Part 2

n´ _nh_, _gn_, _inh_, _ign_, _cenher_, _plagner_, _poinh_, _ing_, _innh_, _ingn_, _seignor_, _soing_, _poinnher_, _ngn_,_nn_, _n_, _in_, _fraingner_, _ongnimen_, _vinna_, _ng_, _ynh_, _ni_, _ny_, _franén_, _soin_, _sengor_, _nyh_ _poynh_, _lenia_, _senyoria_, _senyhor_

ŋ _n_ _lonc_

p _p_, _pp_, _b_ _prop_, _opparer_, _obs_[8]

r _r_ _rire_

r´ _r_ _cuer_

rr _rr_ _terra_[9]

s _s_, _ss_, _c_, _ç_, _x_ _sap_, _fassa_, _cenat_, _ça_, _locx_

š _ss_, _s_, _sh_, _h_, _faissa_, _cais_, _pueysh_, _hs_ _Foih_, _faihs_

t _t_, _tt_, _d_ _tot_, _attenir_, _nud_[8]

ts _c_, _z_, _tz_, _ç_, _cel_, _faz_, _parlatz_, _ço_, _gz_, _cz_, _ti_ _fagz_, _czo_, _fayllentia_[10]

tš _ch_, _g_, _ich_, _ig_, _chan_, _plag_, _ueich_, _faig_, _h_, _gz_ _lah_, _gaugz_[11]

v _u_ (printed _v_) _ven_

y _i_, _y_ _gabia_, _preyar_

z _s_, _z_, _ç_ _pausa_, _roza_, _riçia_ (＜ _ridēbat_)

ž _s_, _z_, _i_ _raso_, _poizo_, _maio_

10. The Gascon group presents certain striking divergences from the other dialects: (1) it shows a b corresponding to Provençal v, as in _be_ = _ve_ ＜ _vĕnit_, _abetz_ = _avetz_ ＜ _habētis_; (2) it substitutes r for l between vowels, as in _bera_ = _bela_ ＜ _bĕlla_; (3) it changes initial f to h, as in _he_ = _fe_ ＜ _fĭdem_. Other Gascon peculiarities are less ancient, less general, or less important.

11. Some distinctions may be pointed out between the speech of the north and that of the south:--

(1) Latin ca and ga, either at the beginning of a word or after a consonant, became respectively tša and dža in the northern dialects[12], and remained unchanged in the southern: _canto_ ＞ _chan can_, _lŏnga_ ＞ _lonia longa_.

(2) Latin ct and gd became it and id in most of the north and in the southwest[12], tš and dž in most of the south and in the northwest[13]: _factum_ ＞ _fait fach_, _frig(i)da_ ＞ _freida freia_. Nct became int, nt, n´, ntš in different regions: _sanctum_ ＞ _saint sant sanh sanch_. Cs (Latin _x_) had various local developments--is, itš, tš--somewhat similar to those of ct: _exīre_ ＞ _eissir eichir ichir_.

(3) Latin d between vowels disappeared in some spots in the north and northeast[12], and became z nearly everywhere else: _audīre_ ＞ _auir auzir_.

(4) Latin ll became l´ in some parts of the south[13], and usually l in other regions: _bĕlla_ ＞ _belha bela_.

(5) Provençal final ns remains in the southeast and east, and is elsewhere generally reduced to s: _bŏnus_ ＞ _bons bos_. Provençal final n also falls in a large region, but its history is more intricate; the poets use indifferently forms with and without _n_: _bĕne_ ＞ _ben be_.

12. Several Latin consonants, when combined with a following ḙ or i̭, give results that are widely different in various localities, but the geographical distribution of the respective forms is complicated and not always clear: _pŏdium_ ＞ _puech poi_; _basiare_ ＞ _baisar basar baiiar baiar_; _bassiare_ ＞ _baissar baichar bachar_; _potiōnem_ ＞ _poizon pozon poio_. The same thing may be said of intervocalic y (Latin _j_): _major_ ＞ _mager maier_. Also of intervocalic c, sc, g, ŋg, followed by e or i: _placēre_ ＞ _plazer plaizer plager_, _nascere_ ＞ _naisser nasser naicher nacher_, _lēgem_ ＞ _lei leg_, _ŭngere_ ＞ _onher onger_.

