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-   -   Mellizos o gemelos (http://forums.tomisimo.org/showthread.php?t=7637)

Perikles April 13, 2010 02:50 AM

Mellizos o gemelos
 
Quote:

Santa Cruz de Tenerife/ Las familias canarias que tengan mellizos o gemelos recibirán a partir de ahora ayudas.
Exactly what is the difference? Does this difference have regional variations?

Ambarina April 13, 2010 03:25 AM

Gemelos = identical twins
Mellizos = non-identical twins

I think this has come up in another thread but I can't find it. :)

sosia April 13, 2010 03:40 AM

gemelos: Identical twins. They come from the same fertilliced cell
Mellizos: they come from diferent fertiliced cells, They can be both male, both female, or male and a female.

saludos :D

Perikles April 13, 2010 04:09 AM

Thanks - my dictionary defines them both as 'twin'. Both words have the same root L. geminus (gemelo - gemellus - diminutive of geminus; mellizo from Vulg. Latin *gemellicius from gemellus). I was just wondering whether people really do make a distinction between the two. :)

pjt33 April 13, 2010 11:45 AM

My experience (I'm a non-identical twin, so I have a bit!) is that people with a degree in Spanish philology do make a distinction and most other people just call all twins gemelos. I've witnessed a native speaker call identical twins mellizos, and I've used "mellizo" with an Ecuadorian friend and then had to explain to him what it means.

Basically, it's like español vs castellano: whichever you use, you'll be wrong.

irmamar April 13, 2010 01:22 PM

De todos modos, un médico te hablará de "embarazo gemelar", sean gemelos o mellizos (univitelino o bivitelino). ;)

laepelba April 13, 2010 08:23 PM

How about triplets? How would one express the idea of identical vs. fraternal triplets? (Likewise, quads, quints, etc.?)

irmamar April 14, 2010 01:06 AM

Then x-llizos: trillizos, cuatrillizos, quintillizos y creo que hasta sextillizos. :)

sosia April 14, 2010 03:09 AM

Alltough I do make a distinction (I'm always curious :D), I agree with pjt33 that the term is very relaxed, and in an usual conversation you can hear both with no proper signification.

@ irmamar
"De todos modos, un médico te hablará de "embarazo gemelar", sean gemelos o mellizos (univitelino o bivitelino). "
Es correcto, pero yo creo que se cura en salud, el médico no sabe si son mellizos hasta tarde ... :D :D :D

Saludos :D

Perikles April 14, 2010 03:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by laepelba (Post 79532)
How about triplets? How would one express the idea of identical vs. fraternal triplets? (Likewise, quads, quints, etc.?)

Trust a mathematician to extend the specific to another case with a probability of 1 in 200 million. :D

From the internet: "TRILLIZOS GEMELARES IDENTICOS" NACEN UNO CADA 200 MILLONES DE PERSONAS
NACIERON EL 17 DE OCTUBRE DE 2007

Note the tautology. :)


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