1. The d, n, t of the proclitics ad, quid, in, aut, et will be treated under Final Consonants.
64. Final ts from any source, in Provence, Limousin, and a part of Languedoc and Gascony, was reduced, during the literary period, to s: amātis ＞ amatz amas, habētis ＞ avętz avęs, dīcit ＞ ditz dis, grandes ＞ granz grans, latus ＞ latz las, prĕtium ＞ prętz pręs. On the other hand, in a part of Limousin (especially in Limoges), and also in Dauphiné, -ts, in the second person plural of verbs, became t: habētis ＞ avęt.
65. The single medial consonants will now be considered separately, in alphabetical order:—
β, coming from b or v, became v; except in the west and a part of the centre, where, if it remained intervocalic, it changed to b: habētis ＞ avętz abętz, debēre ＞ devẹr debẹr, faba ＞ fava faba; avārum ＞ avar, æstīva ＞ estiva, brĕvem ＞ bręu,[43] clavem ＞ clau, dīe Jŏvis ＞ diiǫus, lĕvat ＞ lęva, novĕlla ＞ novęla nabęra (Gascon), vīvus ＞ vius. When the preceding or following vowel was o or u, a β before the accent fell in most dialects, being fused with the vowel: abŭndare ＞ aondar abondar, gŭbĕrnare ＞ goernar governar, proclitic ŭbĭ ＞ ọ, prŏbare ＞ proar, sŭbĭnde ＞ soẹn sovẹn sobẹn, trĭbūtum ＞ treüt; Lŭdovīcus ＞ Lozoics, Provĭncia ＞ Proẹnsa Provẹnsa, novĕllum ＞ noęl novęl, novĕmbrem ＞ noembre novembre, pavōnem ＞ paọn, pavōrem ＞ paọr (cf. § 55, V).
1. The perfect endings -avi etc., -ivi etc. had lost their v in Latin. For avia, etc., see § 87, β.
2. Abans, beside avanz, avan ＜ ab ante, apparently shows the influence of Pr. ab = apud. Abet ＜ abiĕtem (§ 40, 1) is unexplained: cf. Italian abete. Abora is a Provençal compound of ab and ora. Trap, beside trau ＜ trabem, is doubtless from the nominative traps ＜ trabs, which seems to have been differentiated in meaning from the V. L. nominative trabis.
3. Brey, grey, ney, beside breu ＜ brĕvem, greu ＜ ✱grĕvem, neu ＜ nĭvem (cf. § 25, 1, e), have been subjected to the attraction of grey ＜ grĕgem, ley ＜ lēgem. Greug is a post-verbal noun from greuiar ＜ ✱grĕviare.
4. Natiz = natius ＜ natīvus seems to have been influenced by mestis ＜ mixtīcius. Massis is from ✱massīcius.
5. Paziment = pavamen owes its z perhaps to the analogy of aizimen.
6. In purely learned words, b and v were written as in Latin: diabol, diluvi.
C, from the 4th to the 6th century, was voiced to g, and then developed like any other g. See G.
1. After au, apparently, c did not change: ✱auca (＜ ✱avĭca ＜ avis) ＞ auca, pauca ＞ pauca, rauca ＞ rauca, ✱traucare (? ＜ ✱trabucare) ＞ traucar. Cf. § 65, P, 3.
2. In purely learned words, c remained unchanged: vocal. Alucar aluchar, aluc seem to be learned formations patterned after antelucānus and Low Latin lucānus.
C´, when it became contiguous to a consonant, through the fall of the unaccented vowel of the penult, was reduced to i: cŏcĕre ＞ cǫire, dīcĕre ＞ diire dire, dīcĭtis ＞ ditz, facĕre ＞ faire, facĭmu(s) ＞ faim, facĭtis ＞ faitz, fēcĕram ＞ fẹira, fēcĕrunt ＞ fẹiron, gracĭlem ＞ graile. When it remained intervocalic, it was assibilated during the transition period (§ 55, C); in most of the Provençal territory it became dz, which during the literary period was simplified to z; but in some dialects of the south and the northwest it resulted in idz (later iz), an i-glide having developed before the consonant while it was still palatal: aucĕllum ＞ auzęl, jacēre ＞ iazẹr, lĭcēre ＞ lezẹr, lūcēre ＞ lüzẹr lüzir lüisir, placēre ＞ plazẹr plaizẹr; crŭcem ＞ crọz crọiz crọis (see §§ 63, 64), dīcere ＞ dízer, dīcit ＞ ditz dis, dūcit ＞ dütz düs, facit ＞ fatz fas, jacet ＞ iatz ias iays, pacem ＞ patz pas pais, placet ＞ platz plas plais, verācem? ＞ verais, vōcem ＞ vọtz vọiz.
