Phonetic Analysis

N.B. Stressed syllables in the Latin etymons (or the best approximations thereof) are marked by bold type

Line 186: TRECENTOS [trekentos] > trezientos [tredzjentos] > trescientos [tresjentos/treθjentos] “three-hundred”

  1. TRECENTOS [trekentos] > TRECIENTOS [trekjentos]: diphthongization of the stressed Classical Latin short [e] to the Vulgar Latin low-mid front [ɛ]. [ɛ] is represented by the grapheme “e” and the phoneme [je] with the grapheme “ie”, a diphthongization with influence from yod
  2. TRECIENTOS [trekjentos] > TREZENTOS [tredzentos]: palatalization of the [-kj-] cluster in the unprotected intervocalic position. Since the cluster is intervocalic, it undergoes a change to become the affricate alveolar voiced [dz], represented by the grapheme “z”
  3. TREZENTOS [tredzentos] > TREZIENTOS [tredzjentos]: evolution of the unstressed Classical Latin short [e] to the Vulgar Latin low-mid front [ɛ]. [ɛ] is represented by the grapheme “e” and the phoneme [je] with the grapheme “ie”, a diphthongization with influence from yod
  4. TREZIENTOS [tredzjentos] > TRECIENTOS [tretsjentos]: the alveolar affricate voiced [dz] (grapheme “z”) merges with the alveolar affricate voiceless [ts], which is represented by the graphemes “ce/ci” and “ça/ço/çu”
  5. TRECIENTOS [tretsjentos] > TRESCIENTOS [tretsjentos]: this stage perhaps indicates a sporadic change in the word. “sc” approximates the sound so may have been substituted according to the contemporary linguistic trends. It is also possible that the word felt influence from the word “tres” (three) and the Latin “centos” (hundred), and that it evolved from this etymon
  6. TRECIENTOS [tretsjentos] > TRESIENTOS [tresjentos/treθjentos]: the alveolar affricate voiceless [ts] “ci” cluster loses its plosive element to become the fricative lingua-alveolar voiceless [s] or the fricative lingua-dental voiceless [θ] “ci.” The distinction depends on the particular variety of Spanish, so both phonetic transcriptions have been included

Line 32: SERRATU [serratu] > çerrado [tserrado] > cerrado [serrado/θerrado], “closed”

  1. SERRATU [serratu] > SERRADU [serradu]: lenition of the lingua-alveolar voiceless stop consonant [t] to the lingua-alveolar voiced stop consonant [d]. The only change in this process is the change in the voicing feature of the consonant, since it shifts from voiceless to voiced
  2. SERRADU [serradu] > SERRADO [serrado]: evolution of the unstressed Classical Latin short [u] to the Vulgar Latin high-mid back [o]
  3. SERRADO [serrado] > ÇERRADO [tserrado]: the evolution of word-initial “s” plus front-vowel “e” is a less common example of palatalization. This “se” cluster probably felt the influence of the more regular “sk” plus front-vowel cluster. The “sk” plus front-vowel cluster grapheme represents the affricate alveolar voiceless phonome [ts]. This phonome, in Old Spanish, is represented with the grapheme “ç” (“c” with cedilla)
  4. ÇERRADO [tserrado] > CERRADO [serrado/θerrado]: the phoneme [ts] is composed of two elements, the fricative lingua-alveolar voiceless [s] and the plosive (stop) lingua-alveolar voiceless [t]. In the evolution of Spanish, [ts] loses its plosive element [t], leaving behind the fricative lingua-alveolar voiceless [s]. In this stage, [ts] merges with its voiced counterpart (the affricate alveolar [dz]), and both become either [s] or [θ] depending on the variety of Spanish

Line 30: DICERE [dikere] > dezir [dedzir] > decir [desir/deθir], “to say”

  1. DICERE [dikere] > DICER [diker]: loss of the unstressed Classical Latin short [e] in the word-final position
  2. DICER [diker] > DECER [deker]: evolution of the unstressed Classical Latin short [i] to the Vulgar Latin high-mid front unrounded [e] in the coda position of the syllable
  3. DECER [deker] > DECIR [dekjer]: evolution of the stressed Classical Latin short [e] to the Vulgar Latin low-mid front [ɛ]. [ɛ] is represented by the grapheme “e” and the phoneme [je] with the grapheme “ie”, a diphthongization with influence from yod
  4. DECIR [dekjer] > DEZIR [dedzir]: evolution of the [-kj-] cluster in the unprotected intervocalic position. Since the cluster is intervocalic, it undergoes a change to become the affricate alveolar voiced [dz], represented by the grapheme “z”
  5. DEZIR [dedzir] > DECIR [detsir]: the alveolar affricate voiced [dz] (grapheme “z”) merges with the alveolar affricate voiceless [ts], which is represented by the graphemes “ce/ci” and “ça/ço/çu”
  6. DECIR [detsir]> DECIR [desir/deθir]: the alveolar affricate voiceless [ts] “ci” cluster loses its plosive element to become the fricative lingua-alveolar voiceless [s] or the fricative lingua-dental voiceless [θ] “ci.” The distinction depends on the particular variety of Spanish, so both phonetic transcriptions have been included

