An Outline of the Phonology and Morphology of Old Provençal

145. The endings -antem -ando, -ĕntem -ĕndo regularly became -an or -ant, -en or -ent: § 76, (2). See § 143, (1). The endings -iĕntem -iĕndo lost their i in Vulgar Latin (§ 40, 1), and were thus reduced to -entem -endo. Ex.: amantem amando ＞ amán (or amánt), vidĕntem vidĕndo ＞ vezén (or vezént), credĕntem credĕndo ＞ crezén (or crezént); sapiĕntem sapiĕndo ＞ ✱sapĕntem ✱sapĕndo ＞ sabén (or sabént), partiĕntem partiĕndo ＞ ✱partentem ✱partendo ＞ partén (or partént). Fourth conjugation verbs which adopted the inchoative -sc- (§ 138), generally introduced it into the present participle and the gerund: florir, florissẹn. Cf. § 155. For the declension of the present participle, see § 101, (3).

PAST PARTICIPLE.

146. The Provençal past participle comes from the Latin perfect participle. It is to be noted that verbs which originally had no perfect participle were obliged to create one in order to form their compound tenses: see § 141, (1). Past participles in Provençal, when inflected, were declined like bęl: §§ 102; 102, 1; 103, (1). See § 141, (1).

147. In the first and fourth conjugations the endings were -ātum and -ītum, which regularly became -at and -it: cantātum ＞ cantát, finītum ＞ fenít. The first conjugation verbs which had a form in -ĭtum discarded it for -ātum: crepāre crĕpĭtum = crebár crebát. On the other hand, aperīre and operīre preserved their participle in -ĕrtum: cubrir (＜ cooperīre), cubęrt (also cubrít); ubrír (＜ aperīre + cooperīre), ubęrt. By the analogy of these, sufrir (＜ suffĕrre) and ufrir (＜ offĕrre) have sufęrt (also sufrít), ufęrt. Tenẹr tenir keeps its Provençal second conjugation ending, tengüt (see § 148); and venir, following the analogy of tenir, has vengüt.

148. (1) Most Latin verbs of the second and third conjugations had no accented ending, but a few had an ending -ūtum, which corresponded very well to the -ātum and -ītum of the first and fourth: arguĕre, argūtum; consuĕre, consūtum; sĕqui, secūtum; solvĕre, solūtum; volvĕre, volūtum. This ending was considerably extended in Vulgar Latin, especially to verbs having a perfect in -ŭī: habēre, habŭī, habĭtum ✱habūtum. In Provençal it spread still further: cazẹr, cazęc, cazegüt. Inasmuch as it was closely associated with the perfect, it came to be attached, more and more frequently, to the stem of that tense.

(2) Of the Provençal verbs of the second and third conjugations, about half adopted the ending -üt. In some the -üt is added to the stem of the infinitive: crezüt, defendüt, escondüt, molüt, perdüt, resemüt, respondüt, rompüt, vendüt, vezüt veüt. Most of the verbs, however, attach the -üt to the stem of the preterit: nasc, nascüt; pasc, pascüt; tems, temsüt; tesc, tescüt, venc, vencüt (from vẹnser); visc, viscüt. A few have both forms: agüt avüt; cazegüt cazüt; vengüt venüt. It is to be noted, in the case of verbs that add -üt to the preterit, that if the third person singular of the preterit ends in a voiceless consonant preceded by a vowel or l or n, that consonant is voiced in the participle: ac, agüt; bẹc, begüt; cazęc, cazegüt; conọc, conogüt; crẹc, cregüt; dẹc, degüt; elęc, elegüt; mǫc, mogüt; nǫc, nogüt; plac, plagüt, plǫc, plogüt; pǫc, pogüt; remas, remazüt; saup, saubüt; sęc, següt; tẹnc, tengüt; tǫlc, tolgüt; valc, valgüt; vẹnc, vengüt (from venir); vǫlc, volgüt. Exceptions are ceupüt, saupüt (beside saubüt), and vencüt (from vẹnser): for ceupüt, saupüt, cf. § 65, P, 3; in vencüt the c was perhaps kept to distinguish the word from vengüt (venir).

(3) The other half of the second and third conjugation verbs generally preserved the old participle with no accented ending: ars, cẹing, claus, dich, düit, estrẹit, fach, iọinch, mẹs, ọnh, pǫst, prẹs, trach, etc. Some of these have also forms in -üt: defẹs defendüt, elig eslęit elegüt, escọs escondüt, mǫut molüt, nat nascüt, remas remazüt, rọt rompüt, vis vezüt. A few verbs made up new forms without a stressed ending: conquęrre, conquẹs conquis; redemer rezemer, redems (rezemüt); sọrger, sọrs; tǫlre, tǫlt tǫut; vezẹr, vist (vis vezüt veüt); vǫlvre, vǫut. Mĭttĕre probably had beside mĭssum a form ✱mīsum (cf. mīsī); hence mẹtre, mẹs mis. By the analogy of this, prendre has beside prẹs a form pris. ęstre borrowed estát from estar ＜ stare. Escriut, from escriure, is probably influenced by the infinitive; escrich follows dich. So, probably, does elig = eslęit, from elegir eslire eslir.