1. Aucel, beside auzel, perhaps belongs to a dialect in which c´ was not voiced after au: cf. C, 1. See § 80, Bc´.
2. Iasser, beside iazer, seems to be due to ias ＜ jacet and iassa ＜ jaceat.
3. For desma deima, see S, 1.
4. In purely learned words, c´ ＞ ts: acĭdum ＞ aci.
D, in a part of the west, remained unchanged; elsewhere, during the Vulgar Latin period, it opened into ð, which fell in the 11th century and earlier in parts of the north and east, and in the rest of the Provençal territory became z as early as the first part of the 12th century: audīre ＞ auzir auir audir,[44] audit ＞ au,[45] cadit ＞ ca, crudēlem ＞ cruzęl cruęl crudęl, fīdat ＞ fia, ✱gaudo ＞ gau, hŏrrĭda ＞ ǫreza, hŏrrĭdum ＞ ǫre, laudo ＞ lau, alauda ＞ lauzẹta laudẹta, rīdat ＞ ria, tradĕre ＞ trazir trair tradir, vidēre ＞ vezẹr vẹr vedẹr, vĭdet ＞ vẹ. When ð became contiguous to a following consonant (except final s), it changed to i: divīdĕre ＞ divire,[46] traditōrem ＞ traidọr (which, influenced by traïr, was pronounced traïdọr).[47]
1. Crey, beside cre ＜ crēdo, follows dei ＜ dēbeo, vei ＜ vĭdeo. Mercey, beside merce ＜ mercēdem, shows the influence of grey ＜ grĕgem, lei ＜ lēgem, and perhaps French fei ＜ fĭdem. Cf. β, (3).
2. Grau = gra ＜ gradum, niu = ni ＜ nīdum belong to the Catalan dialect, in which ð fell before the 8th century: gradum ＞ graðu ＞ gra-u ＞ grau, the u being preserved through combining into a diphthong with the a.
3. In purely learned words, d remained: odi ＜ ŏdium.
F is very rare (cf. § 59). The few examples appear to show that f (presumably in the 6th century or earlier) became β, and then developed like any other β (see β): Stĕphănum ＞ Estęve, co(n)fortāre? ＞ ✱coβortar ＞ ✱coortar ＞ conortar (through the common use of the double forms, con-, co-), gryphum ＞ griu, raphănum ＞ rave rafe, ✱refusāre ＞ rehusar refusar, ✱prefŭndum (= pro-) ＞ preọn. Nevertheless, cofịn ＜ cŏphĭnum, defǫrs ＜ de fŏris, grifọ, profięg ＜ profĕctum, rafe, would seem to indicate that in some words, possibly less popular at the outset, f was retained.
1. In purely learned words, f was kept: antifona, Caifas, philozophia.
G, representing original c and g, had a varied development.[48] For the fall of g in some words in Vulgar Latin, see § 55, G.
(1) Before a, g remained in the greater part of the territory, but in the north and east it early became y; and this y was generally retained in the eastern dialects (often fusing with a preceding i), while in most of the northern it developed into dž (cf. Y): amīca ＞ amiga amiia amia, dīcam ＞ diga dia, mīca ＞ miga miia mia,[49] pacāre ＞ pagar paiar, precāre ＞ pregar preiar; castigāre ＞ castigar castiar, legālem ＞ leial leyal lial, ligāmen ＞ liam, lĭgātum ＞ legat liat, plaga ＞ plaga plaia, regālem ＞ reial, rūga ＞ rüa.[50]
(2) Before o and u (ü), g was preserved, except in a few words which (doubtless in Vulgar Latin times) lost it either in all or in many dialects: acūtum ＞ agüt, secŭndum ＞ segọn, secūrus ＞ segürs; ✱a(u)gūrium ＞ agür aür, a(u)gŭstum ＞ agọst[51] ahọst, proclitic ĕgo ＞ ęu, ✱fagŏttum ＞ fagǫt, figūra ＞ figüra, Hugōnem ＞ Ugọ. For a g that becomes final or contiguous to final s, see § 63, (6): amīcus ＞ amics amis, Auriācum ＞ Auriac, cŏcum (= cŏquum) ＞ cǫc, jŏcus ＞ iǫcs, Ludovīcum ＞ Lozoic Lozoi, prĕco ＞ pręc; castīgo ＞ chastic chasti.
