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Infanoj

从 SonicChao, 2007年2月21日

讯息： 22

语言: English

SonicChao (显示个人资料) 2007年2月21日下午6:06:15

Where does this word come from? I think it looks too much like 'infants' which is English for babies.

Islander (显示个人资料) 2007年2月21日下午6:48:50

I believe the root is Latin and the English word simply borrowed the usage from a romance language. The French word is enfants.

From what I understand, English has a 44,000 words vocabulary, nearly double most other languages due to it borrowing a lot from them (French and German probably more than others).

SonicChao (显示个人资料) 2007年2月21日下午7:15:14

Islander:I beleive the root is Latin and the English word simply borrowed the usage from a romance language. The French word is enfants.

From what I understand, English has a 44,000 words vocabulary, nearly double most other languages due to it borrowing a lot from them (French and German probably more than others).
Ah, I know in Spanish it's "niños" so I wasn't able to get help from that. okulumo.gif But that does make sense. Lots of words are borrowed from French.

erinja (显示个人资料) 2007年2月21日下午9:35:09

Islander:I beleive the root is Latin and the English word simply borrowed the usage from a romance language. The French word is enfants.
Merriam-Webster says that the English "infant" comes from the Middle English "enfaunt", which is from the French "enfant", which is from the Latin "infans" (in/fans - Latin for 'not capable of speaking')

gxosefo (显示个人资料) 2007年2月21日下午11:21:02

erinja:Merriam-Webster says that the English "infant" comes from the Middle English "enfaunt", which is from the French "enfant", which is from the Latin "infans" (in/fans - Latin for 'not capable of speaking')
If the latin part is true, then "infano" should not mean child, but baby, like SonicChao said previously.

Islander (显示个人资料) 2007年2月22日上午12:09:47

The meaning of words will likely evolve with time and cultures. Not capable of speaking can easily be interpreted against the culture of Latin speaking Romans where only Adults were authorized to speak, meaning to vote.

I'm only speculating on how it may have come to mean what it does but it is easy to see how several centuries ago someone speaking English saw a French person refers to their toddler as their enfant and introduce the word in the english language not knowing the Frenchman was also refering to his 16 years old child just the same.

erinja (显示个人资料) 2007年2月22日上午1:05:29

Islander:The meaning of words will likely evolve with time and cultures. Not capable of speaking can easily be interpreted against the culture of Latin speaking Romans where only Adults were authorized to speak, meaning to vote.
Right.

And words change meaning, anyway.

For example, a word like "disorient" - literally, it means to turn away from the east. dis- plus -orient. Of course now, the meaning is nothing like that, but that is the meaning of the Latin root.

And I think that few parents would have named their daughters "Barbara" if they realized it came from the same root as the word "barbarian" (from the Greek "barbaros", originally meaning "not Greek", but later acquiring the meaning of "foreign" or "barbaric")

Kwekubo (显示个人资料) 2007年2月22日上午1:08:05

gxosefo:If the latin part is true, then "infano" should not mean child, but baby, like SonicChao said previously.
Tell that to the French rideto.gif

Islander (显示个人资料) 2007年2月22日上午1:16:29

Hey, I resent that! How about you guys stop stealing our words and use your own? rideto.gif

Mendacapote (显示个人资料) 2007年2月22日上午11:02:05

In Spanish the word “Infante” is widely used. It refers to any human being under age 7. Our word for childhood in Spanish is “Infancia”. Also the sons and daughters of the King, who are not direct heirs to the crown, are called “Infantes” (male) or “Infantas” (female). The soldiers of infantry are called in Spanish “infantes”. Nevertheless the word is considered sort of formal and old fashioned, no one would say nowadays: “Vengan mis infantes a comer” (Come my children to have dinner). As I said the word is widely used, but mainly in literary, medical or legal slangs. Every Spanish speaker knows the word, but only writers, physicians and lawyers use it at ease… without looking pretentious.

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