13. In the development of unstressed vowels there are very numerous local variations, which will be discussed later. Even among accented vowels there are some divergences:--

(1) Provençal ą, ę, ǫ before nasals become ạ, ẹ, ọ in some dialects, especially in those belonging to or bordering on the Limousin group: _canem_ ＞ cąn cạn, _vĕnit_ ＞ vęn vẹn, _bŏnum_ ＞ bǫn bọn. The poets nearly always use the forms with close vowels.

(2) The breaking of ę, ǫ, under certain conditions, into diphthongs is not common to the whole territory, and the resulting forms show local differences: _mĕum_ ＞ męu mięu, _fŏcum_ ＞ fǫc fuǫc fuęc füc. Breaking is least common in the southwest.

II. PHONOLOGY.

14. Inasmuch as Provençal, like the other Romance languages, grew out of the Latin commonly spoken under the Roman Empire, we must take this latter language as our starting-point. The transformation was so gradual and continuous that we cannot assign any date at which speech ceases to be Latin and begins to be Provençal; since, however, the various Latin dialects--destined to become later the various Romance languages--began to diverge widely in the 6th and 7th centuries, we may, for the sake of convenience, say that the Latin period ends at about this time. Before this, certain changes (which affected all the Romance tongues) had occurred in the popular language, differentiating it considerably from the classic Latin of the Augustan writers. Although the most important of these alterations have to do with inflections rather than with pronunciation, the sound-changes in Vulgar Latin are by no means insignificant.

15. It is essential at the outset to distinguish “popular” from “learned” words. The former, having always been a part of the spoken vocabulary, have been subject to the operation of all the phonetic laws that have governed the development of the language. The latter class, consisting of words borrowed by clerks, at various periods, from Latin books and from the Latin of the Church, is naturally exempt from sound-changes that occurred in the vulgar tongue before the time of their adoption. The form of learned words depends, in the first place, on the clerical pronunciation of Latin at the date of their borrowing; then, if they came into general use, their form was subject to the influence of any phonetic laws that were subsequently in force. The fate of borrowed terms differs, therefore, according to the time of their introduction and the degree of popularity which they afterwards attained.

1. ACCENT.

16. The place of the _primary_ accent, which in Classic Latin was determined by quantity, remained unchanged in Vulgar Latin even after quantitative distinctions were lost. A short vowel before a mute followed by a liquid may, in Classic Latin, be stressed or unstressed; in Vulgar Latin it is usually stressed: _cathédra_, _tenébræ_.[14]

There are some exceptions to the rule of the persistence of the accent in Vulgar Latin:--

1. An accented e or i immediately followed by the vowel of the penult transfers the stress to this latter vowel, and is itself changed to y: _filíŏlus_ ＞ _filyólus_, _mulíĕrem_ ＞ _mulyére_. This shift is perhaps due to a tendency to stress the more sonorous of two contiguous vowels.

2. An accented u immediately followed by the vowel of the penult transfers the stress to the _preceding_ syllable, and is itself changed to w: _habúĕrunt_ ＞ _ábwerunt_, _tenúĕram_ ＞ _ténwera_. This shift cannot be explained on the same principle as the foregoing one; it is perhaps due in every case to analogy--_hábuit_, _ténui_, for instance, being responsible for the change in _habúerunt_, _tenúeram_.

3. Verbs compounded with a prefix, if their constituent parts were fully recognized, were usually replaced in Vulgar Latin by a formation in which the vowel and the accent of the simple verb were preserved: _défĭcit_ ＞ _disfácit_, _réddĭdi_ ＞ _reddédi_, _rénĕgo_ ＞ _renégo_, _réquĭrit_ ＞ _requærit_. In _récĭpit_ ＞ _recípit_ the accent but not the vowel was restored, speakers having ceased to associate this verb with _capio_. In _cóllĭgo_, _érĭgo_, _éxĕo_, _ínflo_ the composite nature of the word was apparently not recognized.

