How to Learn the Basic Word List 245 guesea and French equivalents of classical Latin words beginning with ST? SQ SP3 SQ3 SL5 appropriate a vowel, e g Latin spzntu> Spanish espintUy Portuguese espinto, French espnt9 or Latin scnlere (to write), Spanish escrihr^ Portuguese escrever> French ecnre. This e- turns up in Latin inscriptions of the second century A D , and was once part of the spoken language of the Empire It dropped out in Italian, e g spinto or scnvere In English words derived fiom French or Latin this initial e is absent There are a few exceptions^ eg estate, esquire., espouse, especially The following list illustrates the contrast and also shows a French peculiarity explained in the next paragiaph ENGLISH FRENCH SPANISH ENGLISH FRENCH SPANISH scald echauffer escaldar spine £pme espina scarlet £carlate escarlata sponge eponge esponja school 6cole escuela spouse 6poux esposo scnpture Venture escntura stamp £tampe estampa scum ecume espuma standard Standard estandarte slave esclave esclavo state etat estado sluice ecluse esclusa stanch 6tancher estancar space espace espacio stomach estomac estomage spade 6p6e espada strange etrange estrano Spain Espagne Espafia study ^tudier estudiar spice 6pice especia stuff etoffe estofa We have now looked at what was happening to Latin dialects simul- taneouslym different partsof the disintegrated empire during the fouror so centuries after the fall of Rome We shall now look at more local changes From this viewpoint French stands most apart from its sister languages We have already met (p. 225) one peculiarity of French. ITALIAN SPANISH PORTUGUESE MIDDLE FRENCH MODLRN FRENCH ENGLISH bastardo bastard BATARD bastard bestia besta beste BETE beast chiostro claustro cloistre CLOffRE cloitfer costa coste COlE coasr costare costar custar couster COUTER (to) cost festa fiesta festa feste F£TB feast isola isla ilha isle iLE vie ostnca ostra oistre IIUlTRE oyster