(3) Between the last two vowels of a proparoxytone, g, early in the Provençal period, became y, which developed into dž before the literary epoch; cf. § 49, (4): clĕrĭcum ＞ clęrge, ✱coratĭcum ＞ coratge, domĭnĭcum ＞ dimẹnge, manĭca ＞ mania, mĕdĭcum ＞ męge, mŏnăchum ＞ monge, ✱paratĭcum ＞ paratge, viatĭcum ＞ viatie. In some dialects, however, the vowel of the penult, after liquids and nasals, fell too early for the g to become y: clęrgue,[52] esta(t)ga, mętgue, mongue.
1. Amiu, chastiu belong to the dialect of Forez; so perhaps fau ＜ fagum, preu ＜ prĕco. These forms indicate a very early fall of the g in the dialect to which they belong. Cf. § 51, 3.
2. In purely learned words, Latin g remains unchanged: paganōrum ＞ paganor.
G´ became y during the Vulgar Latin period (§ 55, G). See Y.
1. In purely learned words the letter g was retained, but it was doubtless pronounced dž: astrologia.
L remained: colōrem ＞ colọr, male ＞ mal, ✱volēre (= velle) ＞ volẹr. Before final s, l became u in most dialects, in some as early as the 10th century: malos ＞ maus, talis ＞ taus; l was written, however, long after l had been vocalized. Under the influence of forms in which -ls ＞ -us, final l became u in the southwest and in some other regions: Aprīlem ＞ abriu. Cf. § 74, (2). Au ＜ -al is common in William of Poitiers.
1. For Gascon l ＞ r, see § 10.
2. Orifan, beside olifan ＜ elephantem, is probably French.
L´ will be considered, as ly, under Groups, § 73, Ly.
M remained: amāre ＞ amar, hŏmo ＞ om, timōrem ＞ temọr.
1. Occasionally -am rhymes with -an (afan: fam, portam: avan); this seems to show an indistinct pronunciation of the final nasal in some dialects. Cf. aven = avem ＜ habēmu(s) in the Nobla Leyczon. Cf. § 167, 2.
N remained: bŏnas ＞ bonas, donāre ＞ donar, lūna ＞ lüna. For n final or contiguous to final s, see § 63, (5): fīnis ＞ fis fins, panem ＞ pa pan.
1. In canorgue, dimergue, morgue, etc., beside canonge, dimenge, monge, etc., the r may be explained partly by dissimilation, partly by the analogy of clergue and of words with double forms (§ 87).
2. Menhs meins, beside regular mens ＜ mĭnus, show the influence of the alternative forms genhs geins and gens from ingĕnium (see § 73, Ny).
3. Iassey (= iasse, the latter part of which may be from exín = exĭnde), tey (= te ＜ tĕnet), used by Marcabru, are doubtless due either to a mistaken imitation of conventional borderland forms (see § 25, 3) or to the analogy of crei = cre ＜ crēdo (crei itself being due to the analogy of dei ＜ dēbeo, vei ＜ vĭdeo).
N´ will be considered, as ny, under Groups, § 73, Ny.
P, from the 4th to the 6th century, was voiced to b: capĭllum ＞ cabẹl, rīpa ＞ riba, ✱sapēre (= sapĕre) ＞ sabẹr, trepalium ＞ trebalh; capit ＞ cap (§ 63), sapis ＞ saps.
1. In some borderland dialects p ＞ v, as in French: saver. Evescat, evesque, beside bisbat, bisbe, are French.
2. Apud, used as a proclitic, became for some reason in Vulgar Latin ✱apu, which developed regularly into ✱abu and, after the fall of intertonic vowels, ab. This ab assimilated its b more or less to a following consonant, becoming ap before voiceless consonants, am before nasals; am, used before dentals, became an: hence we have four forms, ab, ap, am, an. Amb perhaps developed first from am before l, as in am l’autre; when used before a consonant with which mb did not readily combine, it expanded into ambe. See Elise Richter, Zs., XXVI, 532; J. Huber, Zs., XXX, 583.
