whole paragraph to "
aseo cleanliness, cleanness, tidiness; cleaning,
limpieza; restroom, bathroom, toilet.
aseado neat, tidy, clean.
asear to clean, to wash, to tidy up. Cognate with
assiduous (“hard-working”, “diligent”),
assess, doublet with
asentar (“to place”, “to settle”),
asiento (“seat”). The root of the word means “to seat”, “to make sit down”. To make things sit down is to put them in place, or to tidy them up. Or use a mnemonic such as “
Arthur likes cleanliness. He always keeps things tidy.”"
* Headword
indumentaria (p.244): Add mnemonic "“Some
undocumented immigrants work in the clothing industry.”"
* Headword
apuro (p.244): Add "Alternatively, as a mnemonic, think of the ascetic life of a
puritan."
* Headword
coto (p.245): Change the mnemonic to "imagine a
cottage in a hunting preserve, or a
colt (“young horse”). Or “A hunter cannot exceed the allowed
quota in this hunting preserve.”
* Appendix: Add: Not all parts of a word have equal weight in serving as memory clues. Generally, the first part is more important. This makes a simple dictionary lookup sensible. For example, in looking for a word to help you remember
acera (“sidewalk”), unless you already thought of it, check a Spanish dictionary for the words adjacent to it, and you’ll see
acero (“steel”). (The latter has a higher frequency so you may have learned it before
acera.) So imagine a sidewalk with handrails made of steel. Instead of matching from the very beginning of a word, you can of course focus on the part after dropping the initial prefix or prefix-like letters. If you don’t know
acero, use
Sarah as a mnemonic; just remember to strip
a- of
acera and think. Similarly, many words of Arabic origin can be stripped of
al- and you conjure up mnemonics from the remaining part of the word.
* Another good Spanish etymology Web site,
Origen de las palabras. (thanks urdubyoddballs)
*
Last but not the least: Ms. Marina's well-written
review correctly points out my overly casual use of the term
cognate (as well as
doublet) throughout the book. Technically, two words are cognates only if they are in two languages sharing a common ancestor language and the two words independently descend from the origin (etymon) in the ancestor language. Due to the latter requirement, an English word that came from Latin, cannot be a cognate with the Spanish word derived from that Latin word, because the ancestor of English is Germanic, whose ancestor is Proto-Indo-European, which is also the ancestor of Latin (one of the Italic languages). If the English and the Latin words were each independently traced to a common Proto-Indo-European word, they would be cognates; otherwise, they can only be
akin or
related. Nevertheless, this book adopts a common usage of the term
cognate, as understood by most educated English-speaking people not specialized in philology or linguistics.
I have a PhD in Chemistry and M.A. in Philosophy. I have taught myself linguistics with an emphasis on morphological and phonological changes in the history of Romance languages, and have learned to read in multiple European languages. Please contact me by email to yong321@yahoo.com or by filling the form with comments or corrections.
