More about word families

THE way that words are derived from one another is a huge subject and one that invites endless exploration. Sometimes there are really obvious connections between words, but as we have learnt them as separate entities, often the connections do not occur to us.

Here is another example, based on the verb ‘mover’, which means to ‘move’. From this, we get the word ‘mobile’ in English and ‘móvil’ in Spanish, which is now used to refer exclusively to phones!

Something else that is ‘movable’ or ‘mobile’ are pieces of furniture, which in Spanish are called ‘muebles’.

There is a strong connection in Spanish between the vowel ‘o’ and the vowel combination ‘ue’ and parts of words often change from one to the other depending on where the emphasis goes in the word. So ‘muebles’ really means ‘movables’.

If you have house deeds or a rental contract, you may see that it contains references to ‘inmuebles’ – i.e. ‘unmovables’.

In English we have ‘fixtures and fittings’ although the word ‘inmueble’ also refers to the house or building itself (which we assume is immovable).

In fact the tax you pay on your house (referred to by some people as the Suma) is actually called the IBI (Impuesto sobre Bienes Inmuebles – Tax on Immovable Property).

The word for furniture as a whole is ‘mobiliario’ and most of you reading this will have had some contact with an ‘inmobiliaria’ which is the Spanish word for Estate Agent – the person who sells ‘immovables’.

On a completely different tack, the Spanish often refer to a period in the eighties as ‘La Movida’. This was when there was a huge movement of culture and music amongst Spanish young people, marking the end of the censorship and repression of the Franco regime.

The word ‘movida’ is another derivative of the verb ‘mover’. On the other hand, if by ‘move’ we mean emotionally touched, the verb is ‘conmover’.

Now let’s look at another verb ‘tener’ which I have no doubt you know means ‘to have’.

I wonder if you have ever thought about these words, and how they might be connected – ‘mantener’ (to maintain); ‘contener’ (to contain); ‘sostener’ (to sustain); ‘retener’ (to retain); ‘detener’ (to detain).

I find it so curious that all the English words which are equivalent to these compounds are very similar to them, and yet the base word ‘tener’ in English is ‘have’ and not ‘tain’.

Another great thing about these verbs is that once you learn all the conjugations of ‘tener’ you will find that the compounds work in exactly the same way.

For example ‘mantengo’ means ‘I maintain’. ‘La policía detuvo al delincuente’ (The police detained – arrested – the criminal).

In other words, you get about six verbs for the price of one!