answersLogoWhite

0

The word "father" can be traced back to the Latin word 'pater'.

There was a process called "the great consonant shift" which meant that related languages began to change and letters such as

"p" began to be pronounced as "f" or "v",

"t" began to be pronounced as "d"

This explains why the Latin word "pater" translates so similarly into various European languages as

* vater - German * father - English * padre - Italian & Spanish * athar - Irish (the initial consonant has disappeared altogether) * pere - French (the middle consonant has disappeared)

User Avatar

Wiki User

16y ago

What else can I help you with?