Let us sally forth into the undiscovered realm of cognates that Tammy (me) didn’t know until recently.
I’ve long used and been aware of the word “sally,” but until recently, while reading “Don Quixote de la Mancha” in both Spanish and its English translation, I hadn’t given any thought to “sally” having a very obvious cognate in Spanish. Now, however, my own cognate cognizance has grown. Take a “sally” with me.
sally — while this word has a variety of meanings, we are going to look at one of its meanings as a noun where it means a “venture or excursion; trip; jaunt” and as a verb where it means “to set out (as from one’s home or station and usually accompanied by the word “forth)
salida — the Spanish cognate for the noun
salir — the Spanish cognate for the verb
Don Quixote often goes off on many “sallies” throughout the course of the novel, and he just as often “sallies forth” with his faithful squire, Sancho Panza, at his side. The word “sally” is used so frequently in the English translation that I read that its overuse came to my attention, and I wondered why the translator had used that word so often. Well, a quick glance at the original Spanish showed me how often “salida” and forms of the verb “salir” were used, and I had one of those head-slapping moments when you realize something that should have been obvious to you.
Since the word “sally” isn’t common in English, I hadn’t connected it with “salida” in all the years that I was teaching Spanish even though the word “salida” and all the conjugated forms of “salir” came up repeatedly. Every time those words appeared, though, they were simply translated as “an exit” or “a departure” for “una salida” and “to leave” or “to go out” for “salir,” so my mind didn’t see them as cognates for “sally” even though they are.
These words all come to us from Latin’s salire which means “to leap.” The French language changed it a bit and used it to mean “to rush forward,” and then other Romance languages continued to modify its spelling and its meaning over time, but the underlying meaning of forward motion is still there in our usage of the word “sally” and the Spanish words of “salida” and “salir.”
Another usage or synonym of “sally” in English is the word “sortie,” which we took from the French. This type of “sally,” or “sortie,” involves “a sudden rushing of troops from a defensive position against the enemy.” Essentially, they “leap” out at the enemy, or “rush forward” upon them.
That is still the French word for “sally,” too, and you can see the commonality with the Italian cognate for “sally” and “sortie” which is “sortita.”
Back to the Spanish cognates.
If you are in a Spanish-speaking country, you will commonly see the word “salida” on doors where it means “exit” and in airports and train stations where it means “departure.”
While researching the word “sally,” I got to wondering about its use as a girl’s name. Turns out that it’s a diminutive form of the name Sarah, which originated in Hebrew. I don’t think I ever would have connected Sally with Sarah if I hadn’t read it with my own eyes. The few women named Sally that I’ve known were just called Sally, but perhaps their names were Sarah and I just didn’t know that.
Apparently this character from “The Nightmare Before Christmas” is Sally.
But I prefer this Sally.
As to cognates and improving your cognizance of them, I hope you will “sally forth” and go on “sallies” down your own undiscovered paths because, like I did with this word, you might be surprised what you find around the next corner.
Happy Halloween. I’m making this post free to all my subscribers this week as my little treat for everyone, but I’m hoping a few of you will opt to become paying subscribers, so you don’t miss a single week. Free subscribers missed out on my posts about “habitat,” “amorous,” and “vicinity” this month, and they don’t have access to the audio recordings of each post. It’s only a few dollars a month, so please consider upgrading now. Thanks.
Until next time.
Tammy Marshall
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