Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

developed into

Proto-Romance Proto-Romance is the comparatively reconstructed ancestor of all Romance languages. It reflects a late variety of spoken Latin prior to regional fragmentation. Phonology Vowels Monophthongs Diphthong The only phonemic diphthong was ...

it experienced numerous

sound changes A sound change, in historical linguistics, is a change in the pronunciation of a language. A sound change can involve the replacement of one speech sound (or, more generally, one phonetic feature value) by a different one (called phonetic chang ...

, a rough summary of which is provided below.

General changes

* /h/ is lost without a trace in all positions. **If this results in a collision of identical short vowels, they simply form the corresponding long vowel. Cf. /koˈhorte/ ''>'' /ˈkoːrte/. * Final /m/ is lost in polysyllabic words. Cf. /ˈnunkʷam/ > /ˈnunkʷa/. **In monosyllables it tends to survive as /n/. Cf. /ˈkʷem/ > /ˈkʷen/ > Spanish ''quién''. *Clusters consisting of a

stop Stop may refer to: Places * Stop, Kentucky, an unincorporated community in the United States * Stop (Rogatica), a village in Rogatica, Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina Facilities * Bus stop * Truck stop, a type of rest stop for truck d ...

followed by a

liquid consonant In phonetics, liquids are a class of consonants consisting of voiced lateral approximants like together with rhotics like . Etymology The grammarian Dionysius Thrax used the Ancient Greek word (, ) to describe the sonorant consonants () of cl ...

draw the stress position forward. Cf. /ˈinteɡram/ > /inˈteɡra/''.Pope 1934: §§214.2; Lausberg 1970: §149.1'' **Two apparent counterexamples are /ˈpalpebraːs/ and /ˈpullitra/, judging by the

Old French Old French (, , ; Modern French: ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France from approximately the 8th to the 14th centuries. Rather than a unified language, Old French was a linkage of Romance dialects, mutually intelligib ...

outcomes ''palpres'' and ''poltre''.Grandgent 1907: §134 */n/ is lost before

fricatives A fricative is a consonant produced by forcing air through a narrow channel made by placing two articulators close together. These may be the lower lip against the upper teeth, in the case of ; the back of the tongue against the soft palate in t ...

, resulting in

compensatory lengthening Compensatory lengthening in phonology and historical linguistics is the lengthening of a vowel sound that happens upon the loss of a following consonant, usually in the syllable coda, or of a vowel in an adjacent syllable. Lengthening triggered ...

of the preceding vowel. Cf. /ˈsponsa/ > /ˈspoːsa/. **/n/ was often retained, or restored, if it belonged to a prefix (''in-'' or ''con''-) or to a word which had forms where a fricative did not follow /n/. Cf. /deːˈfensa/ > French ''défense'', thanks to related forms such as the infinitive /deːˈfendere/ > French ''défendre''. *Sequences of two /i(ː)/ generally merge to a single long /iː/. Cf. /au̯ˈdiiː, konˈsiliiː/ > /au̯ˈdiː, koːˈsiliː/. * In some outlying rural areas, the diphthongs /ae̯/ and /au̯/ reduce to /eː/ and /oː/ respectively in Classical times. Thanks to influence from such dialects, a number of Latin words acquire monophthongized variants early on; cf. /ˈfae̯ks~ˈfeːks/ or /ˈkau̯lis~ˈkoːlis/. Most words, however, remain unaffected by this. **Later, 'mainstream' Latin experiences a general

monophthongization Monophthongization is a sound change by which a diphthong becomes a monophthong, a type of vowel shift. It is also known as ungliding, as diphthongs are also known as gliding vowels. In languages that have undergone monophthongization, digraphs ...

of /ae̯/ to /ɛː/, and of /oe̯/ to /eː/, while /au̯/ remains intact in most cases. Cf. /'lae̯ta, 'poe̯na, 'au̯rum/ >/'lɛːta, 'peːna, 'au̯ru/. *Short vowels (other than /a/) become increasingly

lax Los Angeles International Airport , commonly referred to as LAX (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary international airport serving Los Angeles, California and its surrounding metropolitan area. LAX is located in the W ...

