"Qué tiempo hace" - explanation please?

[Runa27]

Hello, I'm learning Spanish right now, and I was wondering about the phrase "¿Qué tiempo hace?".

I realize it's something about weather, since all the correct answers to that question are things like "Hace calor" ("it's hot", though literally "it's making heat") or "hace sol" or "hace frío", but what's that "tiempo" word doing in there? "Tempurature" is "tempuratura", and "tiempo" is translated as "time" every time I try to look it up. It doesn't seem to make sense. Can anyone explain this better? If I can understand where it comes from or something, I can remember it better.


-Runa27

[Dada]

In spanish tiempo means both time and weather.

Que tiempo hace? > What's the weather?

[Guest]

Oh. Huh. That's kind of odd! Oh well, I think I can remember it now, thanks!

-Runa27

[Maïwenn]

Oh. Huh. That's kind of odd! Oh well, I think I can remember it now, thanks!

-Runa27

Just for you to know, it's the same in French (temps means both time and weather)

[ANTHOS]

Hi Runa

I think that you should throw away your dictionary and invest in another one. Even a 1-dollar bargain basement dictionary should tell you that tiempo means weather too !

Andreas

[Runa27]

Hi Runa

I think that you should throw away your dictionary and invest in another one. Even a 1-dollar bargain basement dictionary should tell you that tiempo means weather too !

Andreas

No, no... I lost track of my REAL dictionary. I was talking about the crappy online ones. My electronic one is fantastic for things like that (gladly, I have it again now!).

I'm actually kind of interested now in how the same word (in both French and Spanish) came to mean time AND weather... does that come down from Latin? What do you suppose the logic behind it was? (I'm always curious about these kinds of things, I find it fascinating).


-Runa27

[fauvish]

that IS interesting..
i had thought about this as well.

Although Latin has soooooo many words for weather, regarding the different types of weather. Only one word means a period of time AND weather.

I think that it's because the root word Tempes means more a period of time AND a season, rather than weather. and since a season takes place either at a certain time, or for a certain amount of time, they came to mean the same thing in french and spanish. I wonder if Romanian is also like this, being a Romantic language?

An interesting example would be the well-known latin phrase "tempes fugid", which is usually translated in english as "time flies". It could just as well be translated as "seasons fly", with the same meaning.

Perhaps some of this makes sense. thanks for bringing it up. It's fun to think about things without having a straight answer.

[Maïwenn]

I don't know about Romanian, but it's also the same in Breton (celtic language). "Amzer" means time and weather. But it might be due to Latin influence ?

[ViCh]

I think its the same in all latin languages:
- walloon : timps
- italian : tempo
- spanish : tiempo
- french : temps

But not in german languages I know:
- english: time / weather
- dutch: tijd / weer-weder
- german: Zeit / Wetter

And also not in finnish: aika / ilma-sää

[Runa27 (not logged in)]

I think its the same in all latin languages:
- walloon : timps
- italian : tempo
- spanish : tiempo
- french : temps

But not in german languages I know:
- english: time / weather
- dutch: tijd / weer-weder
- german: Zeit / Wetter

And also not in finnish: aika / ilma-sää

Ah, but there's also "season" with English. "Season" usually refers to a period of time (a few months), BUT it can (and very often does) refer specifically to Spring, Summer, Winter, and Autumn, otherwise known as the "four seasons". And THOSE are all marked by changes in weather. In fact, there's even a phrase or two about the "changing of seasons", which refers to both the passing of time during the year AND the "seasonal changes" (weather) that come with it.

Interestingly, though, even though we have a word with close ties to both concepts (time and weather), the word that we have that is most likely associated with the SAME Latin word that gives us the root for "temps" in French and "tiempo" in Spanish, only refers to time, and never weather. I say it's the most likely because other than it just seeming perfectly logical to my English-speaking brain for "tiempo" to mean "time", there's the word "temporary" (meaning it won't be there permenently, ie not a long period of time[/u]), which looks like it comes from "tempes".

This is very interesting indeed!

-Runa27

[Runa27 (not logged in)]

...logical to my English-speaking brain for "tiempo" to mean "time", there's the word "temporary" (meaning it won't be there permenently, ie not a long period of time[/u]), which looks like it comes from "tempes".

... I forgot to note "and the words sound similar and convey related concepts".


-Runa27

[sorin]

hello,
the two words for weather in romanian are timp and vreme
the most usitated one is timp ( as in "timp frumos" )
so you will see that in fact is the revers of the spanish and french version.
romanians also use the word "vreme" (weather) for time phrases as in "e vremea sa plecam" (it's time to leave.)

alea jacta est

that IS interesting..
i had thought about this as well.

Although Latin has soooooo many words for weather, regarding the different types of weather. Only one word means a period of time AND weather.

I think that it's because the root word Tempes means more a period of time AND a season, rather than weather. and since a season takes place either at a certain time, or for a certain amount of time, they came to mean the same thing in french and spanish. I wonder if Romanian is also like this, being a Romantic language?

An interesting example would be the well-known latin phrase "tempes fugid", which is usually translated in english as "time flies". It could just as well be translated as "seasons fly", with the same meaning.

Perhaps some of this makes sense. thanks for bringing it up. It's fun to think about things without having a straight answer.