4. The adverbs _ĭllāc_, _ĭllīc_ accented their last syllable, by the analogy of _hāc_, _hīc_.

17. In Provençal the primary accent falls on the same syllable as in Vulgar Latin: _bonitātem_ ＞ V. L. _bonitáte_ ＞ Pr. _bontát_, _compŭtum_ ＞ V. L. _cómputu_ ＞ Pr. _cónte_; _cathĕdra_ ＞ V. L. _catédra_ ＞ Pr. _cadéira_; _filiŏlus_ ＞ V. L. _filyólus_ ＞ Pr. _filhóls_, _tenuĕram_ ＞ V. L. _ténwera_ ＞ Pr. _téngra_, _requĭrit_ ＞ V. L. _requærit_ ＞ Pr. _requér_, _illac_ ＞ V. L. _illác_ ＞ Pr. _lai_.

1. Some learned words have an irregular accentuation, apparently due to a mispronunciation of the Latin: _cándĭdum_ ＞ _quandí_, _grammátĭca_ ＞ _gramatíca_, _láchry̆mo_ ＞ _lagrím_, _spírĭtum_ ＞ _esprít_ (perhaps from the formula _spirítui sancto_). Others were adopted with the correct stress, but shifted it later: _fábrĭca_ ＞ _fábrega_ ＞ _fabréga_ (and _fárga_), _fémĭna_ ＞ _fémena_ ＞ _feména_ (and _fémna_), _láchry̆ma_ ＞ _lágrema_ ＞ _lagréma_, _sémĭnat_ ＞ _sémena_ ＞ _seména_ (and _sémna_), _vírgĭnem_ ＞ _vérgena_ ＞ _vergína_ (and _vérge_).

2. _Dimércres_ ＜ _dīe Mercūrī_ (perhaps through ✱_dīe Mércŏris_) has evidently been influenced by _divénres_ ＜ _dīe Vĕnĕris_.

3. Some irregularities due to inflection will be discussed under Morphology.

18. The _secondary_ accent, in Vulgar Latin, seems not to have followed the Classic Latin quantitative rule, but to have fallen regularly on the second syllable from the primary stress: _cṓgĭtó_, _cupĭ́dĭtā́tem_. If this secondary accent _followed_ the tonic, its vowel probably developed as an unstressed post-tonic vowel; if it _preceded_, its vowel was apparently treated as a stressed vowel. This treatment was doubtless continued in Provençal until the intertonic vowel dropped out: _cógĭtó_ _cógĭtánt_ ＞ _cug_ _cúian_ (cf. _cánto_ _cántant_ ＞ _can_ _cántan_), ✱_comĭnĭtĭāre_ ＞ _comén’tiáre_ ＞ _coménzár_ ＞ _comensár_. As may be seen from this last example, after the fall of the intertonic vowel, the secondary stress, being brought next to the primary, disappeared, and its vowel was henceforth unaccented. Cf. § 45, 1.

19. Short, unemphatic words had no accent in Vulgar Latin, and were attached as particles to the beginning or the end of another word: _te vídet_, _áma me_. Such words, if they were not monosyllabic, tended to become so; a disyllabic proclitic beginning with a vowel regularly, in Vulgar Latin, lost its first syllable: _illum vídeo_ ＞ V. L. _lu véyo_ ＞ Pr. _lo vei_. A word which was used sometimes independently, sometimes as a particle, naturally developed double forms.

2. VOWELS.

QUANTITY.

20. Latin had the following vowels, which might be long or short: a, e, i, o, u. The diphthongs, æ, œ, au, eu, ui, were always long: æ and œ, however, were simplified into monophthongs, mainly in the Republican epoch, _æ_ being sounded ę̄, _œ_ probably ẹ̄; au retained (save in some popular dialects) its old pronunciation; eu did not occur in any word that survived; ui, in _cui_, _illui_, in Vulgar Latin, was accented _úi_ (as in _fui_). The simple vowels, except a, were, doubtless from early times, slightly different in quality according to their quantity, the long vowels being sounded close, the short open: ẹ̄, ị̄, ọ̄, ụ̄; ę̆, į̆, ǫ̆, ų̆.