, with /i e o u/ trending towards � ɛ ɔ ʊ */w/ turns to the fricative /β/, as does original /b/ in intervocalic position or before /r/. Cf. /ˈwiːwere, ˈtrabem/ > /ˈβiːβere, ˈtraβe/.Pope 1934: §§186, 333; Gouvert 2016: 48 ** Intervocalic /β/ in contact with a rounded vowel tends to disappear. Cf. /ˈriːwus/ > /ˈriːβus/ > /ˈriːus/. ***It is often restored if other forms of the word have a non-rounded vowel following /β/. In this case cf. the nominative plural /ˈriːβiː/. *In

hiatus Hiatus may refer to: *Hiatus (anatomy), a natural fissure in a structure *Hiatus (stratigraphy), a discontinuity in the age of strata in stratigraphy *''Hiatus'', a genus of picture-winged flies with sole member species ''Hiatus fulvipes'' *Globa ...

, unstressed

front vowels Front may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''The Front'' (1943 film), a 1943 Soviet drama film * ''The Front'', 1976 film Music * The Front (band), an American rock band signed to Columbia Records and active in the 1980s and e ...

became /j/, while unstressed

back vowels The human back, also called the dorsum, is the large posterior area of the human body, rising from the top of the buttocks to the back of the neck. It is the surface of the body opposite from the chest and the abdomen. The vertebral column ru ...

became /w/. Cf. /ˈfiːlius, ˈsapuiː/ > /ˈfiːljus, ˈsapwiː/. **The same process also affected ''stressed'' front and back vowels in hiatus if they were

antepenultimate In linguistics, the ultima is the last syllable of a word, the penult is the next-to-last syllable, and the antepenult is third-from-last syllable. In a word of three syllables, the names of the syllables are antepenult-penult-ultima. Etymology Ul ...

(two syllables from the end of the word). When /j/ was produced, primary stress shifted to the following vowel, but when /w/ was produced, primary stress shifted instead to the preceding syllable. Cf. /fiːˈliolus, teˈnueram/ > /fiːˈljolus, ˈtenwera/. **If /w/ was formed after a geminate consonant, it was subsequently deleted. Cf. /batˈtuere/ > /ˈbattwere/ > /ˈbattere/. **/w/ was deleted before unstressed back vowels. Cf. /ˈkarduus, ˈunɡuoː/ > /ˈkardwus, ˈunɡwoː/ > /ˈkardus, ˈunɡoː/. ***/w/ was occasionally deleted before unstressed non-back vowels as well. Cf. /februˈaːrius/ > /feˈbrwaːrjus/ > /feˈbraːrjus/''.'' ***Similarly, /kʷ/ was delabialized to /k/ before

back vowel A back vowel is any in a class of vowel sound used in spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a back vowel is that the highest point of the tongue is positioned relatively back in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be c ...

s, whether stressed or not. Cf. /ˈkʷoːmodo, ˈkokʷoː/ > /ˈkoːmodo, ˈkokoː/. **If these changes result in sequences of /je(ː)/ or /wo(ː)/, these merge to /eː/ and /oː/ respectively. Cf. /paˈrieteːs, duˈodekim/ > /paˈrjeteːs, ˈdwodeki/ > /paˈreːteːs, ˈdoːdeki/. **If /j/ forms after /kʷ/, the resulting /kʷj/ simplifies to /kj/. Cf. /ˈlakʷeum/ > /ˈlakʷju/ > /ˈlakju/. **Word-internal /j/ 'merges' into a preceding consonant, palatalizing it. Cf. /ˈkaːseum/ > /ˈkaːsju/ > /ˈkaːsʲu/ > Italian /ˈkatʃo/. *** /tʲ kʲ nʲ lʲ/ probably develop to sʲ c ɲ ʎrespectively. **** ɲ ʎregularly geminate in intervocalic position. sʲdoes so as well, but sporadically. ***Intervocalic /ɡʲ/ and /dʲ/ merge with /j/. Cf. /ˈfaːɡea, ˈradium/ > /ˈfaːɡʲa, ˈradʲu/ > /ˈfaːja, ˈraju/ > Spanish ''haya'', ''rayo''. A counterexample is Romanian from Vulgar Latin . ***Intervocalic /βʲ/ occasionally merges with /j/. Cf. ''/''kaˈweola, / > /kaˈβʲola/ > /kaˈjola/ > Old French ''jaiole''. ***After /r/ and /n/, /dʲ/ variably yields �or zʲ Cf. /ˈhordeum/ > /ˈordʲu/ > French ''

orge The Orge () is a long river in France, left tributary of the Seine. Its source is in the village Saint-Martin-de-Bréthencourt. Its course crosses the '' départements'' of Yvelines and Essonne. It flows northwest through the towns of Dourdan, ...