FUTURE AND NEW CONDITIONAL.

149. For the formation of these parts, see § 142, (1), (2). Ex.: amarái, creisserái, florirái. Verbs of the second conjugation regularly, and verbs of the fourth very often, syncopate the e or i of the infinitive: remanrái, volrás; partrái, venría. Third conjugation infinitives with final e drop this e before the ending; those in -er keep the e: vẹndre, vendrái; náisser, naisserái. First conjugation infinitives regularly keep the a (§ 45), but in a few texts (especially the Girart and the Rasos de trobar) the a is changed to e: cantarái, sonaría, trobarẹm; blasmerán, comterá.

150. For the phonetic changes exemplified in auría, deurái, mourá; plairía; cairá, veirái; valdrái; remandrém, tendría; poiría, see § 70, βr, C´r, Dr, Lr, Nr, Tr. Anar (＜ annāre) has beside anarái a form irái from ir (＜ īre). ęsser drops its first syllable (serái), perhaps through elision (tu ’sserás, etc.), perhaps in accordance with the general principle stated in § 19. Faire far always makes its future and conditional from the latter form (farái). Sabẹr has beside sabrái a form saubrái, due no doubt to the combined influence of aurái and the preterit saup ＜ sapuit. Vezẹr, following the analogy of beurái, deurái, viurái, has veurái beside the regular veirái.

151. The composite nature of the future and conditional was still sufficiently felt, in the literary period, to admit of the separation of the component parts: amar vos ái, dar n’ẹtz, donar lo t’ái, tornar nos ẹm, tornar s’en ía.

152. For the 1st pers. sg., the Provençal verb used the form ✱ayo ＞ ai (§ 73, βy); for the 2d and 3d pers. sg. and the 3d pers. pl., the forms ✱has ＞ as, ✱hat ＞ a (§ 82, T), ✱hant ✱haunt ＞ an aun (§ 83, Nt): see § 137, (1). In the 1st and 2d pers. pl., habēmu’(§ 82, S, 2), habētis naturally gave avẹm, avẹtz (§ 64); but inasmuch as the other four terminations were monosyllabic, the av- was dropped when avẹm, avẹtz came to be understood merely as future endings. The future is, therefore, inflected as follows:—

Conditional Endings.

153. Habēbam ＞ aβẹβa ＞ (probably through dissimilation: § 87, β) aβẹa ＞ avía (§ 26); so avías, avía, aviám, aviátz, avían. But inasmuch as the conditional was formed in imitation of the future, and none of the future forms retained the av-, the conditional endings were reduced to -ía, -ías, -ía, -iám, -iátz, -ían. Some dialects, which substituted -on for -an, introduced -íon into the conditional: § 169. The conditional is, therefore, inflected as follows:—

PRESENT.

154. The personal endings will be discussed separately in §§ 164-169.

155. The Provençal present indicative and subjunctive come, in the main, directly from the corresponding parts of the Latin verb:—

In the 4th conjugation, however, most verbs have adopted the originally inchoative -sc- (§ 138) and incorporated it into the inflection of the present, except in the 1st and 2d pers. pl. of the indicative:—

We occasionally find such forms as florissẹm, florissętz, and florám, florátz.

156. Of the Latin imperative forms, only the present active, 2d pers. sg. and pl., remained in use. The Provençal verb kept the sg., but substituted for the pl. the 2d pers. pl. of the present indicative:—

In negative commands the present subjunctive is generally used instead of the plural imperative, and sometimes the infinitive is employed instead of sg. or pl. The verbs auzir, avẹr, dire, ęsser, sabẹr, vezẹr, volẹr regularly took their imperative forms from the present subjunctive: áuias, digátz, veiátz, etc.

Double Stems.

157. Differences in accentuation and in the environment of vowels or consonants regularly developed different stems in different parts of some verbs. For instance, ádjūtā́re ＞ aidar (§ 45), while adjū́tat ＞ aiüda.

158. Sometimes, as above, an intertonic vowel disappeared: mándūcā́re ＞ maniar, mandūco ＞ ✱mandüc manüc; ✱parabolāre ✱páraulā́re ＞ parlar, ✱parabŏlat ✱paraulat ＞ paraula. In such cases the shortened stem usually prevailed: mania, parla. But in adjutare the longer one was preferred: aiüdar.

