Attested diachronic changes

Sound changes

The Rule of Change

(So called because the word "change" resulted from it ;)) In proto-French, bia at the end of a word changed to ge, and mbia changed to nge.

• cambia -> change
• salvia -> *salbia (whence German Salbei) -> *salge -> sauge "sage (plant)"
• simia -> *simbia -> singe "monkey"
• fimbria -> *frimbia -> fringe

The Rule of the Maltese Bonfire

El milagro de la palabra lo salvo del peligro de la culebra. See Acts 28. In Spanish, VrVClV -> VlVCrV.

• miraculum -> *miraglo -> milagro
• parabola -> *parabla -> palabra
• periculum -> *periglo -> peligro

This happened at the same time as Portuguese split from Spanish, or in a race condition with the deletion of intervocalic l and n in Portuguese. The first two words are milagre and palavra, but perigo did not metathesize, but lost its l like cobra.

Anyone who has these words in Old Spanish or any attestation of French intermediate forms, please add. PierreAbbat 18:23, 29 December 2007 (PST)