Yoïn van Spijk

The Spanish word ‘palabra’ and Portuguese ‘palavra’, meaning “word”, have the same origin as French ‘parole’ and Italian ‘parola’.

However, there’s a big difference: the R and L are swapped.

Swapping two sounds is a linguistic change called metathesis.

Zoom in on my infographic to see more examples of metathesis in five Romance languages.

Jan 8 at 6:08pmWeb
Show threadRobinJan 8
@yvanspijk
Looks like also the English "palaver", somewhat https://www.etymonline.com/word/palaver?utm_source=app
Palaver - Etymology, Origin & Meaning

"a long talk, a conference, a tedious discussion," sailors' slang, from Portuguese… See origin and meaning of palaver.

etymonline
Show threadleiliaJan 8

@yvanspijk

About the first line, when I arrived in France, French people told me not to use the verb "baiser" because it means "to have sex with someone", so more than kissing! 😁

Show threadYoïn van SpijkJan 8
@leilia Yes, that meaning developed from a euphemism, just like you can't say you slept with your friend without people thinking you did more than sleeping. 😁
Show threadJan 9

@leilia @yvanspijk its so different to spanish and english

Baiser -> to have sex with

To kiss -> embrasser

To embrace -> caliner

Show threadMichael KnudsenJan 8
@yvanspijk aha! In Danish we have "palaver" which tends to mean argumentative (i.e. annoying, wordy, unstructured) discussion, and the connection is pretty obvious.
Show threadWeltschmerz à GogoJan 8

@yvanspijk

I can't help connecting this also to the term "polari," the vernacular that spread in the UK primarily among gay men while homosexuality was outlawed.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polari

Polari - Wikipedia

Show threadYoïn van SpijkJan 8
@ThatWeltschmerz Ah, wow! I didn't know!
Show threadWeltschmerz à GogoJan 8

@yvanspijk

I'm not an expert or anything, but its development and usage amount to a really interesting story that is well worth digging into.

Show threadLaaphJan 8
@yvanspijk I also wonder about Turkish palavra which means to lie or brag in a not truthful way.
Show threadYoïn van SpijkJan 8
@laaph It ultimately stems from Old Spanish. :)