159. (1) A vowel which breaks in one part of a verb may be unstressed, and therefore remain unbroken, in another part: probāre ＞ proar, prŏbat ＞ prueva,[116] ✱sequīre ＞ sęguir, ✱sĕquit ＞ sięc.[117] In such cases the phonetic development is generally undisturbed.

(2) A vowel which breaks in one part of a verb may, with different environment, remain unbroken even in another part in which it is stressed: ✱volēre ＞ volẹr, ✱vŏleo ＞ vuelh, ✱vŏlet ＞ vǫl. If the breaking occurs in the 1st pers. sg., the phonetic development is regularly undisturbed; if it occurs in the 2d and 3d pers. sg., it is generally carried into the other forms in which the vowel is stressed: cŏllĭgit ＞ cuęlh, hence cuęlh = collĭgo; ĕxit ＞ ięis, hence ięsc, ięscon, ięsca.

160. A consonant may be followed by e̯ or i̯, and so palatalized, in one part of the verb, and not in another: ✱cadeo ＞ chai, ✱cadēmu’ ＞ chazẹm; dēbeo ＞ dẹch dẹi (§ 73, βy), dēbet ＞ dẹu; faciat ＞ fassa, facĕre ＞ faire; fŭgio ＞ füi, fugĕre ＞ fugir; jaceam ＞ iassa, jacēre ＞ iazẹr[118]; placeāmu’ ＞ plassám, placēmu’ ＞ plazẹm; sapiam ＞ sapcha, sapit ＞ sap; tĕneo ＞ tenh, tĕnet ＞ ten; valeo ＞ valh, vales ＞ vals; vĕniat ＞ venha, venīre ＞ venir; vĭdeam ＞ vẹia, vidētis ＞ vezẹtz; ✱vŏleo ＞ vuęlh, ✱vŏlet ＞ vǫl. Verbs in -eo generally keep this distinction; but we find mǫva, somóna, tẹma = mŏveam, submŏneam, tĭmeam. Most verbs in -io, on the other hand, dropped the i̯ in Vulgar Latin: partio ✱parto ＞ part, partiunt ✱partunt ＞ parton, partiam ✱partam ＞ parta; sen, senton, senta; sięrf, sięrvon, sięrva; etc. A few verbs show forms both with and without the e̯ or i̯: audio ＞ auch (audiam ＞ auia), ✱audo ＞ au; crēdo ＞ crẹ, ✱crēdeo ＞ crẹi[119]; vĭdeo ＞ vẹi[119], ✱vĭdo ＞ vẹ.

161. Verbs in -ng- naturally developed a palatal consonant before e or i (§ 73, Ng´), but not before other vowels: cĭngĕre ＞ cẹnher, cĭngo ＞ cẹnc, cĭngit ＞ cẹnh, cĭngam ＞ cẹnga; so fẹnher, ọnher, plánher, pọnher, etc. The palatal was carried by analogy into the parts that were originally without it: hence the double forms cẹnc cẹnh, cẹngon cẹnhon, cẹnga cẹnha, etc. These double forms led tenẹr, venir to adopt tenc, venc, tenga, venga, beside the regular tenh, venh, tenha, venha. Such forms as these, supported by dẹrc ＜ de-ērĭgo, dic ＜ dīco, pręc ＜ prĕco, sęc ＜ ✱sequo, trac ＜ ✱trago, etc., afforded a starting-point for an ending -c, adopted by some other verbs in the 1st pers. sg. of the present indicative: pĕrdo ＞ pęrt pęrc, pr(eh)ĕndo ＞ pren prenc, remaneo ＞ remanh remanc, etc.

Peculiar Forms.

162. The following verbs have individual peculiarities that call for special mention:—

163. In verse the present subjunctive ending -ia sometimes counts as one syllable: si͡atz. Cf. § 153, 1.

Personal Endings[122].

164. (1) In the first person singular final -o and -em regularly disappeared: amo ＞ am, amem ＞ am. When, however, the -o or -em was preceded by a consonant group requiring a supporting vowel (§ 52), the ending was regularly retained as -e: dŭbĭto ＞ dọpte, sŭffĕro ＞ suffre, trĕmŭlem ＞ tremble.

