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5 votes
1 answer
311 views

Which is the origin of Romanian /h/?

According to Wikipedia, Romanian has [...] the glottal fricative /h/. You can hear it, for instance, in the Romanian word arhaic. This cannot be of Latin origin because, as explained in the book La ...
Charo's user avatar
  • 176
1 vote
1 answer
122 views

Is "nea" <- "*nivis" proof that metaphonic diphthongisation occured in Romanian before the loss of intervocalic "v"?

The metaphonic diphthongisation phenomenon is said to have occurred between the 6th and 8th century. But it must have happened before the loss of intervocalic "v", though I have only one ...
SarruKen's user avatar
  • 189
8 votes
2 answers
1k views

How did Latin "aqua" became Sardinian "abba" and Romanian "apă"?

The way I believe it happened was by the change of "w" into "v" and the fall of the velar "k". Furthermore, betacism caused the change of "v" to "b" ...
SarruKen's user avatar
  • 189
8 votes
2 answers
682 views

Why does French "cheveu(x)" have "eu" and not "eau"?

Many French words have lost etymological /l/. I have read that this occured due to a process of l-vocalization around the 10th-12th centuries which turned pre-consonantal l to u after any vowel aside ...
brass tacks's user avatar
  • 18.7k
16 votes
2 answers
3k views

Is there a diagram showing the history of sound changes from Latin to the Romance languages?

We have had a number of questions about sound changes, asking for the history of specific changes. See this one, for example: asking about the change from Latin benedictionem to French beneiçon. Often,...
Otavio Macedo's user avatar
5 votes
2 answers
615 views

How does the sound change from L. "benedictionem" to O.Fr. "beneiçon" happen?

benison c.1300, "blessing, beatitude," from O.Fr. beneiçon "blessing, benediction," from L. benedictionem (see benediction). Similarly, the word malison comes in the exact way described above. In ...
archenoo's user avatar
  • 1,727