21. Between the 1st and the 7th century of our era, the Classic Latin quantity died out: it had apparently disappeared from unstressed vowels as early as the 4th century, from stressed by the 6th. It left its traces, however, as we have seen, upon accentuation (§ 16), and also upon vowel quality, the originally long and short remaining differentiated in sound, if they were accented. Of the unaccented vowels, only i shows sure signs of such a differentiation, and even for i the distinction is evident only in a final syllable: _vēnī_ _vēnĭt_ ＞ vẹnị vẹnįt.

ACCENTED VOWELS.

22. The vowels of Vulgar Latin are a, ẹ, ę, ị, į, ọ, ǫ, ụ, ų, with the diphthongs áu and úi; the old æ and œ had become identical in sound with ę and ẹ. As early as the 3d century of our era, į was changed, in nearly all the Empire, to ẹ, and thus became identical with the vowel coming from original ē. A little later, perhaps, ų, in the greater part of the Empire, became ọ, thus coinciding with the vowel that was originally ō. Ypsilon, in words taken from the Greek, was identified, in early borrowings, with Latin u; in later ones, with Latin i: βύρσα ＞ Pr. _borsa_, γῠρος ＞ Pr. _girs_. Omicron, which apparently had the close sound in Greek, generally (but not always) retained it in recently borrowed words in Vulgar Latin: τόρνος ＞ tọrnus (cf. Pr. tọrn), but κόλαφος ＞ _cŏlăphus_ = cọlapus or cǫlapus (cf. Pr. cǫlp).

The development of the Vulgar Latin vowels in Provençal will now be examined in detail:--

a

23. Cl. L. ā, ă ＞ V. L. a ＞ Pr. ą: _ărbŏrem_ ＞ ąrbre, _grātum_ ＞ grąt, _măre_ > mąr.

1. The ending _-arius_ shows an irregular development in French and Provençal, the Provençal forms being mainly such as would come from _-ĕrius_; as in _parlier_, _parleira_. In the earliest stage we find apparently -ęr´ and -ęr´a; then -ęr´ and -ęir´a; next -ęr, -ięr and -ęira, -ięira; finally, with a reciprocal influence of the two genders, -ęr, -ięr, -ęir, and -ęra, -ięra, -ęira, -ięira: _caballarium_ ＞ _c(h)avaler_ _-ier_, _-eir_, ✱_man(u)aria_ ＞ _manera_ _-iera_ _-eira_ _-ieira_. The peculiar treatment of this suffix has not been satisfactorily explained. See E. R. Zimmermann, _Die Geschichte des lateinischen Suffixes -arius in den romanischen Sprachen_, 1895; E. Staaff, _Le suffixe -arius dans les langues romanes_, Upsala, 1896, reviewed by Marchot in _Zs._, XXI, 296, by Körting in _Zeitschrift für französische Sprache_, XXII, 55; Meyer-Lübke, _Gram._, I, 222, § 237; Zimmermann in _Zs._, XXVI, 591; Thomas in _Rom._, XXXI, 481 and in _Bausteine zur romanischen Philologie_, 641. The likeliest theory is that of Thomas: that _-arius_ was associated with the Germanic ending _-ari_ and participated in the _umlaut_ which affected the latter; cf. _Phon._, pp. 34-36.

2. In Gascony and Languedoc _ei_ is used for _ai_ ＜ _habeo_. The _ei_ perhaps developed first as a future ending (_amar -ei_) by analogy of the preterit ending _-ei_ (_amei_): see Morphology, §§ 152, 1, 162, (4), 175, (4), where this latter ending is discussed also. For a different explanation, see Meyer-Lübke, _Gram._, I, 222, § 237.

3. A few apparent irregularities are to be traced to the vocabulary of Vulgar Latin. For instance, Pr. _sereisa_ represents, not Cl. L. _cĕrăsus_, but V. L. _cĕrĕsĕa_: see Meyer-Lübke, _Einf._, § 103. _Uebre_ is from ✱_ŏpĕrit_, or _apĕrit_ modified by ✱_cŏpĕrit_ = _cōperit_. _Voig_ is from ✱_vŏcĭtum_ = _vacuum_: _Einf._, § 114.

