Lexical similarities between French-Spanish-Italian
"Here a list of words which proves how close Spanish and Italian are.
sueñar/sognare vs rêver"
bailar/ballare vs danser
llamar/chiamare vs appeller
llave/chiave vs clé
como esta/come sta vs comment-allez vous
(Yo/Io) canto vs Je chante
gato/gatto vs chat
Por favor/per favore vs s'il vous plait
suerte/sorte vs chance
cuanto/quanto vs combien
azul/azzuro vs bleu "
This doesn't mean nothing.
not only we can easily find hundred of inverse exemples, where french/Italians word couples don't have Spanish equivalent or French/Spanish couples which don't have Italian counterparts
most of your exemples are wrong-most of them the french equivelent exist:
ES-suenar/ IT-sognare vs FR-songer
ES-bailar/ IT-ballare cf noun FR-ballet
ES-llave/ IT-chiave / FR-clef are all same origins
ES-Por favor/IT-Per favore is literally translated by "par faveur" in French.
ES-Azul/IT-blu/FR-Bleu, the Italian "azzurro" is, as in French "azur", used in a restritive way. comparing ES-Azul, IT-Azurro, FR-Azur... The french one is the closer to the spanish form.
some of the long list of very usual Italian words almost identical to French but completly different in Spanish.
to put: IT-mettere/FR-mettre vs SP-poner
to hold IT-avere/FR-avoir vs SP-tener
to take: IT-prendere/FR-prendre vs SP-tomar/coger
too much: IT-troppo/FR-trop vs ES-demasiado
to eat: IT-mangiare/FR-manger vs SP-comer
to find: IT-Trovare/FR-trouver vs SP-encontrar
to look for: IT-cercare/FR-chercher vs SP-buscar
moorning: IT-mattina/FR-matin vs SP-manana
tomorrow: IT-domani/FR-demain vs SP-manana
then: IT-allora/FR-alors vs SP-entonces
to do: IT-fare/FR-faire vs SP-hacer
to speak: IT-parlare/FR-parler vs SP-hablar
And many others
etc..
I beg to differ on these four:
morning:
IT-mattina
FR-matin
SP-mañana* sounds and looks similar to the Italian one.
To put or 2 place:
IT-mettere
FR-mettre
SP-poner and meter* to put, insert, introduce & into
to hold:
IT-avere = io ho / io ho fatto*
FR-avoir
SP-tener / haber = yo tengo / yo he hecho* {-haber- is an auxiliary verb of have}
to take:
IT-prendere
FR-prendre
SP-tomar/coger/agarrar/prender* archaic, but, still used in literature and formal-writing
Also-->
to sleep:
SP-soñar
IT-sognare
FR-songer
ps:
"llamar/chiamare vs appeller "
CHIAMARE=CLAMER in french
the similarities you think that are bigger between Italian and Spanish are due only to the endings, in "o" or "a" - a quite superficial aspect concerning the comprehension of the whole word. ( which in a lot of regional pronounciations are not even pronounced.)
ex : do you really think that "manana" and "mattina" are closely related word ? A spanish that haven't learned Italian (or French) is not able to guess that the word "mattina" means "manana", while the french one is just the italian one without the final "a".
ex
"domani mattina vorrei mangiare un po" is a completly intellegible sentense for a french, especially when pronounced (demain matin je voudrais manger un peu), while very alien for a Spanish:
"manana en la manana, quisiera comer un poco" where most words are unknown.
"to sleep:
SP-soñar
IT-sognare
FR-songer "
PS: "to sleep" is DORMIR in the three languages in question.
sonar/sognare/songer means to dream.
"the similarities you think that are bigger between Italian and Spanish are due only to the endings, in "o" or "a" - a quite superficial aspect concerning the comprehension of the whole word."
In the north of Italy probably. In the south and central of Italy all words are pronounced. By the way, the dialects spoken in the regions of Italy make it MORE then enough so a central or southern Italian can understand Spanish.
"which in a lot of regional pronounciations of Italy are not even pronounced."
As I have commented above, perhaps, the northern parts of Italy. In the south they tend to pronounced 'ce/ci' as 'sche / shee' (e.g. Argentinean style) and it doesn't surprise me, that the majority of Italians in Argentina the majority stem from Southern Italy, which perhaps gave way to this influence.
If an Italian said this phrase to a Spanish-speaker:
"domani mattina vorrei mangiare un po"
The native-spanish speaker would understand, because, Italians use their hands for everything. And obviously if a Spanish-speaker is in Italy he or she should know the basics as "mangiare / domani"
so he or she would think the following:
Tomorrow......???.....Do I want to eat a bit?
Thus...still intelligible. Not as much. But, just enough.
Guest: as a Frenchman I thank you for an excellent example. Your example shows the great similarity between French and Italian, while very alien in Spanish i.e., 'domani mattina vorrei mangiare un po'.
ex
<<"domani mattina vorrei mangiare un po" is a completly intellegible sentense for a french, especially when pronounced (demain matin je voudrais manger un peu), while very alien for a Spanish:
"manana por la manana, quisiera comer un poco" where most words are unknown.>> The Spanish words would probably be far closer to the Portuguese equivalents.