3. In some dialects, apparently, p was not voiced after au: sapuĕrunt ✱sapwĕrunt ✱saupĕrunt ＞ saubron saupron. Cf. § 65, C, 1.
4. In purely learned words, p remains: epifania.
R remained: amāra ＞ amara, durāre ＞ dürar, ĕrat ＞ ęra. Final rs was reduced to s, in most dialects, during and after the literary period: priōres ＞ priọrs priọs (Girart); the reduction apparently began in Limousin as early as the 12th century (Bertran de Born rhymes iọs and flọrs).
1. Final r began to fall in many dialects in the 14th century. At present it has disappeared all through the south and west: amōrem ＞ amou, flōrem ＞ flou.
2. In some dialects (especially those of Gard and Hérault) intervocalic r and z were confused, probably during the literary period: gyrāre ＞ girar gisar; conversely audīre ＞ auzir aurir. Cf. Revue des langues romanes, XL, 49, 121.
S was voiced to z, probably from the 4th to the 6th century: pausa ＞ pausa, presĕntem ＞ presen; rīsum ＞ ris (§ 63).
1. An s that became contiguous to n was changed, in a few dialects, to r: almosna almorna, disnar dirnar. In modern Limousin and some of the dialects of Dauphiné, Languedoc, and Gascony, s has disappeared before nasals: asne ane, caresma carema, disnar dinar (so blasmar blamar, desma dema); the fall began during the literary period. S before a consonant in many of the modern dialects, and final s in some, has become i: asne aine, caresma careima (so perhaps desma deima, pruesme prueime); some traces of this change occur in texts of the literary period. Cf. Zs., XXIII, 413. Isla, in Limousin, became ilha (perhaps through iyla): cf. Zs., XXIII, 414. Cf. § 78.
2. In some southeastern dialects intervocalic z after au has changed to v: causa cauva (so auzir auvir); possibly the auvent of the Boeci, v. 23, is to be connected with this.
T, from the 4th to the 6th century, was voiced to d: amāta ＞ amada, natālis ＞ nadals, servitōrem ＞ servidọr; habētis ＞ avętz avęs avęt (§§ 63, 64), latus ＞ latz las, natum ＞ nat. For a t which became contiguous to r (amātor ＞ amaire), see § 52, (1), and § 70, Tr.
1. In some dialects of the south and southeast, final t fell shortly after the literary period: amātum ＞ amat ama.—Appoestat is French.
2. Tōtus, in Gaul, became tōttus as early as the 4th century: hence Pr. tota totas. For meteis ＜ met-ĭpse see § 131, (2).
3. Espaza (beside espada) ＜ spatha, was perhaps influenced in its pronunciation by the spelling of the Latin word.[53] Ez, coming from et before a vowel, shows the influence of az (＜ ad + vowel) and quez (＜ quĭd + vowel). Grazal, ‘grail’, is perhaps a cross between ✱cratella ＜ crater and gradale, ‘service-book’; so grazalet. Grazir grazire (cf. agradar) is perhaps altered from an earlier ✱grazar ＜ ✱gratiare. Mezeis ＜ met-ĭpse, mezesmes, meesmes (beside medesmes) ＜ ✱met-ĭpsĭmus have been subjected to the analogy of ez ＜ et and quez ＜ quĭd or of ĭd ĭpsum: § 131, (2).
4. In some dialects tī became a sound written h: peccatī ＞ peccah. See § 51, 1.
5. In purely learned words, t remains: eternal.
W will be considered, as gw, under Groups, § 72, βw.
X is a symbol for ks: see Groups, § 79, Ks.
Y, representing Latin dy, g´, gy, j, and z (cf. § 55, G, Y; § 57, Z) had a varied development.
(1) When it became contiguous to a following consonant (§§ 45, 49) it changed to i: adjutāre ＞ ayudāre ＞ ay’dar ＞ aidar, medietātem ＞ meitat; cōgitāre ＞ cüidar, frīgĕre ＞ frire, lĕgĕre ＞ lęyre, propagĭnem ＞ probaina, rĭgĭda ＞ rẹida, ✱tragĕre ＞ traire; bajŭlus ＞ bailes.
