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- Feed Preview SH to J – Spanish Etymology, Learning Spanish
Eje and Axle
The Spanish eje for “axle” comes from the Latin for the same, axis. The English axle comes from the same common ancestor as the Latin axis, the proto-indo-european root *aks– also meaning t...
Jeringa – Syringe
Jeringa, Spanish for Syringe, sounds like it has nothing in common with its English counter-part. But they are literally the same word. The Latin sh- sound often evolved into the j- sound in Span...
Jerez – Sherry
The Latin sounds for “sh” — and similar variations, like “ch” and “ss” — became a “j” sound in Spanish. Thus, the English sherry is nearly identical to the Spanish jerez! Thes...
Perejil and Parsley
Perejil and its English version parsley sound very different. But they are, actually, etymologically the same word. They sound different because often the -s- and -sh- sounds in Spanish turned in...
Lejos and Leash
We recently discussed the relationship between dejar and relax, both from the same Latin root, laxare, from the Latin laxus. Other modern words come from these same roots, let’s see… In Spani...
Flojo and Flush, Fluent
The Spanish flojo means “slack, loose” — but it is a very common word in Spanish, often used to mean “relaxed” in a negative way, in senses like, “They cut themselves some slack.” F...
Embajada and Embassy
Embassy (and Ambassador) and its Spanish equivalent, Embajada (and Embajador), both come from the same ancestor, the Old French Ambactos. What is most interesting about these two is that it is an...
Dejar – Relax
The “sh” sound — often represented in writing as an “x” — transformed in all different ways to the “j” letter (and the accompanying mouth-clearing sound, influenced by Arabic) as ...
Jabón – Soap
Soap and the Spanish for the same, jabón, sound like they have nothing in common. But sounds can be deceiving. Both come from the same root: the Latin sebum, meaning “grease”. How can such d...
Caja – Case, Cash, Capsule
The Spanish caja (“box”) comes from the Latin capsa for the same. This gives us a surprising connection to some English words that, on the surface, sound very different than caja: Case — In...