'', Italian ''

orzo Orzo (, ; from , from Latin ), also known as risoni (; 'large rains ofrice'), is a form of short-cut pasta, shaped like a large grain of rice. Orzo is traditionally made from flour, but it can also be made of whole grain. It is often made with ...

.'' ***The sequence /ndʲ/ sometimes assimilates to �ɲ Cf. /wereːˈkundia/ > /βereːˈkundʲa/ > Portuguese ''

vergonha In Occitan, ''vergonha'' (, meaning "shame") refers to the effects of various language discriminatory policies of the government of France on its minorities whose native language was deemed a ''patois'', where a Romance language spoken in the co ...

,'' Italian '' vergogna'' (but compare Spanish ''

vergüenza Vergüenza (Spanish for shame) may refer to: * ''Vergüenza'' (TV series), 2017 Spanish TV series * Vergüenza (social concept), an ethnic-centered construct about the self-shaping of Chicana/o and Latina/o people in the United States, that l ...

'', Old Portuguese ''vergonça''). *Initial and intervocalic /j/ undergo

fortition Fortition, also known as strengthening, is a consonantal change that increases the degree of stricture. It is the opposite of the more common lenition. For example, a fricative or an approximant may become a stop (i.e. becomes or becomes ). Al ...

, perhaps to �in the former case and �or �~ɟɟin the latter. */u/ raises before /i(ː)/ or /j/. Cf. �kʊi̯, ˈfʊiː> �kui̯ ˈfuiː Italian ''cui'', ''fui'' (not *''coi'', *''foi''). */ɡ/ before /n/ apparently spirantizes to � with subsequent developments varying by region. */ɡ/ before /m/ vocalizes to /u̯/. Cf. /fraɡˈmenta, ˈsaɡma/ > /frau̯ˈmenta, ˈsau̯ma/. *Before or after a consonant, and also word-finally, /ks/ reduces to /s/. Cf. /ˈkalks, ˈsekstus/ > /ˈkals, ˈsestus/. **Intervocalically, it sometimes metathesizes to /sk/. Cf. /ˈwiːksit/ > /ˈβiːskit/. *Words beginning with /sC/ receive an initial supporting vowel � unless preceded by a word ending in a vowel. Cf. �skɔla> �sˈkɔla'.'' **Subsequently, any original /e/ or /ɪ/ before an /sC/ cluster is reinterpreted as a supporting vowel and treated accordingly. Cf. /ˈskala, eksˈkadere/ > * �sˈkala, ɪsˈkadere> Italian ''scala'', ''scadere''; French ''échelle'', ''échoir.'' * /eː/ and /oː/ before /stʲ/ are raised, respectively, to /iː/ and /uː/. Cf. /ˈbeːstia, ˈoːstium/ > /ˈbiːstʲa, ˈuːstʲa/ > Italian ''biscia, uscio''. * Compound verbs stressed on a prefix are usually reconstructed according to their prefixless equivalent, with stress moved accordingly. Cf. /ˈdispliket/ > */disˈplaket/, by analogy with the simplex form /ˈplaket/. **/ˈrekipit/ simply yields /reˈkipit/ (rather than */reˈkapit/), perhaps because the verb, while recognizable as a compound, was not easy to identify with the original ''capere''. **Some words such as /ˈkolliɡoː/ 'fasten' were apparently not recognized as compounds at all and so remained unchanged. *Monosyllabic nouns ending in a consonant receive an

epenthetic In phonology, epenthesis (; Greek language, Greek ) means the addition of one or more sounds to a word, especially in the beginning syllable (''prothesis (linguistics), prothesis'') or in the ending syllable (''paragoge'') or in-between two syll ...

final /e/. Cf. /ˈrem/ > /ˈren/ > /ˈrene/ ''>'' French ''rien''. *Phonemic vowel length gradually collapses via the following changes (which only affect vowel length, not quality): **Long vowels shorten in unstressed syllables. **Long vowels shorten in stressed closed syllables. **Short vowels lengthen in stressed open syllables. *On account of the above, the vowel inventory changes from /iː i eː e a aː o oː u uː/ to /i ɪ e ɛ a ɔ o ʊ u/, with pre-existing differences in vowel quality achieving phonemic status (and with no distinction between original /a/ and /aː/). Additionally: **Unstressed /ɛ/ and /ɔ/ merge with /e/ and /o/ respectively. **In unstressed word-internal position, /i/ and /u/ merge with /ɪ/ and /ʊ/ respectively. **Lengthened /ˈɛ/ and /ˈɔ/ perhaps already yield the incipient diphthongs ɛ, oɔif followed by a syllable with a close vowel (/i/ or /u/) (raising).