(2) When it remained intervocalic, it became dž in most of the territory, but in the northeast and parts of the north it was not changed:[54] audiam ＞ auia, in-ŏdiare ＞ enoiar, invĭdia ＞ envẹia, invĭdiōsus ＞ enveiọs enveyọs, ✱gladia ＞ glaya, mediānum ＞ meian, ✱pŏdiāre ＞ poiar, radiāre ＞ raiar, sordĭdior ＞ sordẹier, vĭdeat ＞ vẹia; fragĭlem ＞ fragel; ✱exagiāre ＞ assatiar essaiar essayar, corrĭgia ＞ corrẹia corrẹya, fagea ＞ faia faya, regiōnem ＞ reiọ; dīe Jŏvís ＞ diiǫus, major ＞ maier, pĕjor ＞ pięier, pejōrem ＞ peiọr, trŏja ＞ trǫia; baptizāre ＞ bateiar. For a dž or a y that became final or contiguous to final s, see § 63, (1), (2): audio ＞ auch, in ŏdio ＞ enuęg (plural enuętz enuęg) enǫi, gaudium ＞ gauch, gladium ＞ glai, mĕdium ＞ męg męi, hŏdie ＞ ǫi, pŏdium ＞ puęg pǫi, radium ＞ rai; fŭgit ＞ füg füi, grĕgem ＞ gręy, lēgem ＞ lẹg (pl. lẹitz) lẹi, lĕgit ＞ lięg, magis mais,[55] rēgem ＞ rẹi, exagium ＞ essai; pĕjus ＞ pięis.
(3) Before accented e or i, y disappeared (doubtless in Vulgar Latin: § 55, G), except in some western dialects, where it became dž: vagīna ＞ guaīna, ✱legīre (= lĕgĕre) ＞ legir,[56] magĭster ＞ maẹstre maiẹstre magẹstre, ✱pagē(n)sis ＞ paẹs pagẹs, regīna ＞ reïna, sagĭtta ＞ saẹta saiẹta sagẹta.
1. Detz ditz ＞ dĭgĭtus are irregular and unexplained. The word is irregular in some other Romance languages, notably in Italian. Cf. Gröber’s Grundriss, I, p. 507.
2. Glavi, beside glai (and learned glazi) ＜ gladium, is supposed by some to show the influence of Celtic cládibo. Cf. Körting; also H. Schuchardt, Zs., XXV, 345.
3. Messér seems to be a contraction (due to proclitic use) of ✱messeyer = mes, ‘my’, + ✱seyer? ＜ ✱sĕyor = sĕnior (cf. A. Lindström, L’analogie dans la déclinaison des substantifs latins en Gaule, 1897-8, pp. 292-3).
4. In purely learned words, di, g, gi, z are retained, the g being pronounced presumably as dž, the z as z: odi, fragil, regio, canonizar.
66. Medial groups may be conveniently classified as follows:—A. Double Consonants (1); B. Groups of Dissimilar Consonants: groups ending in l (2), groups ending in r (3), groups ending in w (4), groups ending in y (5), groups beginning with l, m, n, r, or s and not ending in l, r, w, or y (6), all other groups (7). This order will be followed.[57]
1. It should be noted that the prefixes ad-, sub- regularly assimilate their d or b to the following consonant: ✱ad-rīpāre ＞ arribar, sub-venīre ＞ sovenir. Sosrire, sosterrar, sostraire show a substitution of prefix, due, no doubt, to the analogy of sospirar, sostener.
67. In general, the double consonants became single, in the 9th or 10th century (perhaps earlier before the accent), but underwent no other change save those described in §§ 63, 64: abbātem ＞ abat, sĭccum ＞ sẹc, rĕddo ＞ ręt, affībulāre ＞ afiblar, aggregāre ＞ agregar, flamma ＞ flama, pĭnna ＞ pẹna, cappa ＞ capa, passum ＞ pas,[58] mŭttum ＞ mọt, advenīre ✱avvenīre ＞ avenir.
(1) Cc before a, in the east and northeast, became tš; elsewhere, c; bŭcca ＞ bọca bọcha, vacca ＞ vaca vacha.
