# Spanish Words Beginning with Ñ, Ll, or Rr **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 27, 2005, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-words-beginning-with-n-ll-or-rr/286915 "2005-01-27T14:10:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2005, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-words-beginning-with-n-ll-or-rr/286915/1 "2005-01-27T14:10:09Z")
Are there any? I don’t remember any in my three years of Spanish but I didn’t exactly pay as much attention as I could have, hence my taking three years instead of the two I would haveve preferred. If there are none, is there any concrete reason why? ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2005, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-words-beginning-with-n-ll-or-rr/286915/2 "2005-01-27T14:25:09Z")
LL- is a fairly normal initial form: the very common verb _llamar_ (and _llamarse_), _lleno_, the _llamas_ of the Andes, which very seldom cross the _llanos_ of Venezuela… I cannot offhand think of common words beginning with ñ- or rr-, although we have a Doper named **Ñañi**. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2005, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-words-beginning-with-n-ll-or-rr/286915/3 "2005-01-27T14:32:06Z")
La Llorona! ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2005, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-words-beginning-with-n-ll-or-rr/286915/4 "2005-01-27T14:32:38Z")
I wasn’t aware llama was a spanish word. I just assumed it was a bastardization of the Incan word for the animal. And **ñañi** ’s name is what prompted this thread. I was looking at old GD threads and ran across it and couldn’t remember seeing anything remotely similar before and when I posted it, I couldn’t think of any words starting with ll or rr offhand so I included them as well. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2005, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-words-beginning-with-n-ll-or-rr/286915/5 "2005-01-27T14:41:51Z")
There are some Spanish words beginning in Ñ, though I can’t think of any particularly common ones. The local name for the agouti, a large forest rodent, here in Panama is Ñeque. Also, the Italian “gnocchi” (small potato/flour balls) is spelled ñoqui in Spanish. I’m sure there are some others. As **Polycarp** says, LL is fairly common initially. I can’t think of any words that begin with RR. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2005, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-words-beginning-with-n-ll-or-rr/286915/6 "2005-01-27T14:48:35Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > The local name for the agouti, a large forest rodent, here in Panama is Ñeque. Total hijack, which if you like can be answered in a new thread – I’m aware that Panama was considered part of Colombia, not Central America, until 102 years ago, and have formed a vague view that the Panamanian fauna is much more “South American” than “Central American” – though of course there’s a big overlap. Is that true? Any comments on it? ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2005, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-words-beginning-with-n-ll-or-rr/286915/7 "2005-01-27T15:10:14Z")
I am not sure the animals realize where the demarcation is between SA and CA. (Heck, I am not sure I am clear on it.) But the Darien Gap is a pretty good guess. Accepting that, Panama is most certainly in CA. Animal-wise I cannot think of any animals in Panama that do not sashay up to Costa Rica. I have always maintained Panama is the only Caribbean nation on the Pacific, at least as to culture. Wonderful place. ---
**Author:** ![cckerberos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@cckerberos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cckerberos)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2005, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-words-beginning-with-n-ll-or-rr/286915/8 "2005-01-27T15:25:50Z")
There’s [ñoño](http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dict_en_es/entry?lb=e&p=num%3As15862) ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2005, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-words-beginning-with-n-ll-or-rr/286915/9 "2005-01-27T16:07:04Z")
You did not pay that much attention did you. ¿Cómo se llama Usted? That is pretty much the first thing you learn in spanish. What is your name. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2005, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-words-beginning-with-n-ll-or-rr/286915/10 "2005-01-27T16:08:42Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > Total hijack, which if you like can be answered in a new thread – I’m aware that Panama was considered part of Colombia, not Central America, until 102 years ago, and have formed a vague view that the Panamanian fauna is much more “South American” than “Central American” – though of course there’s a big overlap. Is that true? Any comments on it? Panama has a very high biodiversity in part because it’s an area of overlap between North and South America. The two continents were isolated until about 3 million years ago, when the Panamanian land bridge formed, at which point many North American species moved south, and South American ones north. Today, there are quite a few North American forms that reach their southernmost limits in western Panama (remember Panama runs east-west, not north-south), while there are many South American forms that reach their northern limits in eastern Panama. Besides this there are many endemic forms limited just to Panama itself, or shared between either Panama and Costa Rica, or Panama and Colombia. The percentage of species of North American, Central American, and South American origin varies quite a bit between groups, with plants being different from birds being different from snakes and so on. So the answer to your question is really very complex, and too much to go in to here in much detail. ---