Sporadic changes

* Vowels other than /a/ are often

syncopated In music, syncopation is a variety of rhythms played together to make a piece of music, making part or all of a tune or piece of music off-beat. More simply, syncopation is "a disturbance or interruption of the regular flow of rhythm": a "place ...

in unstressed word-internal syllables, especially when in contact with liquid consonants or, to a lesser extent, nasal consonants or /s/. Cf. /ˈanɡulus, ˈkalida, ˈspekulum/ > /ˈanɡlʊs, ˈkalda, ˈspɛklu/.' **In a few words, unstressed initial syllables followed by /r/ experience syncope. Cf. /kʷiriːˈtaːre, diːˈreːktus/ > /kriˈtare, ˈdrektʊs/. **If this results in /β/ being followed by a consonant, it may vocalize to /u̯/. Cf. /ˈfabula/ > /ˈfaβla/ > */ˈfau̯la/ > Italian ''fòla''. **If syncope results in /tl/, the cluster is generally replaced by /kl/. Cf. /ˈwetulus/ > /ˈβɛklʊs/. *In cases where a long vowel precedes a geminate consonant, one of the elements often shortens unpredictably, sometimes leading to such doublets as /ˈkuppa~ˈkuːpa/ > /ˈkʊppa~ˈkupa/ > Spanish ''

copa Copa or COPA may refer to: COPA COPA may refer to: * Computer Operator Programming Assistant. trade of ITI * Child Online Protection Act, a former U.S. law to protect minors from certain material on the internet * Canadian Owners and Pilots Ass ...

'' and ''

cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

'', French ''

coupe A coupe or coupé (, ) is a passenger car with a sloping or truncated rear roofline and two doors. The term ''coupé'' was first applied to horse-drawn carriages for two passengers without rear-facing seats. It comes from the French past parti ...

'' and '' cuve''. ** Long vowels sometimes shorten early on in closed syllables, even if followed by two different consonants, leading to variations such as /ˈuːndekim~ˈundekim/ > /ˈundekɪ~ˈʊndekɪ/ > Italian ''undici'', Spanish ''onze''. **Conversely, the cluster �kmay lengthen preceding vowels early on. Cf. �kʷɪŋkʷɛ> �kʷiːŋkʷɛ> �kiŋkʷe'.'' *

Pretonic In linguistics, and particularly phonology, stress or accent is the relative emphasis or prominence given to a certain syllable in a word or to a certain word in a phrase or Sentence (linguistics), sentence. That emphasis is typically caused ...

vowels sporadically assimilate to, or dissimilate from, the stressed vowel of the following syllable.Grandgent 1907: §229; Lausberg 1970: §§257–258. This citation covers the following seven bullet-points as well. **/a/ can dissimilate to /o/ before a following /a/. Cf. /naˈtaːre/ > /noˈtare/. **/iː/ can dissimilate to /e/ before a following /iː/. Cf. /diːˈwiːnus, wiːˈkiːnus/ > /deˈβinʊs, βeˈkinʊs/''.'' **/au̯/ can dissimilate to /a/ before a following /u(ː)/. Cf. /au̯ˈɡustus, au̯skulˈtaːre/ > /aˈɡʊstʊs, askʊlˈtare/. **/o/ can dissimilate to /e/ before a following back vowel. Cf. /roˈtundus, soˈroːre/ > /reˈtʊndʊs, seˈrore/''.'' **/i/ can assimilate to a following /a(ː)/. Cf. /silˈwaːtikus/ > /salˈβatɪkʊs/''.'' **/eː/ can assimilate to a following /oː/. Cf. */reːniˈoːne/ > */roˈnʲone/. **/iː/ can assimilate to a following /eː/. Cf. /diːˈreːktus/ > */deˈrektʊs/. */oː/ and /u/ may yield a low-mid vowel if followed by /β/. Cf. /ˈoːwum, ˈkolubra/ > /ˈɔβu, koˈlɔβra/ > Italian ''uovo'', Sardinian ''colòra''. * /a/ may yield a

mid-vowel A mid vowel (or a true-mid vowel) is any in a class of vowel sounds used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a mid vowel is that the tongue is positioned midway between an open vowel and a close vowel. Other names for a m ...