Line 88: VERMICULU [wermikulu] > bermejo [bermeʒu] > bermejo [bermexo], “reddish, russet”

  1. VERMICULU [wermikulu] > VERMICLU [wermiklu]: syncope of the unstressed Classical Latin short [u]
  2. VERMICLU [wermiklu] > BERMICLU [bermiklu]: merger of [b] and [w]. In Classical Latin, the grapheme “v” (or “u”) represented the approximant bilabial glide phoneme [w]. However, the [w] sound did not evolve into Spanish as a semi-consonant; rather, it evolved as the bilabial stop voiced consonant [b]. This [b] is commonly represented by the grapheme “v,” but, in this case, changes the spelling to match the pronunciation, an atypical occurrence
  3. BERMICLU [bermiklu] > BERMEKLU [bermeklu]: evolution of the stressed Classical Latin short [i] to the Vulgar Latin high-mid front unrounded [e], represented by the grapheme “e”
  4. BERMEKLU [bermeklu] > BERMEJU [bermeʒu]: evolution of the palatal cluster [-kl-] in the intervocalic position. This cluster evolves first to the fricative lingua-palatal voiced /ʒ/ because of its intervocalic position and also due to the influence of the voicing of the neighboring vowels
  5. BERMEJU [bermeʒu] > BERMEJU [bermexu]: further evolution of the fricative lingua-palatal voiced [ʒ] to the fricative velar voiceless [x], represented by the grapheme “j.” This change affected the place of articulation and voicing feature of the sound
  6. BERMEJU [bermexu] > BERMEJO [bermexo]: evolution of unstressed Classical Latin short [u] in the word-final coda position to the Vulgar Latin high-mid back rounded [o] “o”

Line 16: SEXAGINTA [seksaginta] > sesaenta [sesainta] > sesenta [sesenta], “sixty”

  1. SEXAGINTA [seksaginta] > SEXAINTA [seksainta]: complete lenition of intervocalic “g” [g]
  2. SEXAINTA [seksainta] > SEXAINTA [sesainta]: the grapheme “x” was represented by the phoneme [ks] in Classical Latin. In the case of this particular word, it appears that the stop lingua-velar voiceless consonant [k] undergoes lenition in the coda position of the syllable, thereby allowing fricative lingua-alveolar voiceless [s] to undergo regular evolution
  3. SEXAINTA [sesainta] > SEXAENTA [sesaenta]: evolution of the Classical Latin long [e] to the Vulgar Latin high-mid front unrounded [e]
  4. SESAENTA [sesaenta] > SESENTA [sesenta]: simplification of the diphthong [ae] to follow the regular evolution of Indo-European diphthongs

Line 98: CASTELLU [kastellu] > castiello [kasteʎo] > castello [kasteʝo], “castle”

  1. CASTELLU [kastellu] > CASTELLO [kastello]: evolution of the unstressed Classical Latin short [u] to the Vulgar Latin high-mid back [o] “o”
  2. CASTELLO [kastello] > CASTELLO [kasteʎo] > CASTELLO [kasteʝo]: evolution of the palatal geminate [-LL-] cluster. In Spanish, this cluster first becomes fricative lateral palatal [ʎ], which then delaterizes to the fricative palatal [ʝ]. The grapheme, however, remains from an earlier stage, while the pronunciation shifts to match the phoneme [ʝ]
  3. CASTELLO [kasteʝo] > CASTIELLO [kastjejo]: evolution of the stressed Classical Latin short [e] to the Vulgar Latin low-mid front [ɛ]. [ɛ] is represented by the grapheme “e” and the phoneme [je] with the grapheme “ie”, a diphthongization with influence from yod
  4. CASTIELLO [kastjejo] > CASTELLO [kasteʝo]: simplification of the diphthong [je] “ie” to [i] “i” due to the effect of the palatal sound from the former cluster of [-LL-]. This is called “vowel raising”

