mis padres

M

matakoweg

Senior Member
alkmaar, netherlands
nederlands
While learning a bit Spanish I came to the expression ‘mis padres’. I thought that this would mean ‘my fathers’ and I was thinking about a child with two male homosexual parents. But to my surprise it means just ‘my parents’. Is this unique for Spanish or are there more languages where parents is expressed in such a way as ‘fathers’?
 
    • In Greek "my parents" is «οι γονείς μου» [iɣo̞ˈnis̠mu] --> the (masculine/feminine definite article in the nominative plural) parents of-mine.
    «Γονείς» [ɣo̞ˈnis̠] is the masculine/feminine nominative plural of the singular «γονέας» [ɣo̞ˈneas̠] (masc. or fem.) --> parent < Classical o-grade 3rd declension masculine or feminine noun «γονεύς» /goˈneu̯s/ (nom. sing.), «γονέως» /goˈneɔːs/ (gen. sing.), plural «γονεῖς» /goˈneːs/ --> parents, deverbal noun from the deponent verb «γίγνομαι» /ˈgignomai̯/ --> to come into being, become.
     
    It’s the same in Arabic: أَبَوَان (abawaan) is the word for parents even though it literally means two fathers.
    My parents is abawaay أبواي in the nominative, and abaway أبَوَي in the other grammatical cases.
     
    Certainly not in Russian - which, much like English, uses a separate word, родители (rodíteli, lit. ~"birthgivers").

    Chuvash does it a bit differently: 'parents' are атте-анне (atte-anne), lit. "father-mother". Kazakh uses a similar model, but there it's plurala tantum: ата-аналар (ata-analar). Tatar, however, alongside with the generally expected ата-аналар (id.), also uses the form аталар (atalar), i.e. "fathers". Personally I suspect Arabic literary influence here (probably indirect), and it may be an element of Arabic influence in Spanish as well.
     
    apmoy70 said:
    In Greek "my parents" is «οι γονείς μου» [iɣo̞ˈnis̠mu] --> the (masculine/feminine definite article in the nominative plural) parents of-mine.
    «Γονείς» [ɣo̞ˈnis̠] is the masculine/feminine nominative plural of the singular «γονέας» [ɣo̞ˈneas̠] (masc. or fem.) --> parent < Classical o-grade 3rd declension masculine or feminine noun «γονεύς» /goˈneu̯s/ (nom. sing.), «γονέως» /goˈneɔːs/ (gen. sing.), plural «γονεῖς» /goˈneːs/ --> parents, deverbal noun from the deponent verb «γίγνομαι» /ˈgignomai̯/ --> to come into being, become.
    Click to expand...
    Αpologies for quoting myself, just wanted to add the word for parent in two MoGr dialects I'm familiar with:
    -In Tsakonian it's «γονήα» [ɣo̞ˈnia] (masc. or fem. nom. sing.), «γονήε» [ɣo̞ˈnie̞] (masc. or fem. nom. pl.).

    -In the Pontic Greek dialect, it's «γονίος» [ɣo̞ˈnio̞s̠] (masc. nom. sing.), «γονίοι» [ɣo̞ˈni.i] (pl.).

    All from the Ancient Greek «γονεύς» /goˈneu̯s/ --> (pro)genitor, parent.
     
    The Swedish word for parents is föräldrar (fore + elders), grandparents are farföräldrar (father's parents) and morföräldrar (mother's parents). When talking about ancestors, then it's förfäder (fore + fathers).

    In Finnish the parents are vanhemmat (the elders).
     
    Thanks for all the replies.

    I noticed that in Spanish it is regular that the masculine plural form includes the feminine:

    Hermanos = brother(s) and sister(s)

    Tíos = aunt and uncle

    Is this an innovation of Spanish (and Portuguese) or is it inherited from Latin?
     
    matakoweg said:
    Thanks for all the replies.

    I noticed that in Spanish it is regular that the masculine plural form includes the feminine:

    Hermanos = brother(s) and sister(s)

    Tíos = aunt and uncle

    Is this an innovation of Spanish (and Portuguese) or is it inherited from Latin?
    Click to expand...
    Latin uses masculine plural when some people in the group are male and some are female.
     
    is it inherited
    Click to expand...
    Also some examples in the ThLL (p. 675). Their souls in glory for making it, and giving it to people. After B certiora, the first one (patrum thalami) by Statius, 'of Greek-Campanian origin.' One imagines a similar shade around that port, 'second only to Delos' (Pozzuoli) and W. Iberian. :p

    32-a2bf938150.jpg
    (171 BC, p. 120).

    TLIO (M. Italian) mostly shows the modern use in Italian (common in Latin). Cf. remnants in cioè d'Adam et d'Eva, quelli funno nostri padri (Giordano da Pisa, b. 1255), li nostri padri, cioè Adamo ed Eva (Lett. pis.). Around those two dots north from Rome (cf. DARMC). Two inscriptions in pater, II. C (patres 'parents') are from France (707, 5; 692, 1). For our parientes 'relatives', for ex. "parentes militari vulgarique sermone, cognatos et affines nominat."
     
    Last edited:
    Awwal12 said:
    Certainly not in Russian - which, much like English, uses a separate word, родители (rodíteli, lit. ~"birthgivers").
    Click to expand...
    Certainly not in Hungarian, we say szülő (a parent, lit.: a birthgiver) - szülők (plural)
     
    In Turkish, we can say "my mothers" or "my fathers" to mean parents.

    mother = anne
    --> My parents = annemler

    father = baba
    --> My parents = babamlar

    You can choose whichever you want. The "-m" stands for "my", and "-ler/lar" is the plural suffix.

    However, there is a catch:

    Annemler/Babamlar is formed in a peculiar way. Normally, the plural suffix should be used before the possessive, but not in this specific case, which lets us distinguish "my parents" from "my multiple mothers/fathers"

    Annemler / Babamlar = My parents
    Annelerim / Babalarım = My multiple mothers/fathers
     
    Last edited:
    In French : mon père (my father) + ma mère (my mother) = mes parents (my parents). (Mon grand-père + ma grand-mère = mes grands-parents).
     
    You must log in or register to reply here.
    Back
    Top