<<The native-spanish speaker would understand, because, Italians use their hands for everything. And obviously if a Spanish-speaker is in Italy he or she should know the basics as "mangiare / domani"
so he or she would think the following:
Tomorrow......???.....Do I want to eat a bit?
Thus...still intelligible. Not as much. But, just enough.>>
Wrong, wrong, wrong. This is exactly the kind of situation that leads to major screwups in communication between Italians, Spaniards, etc, etc. No, it is not enough. If you are trying to tell someone that 'tomorrow you want to eat a bit', having that person think that you are asking him 'if he wants to eat a bit' leads to misunderstanding. The problem is that Italians have this crazy idea that everyone must or will understand them because their 'hand gestures' will see them through. Baloney.
Dude, what difference does that make which language is closer to an other? No matter which one of those you speak, it will still take exposure to at least understand--not to mention speak--the two others.
OK, I'm French, I do understand written Italian quite well although I've had not a single Italian lesson, but I had to get used to it first, read online newspaper, guess the basis of its spelling rules, etc. And I would have to watch a lot of Italian TV and take at least basic Italian lessons if I wanted to get my understanding of spoken Italian to rise above 30%.
On the other hand, I can follow the gist of a movie in Spanish, not because it's easy but because I studied it at least a little. Whereas I couldn't even do that in Italian because I've never studied it.
For the exact same reasons, I can speak Spanish a little but wouldn't be able to say a word in Italian, I can only understand it a little (I get it much better if it's a written message though).
And still for the same reasons (ie lessons), English may be further from French than both Spanish and Italian, but guess what, I speak and understand it much better than the pair of them.
<<ES-suenar/ IT-sognare vs FR-songer
ES-bailar/ IT-ballare cf noun FR-ballet
ES-llave/ IT-chiave / FR-clef are all same origins
ES-Por favor/IT-Per favore is literally translated by "par faveur" in French.
ES-Azul/IT-blu/FR-Bleu, the Italian "azzurro" is, as in French "azur", used in a restritive way. comparing ES-Azul, IT-Azurro, FR-Azur... The french one is the closer to the spanish form. >>
There's no such French words as songer and par faveur. Ballet refers to ballet itself.
The best proof that can be given that Spanish and Italian are closer to each other than French is Spanish and Italian speakers can make themselves understood to each other using their respective languages.
Spanish and Italian: Italiano and Italiana vs. French: Italien and Italienne
What proof do you still want?
Yes, some Italian and Spanish is similar, but French and Spanish share a vocabulary which is very large. Here is just a small sample. How much more identical do you want?
French
1. admirable
2. biodégradable
3. comparable
4. considérable
5. déplorable
6. durable
7. éducable
8. excusable
9. favorable
10. honorable
11. impeccable
12. incalculable
13. lamentable
14. mémorable
15. navigable
16. observable
17. praticable
18. présentable
19. respectable
20. séparable
21. supportable
22. tolérable
23. vénérable
24. viable
25. vulnérable
Spanish
1. admirable
2. biodegradable
3. comparable
4. considerable
5. deplorable
6. durable
7. educable
8. excusable
9. favorable
10. honorable
11. impecable
12. incalculable
13. lamentable
14. memorable
15. navegable
16. observable
17. practicable
18. presentable
19. respetable
20. separable
21. soportable
22. tolerable
23. venerable
24. viable
25. vulnerable
French
1. bagage
2. camouflage
3. cordage
4. drainage
5. espionnage
6. fuselage
7. garage
8. herbage
9. hommage
10. langage
11. mariage
12. massage
13. outrage
14. passage
15. pelage
16. personnage
17. pillage
18. pilotage
19. plumage
20. pourcentage
21. reportage
22. sabotage
23. tonnage
24. voltage
25. voyage
Spanish
1. bagaje
2. camuflaje
3. cordaje
4. drenaje
5. espionaje
6. fuselaje
7. garaje
8. herbaje
9. homenaje
10. lenguaje
11. maridaje
12. masaje
13. ultraje
14. pasaje
15. pelaje
16. personaje
17. pillaje
18. pilotaje
19. plumaje
20. porcentaje
21. reportaje
22. sabotaje
23. tonelaje
24. voltaje
25. viaje
French
1. acclamation
2. admiration
3. aviation
4. civilisation
5. décoration
6. documentation
7. éducation
8. exportation
9. fertilisation
10. formation
11. génération
12. habitation
13. identification
14. improvisation
15. jubilation
16. législation
17. manifestation
18. modification
19. préparation
20. radiation
21. réparation
22. sensation
23. spéculation
24. urbanisation
25. vénération
Spanish
1. aclamación
2. admiración
3. aviación
4. civilización
5. decoración
6. documentación
7. educación
8. exportación
9. fertilización
10. formación
11. generación
12. habitación
13. identificación
14. improvisación
15. jubilación
16. legislación
17. manifestación
18. modificación
19. preparación
20. radiación
21. reparación
22. sensación
23. especulación
24. urbanización
25. veneración
Here's another list of words that shows the closeness of Spanish and Italian:
agua/aqua vs eau
aquel/quello vs cela
basta vs assez
cabra/capra vs chèvre
casa vs maison
conejo/coniglio vs lapin
este/questo vs ceci
gracias/grazie vs merci
rana vs grenouille
siempre/sempre vs toujours
si vs oui
silla/sedia vs chaise