The above photo was taken many years ago in Spearfish Canyon, South Dakota, by my beloved uncle, Paul Filsinger. He loved the Black Hills, and he loved photography. Sadly, he passed away four years ago today at the age of 60. He was one of my favorite people, and I continue to honor his memory and his photographic talent whenever I can — three of his photos grace the covers of three of my six novels, and I hope to use more on future book covers.

This week’s cognate duo is special to me for a variety of reasons. First, in honor of Paul and this lovely photo. Second, in honor of the birthday excursion I took yesterday with my parents for my dad’s 78th birthday — we visited Smith Falls, one of the best-known waterfalls in Nebraska — yes, Nebraska has waterfalls.

And finally, because of the ravages that cascades of water have caused in a part of this country that I fell in love with while my daughter was studying for her master’s degree in eastern Tennessee — I’ve been so saddened by what is happening to the people and places there and in western North Carolina, and I pray that they will find the remaining missing people alive and that the beautiful area will overcome this horrible, horrible tragedy.

So, this week’s duo and this month’s free post:

cascade — a noun that in its simplest meaning is a “waterfall”

cascada — the Spanish cognate that means “waterfall”

We tend to use the word “waterfall” much more often than “cascade” because the words “water” and “fall” both come to us from Old English while “cascade” and “cascada” come from Latin’s casus which means “fall.” “Cascade” came to us looking exactly like this from French — of course, the pronunciation is different in French — and the French took it from Italian’s “cascata.” The Italians formed the word from their verb “cascare” which means “to fall.”

In Spanish, the verb that means “to fall” is “caer.” We can use the word “cascade” as a verb, too — the water cascades over the rocks, for example. In Spanish, the verb for this action isn’t a single word but rather a verb expression that translates “to fall in a cascade” — “caer en cascada.”

Here is a photo I took a few years ago outside of Erwin, Tennessee, in one of the places that was hit hard by the recent flooding. You can see the water gently cascading over the rocks.

And here is Kim standing on a bridge that no longer exists but that spanned the Nolichucky River in Erwin, TN. This was one of our favorite days spent in that part of our country, and we even considered moving to Erwin because we loved it so much.

I’m thankful for all my memories of my uncle and for all the trips to eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina that I took and that live on as wonderful memories. A veritable “cascade of memories” — “una cascada de memorias.”

Until next time. Please consider upgrading to “paid” status, so you don’t miss a single week of “Cognate Cognizance” and so you have access to the audio version of each. Thank you.

Tammy Marshall

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