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Re: [romconlang] Boy and Girl in Romance Languages



Here are some etymologies:

FRENCH:

Frankish *wrakjo or *war "vagabond" > b. Lat. garciò, garciònem > Fr. gars/garçon (masc); old French gars (masc) and garce (fem) < "; also Prov. gartz, old Prov. guarso/guarzon; Catalan garsò; Port. garção; Sp. garzón; Breton gwerch "child"

Germanic gammel (?) "gaîté, joie bruyante; vaurien"> gamin/gamine

SPANISH (in increasing order of age):

ninno (of infantile origin??) > niño, niña
Latin ciccum "something of small value" > chico, chica
older mochacho "that which is "mocho" (q.v.) > muchacho, muchacha

PORTUGUESE (in attempted order of increasing age):

garoto/garota (etymology not found; connected to French gars above?)
menino/menina (etymology not found)
Lat. musteus "new wine" > young, new, fresh (Post Agustus) > Pt. moço/moça
Lat. rapace > rapaz
French gai "happy" > Pt. gaio > gaioto/gaiota

ITALIAN:

ragazzo/a < lat. barb. ragàzium (see entry at http://www.etimo.it/?term=ragazzo&find=Cerca)

ROMANIAN:

băiat, fiu = boy
fată, prietenă = girl

Does anyone have etymologies for the Romanian (other than fiu?)

Cheers,
Eamon