4. Such forms as _fontaina_ = _fontana_ ＜ _fontāna_, etc., and _tres_ = _tras_ ＜ _trans_, etc., are French or belong to the borderland between French and Provençal.

24. In some dialects, particularly in Rouergue, Limousin, Auvergne, and Dauphiné, a became ạ before a nasal, and at the end of a monosyllable or an oxytone: _canem_ ＞ cạn, _grandem_ ＞ grạnt, _cadit_ ＞ cạ, _stat_ ＞ estạ.

1. The conditions differ somewhat in the various dialects, according as the nasal consonant falls or remains, and is followed by another consonant or not. In Limousin the sound is ą before an n that cannot fall: see § 11, (5). In Rouergue and in Dauphiné, ạ appears before all nasals. The poets generally follow the Limousin usage. See F. Pfützner, _Ueber die Aussprache des provenzalischen A_, Halle, 1884.

ẹ

25. Cl. L. ē, ĭ, œ ＞ V. L. ẹ ＞ Pr. ẹ: _habēre_ ＞ avẹr, _mē_ ＞ mẹ, _mensem_ ＞ mẹs, _plēnum_ ＞ plẹn, _rēgem_ ＞ rẹi, _vēndĕre_ ＞ vẹndre; _ĭnter_ ＞ ẹntre, _fĭdem_ ＞ fẹ, _malĭtia_ ＞ malẹza, _mĭnus_ ＞ mẹns, _mĭttĕre_ ＞ mẹtre, _sĭccum_ ＞ sẹc, _vĭrĭdem_ ＞ vẹrt, _pœna_ ＞ pẹna.

1. Some words have ę instead of ẹ:--

(_a_) The ending -_ētis_ in the present indicative becomes -ętz through the analogy of ętz ＜ _ĕstis_.

(_b_) Camęl (also ẹ), candęla (also ẹ), cruzęl, fizęl (also ẹ), maissęla have ę through the analogy of the suffix -ęl ＜ -_ĕllus_. In _camel_ the substitution probably goes back to Vulgar Latin.

(_c_) Many learned words, including proper names, have ę for ẹ: decręt, Elizabęt, Moysęs, pantęra, requięs, secręt (ẹ), sencęr.

(_d_) Espęr for espẹr ＜ _spēro_, quęt for quẹt ＜ _qu_(_i_)_ētum_ are perhaps bad rhymes. Bartolomeo Zorzi, a Venetian, rhymes -ẹs with -ęs; in Catalan these two endings were not distinguished.

(_e_) Individual cases: adęs, ‘at once,’ probably from _ad id ĭpsum_, seems to have been affected by pręs and apręs ＜ _ad prĕssum_; mostięr ＜ _monastērium_ shows the influence of _ministĕrium_; nęr nięr (also nẹr nẹgre) ＜ _nĭgrum_ perhaps shows the influence of entęr entięr and the numerous adjectives in -ęr -ięr; nęu nięu nęy ＜ _nĭvem_ has been attracted by bręu gręu, lęu; senęstre (cf. late Lat. _sinexter_) is evidently influenced by dęstre.

2. Many words have i instead of ẹ:--

(_a_) _Berbitz_ = _vervēcem_, _camis_ = _camĭsia_, come from alternative V. L. forms, _berbīcem_, ✱_camīsia_. _Planissa_ (also -_eza_), _sebissa_, etc., probably show -_īcia_ for -_ĭtia_. For _dit_ = _dĭgĭtum_ see § 65, Y, 1.

(_b_) In many learned words Latin ĭ is represented by i in Provençal: _albir_, _martire_, _edifici_, _iuzizi_, _servizi_, _vici_, etc.; _iusticia_, _leticia_, _tristicia_, etc. _Aurilha_ (also ẹ) ＜ _aurĭcula_, _cilh_, (also _cieilh_, _sobreselhs_) ＜ _cĭlium_, _issilh_ ＜ _exĭlium_, _familha_ ＜ _famĭlia_, _maístre_ (also maẹstre maiẹstre) ＜ _magĭstrum_, _meravilha_ (also ẹ) ＜ _mirabĭlia_, _perilh_ ＜ _perĭculum_, etc., are probably learned forms. _Máistre_ and _mestre_ are French.

