How did "asistir" and "atender" become opposite of their cognates in English?

Question

Atender is translated as *to assist* in Spanish, while "asistir" is translated as "to attend". These words seem to be cognates of each other, but have opposite meanings when translated. How did this occur? Are there any research articles/ journal papers describing how one deviated from the other?

Answer 1

Asistir y atender.

Asistamos a la conferencia.

Let's attend the lecture.

La asistencia fue numerosa.

Attendance was very good.

Hay un buen equipo de asistencia técnica.

There's a good technical

assistance team.

Había muchos asistentes.

There were many people present/attending.

Yo atiendo el teléfono.

I answer the telephone.

Atiéndelos en la antesala.

See/Receive them in the anteroom.

_¿Le atienden?

Are you being served? (in a store)

_Sí, la dependiente está atendiéndome.

Yes, the saleswoman is taking care of me.

Los pacientes fueron atendidos por el médico de guardia.

The patients were attended to/taken care of by the doctor on call.

Answer 2

"Atender" in Spanish means both to assist and to attend, same with "asistir", it means to assist and to attend as well. There are some words in Spanish that are both true and false cognates depending on the context they are being used. It depends on the preference of the speaker which one to use.