GMG International School of Languages

[Wanderer]

I did not know that the Russian word for album comes from the Greek τετράδιο (notebook).

[Florestan]

I did not know that the Russian word for album comes from the Greek τετράδιο (notebook).

Well, тетрадь means notebook as well.

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%D1%82%D0%B5%D1%82%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B4%D1%8C

I remember the word from my secondary school Russian classes. 

[Wanderer]

Well, тетрадь means notebook as well.

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%D1%82%D0

I remember the word from my secondary school Russian classes. 

Schoolchildren in Greece carry these τετράδια along with their schoolbooks:

[Florestan]

Schoolchildren in Greece carry these τετράδια along with their schoolbooks:

So did I and many generations before and after me. So does my son. The Romanian word is caiet, from the French cahier.

[Madiel]

The Romanian word is caiet, from the French cahier.

Well if you're going to borrow, I guess borrowing from another Latin language makes sense...

I'm currently trying to learn both Spanish and Portuguese. From which my current conclusion is that Spanish is fairly logical and Portuguese is weird. 

[Florestan]

Well if you're going to borrow, I guess borrowing from another Latin language makes sense...

I suspect that before borrowing caiet from French (19th century) there was no word with the same meaning in Romanian --- at least I am not aware of any*. After all, there is a reason for borrowings. 

I'm currently trying to learn both Spanish and Portuguese. From which my current conclusion is that Spanish is fairly logical and Portuguese is weird. 

I can read and understand both but I fluently speak only Spanish.

*the closest in meaning I can think of is catastif, a large notebook for official notices, but it's itself a borrowing from Greek (katastihon). 

[Pohjolas Daughter]

I'm currently trying to learn both Spanish and Portuguese....

Wow, that's impressive trying to learn two languages at one time.  Good luck with your studies! 

PD

[Madiel]

Wow, that's impressive trying to learn two languages at one time.  Good luck with your studies! 

PD

Well I'm travelling to both. Eventually.

[JBS]

Well if you're going to borrow, I guess borrowing from another Latin language makes sense...

I'm currently trying to learn both Spanish and Portuguese. From which my current conclusion is that Spanish is fairly logical and Portuguese is weird. 

Going by what I hear from Brazilian neighbord and coworkers, Portuguese is often simply Spanish with a unique accent. But I believe there are some differences between Portuguese Portuguese and Brazilian Portuguese (and some Brazilians will say they speak Brasiliero).

[Madiel]

Going by what I hear from Brazilian neighbord and coworkers, Portuguese is often simply Spanish with a unique accent. But I believe there are some differences between Portuguese Portuguese and Brazilian Portuguese (and some Brazilians will say they speak Brasiliero).

They are similar, but there are times when Portuguese grammar has extra complications and SOME fairly basic words are completely different.

And yes there are quite a few differences between the 2 countries. Duolingo is based on Brazilian. Apparently Brazil is having a fair bit of influence on Portugal nowadays because it's so much bigger and more media comes from there.

[Florestan]

Going by what I hear from Brazilian neighbord and coworkers, Portuguese is often simply Spanish with a unique accent.

They are similar, but there are times when Portuguese grammar has extra complications and SOME fairly basic words are completely different.

There is actually an intermediary between Spanish proper and Portuguese proper; it's called Gallego and it's spoken in the Spanish region of Galicia (of the Santiago de Compostela fame), situated just North of Porto. To my ears it's closer to Portuguese proper in basic vocabulary and some of the pronunciation but I think it's mutually intelligibl with Spanish.

[Madiel]

There is actually an intermediary between Spanish proper and Portuguese proper; it's called Gallego and it's spoken in the Spanish region of Galicia (of the Santiago de Compostela fame), situated just North of Porto. To my ears it's closer to Portuguese proper in basic vocabulary and some of the pronunciation but I think it's mutually intelligibl with Spanish.

Galician is actually more closely related to Portuguese, yes. And that is what it tends to be mutually intelligible with. It blends into northern Portugal.

[Florestan]

Galician is actually more closely related to Portuguese, yes. And that is what it tends to be mutually intelligible with. It blends into northern Portugal.

Last year I watched a Spanish series on Netflix about a military hospital in Melilla during the Rif War. One of the doctors was a Galician who spoke Gallego to his colleagues, doctors and nurses alike, and they understood him and he understood them when they replied in Spanish. I don't know if it's a widespread thing, though, or limited to educated people only.

https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiempos_de_guerra

[Wanderer]

Well if you're going to borrow, I guess borrowing from another Latin language makes sense...

I'm currently trying to learn both Spanish and Portuguese. From which my current conclusion is that Spanish is fairly logical and Portuguese is weird. 

If you want logical, learn Greek, as well. One of the side-effects is that it will probably also enrich your English vocabulary. Not to mention that you'll learn to pronounce "gyro" properly. 

[Wanderer]

*the closest in meaning I can think of is catastif, a large notebook for official notices, but it's itself a borrowing from Greek (katastihon). 

Another borrowing I was not aware of. It's the Greek word for ledger. 😀

[Madiel]

If you want logical, learn Greek, as well. One of the side-effects is that it will probably also enrich your English vocabulary. Not to mention that you'll learn to pronounce "gyro" properly. 

Sounds shift as you move words from one language to another. This is why the Romans invented the letter G in the first place.

[Florestan]

Another borrowing I was not aware of. It's the Greek word for ledger. 😀

Catastif meant a ledger, indeed, or the births-deaths-baptisms-marriages register of a church. I say meant because it is an obsolete word, the modern one for both meanings is registru (from French régistre).

[Wanderer]

Sounds shift as you move words from one language to another. This is why the Romans invented the letter G in the first place.

Same principle with e.g. Barcelona, really. It's ultimately one's decision how to pronounce it: the "correct" native way, or the Anglicized way.

The sound for G is signified in Greek by the digraph ΤΖ. However, gyros (γύρος) is written with a gamma, the sound of which seems quite challenging for English speakers to get right (or at all).

[Madiel]

Same principle with e.g. Barcelona, really. It's ultimately one's decision how to pronounce it: the "correct" native way, or the Anglicized way.

The sound for G is signified in Greek by the digraph ΤΖ. However, gyros (γύρος) is written with a gamma, the sound of which seems quite challenging for English speakers to get right (or at all).

The Greek 3rd letter of the alphabet, gamma, was transformed into C by the Etruscans who didn't have a sound system where 'g' and 'k' were different. When the Romans inherited that letter, they used it for a 'k' sound and so had no letter for a 'g' sound, in a language that did make that distinction. So they created one.

[Florestan]

The sound for G is signified in Greek by the digraph ΤΖ

Wait a minute! You mean that tzatziki is pronounced gagiki?