(_c_) _Ciri_ (_cere_) = _cēreum_, _iure_ (cf. _ebriac_) = _ēbrium_ (or ✱_ĕbrium_), _marquis_ (ẹ), _merci_ (ẹ), _país_ (ẹ) = ✱_pagēnsem_, _plazir_ (ẹ), _pris_ (ẹ), etc., are French.[15] For a discussion of _iure_ and a different explanation of _ciri_, see P. Savj-Lopez, _Dell’ “Umlaut” provenzale_, 1902, p. 4.

(_d_) _Ins_ (also _entz_) ＜ _ĭntus_, _dins_ (also _dens_) ＜ _de ĭntus_, _dintre_ (cf. _en_, _entre_) ＜ _de ĭnter_ have not been satisfactorily explained. Regular forms with ẹ are found in Béarn, Gascony, Dauphiné, and the Alps.

(_e_) Individual cases: _tapit_ ＜ ταπήτιον shows the modern pronunciation of Greek η; _verin_ = _venēnum_ is an example of substitution of suffix.

3. _Arnei_, _fei_, _mei_ = _me_, _palafrei_, _perquei_, _sei_ = _se_ are French or Poitevin forms; they are common in William of Poitiers. _Mercey_, _rey_ = _re_, used by Marcabru, seem to be due either to an imitation of such forms as the preceding or to the analogy of _crei_ _cre_ ＜ _crēdo_. Cf. § 65, N, 3.

4. _Contránher_ seems to be a fusion of _constrĭngere_ and _contrahere_; _vendanha_ ＜ _vindēmia_ shows French influence.

26. An ẹ in hiatus became i: _lĭgat_ ＞ lia, _vĭa_ ＞ via.

27. When there was in the next syllable a final ī, V. L. ẹ was changed in Provençal to i: _ecc’ĭllī_ ＞ cilh, _ecc’ĭstī_ ＞ cist, _fēcī_ ＞ fis, ✱_prēsī_ ＞ pris, ✱_vēnuī_ ＞ vinc, _vigĭntī_ ✱_vĭntī_ ＞ vint.

1. In the nominative plural of masculine nouns and adjectives this change was regularly prevented by the analogy of the singular and the accusative plural: _mĭssī_ ＞ _mes_, _plēnī_ ＞ _plen_. We find, however, _cabil_ ＜ _capĭllī_.

2. _Dec_ for ✱_dic_ ＜ _dēbuī_ seems to have been attracted by the _dec_ ＜ _dēbuit_ of the third person. _Venguest_ for _venguist_ ＜ ✱_venuĭstī_ is due both to the influence of the plural forms _venguem_, _venguetz_ and to the analogy of the weak preterits, such as _cantest_, _vendest_.

ę

28. Cl. L. ĕ, æ ＞ V. L. ę ＞ Pr. ę: _infĕrnum_ ＞ enfęrn, _fĕrrum_ ＞ fęr, _pĕdem_ ＞ pę; _cælum_ ＞ cęl, _quærit_ ＞ quęr.

1. Such forms as _glisia_, _lire_, _pire_, _pis_, _profit_ are French. _Profich_ may be a cross between _profieg_ and _profit_, or it may be due to the analogy of _dich_.

2. _Cossint_, _mint_, _sint_, used by Arnaut Daniel, are perhaps faulty rhymes.

3. _Auzil_ ＜ _avicĕllī_, in the _Boeci_, may be due to the analogy of such plural forms as _cabil_ ＜ _capĭllī_, _il_ ＜ _ĭllī_, etc. _Briu_, sometimes used for _breu_ ＜ _brĕvem_, is evidently connected with _abrivar_, ‘hasten,’ the origin of which is uncertain. _Elig_ shows the influence either of _eligir_ (beside _elegir_) or of _dig_. _Ginh_ = _genh_ ＜ _ingĕnium_ evidently follows _ginhos_ ＜ _ingeniōsus_ and its derivatives. _Isme_ (_esme_) is a post-verbal noun from ✱_ismar_ (cf. _azismamen_), a dialect form of _esmar_ ＜ _æstimare_. _Quis_ ＜ ✱_quæsi_, _tinc_ ＜ _tĕnui_ are due to the analogy of _pris_ ＜ ✱_prēsī_, _vinc_ ＜ ✱_vēnuī_.