(2) Ll, in some southern dialects, became l´; elsewhere, l: capĭllum ＞ cabẹl cabẹlh, grȳllum ＞ gril grilh, mantĕllum ＞ mantęl mantęlh, villānus ＞ vilas vilhas. It is possible, however, that -llī regularly became l´ in Limousin, while ll before other vowels was not palatalized: caballum ＞ caval, caballī ＞ cavalh; ĭllī ＞ ilh, ĭllōs ＞ ẹls; this would account in part for the frequent occurrence of lh in the poems. So in some dialects -nnī ＞ n´: annī ＞ anh. Cf. § 51, 1. For final ls and l, see § 65, L: ĭllos ＞ ẹls ẹus, vallem ＞ val vau. For Gascon l ＞ r, see § 10: appĕllat ＞ apęla apęra.
(3) Rr, when intervocalic, seems generally to have been distinguished from r during the literary period and later: cŭrrĕre ＞ cọrre, ✱corrŭptiāre ＞ corrossar, errāre ＞ errar, tĕrra ＞ tęrra. Occasionally, however, rr is found in rhyme with r.
68. The groups of two consonants will be treated in alphabetical order. It will be seen that bl, rl, sl remained unchanged; ml developed a glide consonant between its two members; pl, tl, βl and yl respectively voiced, assimilated, and vocalized their first element; while cl, gl were fused into l´. For an explanation of this last phenomenon, see § 79.
Bl ＞ bl: nĕbŭla ＞ nębla, ✱oblītāre ＞ oblidar, sabulōnem ＞ sablọn.[59]
βl ＞ ul: fabŭla ✱faβla ＞ faula, sibilāre ✱siβlāre ＞ siular, tabŭla ✱taβla ＞ taula.
Cl ＞ l´: genŭcŭlum ＞ genọlh, ŏcŭlum ＞ ǫlh, sĭtŭla ✱sĭcla[60] ＞ sẹlha, vĕtŭla vĕcla[60] ＞ vęlha. In learned words we find gl, cl: ✱e(c)clĕsia ＞ glęiza, joculārem ＞ ioglar, sæcŭlum ＞ sęgle sęcle.
C´l ＞ il: gracĭlem ＞ graile.
Dl ＞ dl, which during the literary period became ll and then l: mŏdŭlum ＞ ✱mǫdle mǫlle.
Gl ＞ l´: rēgŭla ＞ rẹlha, ✱strĭgŭla ＞ estrẹlha, vĭg(ĭ)lat ＞ vẹlha. Lẹula ＜ lĕgŭla, tẹula ＜ tēgŭla are irregular: cf. Archivio glottologico italiano, XIII, 439, 459.
Ml ＞ mbl: sĭmĭlāre ＞ semblar, trĕmŭlat ＞ trẹmbla. In sembrar we find an r ＜ l due perhaps to the analogy of membrar ＜ memorāre. In semel gives ensẹmble essẹms.
Pl ＞ bl: cōpŭla ＞ cọbla, dŭplum ＞ dọble. Learned words have pl: duplicar.
Rl ＞ rl: Carŏlus ＞ Carles, hōrolŏgium ＞ orlǫi, ✱paraulare ＞ parlar.
Sl ＞ sl: ī(n)sŭla ＞ isla. For ilha, see § 65, S, 1.
Tl ＞ tl, which during the literary period became ll and then l: rŏtŭlum ＞ rǫtle rǫlle, spathūla ＞ espatla espalla espala. In really popular words tl had become cl in Vulgar Latin.[61]
Yl ＞ il: bajŭlus ＞ bailes. Cf. § 65, Y, (1).
69. A group of three consonants remained unchanged, except that double consonants became single: ambulāre ＞ amblar, implēre ＞ emplir, avŭncŭlus ＞ avọncles, cĭrcŭlus ＞ cẹrcles, mascŭlus ＞ mascles, ✱afflammāre ＞ aflamar, inflāre ＞ enflar, ŭngŭla ＞ ọngla, emplastrum ＞ emplastre.
1. Selcle, beside cercle, seems to show an assimilation of the r to the l of the next syllable. Empastre, beside emplastre, has been influenced by pasta. Emblar is probably from V. L. ✱imbolare = involare.
