affable — an adjective describing someone who is warm and friendly and pleasantly easy to talk to
afable — the Spanish cognate of the same meaning
The more “affable” a television or radio host is, the better his or her show will do because people will want to talk to him, and viewers and listeners will want to tune in to listen. When we have problems, we want a friendly, avuncular guy or a warm, motherly woman to listen to us — we want an “affable” person, not some crude, shock jock.
“Affable” comes to us from Latin’s affārī, meaning "to speak to." Affārī is a form of fārī "to speak, say" and from that word also comes fābula "talk, gossip, account, tale, legend."
Thus, we get the word “fable” in English, which is a type of story meant to teach a moral or lesson. One of the best-known fables concerns a hare and a tortoise and how it’s often better to go slowly yet steadily toward your goals. I’m a big fan of this approach.
A “fable” is a story that’s meant to be “told” or “spoken.” If you look at the word “affable,” the word “fable” is right there. The two words are pronounced differently, so it’s inclusion in the word “affable” is not so clearly noticed when spoken as it is when it’s read.
The Spanish cognate for “fable” looks exactly like its Latin ancestor — “fábula.”
If you’re wondering, yes, “fabulous” comes from the same ancestor as “fable” because its original meaning was as an adjective used to describe something that resembled a “fable” — something that was too incredible to be true.
The Spanish cognate for “fabulous” is “fabuloso” if the thing it’s describing is masculine and “fabulosa” if the thing is feminine.
If you are a paying subscriber, think back to last week’s “Cognate Cognizance.” If you are an “affable” person, you are someone marked by “affability,” the noun. See that -ity ending? You should be able to make the jump from English to its Spanish cognate based upon what I shared last week.
Did you come up with “afabilidad?” If so, good job. “La afabilidad” is the Spanish cognate to indicate the quality of being “affable” or “afable.”
I hope you have an “affable” person in your life to talk to each day.
Until next time. If you’re not a paying subscriber yet, please consider becoming one. Thanks.
Tammy Marshall
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