4. Beside nęula ＜ _nĕbula_, we find _nebla_, _neble_, presumably from the same source, and also _nible_, _niól_, _nióla_, _niúl_, _niúla_, _nivól_. According to Nigra, _Archivio glottologico italiano_, XV, 494, _nūbes_ ＞ _nūbĭlus_ ＞ ✱_nĭbŭlus_ (and ✱_nĭbūlus_?), whence might be derived ✱_níŭlus_ ✱_niúlus_, which would account for _niól-a_, _niúl-a_, and perhaps for a ✱_nívol_ ＞ _nivól_. _Nible_ might be regarded as a cross between _neble_ and _niul_. Cf. § 38, 3.

5. In ẹs ＜ _ĕst_ the ẹ probably comes from such combinations as mẹ’s, quẹ’s, understood as m’ẹs, qu’ẹs. Espẹlh ＜ _spĕculum_ shows the influence of cossẹlh, solẹlh. Estẹla presupposes a Latin ✱_stēla_ or ✱_stēlla_ for stĕlla: cf. the Fr. and It.

6. _Plais_, ‘hedge’ seems to be a cross between _plĕxus_ and _paxillus_, ‘fence.’ _Vianda_ (＜ _vivenda_?) is probably French.

7. _Volon_ ＜ _volentem_ shows the influence of the ending _-ŭndus_.

8. _Greuga_ ＜ _con-gregar_ has been influenced by _greu_ ＜ ✱_grĕvem_ = _gravem_ influenced by _lĕvem_. Cf. _grey_ ＜ _grĕgem_.

29. Before a nasal, in most of the dialects of Limousin, Languedoc, and Gascony, ę became ẹ: _bĕne_ ＞ bẹn, _dicĕntem_ ＞ dizẹn, _tĕmpus_ ＞ tẹms, _tĕnet_ ＞ tẹn, _vĕniam_ ＞ vẹnha, _vĕntum_ ＞ vẹnt.

30. Early in the history of Provençal, before u, i, or one of the palatal consonants l´, r´, s´, z´, y, tš, dž, an ę broke into ię, except in a few dialects of the west and north: _dĕus_ ＞ dięus, _mĕum_ ＞ mięu; _amāvi_ ＞ ✱_amai_ ＞ amęi amięi,[16] ✱_fĕria_ ＞ fięira, ✱_ec(c)lĕsia_? (Cf. _Zs._, XXV, 344) ＞ glięiza, _lĕctum_ ＞ lięit, _pĕjus_ ＞ pięis; _vĕtŭlum_ _vĕclum_ ＞ vięlh, _ministĕrium_ ＞ mestięr, ✱_ec(c)lĕsia_? ＞ glięza, _mĕdia_ ＞ mięia, _lĕctum_ ＞ lięg. There seems to be also, at least in some dialects, a tendency to break the ę before a g or a k: _lĕgunt_ ＞ lięgon; ✱_sĕquit_ ＞ sęc sięc, subjunctive sięgas (sęga), but infinitive sęgre ＜ ✱_sĕquere_.[17]

The breaking was probably due to a premature lifting of the tongue under the influence of a following high vowel or a palatal (or velar) consonant.[18] Before u it occurred everywhere except in the extreme west; before palatals the ę apparently remained intact both in the extreme west and in Quercy, Rouergue, Auvergne, and Dauphiné. At first, no doubt, the diphthong was less marked than it became in the 12th and 13th centuries. It is not indicated in our oldest text, the _Boeci_ (_breu_, _deu_, _eu_, _mei_, _meler_, _vel_)[19], and it frequently remains unexpressed even in the writings of the literary period.