Line 142: AMBOS [ambos] > amos [amos] > ambos [ambos], “both”

  1. AMBOS [ambos] > AMOS [amos]: lenition of the bilabial voiced stop consonant [b] “b”
  2. AMOS [amos] > AMBOS [ambos]: the word returns to its Latin etymon for the modern reflex, which indicates perhaps an instance of hypercorrection, where [b] was reintroduced to words after there was doubt as to the etymon

Line 168: CUM-VUSCU [kum-wuscu] > convusco [kun-busco] > con vosotros [kon-bosotros], “with you (pl.)”

  1. CUM-VUSCU [kum-wuscu] > CUM-VUSCO [kum-wusco]: evolution of the unstressed Classical Latin short [u] to the Vulgar Latin high-mid back [o] “o” in the word final coda position
  2. CUM-VUSCO [kum-wusco] > CUN-VUSCO [kun-wusco]: partial lenition of the intervocalic consonant [m] in the coda position to change the place of articulation feature. In Latin, the grapheme “v” represented the phoneme [w], a semi-consonantal sound. Therefore, [m] lies in an unprotected position and undergoes lenition to [n] “n.” The bilabial [m] evolves to the alveolar [n] in an example of dissimilation, including the following [b] (see next step), since both sounds are bilabial
  3. CUN-VUSCO [kun-wusco] > CUN-VUSCO [kun-busco]: “v” [w] undergoes fortification to become the consonantal “v” [b] (bilabial voiced stop consonant)
  4. CUN-VUSCO [kun-busco] > CON-VUSCO [kon-busco]: evolution of the stressed Classical Latin high-mid back unrounded short [u] to the Vulgar Latin high-mid back unrounded [o] “o”
  5. CON-VUSCO [kon-busco]: undergoes further evolution to become two separate words, “con” + “vusco,” which evolves to “vosotros” by a non-phonetic process

Line 18: PLORARE [plorare] > plorar (plorando) [plora (/plorando)] > llorar [ʝorar], “to cry”

  1. PLORARE [plorare] > PLORAR [plorar]: loss the word-final unstressed Classical Latin [e]
  2. PLORAR [plorar] > LLORAR [ʎorar]: the word-initial cluster “pl” creates a situation for compromise articulation and palatalization of this unstable cluster. The cluster palatalizes to the lateral palatal [ʎ]
  3. LLORAR [ʎorar] > LLORAR [ʝorar]: the lateral palatal [ʎ] then de-laterizes to the fricative palatal [ʝ], which is represented in this word by the geminate consonant [ll]

MILLE [mille] > mill [mil] > mil [mil], “thousand”

  1. MILLE [mille] > MILL [mill]: loss of the unstressed Classical Latin short [e] in the word-final coda position
  2. MILL [mill] > MIL [mil]: degemination of the double-consonant “ll”

Line 134: HOMINE [omine] > homne [omne] > hombre [ombre], “man”

  1. HOMINE [omine] > HOMNE [omne]: syncope of the unstressed vowel “i.” Also, it is important to note that, in Classical Latin, the glottal fricative voiceless [h] was not pronounced, so the sound has been omitted in the phonetic transcriptions in this analysis. It did remain, however, as in the form of the grapheme “h” throughout the word’s evolution
  2. HOMNE [omne] > HOMRE [omre]: the cluster [mn] merges to form the nasal + liquid cluster [mr]
  3. HOMRE [omre] > HOMBRE [ombre]: the unacceptable cluster [mr] undergoes homorganic epenthesis of the bilabial voiced stop consonant [b] “b”

Line 16: MULLIERE [mulljere] > mugiere(s) [muʒere(s)] > mujer [mujer], “woman”

  1. MULLIERE [mulljere] > MULIERE [muljere]: degemination of the double consonantal “ll.” This creates the palatal cluster [l] plus yod (“i” sound in a diphthong)
  2. MULIERE [muljere] > MUGIERE [muʒere]: the palatal cluster [lj] from Old Spanish forms the fricative lingua-palatal voiced sound [ʒ], represented by the grapheme “gi” or “ge”
  3. MUGIERE [muʒere] > MUJERE [muxere]: evolution of the fricative lingua-palatal voiced sound [ʒ], which later becomes the fricative velar voiceless [x]
  4. MUJERE [muxere] > MUJER [mujer]: loss of the unstressed Classical Latin short [e] in the word-final coda position

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