if preceded by /j/. Cf. /jakˈtaːre/ > */jekˈtare/''.'' * /r/ assimilates to a following /s/ in a number of cases. Cf. /ˈdorsum/ > /ˈdɔssu/''.'' **After a long vowel, the resulting /ss/ reduces to /s/. Cf. /ˈsuːrsum/ > /ˈsusu/. *Initial /kr/ and /kV/ sometimes voice. Cf. /ˈkrassus/ > /ˈɡrassʊs/. **This is particularly frequent with borrowings from Greek. Cf. κρυπτή, καμπή > */ˈɡrʊpta, ˈɡamba/ > Italian ''grotta'', ''gamba''. * /nd/ sometimes assimilates to /nn/. Cf. the alternation '' grundire~ grunnire.'' * There is occasional loss or assimilation of final /s/, but it is nowhere regular until a much later period. * When two neighbouring syllables each contain /r/, one /r/ frequently dissimilates to /l/ or is deleted.Grandgent 1907: §292

Notes

References

Bibliography

*Adams, James Noel. 2007. ''The regional diversification of Latin''. Cambridge University Press. *Adams, James Noel. 2013. ''Social variation and the Latin language''. Cambridge University Press. *Allen, William Sidney. 1965. ''Vox Latina: A guide to the pronunciation of Classical Latin.'' Cambridge University Press. *Chambon, Jean-Pierre. 2013. Notes sur un problème de la reconstruction phonétique et phonologique du protoroman: Le groupe */ɡn/. ''Bulletin de la Société de linguistique de Paris''. CVIII, 273–282. *Elcock, William Dennis. 1960. ''The Romance languages''. London: Faber and Faber. *Ferguson, Thaddeus. 1976. ''A history of the Romance vowel systems through paradigmatic reconstruction''. Berlin: De Gruyter. *Gouvert, Xavier. 2015. Reconstruction phonologique. In Buchi, Éva & Schweickard, Wolfgang (eds.), ''Dictionnaire étymologique roman 1'', 61–128. Berlin: De Gruyter *Gouvert, Xavier. 2016. Du protoitalique au protoroman: Deux problèmes de reconstruction phonologique. In Buchi, Éva & Schweickard, Wolfgang (eds.), ''Dictionnaire étymologique roman 2'', 27–51. Berlin: De Gruyter. *Grandgent, Charles Hall. 1907. ''An introduction to Vulgar Latin''. Boston: D.C. Heath & Co. *Hall, Robert Anderson. 1976. ''Proto-Romance phonology''. New York: Elsevier. *Jensen, Frede. 1972. ''From Vulgar Latin to Old Provençal''. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. *Lausberg, Heinrich. 1970. ''Lingüística románica'', I: Fonética. Madrid: Gredos. *Leppänen, V. & Alho, T. 2018. On the mergers of Latin close-mid vowels. ''Transactions of the Philological Society'' 116. 460–483. *Lloyd, Paul M. 1987. ''From Latin to Spanish''. Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society. *Loporcaro, Michele. 2011. Phonological processes. In Maiden, Maiden & Smith, John Charles & Ledgeway, Adam (eds.), ''The Cambridge history of the Romance languages'', vol. 1, 109–154. Cambridge University Press. *Loporcaro, Michele. 2015. ''Vowel length from Latin to Romance''. Oxford University Press. *Maiden, Martin. 2016. Diphthongization. In Ledgeway, Adam & Maiden, Martin (eds.), ''The Oxford guide to the Romance languages'', 647–57. Oxford University Press. *Penny, Ralph. 2002. ''A history of the Spanish language''. Cambridge University Press. *Politzer, Robert L. 1953. ''Romance trends in 7th and 8th century Latin documents''. Chapel hill: University of North Carolina Press. *Pope, Mildred K. 1934. ''From Latin to French''. Manchester University Press. *Wilkinson, Hugh E. 1976. Notes on the development of -kj-, -tj- in Spanish and Portuguese. ''Ronshu'' 17. 19–36. *Zampaulo, André. 2019. ''Palatal sound change in the Romance languages''. Oxford University Press. {{Romance languages, state=expanded Latin language Sound laws Italic phonologies Romance languages

General changes

Sporadic changes

See also

Notes

References

Bibliography