# Etymology of Portuguese "falar"



## Demurral

I know that falar in Portuguese means "speak".

I want to now if this word is etymologically related to that of "fail" in Latin or so??

Could anybody answer me??
Thanks in advance.


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## demalaga

Since Spanish hablar comes from Latin ( vulgar) FABULARI  I am almost sure also falar has the same etymology


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## Outsider

Yes, that is the etymology I've read, too: from the hypothetical Vulgar Latin form _*fabulare_, from _fabula_ (fable).

The same origin as Spanish _hablar_.


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## Athaulf

Demurral said:


> I know that falar in Portuguese means "speak".
> 
> I want to now if this word is etymologically related to that of "fail" in Latin or so??



You mean English "fail"? No, they're not related. The latter comes from Latin _fallere_, not _*fabulare_.


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## demalaga

It's curious enough that the word for "speak" in most Romance languages  is derived from vulgar Latin, from one side parabola and the verb parabolare, (parler, parlare, parlar) and not very different fabula and the verb fabulare (hablar, falar),But Romanian vorbi derives from other word (maybe verbum?)


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## Demurral

It would have been beatiful that a language had trapped the meaning of "better shut up and seem silly, than speaking and prove it".

Thanks to all of you!


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## federicoft

demalaga said:


> It's curious enough that the word for "speak" in most Romance languages  is derived from vulgar Latin, from one side parabola and the verb parabolare, (parler, parlare, parlar) and not very different fabula and the verb fabulare (hablar, falar),But Romanian vorbi derives from other word (maybe verbum?)



In Italian you can say _favellare _too, which has the same etymology has hablar/falar, although today is obsolete and used just for ironic purposes.


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## cobusteanu

The Romanian word _a vorbi_ (to speak) comes from _vorba _(word) and so far the etymology is not Known (it is speculated that comes from the slavic _dvoriba._

_Though a fabula, in Romanian, it means to talk untrue things, halucinating _

And _o fabula_ it is a fable.


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## Tagarela

Olá,



cobusteanu said:


> _Though a fabula, in Romanian, it means to talk untrue things, halucinating _
> 
> And _o fabula_ it is a fable.



In Portuguese, *fábula* also means a story, fairy-tale, something like that. 

Até.:


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## OldAvatar

Tagarela said:


> Olá,
> 
> 
> 
> In Portuguese, *fábula* also means a story, fairy-tale, something like that.
> 
> Até.:



However, _fabula _is a neologism in Romanian.
There are two theories regarding the etymology of _a vorbi - vorbire_. One claims that the origins of the word could be found in Proto-Slavic languages, as mentioned above, the other puts the word in relation with Latin *verbum* (_vorbă_, for example, means speech or word).


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## Frank06

*Hi,

The etymology of the Romanina word vorbi (to speak) can be (further) discussed in this thread.

Groetjes,

Frank
Moderator EHL*


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## lara70

Yes, 'falar', 'fábula', 'confabular': from Latin 'fabulari' / 'fabula' (Antônio G. da Cunha. Dicionário etimológico da língua portugesa).


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## Ephebus

To fail = Vulgar Latin fallire , variant of Lat. fallere
Pt. = falhar
SP. = fallar 
It. = fallire

Portuguese has falar, fabular, confabular from fabulari and also fábula, fabulosa.

And from Lat. parabola Portuguese has ''palavra'' (word, speech, chat), origin of the English ''palaver'', ''parábola'' (parable), and also from parabolare has ''parlar'', ''palrar'' and ''parolar'' (meaning to speak, chatter, babble, gabble, jabber, gossip)


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## robbie_SWE

Ephebus said:


> To fail = Vulgar Latin fallire , variant of Lat. fallere
> Pt. = falhar
> SP. = fallar
> It. = fallire
> 
> Portuguese has falar, fabular, confabular from fabulari and also fábula, fabulosa.
> 
> And from Lat. parabola Portuguese has ''palavra'' (word, speech, chat), origin of the English ''palaver'', ''parábola'' (parable), and also from parabolare has ''parlar'', ''palrar'' and ''parolar'' (meaning to speak, chatter, babble, gabble, jabber, gossip)


 
This got me thinking of Romanian words with the same ancestry, but different meanings: 

*palavră* = untrue story, tale 
*a pălăvri/pălăvrăgi* = to chatter, to talk nonsense 
*palavragiu *= babbler, cackler

All these words come from the Spanish _palabra_, through Turkish and Greek. It is believed to have been introduced by Spanish Jews who migrated to the region. 

 robbie


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## mataripis

Demurral said:


> I know that falar in Portuguese means "speak".
> 
> I want to now if this word is etymologically related to that of "fail" in Latin or so??
> 
> Could anybody answer me??
> Thanks in advance.


I think the word "Falar" of Portuguese is related to the word "Larynx" or voice box.The Portuguese language like french is a language that produce sounds coming from larynx.Literally, Portuguese is para larynx (falar?).


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## CapnPrep

mataripis said:


> I think the word "Falar" of Portuguese is related to the word "Larynx" or voice box.The Portuguese language like french is a language that produce sounds coming from larynx.Literally, Portuguese is para larynx (falar?).


Absolutely not. Read everyone else's messages to learn the correct etymology.


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