Through the analogy of ai, crẹi, dẹi, sọi, vẹi, and the 1st pers. sg. of the preterit, this -e was in the indicative generally changed at an early date to -i: ✱cŏpĕro ＞ cǫbre cǫbri, ✱opĕro ＞ ǫbre ǫbri; so ĭmpleo ✱ĭmplo ＞ ompli. This -i (occasionally -e) was then taken as a distinctive ending of the 1st pers. sg., and was added to many verbs that needed no supporting vowel: auzir, au auze; azorar, azọr azọri; cantar, can canti; cọrre, cọr cọrri; mẹtre, mẹt mẹti; prezar, prętz pręzi; remirar, remir remire remiri; respondre, respon respondi; sentir, sen senti; vẹndre, vẹn vẹndi.

In the subjunctive, when a final vowel was required, -e was usually kept; it was also extended to some verbs that did not need it: acabe, dọne, mire, plọre. Very rarely an unnecessary -i was added instead of -e: laissar, lais laissi.

(2) The ending -am regularly gave -a: audiam ＞ auia.

165. In the second person singular final -as regularly remained, and -ēs and -ī̆s became -s (or, when a supporting vowel was required, -es): amas ＞ amas; valēs ＞ vals, sapĭs ＞ saps, partīs ＞ partz; dŭbĭtēs ＞ dọptes. Cf. § 82, S. Sometimes, especially in late texts, -s is expanded into -es: canz cantes, partz partes, saps sabes, vals vales; so floris florisses, etc.

Final -a remained, and -ē̆ and -ī fell: ama ＞ ama, tĕne ＞ ten, crēde ＞ crẹ, partī ＞ part.

166. In the third person singular final -at became -a, -ĕt and -ĭt fell (but remained as -e when a supporting vowel was needed): amat ＞ ama, amet ＞ am, tĕnet ＞ ten te, vĕnit ＞ ven ve; trĕmŭlet ＞ tremble. Cf. § 82, T.

167. In the first person plural the final -s disappeared early, s being perhaps regarded as a distinctively second person ending[123]. The rare form ęsmes = sŭmus is the only one that retains the s: cf. § 162, (15).

Then -āmu’, -ēmu’ gave regularly -am, -ẹm: cantāmus ＞ cantám, habēmus ＞ avẹm. Likewise -ĭmu’, through the analogy of -āmu’, -ēmu’, came to take the accent on its penult, and then regularly developed into -ẹm: crēdĭmus ✱credĭ́mu’ ＞ crezẹm. This -ẹm of the second and third conjugations passed into the fourth, and entirely displaced the -im that would have been the regular representative of -īmu’: partīmus ＞ ✱partím partẹm.

168. In the second person plural -ātis regularly gave -atz: amātis ＞ amatz, audiātis ＞ auiatz. The regular form from -ētis is -ẹtz, which we find kept in the future (veirẹtz) and in the present subjunctive (cantẹtz); in the present indicative it was replaced by -ętz, probably through the analogy of ętz ＜ ĕstis: habētis ＞ avẹtz avętz, ✱potētis ＞ podẹtz podętz, so sezętz, valętz, etc.; the rare avẹtz and podẹtz are the only forms that preserve ẹ. The ending -ĭtis, taking the accent on its penult (cf. § 167), became ✱-ẹtz, then -ętz: crēdĭtis ＞ crezętz. This -ętz also displaced the -itz that would have been regular in the fourth conjugation: partītis ＞ partętz.

The final -tz was reduced, in some of the principal dialects, to -s (§ 64): cantás, sezęs, partęs. In other dialects it was replaced very early by -t (§ 64): auiát, avęt, passát, podęt; so partirẹt, etc.

169. In the third person plural -ant, -ent, -unt gave respectively -an -ant, -en, -on -o (§ 83, Nt): amant ＞ áman ámant, audiant ＞ áuian áuiant; valent ＞ válen, ament ＞ ámen; vēndunt ＞ vẹndon vẹndo. In Languedoc -an was replaced by -on or -o in the 13th century; in other regions, later: ámon, chanto ls, coménso l. The Boeci has -en for -an: amen, monten. In Gascony and some of the Limousin territory -en partially displaced -on (floríssen, párten, vẹnden), elsewhere -on or -o displaced -en (válon).

IMPERFECT INDICATIVE.

170. In the first conjugation -abam regularly gave -ava. In the second, through the analogy of aβéa ＜ habēbam (§ 153), -ēbam came to be replaced, in southern Gaul, by -éa, which regularly changed to -ía (§ 26). In the third, -iēbam regularly became -ēbam (§ 40, 1); and this and original -ēbam were replaced by the -éa ＞ -ía of the second conjugation. In the fourth, -ībam, which had in the accented syllable the characteristic vowel of the conjugation, crowded out -iēbam; -ībam then lost its β through the analogy of the second and third conjugations. We have, then, in Provençal, only two sets of endings: -áva, etc., in the first conjugation; -ía, etc., in the second, third, and fourth.