70. The groups of two consonants will be treated in alphabetical order. It will be seen that br, gr, lr, nr generally remained unchanged; mr, sr, zr (and sometimes lr, nr) developed a glide consonant; cr, pr voiced, and βr, c´r, dr, tr, yr vocalized their first element.
Br ＞ br, also ur, occasionally ir (through ür): fabrum ＞ fabre faure[62], fĕbrem ＞ fębre fęure, lībra ＞ liura; Octōbrem ＞ ochọyre. For brg, see § 80.
βr ＞ ur, occasionally ir: bĭbĕre ＞ bęure, débēr’ hábḙo ＞ deβr’áyo ＞ deurái, ✱rōbŏrem ＞ rọure rọire; ✱mŏvĕre (= mŏvēre) ＞ mǫure, plŏvĕre ＞ plǫure.
Cr ＞ gr: acrem ＞ agre, lacrĭma ＞ lagrema, lŭcrum ＞ lọgre, macrum ＞ magre, sacrāre ＞ sagrar, sŏcrum ＞ sǫgre.[63] In late learned words we find cr: secret.
C´r ＞ ir: cŏcĕre ＞ cǫire, dīcĕre ＞ dire, dūcere ＞ düire, facĕre ＞ faire. Cf. § 49, (1).
Dr ＞ ðr ＞ ir: divīdĕre ＞ devire, quadrum ＞ caire, vídēr’ hábe̯o ＞ veð’r-áyo ＞ veirái. After au, apparently, ð simply disappeared: claudĕre ＞ claure. Late learned words have dr: quadrupedi.
Gr, in popular words, was reduced to r in Vulgar Latin in parts of the Empire fra(g)rāre ＞ ✱frarar ✱flarar flazar, intĕ(g)rum ＞ entęr entięr, nĭ(g)rum ＞ nęr nięr,[64] pere(g)rīnum ＞ peleri, pĭ(g)rĭtia ＞ perẹza; these forms occur in Gascony, Rouergue, and Limousin, but forms with gr are found in the same region. Elsewhere, in these same words, and everywhere, in more bookish words, gr remained in Vulgar Latin; this gr was kept in most of the Provençal territory, but was changed to ir in Dauphiné, Auvergne, and Languedoc: fragrāre ＞ flairar, integrāre ＞ enteirar, intĕ́grum ＞ entęgre entęir,[65] nĭgrēscĕre ＞ negrezir, nĭgrum ＞ nẹgre nẹir,[65] peregrīnum ＞ pelegri, pĭgrĭtia ＞ pigręza. Purely learned words have gr everywhere: agricultura.
G´r: see Yr.
Lr usually remained unaltered, but in some dialects became ldr[66]: vălēr’ hábe̯o ＞ valrai valdrai, ✱vólēr’ hábe̯o ＞ volrai voldrai.
Mr ＞ mbr: camĕra ＞ cambra, memorāre ＞ membrar, nŭmĕrum ＞ nọmbre.
Nr usually remained unaltered, but in some dialects became ndr[66] cĭnĕrem ＞ cẹnre cẹndre, dīe Vĕnĕris ＞ divenres divendres, in-gĕnerāre ＞ engenrar, Henrīcum ＞ Enric, expōnĕre ＞ espọnre espọndre, ✱gĕnĕrem (= gĕnus) ＞ genre, gĕnĕrum ＞ genre gendre, honorāre ＞ onrar ondrar, tenēr’ habeo ＞ tenrai tendrai, venīr’ habeo ＞ venrai vendrai.
Pr ＞ br: capra ＞ cabra, cŭperāre ＞ cobrar, erĭpĕre ＞ erẹbre, ŏpĕra ＞ ǫbra, pauper ＞ paubre, ✱pĭperāta ＞ pebrada, recĭpĕre ＞ recẹbre, sŭperāre ＞ sobrar, sŭper ＞ sọbre. Purely learned words have pr: caprin. It is uncertain whether paupre (beside the usual paubre) is a Latinism or represents some dialect in which au prevented voicing.
Sr ＞ str: ✱ĕssĕre (= ĕsse) ＞ ęstre. For ęsser, see § 49, (2).
