Tan fácil como que el primero es el nombre masculino para referirse al diablo y el segundo corresponde a la 1ª persona del verbo espiritar ~ endemoniar, endemoniarse, poco usado por este mercado:Por qué es "espíritu" y no "espíritoespirito"? Parece una excepcion.
The Spanish noun retains the u in the ending, because spiritus in Latin belonged to the 4th and not to the 2nd declension (spiritus, gen. spiritus - not spiriti). Cf. the ablative case in the Catholic mass (''et cum spiritu tuo'') or the 'sign of the cross': ''..et Spiritus Sancti'' (genitive).Por qué es "espíritu" y no "espírito"?
Hay que añadir que espíritu es una excepción del idioma español, por ejemplo en italiano se dice de manera regular spirito y en portugués espírito. En cambio, Jesús es una irregularidad que se encuentra tanto en italiano (Gesù) como en portugués (Jesus) e incluso en catalán Jesús.Lo mismo con Jesucristo
La pregunta no se trata del verbo, sino del sustantivo. Pocas palabras terminan en "u".Tan fácil como que el primero es el nombre masculino para referirse al diablo y el segundo corresponde a la 1ª persona del verbo espiritar ~ endemoniar, endemoniarse, poco usado por este mercado:
espíritu. Del lat. spirĭtus.
7. m. diablo (‖ ángel rebelado). U. m. en pl.
espiritar. De espíritu, entendiéndose por el demonio.
1. tr. endemoniar (‖ introducir los demonios en el cuerpo de alguien). U. t. c. prnl.
Okay, but other languages don't. I was wondering why.The Spanish noun retains the u in the ending, because spiritus in Latin belonged to the 4th and not to the 2nd declension (spiritus, gen. spiritus - not spiriti). Cf. the ablative case in the Catholic mass (''et cum spiritu tuo'') or the 'sign of the cross': ''..et Spiritus Sancti'' (genitive).
(Note: In Portuguese, all final -o are pronounced [-u], so while it's a regular word in that language, it is closer to the Latin etynom than in any other language except Spanish.)y en portugués espírito
Yes, it is. However, that should be the result of a vowel reduction process. Before the 16th century, final unstressed O's were pronounced as (o) just like in Galician or Spanish.(Note: In Portuguese, all final -o are pronounced [-u], so while it's a regular word in that language, it is closer to the Latin etynom than in any other language except Spanish.)
Very interesting. I wonder then how "espírito" was originally pronounced, with final -u or -o...Before the 16th century, final unstressed O's were pronounced as (o) just like in Galiacian or Spanish.
I reckon that it was pronounced with a final o because as you said Spanish espíritu is a learned word. Furthermore, if it had been pronounced with a final u, it would have probably been written with a u, like in Spanish.I wonder then how "espírito" was originally pronounced, with final -u or -o...
Certainly all of them were eventually regularised - these words belong to the same declension as the o-stems in the Romance languages. Everything about the word tribu screams "Latin borrowing", from both the vowels (expected e-o) through the identical (irregular) form and meaning in every major Romance language.(All other words of the 4th declension were regularlized, save a few like "tribu".)
Tribù is retained in Italian and Catalan (tribu) as well. It was introduced into Italian in the 14th century.Couldn't "tribu"
Do you know under which circumstances it entered those languages?Tribù is retained in Italian and Catalan (tribu) as well. It was introduced into Italian in the 14th century
This is a good question, since the RAE tends to overdo it with alternate forms and antiquated words in the dictionary (they still have some that haven't been used regularly since the medieval times). If I knew how to use their CORDE (Corpus diacrónico del español), I would look it up there. Unfortunately I have never quite understood how. 🙈why is it that RAE gives no such form as espírito and lists the meaning "diablo" under espíritu.
In Galician final unstressed o are a very closed o which is far from /o/ but still not /u/, I've seen them transcribed as /ʊ/. News hosts may use the Spanish o but it's not the traditional pronunciation most natives use.Before the 16th century, final unstressed O's were pronounced as (o) just like in Galician or Spanish.
You are right, when I wrote my previous message I was in a hurry and consequently what I wrote is not accurate at all, I have to say. Final unstressed o's in Galician are not the same as in Spanish, that's for sure, except perhaps the one spoken by most presenters on Galician TV, which sounds highly castilianized. Even though I have never been to Galicia so far, I happened to watch and hear some videos about Galician speakers on the Internet, particularly some people from the most remote villages, located in the countryside. Their Galician is expected to be more authentic and better preserved. However, their final o's are rather closed, but still not /u/, nor /ʊ/ at least to my ears. I may be wrong, though. I am not an expert on the Galician language, so I could be talking nonsense.In Galician final unstressed o are a very closed o which is far from /o/ but still not /u/,
I always assumed French had simply adapted the word to its native stress patterns, as happened with many other Latin loanwords (it's true, however, that these are younger borrowings, and that some older borrowings instead keep the original stress pattern... esp(e)rit might be located close to the breaking point when French stopped tolerating foreign stress patterns in loanwords).A curious detail about French esp(e)rit: its final vowel was only stressed in Latin in the Dative spirítui, meaning it was borrowed as part of the doxology "gloria . . . et spiritui sancto"- so it's also an irregular borrowing in this respect.
I'm no expert either, but the only thing it's clear to me is the traditional pronunciation is neither Portuguese /u/ nor Spanish /o/. I've seen /ʊ/ in Wiktionary, whereas in the Dicionario de pronuncia da lingua galega they use /o̝/. In real life, I guess it goes from the traditional pronunciation to Spanish /o/, depending on the speaker (urban vs. rural, old vs. young). Even the same speaker sometimes seems to have some vacillation (like this guy).However, their final o's are rather closed, but still not /u/, nor /ʊ/ at least to my ears. I may be wrong, though. I am not an expert on the Galician language, so I could be talking nonsense.
For instance, the chap in the following video speaks both Portuguese and Galician (actually he starts with Portuguese, then he switches to Galician), his final unstressed o's sound like closed o to me.
Malheureusement , on ne peut pas le lire, il s'agit d'une session expirée.You can find the evolution in French at
As a matter of fact, spirto does exist in Italian, but it's obsolete and used in poetry only. The Latin-like humanistic (and ecclesiastical) spirito has prevailed.I'd expect spiritum > spirto
Also in Greek (σπίρτο), from Italian spirito, but it means match ("the short thin stick that burns when rubbed against a surface") or metaphorically genius. The connection is obvious.As a matter of fact, spirto does exist in Italian,
Then, try :Malheureusement , on ne peut pas le lire, il s'agit d'une session expirée.![]()
Espírito is documented between XIIIth Century and XVIIth Century (maybe earlier too but I didn't look for earlier documents) but the same is true for espíritu being the later more frequent.why is it that RAE gives no such form as espírito
Not necessarily. Sometimes evolution follows unsuspected paths. In Catalan, at least, there was a clear change of stress: SPÍRITU > (E)SPIRÍT(U) > ESPIRIT > ESPERIT > esperit [əspə'ɾit] (the second schwa often being dropped: [əsp'ɾit]). Some give as a reason the common use of the Latin dative form (spirítui) in some prayers.Weren't unstressed medial vowels deleted at quite an early stage of common Romance? I'd expect spiritum > spirto as the starting point of native sound changes, then espirto in Gallo-Iberian, and whatever -irt would then become in French.
In Sardianian so as in the extreme southern dialects (Sicilian) and others (ex Asturian) it didn't change.So as for example arcus and others.Por qué es "espíritu" y no "espírito"? Parece una excepcion.