**Author:** ![Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bambi_Hassenpfeffer)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2005, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-words-beginning-with-n-ll-or-rr/286915/11 "2005-01-27T16:30:34Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > There are some Spanish words beginning in Ñ, though I can’t think of any particularly common ones. The local name for the agouti, a large forest rodent, here in Panama is Ñeque. Also, the Italian “gnocchi” (small potato/flour balls) is spelled ñoqui in Spanish. I’m sure there are some others. Like ñu (gnu), ñoñería (feebleness), ñoño (feeble), ñandutí (Paraguayan lace), ñapa (bonus or extra – _le di dos de ñapa_ == I threw in a extra two.), ñeque (strength). At least, these are the ones my diccionario has. OTOH, I cannot think of a single initial RR word. Probably because initial R is rolled anyway, so there’d be absolutely no reason to start a word with RR. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2005, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-words-beginning-with-n-ll-or-rr/286915/12 "2005-01-27T16:34:51Z")
I find it fascinating that the Atlantic entrance to the canal is west of the Pacific entrance. Anyway: My dictionary has nothing on rr, but I’ll list all of Ñ ña (diminutive of doña) ñama - iams ñandú - a S. American bird ñaña - babsitter or big sister (colloquial) ñaño - spoiled kid ñoque - rubbish ñato - flat nosed ñeque - big, strong, strength ñiquiñaque - nick-nack ño - Mr. ñoñeria - sillyness ñudo - knot (the type you tie, not the speed). As you can see, most of the are colloquial, baby language. Some are limited to certain countries. In real life, starting a word with ñ (pronounced en-ye) is very, very rare. BTW - ñ came around as a shorthand way of writing nn. The second n started migrating above the first in in flowery scripts during the middle ages. So while it’s a searate letter today, its roots make it almost impossible to start a word with, or about ass possible as doing it in English, i.e. Nname or some such. Ll is too numerous. Its’ a whole page. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2005, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-words-beginning-with-n-ll-or-rr/286915/13 "2005-01-27T16:44:54Z")
> [@gazpacho](#): > > You did not pay that much attention did you. > > ¿Cómo se llama Usted? > > That is pretty much the first thing you learn in spanish. What is your name. We were less formal. The first thing i learned was ¿Cómo te llamas? ---
**Author:** ![Aaron\_Koing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ea924/32.png) [@Aaron\_Koing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aaron_Koing)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2005, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-words-beginning-with-n-ll-or-rr/286915/14 "2005-01-27T17:30:46Z")
There are with Ñ and Ll, but none with Rr. The “rr” in a word means a trill. A single “r” insicated a “flap”. However, if the sentence starts with an “R”, then it is pronounced as a “rr”. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2005, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-words-beginning-with-n-ll-or-rr/286915/15 "2005-01-27T18:17:47Z")
> [@Aaron Koing](#): > > There are with Ñ and Ll, but none with Rr. The “rr” in a word means a trill. A single “r” insicated a “flap”. However, if the sentence starts with an “R”, then it is pronounced as a “rr”. I was coming in to make just this point. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2005, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-words-beginning-with-n-ll-or-rr/286915/16 "2005-01-27T18:20:18Z")
> [@Bambi Hassenpfeffer](#): > > ñapa (bonus or extra – _le di dos de ñapa_ == I threw in a extra two.), ñeque (strength). At least, these are the ones my diccionario has. _La ñapa_ obviously is a cognate of Cajun French _lagniappe_ – I wonder who borrowed it from who? Is _lagniappe_ a known word in Parisian French or Quebecois? ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-words-beginning-with-n-ll-or-rr/286915/17 "2005-02-03T21:08:26Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > _La ñapa_ obviously is a cognate of Cajun French _lagniappe_ – I wonder who borrowed it from who? > > Is _lagniappe_ a known word in Parisian French or Quebecois? Since I arrive too late to cite the example that immediately sprang to mind, here’s a post at [LanguageLog](http://www.languagelog.com): [Language Log: Lagniappe](http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/%7Emyl/languagelog/archives/001241.html) It’s definitely from Spanish, but the Spanish word comes, interestingly, from Quechua (the original word being _yapay_, so I suspect that “ñapa” is the result of a wrong cutting.)