User:Ceige/Western Romance

Phonology

Vowels

Stolen from Wikipedia:

Table of Old French outcomes of Latin vowels

Letter	Classical Latin	Vulgar Latin	Proto Western Romance	Early Old French (through early 12th c.)		Later Old French (from late 12th c.)
				closed	open	closed	open
Short A	/a/	/a/		⟨a⟩ /a/	⟨e, ie⟩ /æ, iə/	⟨a⟩ /a/	⟨e, ie⟩ /ɛ, jɛ/
Long A	/aː/
AE	/ai/	/ɛ/		⟨e⟩ /ɛ/	⟨ie⟩ /iə/	⟨e⟩ /ɛ/	⟨ie⟩ /jɛ/
Short E	/e/
OE	/oi/	/e/	/e/	⟨e⟩ /e/	⟨ei⟩ /ei/		⟨oi⟩ /oi/ > /wɛ/
Long E	/eː/
Short I	/i/	/ɪ/
Short Y	/y/
Long I	/iː/	/i/		⟨i⟩ /i/
Long Y	/yː/
Short O	/o/	/ɔ/		⟨o⟩ /ɔ/	⟨uo⟩ /uə/	⟨o⟩ /ɔ/	⟨ue⟩ /wɛ/ > /ø/
Long O	/oː/	/o/	/o/	⟨o⟩ /o/	⟨ou⟩ /ou/	⟨o(u)⟩ /u/	⟨eu⟩ /eu/ > /ø/
Short U	/u/	/ʊ/
Long U	/uː/	/u/		⟨u⟩ /y/
AU	/aw/	/aw/		⟨o⟩ /ɔ/

Chronology of Consonant related sound changes

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phonological_history_of_French#From_Vulgar_Latin_through_to_Proto-Western-Romance

• sC- initial clusters become isC- (and thus ésC)
• Loss of final -m except in monosyllables
• Loss of H
• ns > s
• rs > ss sometime, rs othertimes
• -er > -re; -or > -ro
• -cəl-, -cər-, -gəl- and -gər- > cl, cr, gl, gr
• kj > kkj
• k + e,i etc > kj
• g + e,i etc > gj
• dj, (prior dj, gj, g+e/i >) gj > j

(Gallo-Ibero-Romance)

• kj, tj > tsj ⟨c, z⟩

• kkj > ttsj

• kt > jt ⟨-it⟩
• ks > js ⟨-is⟩
• (Opt: open+stressed ɛ, ɔ > ie, uo (> ue in Fr/Sp))

• nox > nocte > nojte > nuojte > nuite in French

• First lenition: (intervocalic, and vCr) voiced plosives + unvoiced fricatives > v ð j, single unvoiced plosives > voiced

• tsj > dzj (not ttsj)
• pl > bl
• Final t/d following a vowel lost?

• nj, jn, jl, gl (from gn, ngj, gl, kl) > nj, lj
• unstressed interior vowels lost except pretonic /a/; happened at same time as first lenition, thus manica > manche but granica > grange

Diphthong and vowel-height issue

• ɛ and ɔ become ie and ue in French and Spanish open stressed syllables. They also become ie and ue in Spanish closed stressed syllables. They are merged in the case of Portuguese and most of Catalan.
• In Portuguese, probably Catalan and French, and Italian, there is a tendency to distinguish by vowel height later on in the various languages depending on syllable type (e.g. closed/open).
• Perhaps write stressed open ɔ as uè (as an example).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Spanish_language#Diphthongization_in_open_and_closed_syllables

Grammar

Noun Declension

Accent marks are temporary and for etymological reasons.

• -US as in FOCUS

• NOM SING fuègus (or fuègos), PLU fuègi
• OBL SING fuègo PLU fuègos

• -UM as in GYPSUM

• NOM SING gesso~gisso, PLU gessa~gissa
• OBL SING gesso~gisso, PLU gessa~gissa or gessos~gissos

(The problem here is that gypsum would become either [jepso] or [jeiso]; either way, the palatalisation of [e] could shift it to [i]. The palatalised [p] variant could be a loanword too, as it normally refers to blackboard chalk, not the plaster material, and almost always appears as "giz" or an equivalent.)