Tr ＞ dr ＞ ðr ＞ ir: amātor ＞ amaire, fratrem ＞ fraire, latro ＞ laire, mater ＞ maire, ŭtĕrem ＞ ọire, pĕtra ＞ pęira, Pĕtrus ＞ Pęires, petrōnem ＞ peirọ, petrōsus ＞ peirọs, pre(s)by̆tĕrum (Einf., § 140) ＞ prevẹire, servītor ＞ servire, vĭtrum ＞ vẹire. Learned words have dr and tr: ✱poenĭtĕre ＞ penedre (penedir), impetrāre ＞ impetrar.
Yr ＞ ir: frīgĕre ＞ frire, lĕgĕre ＞ lęyre.
Zr ＞ zdr: mīsĕrunt + ✱mĭssĕrunt ＞ ✱mẹzron mẹsdron.
1. Redebre (beside rezemér) ＜ redĭmere has apparently been influenced by recebre. The Burgundian sor for sobre comes from the prefix sŭr- (sŭr-rīdēre, etc.). Perri ＜ ✱pētrīnum is probably French.
71. A group of three consonants nearly always remained unchanged, except that double consonants became single: ŭmbra ＞ ọmbra, arbŏrem ＞ arbre, sepŭlcrum ＞ sepulcre, ✱canc(e)rōsus ＞ cancrọs, ✱addīrēctum ＞ adrẹit, fŭndĕre ＞ fọndre, ardĕre ＞ ardre, ✱offerīre ＞ offrir, ✱Hungaría ＞ Ongria, rŭmpĕre ＞ rọmpre, apprĕssum ＞ apręs, asprum ＞ aspre, ŭltra ＞ ọltra, intrāre ＞ entrar, mo(n)strāre ＞ mostrar, mĭttĕre ＞ mẹtre. Lβr and rg´r, however, regularly became ldr and rdr, and llr became ldr to the same extent as lr (q. v.): absŏlvĕre ＞ absǫldre (absolvre is probably a Latinism), pŭlvĕrem ＞ pọldre; ✱dē-ēr’ gĕre ＞ dẹrdre; tollĕre ＞ tǫlre tǫldre. Rmr became rbr in marmor ＞ marbre (also marme). Prendre often became penre (perhaps to distinguish it from pendre ＜ pĕndĕre) through the analogy of genre gendre, etc.; the first r having been lost by dissimilation.
1. The four-consonant group sbtr is reduced to str in prestre ＜ prĕsby̆ter. Prever is perhaps a proclitic syncopation of a V. L. ✱preβiter. Cf. § 78, 1.
72. This class includes not only Latin gu̯, qu̯, but all combinations of consonant + u̯, cf. § 40, (2). A w thus evolved seems to have developed like Germanic w (cf. § 56, W): it became gw (assimilating the preceding consonant, unless that consonant was a liquid or a nasal), and then was reduced, before the literary period, to g, cf. § 62, (2). Pw, however, had a quite different history, owing, on the one hand, to the affinity of its two labial elements, and, on the other, to the stability of the voiceless stop, which prevented the assimilation that we find in βw ＞ ww.
1. G. Körting (Zs., XXII, 258) would explain through the analogy of the perfects in -cui all other perfect forms which in Provençal have g and c corresponding to Latin -ui etc.
ßw ＞ ww ＞ gw ＞ g: habuĭssem ＞ aguẹs, dēbuit ＞ dẹc (§ 63); ✱co(g)nōvuit (cf. Meyer-Lübke, Gram., II, p. 357) ＞ conọc, ✱crevuĭstī ＞ creguist, ✱movuĭsset ＞ mogues, ✱plŏvuit ＞ plǫc. We seem to have the same combination in Germanic treuwa ＞ tręgua tręga (treva is probably French).
1. The diphthong of aic = habuī is probably not a phonetic development. The first and third persons of the preterit, aic and ac (＜ habuit), have been differentiated after the pattern of the present—ai and a.
Dw ＞ gw ＞ g: ✱sĕduit ＞ sęc.
Kw ＞ gw ＞ g: antīqua ＞ antiga, ĕqua ＞ ęga, æquālem ＞ egal (engal has received through a mistake in etymology the prefix en- or e- ＜ in-), nŏcuit ＞ nǫc, placuĭstī ＞ plaguist, ✱sĕquĕre (= sĕqui) ＞ sęgre, ✱sequīre ＞ seguir, tacuĭssem ＞ taguẹs.