Embarazada (IPA [embaɾa'θað̞a] or [embaɾa'sað̞a]) is the Spanish word for pregnant. It is a notorious false friend for non-native students of Spanish. Attempting to say "I'm embarrassed" by saying "estoy embarazada" means "I'm pregnant" in Spanish. This may be confusing or baffling when said by a man, and potentially embarrassing. Look up False friend in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Embarrassment (see also: Alberto Gonzales) is an unpleasant emotional state experienced upon having a socially or professionally unacceptable act or condition witnessed by or revealed to others. ...

When Parker Pen entered the Mexican market, its advertisements claimed that Parker Pens "won't leak in your pocket and embarrass you" was mistranslated as saying they "won't leak in your pocket and impregnate you".¹ Another error would be to say "Soy embarazada" which means something like "I am a pregnant kind of woman".² The use of ser / soy implies a permanent state, while estar / estoy indicates something is a change from before. The Parker Pen Company, founded in 1891 by George Stafford Parker in Janesville, Wisconsin, is best known for making pens that are among the most prestigious and collectible in the world. ... Generally speaking, advertising is the paid promotion of goods, services, companies and ideas by an identified sponsor. ... Look up translate in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Confusion may also arise through the use of the phrase tengo vergüenza (meaning "I have shame") or the more correct phrases me da vergüenza or estoy avergonzado (idiomatically meaning "I am embarrassed", "I am ashamed", or "I am bashful").³ Yet, in Spanish, there also exists the adjective embarazoso, meaning exactly the same as "embarrassing" in its denotation of something that causes a sensation of unease, but not of shame.⁴ Complicating the issue further, embarazada can sometimes also mean "hampered", or "hindered".⁵ This more closely mirrors the original meaning of the English word embarrass.⁶

Grammar

Look up embarazada in
Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Embarazada is a past participle, meaning that it indicates a state resulting from a previous action. In English, past participles usually end in -ed (e.g., destroyed), and embarazado therefore translates directly into English as "impregnated". It is a conjugated form of embarazar "to impregnate". As the word embarazado is masculine, it is rarely encountered in Spanish. It is more common for the word embarazada to be used to describe pregnancy. However, embarazado may be used as a past participle in perfect tenses, as in: Javier ha embarazado a María. (Javier has impregnated María.) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Wiktionary (a portmanteau of wiki and dictionary) is a multilingual, Web-based project to create a free content dictionary, available in over 150 languages. ... In linguistics, a participle is an adjective derived from a verb. ...

Usage

As mentioned above, embarazada is a state. To say, "Javier impregnates María", one would say Javier embaraza a María. To say, "Javier impregnated María", one would say Javier embarazó a María. However, of the 50 possible forms embarazar can take, about 31--or 62% of the total--do not make any sense. For example, one can say, "Javier, impregnate María" (asking Javier to impregnate María) as Javier, embaraza a María. "We impregnate María", would be Embarazamos a María. "Javier, you're impregnating María" would be Javier, estás embarazando a María.

Etymology

The English word embarrassed is indirectly derived from the Spanish word. The first written usage of embarrass in English was in 1664 by Samuel Pepys in his diary. The word was derived from the French word embarrasser, "to block," or "obstruct",⁷ whose first recorded usage was by Michel de Montaigne in 1580. The French word was derived from the Spanish embarazar, whose first recorded usage was in 1460 in Cancionero de Stúñiga (Songbook of Stúñiga) by Álvaro de Luna.⁸ The Spanish word likely comes from the Portuguese embaraçar, which probably is a combination of the prefix em- (from Latin in- for "in-") with baraça "a noose", or "rope".⁹ Baraça originated before the Romans began their conquest of the Iberian Peninsula in 218 BC.¹⁰ Thus, baraça could be related to the Celtic word barr, "tuft". (Celtic people actually settled much of Spain and Portugal beginning in the 700s BC, the second group of people to do so.)¹¹ However, it certainly is not directly derived from it, as the substitution of r for rr in Iberian Romance languages was not a known occurrence. Samuel Pepys, FRS (23 February 1633 – 26 May 1703) was an English naval administrator and Member of Parliament, who is now most famous for his diary. ... Michel Eyquem de Montaigne-Delecroix (IPA pronunciation: []) (February 28, 1533–September 13, 1592) was one of the most influential writers of the French Renaissance. ... Álvaro de Luna (between 1388 and 1390; June 2, 1453), Constable of Castile, Grand Master of the military order of Santiago, and favorite of King John II of Castile. ... In linguistics, a prefix is a type of affix that precedes the morphemes to which it can attach. ... The Iberian Peninsula, or Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe, and includes modern day Spain, Portugal, Andorra and Gibraltar. ... The Celtic languages are the languages descended from Proto-Celtic, or Common Celtic, spoken by ancient and modern Celts alike. ... This article is about a subdivision of the Romance language family. ...

Some say the Spanish word actually came from the Italian imbarazzare, from imbarazzo, "obstacle" or "obstruction". That word came from imbarrare, "to block", or "bar", which is a combination of in-, "in" with barra, "bar" (from the Vulgar Latin barra, which is of unknown origin).¹² The problem with this theory is that the first known usage of the word in Italian was by Bernardo Davanzati (1529-1606), long after the word had entered Spanish.¹³ Thus, modern scholars believe that the Italian word actually came from the Spanish one.¹⁴ Vulgar Latin, as in this political graffito at Pompeii, was the speech of ordinary people of the Roman Empire — different from the classical Latin used by the Roman elite. ...

See also

• Spanglish

It has been suggested that Hispanicisms_in_English be merged into this article or section. ...

Endnotes

1. Sandy Serva, iLanguage Translations for Global Research, Jan 2003, Vol. 26, Issue 1, p 51.
2. "embarazada," Collins Spanish Dictionary (2003) p. 380.
3. "embarrassed," op. cit., p. 1311.
4. "embarazoso," op. cit., p.380.
5. "embarazar," loc. cit.
6. "embarras," The Oxford English Dictionary, (1989) <http://dictionary.oed.com> [Accessed February 15, 2006].
7. Ibid.
8. Joan Corominas and José Pacual, "embarazar," Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, (Gredos, 1980) Vol. II, p. 555-556.
9. "embarrass," Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged (2002) <http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com> [Accessed February 15, 2006].
10. Corominas, "embarazar".
11. "Iberian," Encyclopaedia Britannica, <http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9041884> [Accessed February 15, 2006].
12. Corominas, "embarazar".
13. "embarrass," The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, (2000) <http://www.bartleby.com/61/12/E0101200.html> [Accessed February 15, 2006].
14. "imbarazzare," Grande Dizionario Italiano, (2007) <http://www.garzantilinguistica.it/interna_ita.html> [Accessed October 29, 2006].