Learning Spanish & Etymology Pattern-Matching for Nerds » W to GU

The “W” sound is a classic Germanic and Anglo-saxon sound. Harsh, it is. Interestingly, the Germanic and English words with the w- become the gu- sound as these words evolved into Spanish. Ye...

https://spanishetymology.com/guillermo-william/

Gastar (Spanish for “to spend”) has an interesting first cousin: waste. Both come from Latin vastare (“to lay to waste”) which in turn comes from vastus (“empty.”) The v- sound of vas...

https://spanishetymology.com/gastar-and-waste/

The Spanish for sandwich is sánguche — just the English word, as it is pronounced in Spanish. That one is easy! However, what is noteworthy is that the -w- becomes a -g-. At first, that seems ...

https://spanishetymology.com/sanguche-and-sandwich/

Wales, that ancient province of Great Britain from which all the Jones emerge and which conjures up images of Tolkien, is known as Gales in Spanish. Why? Because the Germanic w- words consistentl...

https://spanishetymology.com/gales-and-wales/

The Spanish Guardar, meaning “to watch over or care for”, and the similar Guardia (the ER! Emergency Room) are both cousins of the English ward and warden. Huh? Both come from the same Proto...

https://spanishetymology.com/guardar-ward/

The Spanish word for “war”, guerra, doesn’t sound like it would actually be the same word. But it is! The Latin words beginning with the harsh gu- sound generally have the same root and are...

https://spanishetymology.com/guerra-war/