• -A as in CAPSA

• NOM SING cassa PLU cassè
• OBL PLU cassa PLU cassas

• -IS as in PISCIS

• NOM SING peisses PLU peisses
• OBL SING peisse PLU peisses

(piscis > pexe-? poisson, pêche, peje, peixe, pez)

• RES

• NOM SING rés PLU rés
• OBL SING rièm PLU rés

• -O as in HOMO

• NOM SING huemo PLU homnes
• OBL SING homne PLU homnes

Verb Conjugation

Stolen from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romance_verbs

	Latin	Vulgar Latin	Spanish	Portuguese	Italian	French	ColloquialWestRom	FormalWestRom
Infinitive	amāre	*amare	amar	amar	amare	aimer	amar(e)	amare
Indicative Present	amō amās amat amāmus amātis amant	*amo *amas *ama *amamos *amates *aman	amo amas ama amamos amáis aman	amo amas ama amamos amais amam	amo ami ama amiamo amate amano	aime aimes aime aimons aimez aiment	amó amas ama(t) amamós amais aman(t)	amo amas amat amamos amaðes amant
Preterite	amāvī amāvistī amāvit amāvimus amāvistis amāvērunt	*amai *amasti *amau *amammos *amastes *amaron	amé amaste amó amamos amasteis amaron	amei amaste amou amamos amastes amaram	amai amasti amò amammo amaste amarono	aimai aimas aima aimâmes aimâtes aimèrent1	amai amaste amau(t) amamos amastes amaron(t)	amai amaesti amaet amaemos amaestes amaeront
Imperfect	amābam amābās amābat amābāmus amābātis amābant	*amabã *amabas *amaba *amabamos *amabates *amaban	amaba amabas amaba amábamos amabais amaban	amava amavas amava amávamos amáveis amavam	amavo amavi amava amavamo amavate amavano	aimais aimais aimait aimions aimiez aimaient	amava amavas amava(t) amavamos amavais amavant	amava amavas amavat amavamos amavaðes amavant
Pluperfect	amāveram amāveras amāverat amāverāmus amāverātis amāverant	*amara *amaras *amara *amaramos *amarates *amaran	amara amaras amara amáramos amarais amaran2	amara amaras amara amáramos amáreis amaram	-	-	amara amaras amara(t) amaramos amarais amarant	amara amaras amarat amaramos amaraðes amaront
Future7	amābō amābis amābit amābimus amābitis amābunt	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Future perfect	amāverō amāveris amāverit amāverimus amāveritis amāverint	*amare *amares *amare *amaremos *amaretes *amaren	amare amares amare amáremos amareis amaren3,6	amar amares amar amarmos amardes amarem3	-	-	amare amares amare amaremos amareis amarent	amaro amares amaret amaremos amareðes amarent
Subjunctive Present	amem amēs amet amēmus amētis ament	*amẽ *ames *ame *amemos *ametes *amen	ame ames ame amemos améis amen	ame ames ame amemos ameis amem	ami ami ami amiamo amiate amino	aime aimes aime aimions aimiez aiment	ame ames amet amemos ameis ament	ame ames amet amemos ameðes ament
Perfect	amāverim amāveris amaverit amāverimus amāveritis amāverint	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Imperfect	amārem amārēs amāret amārēmus amārētis amārent	*amarẽ *amares *amare *amaremos *amaretes *amaren	-	amar amares amar amarmos amardes amarem4	-	-	-	amare amares amaret amaremos amareðes amarent
Pluperfect	amāvissem amāvissēs amāvisset amāvissēmus amāvissētis amāvissent	*amassẽ *amasses *amasse *amassemos *amassetes *amassen	amase amases amase amásemos amáseis amasen5	amasse amasses amasse amássemos amásseis amassem5	amassi amassi amasse amassimo amaste amassero5	aimasse aimasses aimât aimassions aimassiez aimassent5,6	amasse amasses amasse amassemos amasseis amassent	amaesse amaesses amaesset amaessemos amaesseðes amaessent

1. Literary.
2. Its meaning has mostly shifted to that of an imperfect subjunctive in modern Spanish. It is now usually interchangeable with amase, amases, amase, etc. Nevertheless, a few rare uses as a pluperfect subsist.
3. Its meaning has shifted to that of a future subjunctive in Spanish and Portuguese.
4. Reanalysed as a personal infinitive. See below.
5. Its meaning has shifted to that of an imperfect subjunctive in most Romance languages. But note the normal use, in modern south-eastern Umbrian of amassimo instead of standard Italian amammo to express an indicative past perfect.
6. Disused.
7. The future indicative tense of the modern languages does not derive from the Latin form (which tended to be confounded with the preterite due to sound changes in Vulgar Latin), but rather from an infinitive + HABEO periphrasis, later reanalysed as a simple tense.